Central Government to provide an assistance of Rs.425 crore to six states
Ministry of Urban Development approved an investment of Rs. 495.11 crore in water supply, sewerage networks and seepage management, storm water drains, urban transport and provision of green spaces in 13 cities in 6 states under Atal Mission for Rejuvenation & Urban Transformation (AMRUT) Action Plans for 2015-16. An inter-ministerial Apex Committee chaired by Madhusudhan Prasad, Secretary (Urban Development) has cleared the investment plans for cities including Guwahaty, Jammu, Srinagar, Panjim, Shillong, Agartala and Puducherry. Investments approved state-wise are : Assam-Rs.186.27 crore, Jammu & Kashmir-Rs.171 crore, Goa-Rs.59.44 crore, Tripura-Rs.36.62 crore, Meghalaya-Rs.22.81 crore and Puducherry –Rs.18.97 crore Central Government will bear 90% of the project costs in respect of North-Eastern States and Jammu & Kashmir, 100% for Puducherry and 50% of the cost in case of Goa. Accordingly, for the year 2015-16, Assam will get central assistance of Rs.169.34 crore, Tripura-Rs.32.96 crore, Meghalaya, Rs.20.53 crore, Jammu &Kashmir-Rs.153.90 crore, Goa-Rs.29.72 crore and Puducherry-Rs.18.97 crore. Atal Mission seeks to ensure coverage of all urban households in 500 mission cities with water supply and sewer connections, augmenting water supply, sewerage network services and storm water drains besides promoting green spaces. Of the total investments approved, Rs.201.86 crore will be spent to augment water supply, Rs.116.10 crore on expanding sewerage networks and septate management, Rs.85 crore to augment urban transport with focus on non-motorised transport, Rs.77.37 crore on storm water drain projects and Rs.14.69 crore on providing green spaces. In Jammu & Kashmir, Rs.50.50 crore will be spent on sewerage and septage management schemes including Rs.22.50 crore in Jammu, Anantnag-Rs.15.00 crore and Rs.13 crore in Srinagar. An expenditure of Rs.77 crore will be incurred on providing drainage facilities including Rs.50 crore in Srinagar, Rs.22 cr in Jammu and Rs.5.00 crore in Anantanag. Urban transport will be improved with an investment of Rs.15 crore in Srinagar, Rs.13 crore in Jammu and Rs.5 crore in Leh. Green spaces will be augmented in Srinagar, Jammu, Anantnag and Leh at a cost of Rs.5.50 crore. In Assam, water supply will be augmented in Nagaon at a cost of Rs.51.79 crore, Dibrugarh-Rs.46.51 crore and in Silchar at a cost of Rs. 43.20 crore.Another Rs.40 crore, proposed to be spent by the State Government on drainage projects will now be spent on augmenting water supply and sewerage networks in the 4 mission cities including Guwahaty Green spaces will be developed in these 3 cities and Guwahati at a cost of Rs.4.73 crore. In Shillong, Meghalaya, sewerage and septage management project will be taken up at a cost of Rs.22.22 crore and development of green spaces at a cost of Rs. 59 lakhs. In Agartala, Tripura, Rs.32.50 crore will be spent on improving water supply, Rs.2.12 crore on urban transport and Rs.2.00 crore for improving green spaces. In Panjim, Goa, urban transport projects like pedestrianisation of City Square, development of footpaths, sidewalks and walkways will be taken up at a cost of Rs.49.97 cr, sewerage and septage management works at a cost of Rs.7.38 crore drainage and water supply projects at a cost of Rs.36 lakhs each and Rs.1.40 crore will be spent on provision of green spaces. In Puducherry, water supply will be improved at a cost of Rs.5.76 crore and in Oulgaret at a cost of Rs.6.7 crore. Both these urban local bodies will spend Rs.3.00 crore each on sewerage projects. An amount of Rs.47 lakhs will be spent on providing green spaces in these urban areas. Tripura Government has finally agreed to implement Swachh Bharat Mission in urban areas in the state. This was conveyed to the Ministry of Urban Development by Sanjay Rakesh, Principal Secretary to the State Government. The state government has all along took the view that central assistance of Rs.4,000 per toilet being provided by the central government was not adequate. Rakesh has informed that the state government decided to extend Rs.12,000 each for construction of individual household toilets in urban areas. The Apex Committee today expressed concern over slow progress in construction of toilets in Assam and urged the state to speed up the same. With these approvals, the Ministry of Urban Development has so far approved Atal Mission Action Plans for 2015-16 for 483 mission cities in 26 states and Union Territories with a total investment of Rs.20,491 crore in augmenting water supply including provision of water taps, expanding sewerage network services including provision of sewer connections to individual households, storm water drains, urban transport and green spaces.
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