Business Line 15.10.2010
Fund shortage stalls JnNURM projects of Bengal civic bodies
| Delay in releasing Central funds blamed for hiccup. |
Abhishek Law
Kolkata, Oct.14
Infrastructure projects taken up by the Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA), the premier urban development agency in the State, under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission Scheme (JnNURM) have hit a rough patch following delay in obtaining fund clearances from the Centre.
The projects, which began across the State, are now facing fund shortage following the series of delays and non-compliance of norms in some cases by the KMDA. Cost escalation too has become a matter of concern.
Rs 140 cr stuck
Around Rs 140 crore is stuck in projects that are currently awaiting clearance from the Centre.
According to a report prepared by the KMDA, the Centre is yet to release a sum of Rs 70.43 crore which has been provided by the agency on behalf of the Centre for the various Urban Infrastructure Governance projects taken up under JnNURM. The urban infrastructure governance projects, whose instalments have been stopped, include setting up of water treatment plants in Chandannagore and Howrah, construction of flyovers across the city and building a set of solid waste management system in some municipal areas of the state.
Till date payment of the second instalment, amounting to around Rs 13 crore, for construction of one of the flyovers at Vivekananda Road in Kolkata has been stopped after the KMDA failed to comply with previously laid down suggestions of the Centre.
On the urban poverty alleviation programmes taken up under the Basic Services for the Urban Poor (BSUP) scheme of the JnNURM, the KMDA has put in another Rs 77.44 crore from its own resources.
Instalments stopped
Mr Sougata Roy, Union Minister of State for Urban Development admitted to Business Line that instalments have been stopped in some cases.
“Instalments for some BSUP schemes have been stopped since the state has not complied with the norms laid down by the Centre. Moreover, the monitoring committee has raised some objections in the matter,” he said. He added that the State was asked to submit its demand in a new format and even put up some of the terms and conditions on the KMDA's Web site. Since these have not been done, instalments have been held back.
KMDA officials maintained that the problem in releasing funds is a result of non-clearance and delay in assessing completed parts of different projects by an external supervisor, who is again appointed by the Centre.
Under the existing JnNURM rules, funds are released in four phases for a project.
In each phase, the Centre releases a proportion of the total amount of its contribution and a corresponding proportion of the fund is released by the urban local body (ULB), KMDA and state government. Work is carried out and after completion of the phase, a third party is appointed for overseeing the work done. Based on the report, the ministry grants a utilisation certificate. Unless the utilisation certificate is provided, funds for the next phases are not released by the Centre. In some cases, the Ministry has also misplaced the reports, because of which fund availability has been seriously hit and clearance for subsequent phases delayed. In one such instance, the KMDA had taken up a Rs 142-crore project for providing round-the-clock water supply to five municipalities – Kalyani, Halisahar, Naihati, Kanchrapara and Gayeshpur – that face water shortage. While claims for submitting the fourth instalments was put forward to the ministry in April 2010, six similar reports were sent again to them, after the ministry claimed to have misplaced these reports. The last report was resent in September this year. Mr Roy however denied the fact that instalments have been held back because reports have been misplaced. “In some cases the State's reply has not been satisfactory and owing to this instalments have been held back,” he said.
