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Projects worth Rs. 20 cr. approved under BRGF

Tuesday, 11 August 2009 03:38 administrator
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The Hindu - Karnataka 11.08.2009

Projects worth Rs. 20 cr. approved under BRGF

Staff Correspondent

Infrastructure in SC/ST Hostels to be improved

Zilla panchayat to produce documentary film on Backward Region Grant Fund scheme

Chitradurga: The Chitradurga zilla panchayat gave approval to Rs. 20.2 crore projects to the Central Government-sponsored Backward Region Grant Fund (BRGF) scheme. The decision was taken in the District Planning Committee (DPC) meeting chaired by zilla panchayat president L.B. Rajashekharappa here on Monday.

As per the BRGF guidelines, Rs. 16.16 crore would be utilised to develop rural areas while Rs. 4.04 crore would be spent by the City Municipal Council for improving infrastructure.

The meeting was convened to garner the suggestions of the zilla panchayat members on the proposed project report.

During the discussion, a number of members raised the issue of misappropriation of funds reported in various gram panchayats while purchasing material under the current year’s BRGF scheme.

It might be recalled that recently a member, Guruswamy, during the last general body meeting of the zilla panchayat had revealed the statistics about materials purchased at an extremely high rates than the market price by various gram panchayats in the district. Jagaluraiah, a member, felt the need to evolve a new strategy to prevent corruption. Then, Deputy Commissioner and the committee member Amlan Aditya Biswas suggested the members to adopt a resolution to purchase bulk materials only by the zilla panchayat instead of giving that power to gram panchayats.

The suggestion was unanimously accepted by the members and a resolution was passed to that effect.

Ravikumar, a member, raised objection to the proposal of purchasing materials such as cookers, mosquito nets, water heaters and UPS for SC/ST Hostels in the district. He suggested that funds should be used to construct more number of hostels for students of rural areas.

Mr. Biswas said that by mere construction of hostels would not serve the purpose of helping the SC/ST students unless they were provided with better facilities. “The Government has schemes and funds to construct hostels, thus instead of repeating the projects, the funds of BRGF could be used for improving infrastructure of the hostels”, he said.

The meeting also passed a resolution to scrap a few proposals such as holding street plays and printing publicity materials about the scheme. Instead, the meeting decided to spend the same amount in producing a documentary film about the scheme and display it in all the gram panchayats to spread awareness.

Last Updated on Tuesday, 11 August 2009 03:39
 

Land acquisition, high tender rates delaying JNNURM projects

Monday, 03 August 2009 04:59 administrator
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The Hindu 03.08.2009

Land acquisition, high tender rates delaying JNNURM projects

Staff Reporter

Projects that do not need land acquisition progressing

 

Contractors quote high rates for drinking water supply project of the Mission

A senior civil servant likely to be posted as coordinator of Kochi projects

KOCHI: The delay in obtaining land for projects and the ‘exorbitant’ rate quoted by contractors are reportedly delaying the implementation of the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) projects in Kochi.

At least three road projects proposed for the city have been caught in the deadlock. The projects that have started include Sahodaran Ayyappan and Edapally-High Court roads, as land acquisition was not required. The civic body will have to find funds for meeting the land acquisition projects, as the Mission does not provide funds for acquiring land.

It is also the case with Rail Overbridge at Pachalam. The Roads and Bridges Corporation may soon begin the construction of the overbridges at Atlantis and Ponnurunni as they don’t require additional land, officials said.

The issues faced by the civic authorities in implementing the projects will come up for discussion at the review meeting of the projects to be held on August 4.

The first meeting will be chaired by the Local Administration Minister Paloli Mohammed Kutty and the second one by Sharmila Mary John, the newly-appointed Project Director of the Kerala Sustainable Development Project (KSUDP). The KSUDP is the nodal agency for the implementation of the Mission projects for Kerala.

According to civic officials, there were no takers for the proposed drinking water supply project of the Mission for Kochi.

The contractors were reportedly reluctant to take up the projects. Those who turned up quoted high rates for the work, which was unacceptable to the authorities. If the high rates quoted by the contractors are accepted, it will become a precedent for other projects. This would upset the financial projections of the projects, said officials.

Meanwhile, it is understood that the government may appoint a senior civil servant, who is heading a public sector unit in Kochi, as the coordinator of the Kochi projects. The demand for a dedicated team of senior officials for implementing the projects is also likely to be raised at the review meetings, officials said.

Last Updated on Monday, 03 August 2009 05:00
 

More flyovers likely for Delhi

Saturday, 01 August 2009 06:11 administrator
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The Hindu - Delhi 01.08.2009

More flyovers likely for Delhi

Special Correspondent

To cope with the increases traffic during the Games 2010

 

Urges DDA to speed up pending infrastructural developemnt projects

Points out several junctions on the Ringh Road that need flyovers

NEW DELHI: Delhi Urban Development Minister A. K. Walia met Delhi Development Authority Vice-Chairman A. K. Nigam on Friday and apprised him of the need to construct more flyovers near Ring Road and the Commonwealth Games Village in the Capital’s trans-Yamuna area to cope with the increase in volume of traffic during the sporting event in October 2010 and later.

The Minister urged the DDA to speed up pending projects related to infrastructural development and emphasised the need to revive the flyover project on Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg that was planned to ease congestion at this important junction where a number of key offices are situated.

The Authority has agreed to look into the matter.

Dr. Walia also demanded that the DDA construct another flyover opposite Vikas Minar on Ring Road and was told that such a plan was being worked on.

The Minister also expressed concern at the volume of traffic on the Mathura Road-Bhairon Marg junction and demanded a flyover at this point. He said during the Commonwealth Game this junction would be overburdened with traffic. The Authority has also agreed to initiate spade work in this direction.

Dr. Walia was assured by the DDA that construction of the flyover opposite the Karkardooma courts complex in the trans-Yamuna area would start in December this year and would be commissioned at the earliest.

Dr. Walia also took up the issue of construction of a flyover opposite Akshardham Temple and close to the Commonwealth Games Village.

It was decided that all approach roads there would be widened immediately to cater to the growing number of vehicles using National Highway-24.

Feasibility study

The DDA has also agreed to initiate a feasibility study in respect of a new flyover across the Yamuna between Usmanpur Pushta and Chandgiram Akhara.

This project was announced by Dr. Walia during a round taken along with Delhi Congress president and North-East Delhi MP J. P. Agarwal recently.

Last Updated on Saturday, 01 August 2009 06:15
 
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