Urban News

In some, land has either not been acquired or not handed over to the private operator to set up the processing plant and landfill site. The Centre had approved the solid waste management project for some of these towns over two years ago. The Jal Nigam is the nodal agency for implementation of project in the state.

While the project had been approved for Meerut and Lucknow under Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission, for the others eight cities, it had been approved under Urban Infrastructure Development Scheme for Small and Medium Towns. Recently, the Centre had expressed unhappiness over the delay in starting some infrastructure projects in UP. Following this, the state government held a meeting with district magistrates and municipal officials of the concerned cities last week. “In that meeting, the district magistrates were asked to solve land related issues and ensure that projects begin at the earliest,” said Principal Secretary (Urban Development) Alok Ranjan.

In Lucknow, the district administration has already changed the project site twice due to unavailability of land. Initially, it had identified 88 acres of land in Dashehari village on Hardoi Road. But following objections from local mango growers, the administration had to shift the site to Eintgaon village on Mohan Road. Now, it has once again changed the site to Siviri locality on Mohan Road. 

The Centre had approved the project for Lucknow in 2007. Its sanctioned cost was Rs 42.92 crore. The Centre had to fund 50 per cent of the project and it released the first installment of Rs 5.36 crore in 2008. But the state is yet to utilise the amount. The Centre has warned the UP government to submit the utilisation certificate by December 31, else the money may be taken back or diverted to another project.

“In Gorakhpur, land has been acquired but the project operator cannot begin work because a major portion of the land is under water for several months now,” said an official of the Jal Nigam. According to the initial schedule, the project had to be completed in August 2009 but now its deadline has been extended to March 2011.

In Moradabad, work begun in July but was stopped in August. The municipal corporation had acquired the land in 1986 but the villagers did not receive the compensation and they protested when work began. Work is yet to restart there. In Sambhal, so far only 4 acres of land has been provided for the project, which is insufficient, said a source.

In Meerut, 47 acre of land is required for the 22.59-crore project and land acquisition is still in progress. “Meetings are being held with the villagers regarding the compensation,” said Meerut Municipal Commissioner D K Singh. Here, the deadline for the project is March 2011.

“In other districts like Basti, Firozabad, Badaun, Jaunpur, Balia and Sambhal, land has either not been acquired or it has not been handed over to private operators,” said a Jal Nigam official.  The deadline for completion of the project for Basti is March 2011 (cost Rs 9.73 crore), Firozabad (Rs 7.13 crore), Badaun (Rs 5.78 crore). For Jaunpur, the deadline is June 2011 (Rs 12 crore), September 2011 for Balia (Rs 8 crore) and December 2011 for Sambhal (Rs 12 crore).