Source : The Hindu Date : 01.07.2009
GMC likely to bag national project to develop slums
Staff Reporter
Under the project, the Centre will give funds as grants
Slums not covered under earlier schemes to benefit
Photo: T. Vijaya Kumar 
Mayor Rayapati Mohana Sai Krishna and Joint Collector Gaurav Uppal inspecting the documents of the NHAI on Tuesday. —
GUNTUR: The Guntur Municipal Corporation (GMC) is all set to clinch a yet-to-be named national project for modernisation of slums.
Under the national project, for which the Central Government would provide a substantial component of funds in the form of grants, the GMC would be able to take up a slew of developmental activities in slums and improve basic amenities, like housing, roads, drainage and water supply. The project would be implemented in slums, which have not been covered under various slum development schemes such as IHSDP. Municipal Commissioner K. Ilambarthi, who met senior officials of the Municipal Administration Department at Hyderabad, was asked to conduct a comprehensive survey of all slum habitations. The GMC would rope in consultant to conduct the survey. It was Mr. Siddharth Jain, the previous Commissioner, who first mooted that the survey could be taken up by members of self-help groups to assess the quality of amenities in slums.
Land acquisition
The corporation asked the National Highway Authorities of India to speed up the works relating to land acquisition of the proposed expansion of the national Highway from the existing four to six lanes. The GMC was pressing for early completion of the exercise as it was racing against time to complete the works relating to laying of a second drinking water pipeline from the filtration plant at Takkelapadu. The second pipeline would augment the supply from the existing 75 MLD to 120 MLD. Mayor Rayapati Mohana Sai Krishna, Mr. Ilambarthi and Joint Collector Gaurav Uppal and other municipal engineering personnel inspected the land near Takkelapadu and took stock of the situation. The Mayor said that the government accorded financial sanction of grant of Rs.6.5 crores to lay the pipeline and asked NHAI to speed up works.
