The Times of india 03.09.2010
Pending JNNURM projects in state suffer fund crunch
HYDERABAD: Andhra Pradesh, which is the highest beneficiary under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), is now facing fund crunch to complete the pending projects.There are 17 projects related mostly to drinking water and storm water drain taken up under Urban Infrastructure Development of Small and Medium Towns (UIDSSMT) in various municipalities.
According to an official in the commissioner and directorate of municipal administration (CDMA), the total cost of these 17 projects is over Rs 727.30 crore. Of this government of India's share is over Rs 550 crore and the Urban Local Bodies' (ULBs) share is Rs 150 crore. The central government has informed that it cannot release any more funds to the state. The ULBs are facing fund crunch and even though the state was willing to meet the ULBs share, since the Centre has refused to release any further funds, the projects are likely to go into a state of limbo.
The official said that the chief minister had written a letter to the Centre seeking release of funds recently. However, the Centre informed the state government that "Andhra Pradesh has exhausted its 7-year allocation under the UIDSSMT and government of India is not in a position to sanction fresh allocations to the state."
The ongoing schemes, which are now likely to suffer, are storm water drain and satellite township scheme project in Vikarabad, estimated to cost over Rs 30 crore. The storm water drain project in Machilipatnam costs over Rs 50 crore. Other pending projects are drinking water projects in Sadashivpet in Medak district costing Rs 30 crore and in Gadwal in Mahbubnagar with Rs 34 crore.
Since the inception of JNNURM, a total of 268 projects were taken up with an amount of Rs 12,525 crore and the Centre's share was 6,985 crore. There are still 38 projects worth Rs 3,392 pending for sanction with the government of India, said the official.
The officials concerned are hoping that Union minister for urban development S Jaipal Reddy would intervene and help them in getting additional funds.
