Times of India 01.08.2009

PUNE: Fulfilling the promises made to Urali, Devachi and Phursungi villagers, the civic administration has tabled a Rs 44.30-crore proposal before the standing committee for development of the villages. The money for the development will come from the city's annual development budget by slashing 5.5 per cent of the amount allotted for each development work.

In the proposal, municipal commissioner Mahesh Zagade states: "Rs 11.95 crore should be allotted for completion of the ongoing development works in these villages, including water supply, construction, bio-gas project and mechanised composting. The new works, like drainage, tanker water supply, roads and vermi compost, will require Rs 32 crore." The PMC has proposed other development works also as demanded by the villagers.

The PMC has allotted about Rs 1,625 crore for development works in the annual budget for 2009-10, of which Rs 786.44 crore is for fixed allotment like backward class welfare which cannot be diverted. "The development funds for the villages has to be allotted from the remaining budget amount. So it is necessary to divert 5.5 per cent of the amount allotted for development works in the city," the proposal states.

Standing committee chairman Nilesh Nikam and mayor Rajlaxmi Bhosale said that all the promises made to the villagers will be fulfilled. A few months ago, the committee had approved Rs 10 crore for the development of the villages, which included laying of a water pipeline and drainage system. Work on a crematorium and a hospital has also started.

All these years, the Urali-Phursungi villagers have been complaining that the garbage dumping has led to water contamination, turned the land barren and caused health problems. With repeated promises by the PMC of resolving the issues remaining unfulfilled, the villagers launched an agitation in April. The stir was eventually called off, but was resumed in May after the PMC failed to keep its promises again.

The eight-day agitation was withdrawn after the PMC's promised to stop garbage dumping in the villages within seven months. The civic body rejected the villagers' demand to adopt the villages and allot Rs 10 crore every year for 25 years for development works. However, it asked the villagers to draw up a development plan and hand it over to the district collector. The PMC promised to fund all the projects listed in the plan.

With the issue now reaching the state assembly, the villagers are confident that the promises made by the PMC, particularly the one pertaining to the removal of the dumping site, will be fulfilled.

PUNE: The state government has agreed to forward the central government's share under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) worth Rs 216 crore to the Pune Municipal (PMC).

Talking to the media, Congress leader Aba Bagul said the state government has sent the resolution to the PMC stating that it will forward the central government's contribution of the JNNURM funds to the civic body.

"The central government had sent its share of the JNNURM funds to the state government. The funds were lying with the state government for a long time. MP Suresh Kalmadi had requested chief minister Ashok Chavan to dispatch the centre's contribution and accordingly the state has agreed to do so," said Bagul.

Around Rs 2,440.65 crore were sanctioned to the PMC under the JNNURM before the budget, out of which the civic body received only Rs 476.55 crore. So far, the PMC has spent Rs 901.75 crore on various developmental works and is now struggling to manage its accounts.

It may be noted that under the JNNURM, the state's share is 20 per cent, the central government bears 50 per cent of the project costs, while the local self-government body, implementing the mission, bears the remaining 30 per cent.

"The amount of Rs 216 crore is for road works, sewage treatment plants, river improvement, storm-water drains and the Bus Rapid Transport System. The PMC is facing a financial crisis and the Rs 216 crore funds will be a big help," said Bagul.