Times
of India: Ludhiana: Sunday, 31 January 2016.
Where
finances are concerned, the smart city tag may not be enough to provide basic
amenities to city residents. Ludhiana will receive around Rs 1,000 from the
Central and state government under the smart city project. But this may be
insufficient, given the fact that two of the major projects, including canal
based water supply to residents and storm sewer project cost around Rs 4,800
crore.
Under the
canal based water supply project, the MC intends to provide 24/7 water supply
to residents while under the storm sewer project, storm sewer will be installed
in the city to avoid accumulation of water during the rainy season. Sources in
the department said 10% area of the city does not have normal sewerage lines.
Implementation
of projects and availability of funds is also a matter of concern. Several
projects have crossed their deadline and are still moving at snail's pace.
These include covering of ganda nullah, establishment of indoor stadium at
Pakhowal Road and cleaning of buddah nullah, among others.
Both the
state and Central governments have failed to do the needful in this respect.
According to RTI information, the Centre and state did not release funds to
clean the Buddah nullah over the last four years. But the issue also concerns
other states and a parliamentary team visited the nullah in the past.
Besides,
bottlenecks can be expected in the release of funds. Officials said the Centre
will release funds in the coming financial year but for the next year, grant
will only be released after the state government presents a utilization
certificate and a matching grant of Rs 100 crore.
Additional
commissioner of municipal corporation Ghanshyam Thori said the smart city
project is an area-based concept and they would focus only on areas which have
been selected under the area-based development (an element of the smart city
project). Further he said the whole grant will be spent on selected areas only
and nothing can be spent on other parts of the city.
Projects
hanging fire
§ Ganda Nullah: Work started in 2004 but the entire
structure was demolished due to a technical problem. The project, which was
started again in 2009, missed the deadline of 2011. Even now, only around 50%
to 55% has been completed. Sources said the project got stuck due to shortage
of funds. The project cost increased from Rs 13 crore to Rs 22 crore
§
Indoor stadium at Pakhowal Road - The project started in
2004 but 11 years on, work has not been completed. Officials said there is no
specific deadline as the plan changed in between and various other elements
were included
§
Years have passed after the Central and state government
claimed the nullah would be cleaned. But even after the visit of the
parliamentary team and intervention of the National Green Tribunal, authorities
failed to clean the nullah. According to an RTI information, both the state and
central government have not released funds to clean the nullah over the past
four years
§
After spending a hefty amount on preparing the Detailed
Project Report (DPR) of the proposed Ludhiana Metro project, which was
estimated to cost Rs 10,330 crore, SAD-BJP government rolled out the much
cheaper Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) in February, 2014 at a cost of Rs 1,250
crore. But this project is also left on paper as officials of the local bodies
department are still awaiting the Central government nod.
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