The Times of India 13.09.2013
Civic body to take up 10 new projects by 2015
VISAKHAPATNAM: The Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) has finally set the ball rolling for taking up at least 10 proposed (civic) projects at a cost of Rs 500 crore by the end of 2015. The task of preparing the detailed project reports (DPRs) has been entrusted to Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services Ltd (IL&FS), which had also prepared the DPR for the Visakhapatnam Industrial Water Supply project.
GVMC commissioner MV Satyanarayana said IL&FS has been appointed the consultant to prepare the DPRs keeping in mind its vast experience in handling such giant PPP projects across the country. Even the tourism ministry has appointed IL&FS to prepare the DPR for the much-awaited beach corridor between Visakhapatnam and Bheemili along the Bay of Bengal at an estimated cost of about Rs 45 crore, Satyanarayana added.
"We hope that once the DPRs are ready, the government will sanction the project works by 2014. Once the projects get sanctioned, GVMC will ground the projects by the end of 2015 by completing all the formalities, including tenders, on a priority basis. IL&FS charges Rs 30 lakh per month to prepare the DPR, which works out to Rs 3.6 crore per year," the GVMC chief said.
The 10 projects to be taken up under the public private partnership (PPP) mode include installation of light emitting diode (LED) streetlights in 72 wards spread across 534 square kilometres, foot over bridges, footpaths, multi-level parking, desalination project, commercial complexes, modernization of guest rooms, housing projects for the poor and needy, among others.
The permanent housing projects for the poor and needy being given top priority include construction of houses under the Rajiv Aawas Yojana on 16.50 acres of railways land for slum dwellers of seven slum areas of the city. Plans are also afoot to develop housing projects on 10 acres of land at Chamalapalli and 35 acres at China Mushidiwada under RAY.
The other major projects are the Rs 80 crore desalination project to be taken up on 20 acres along the coast in GVMC limits. The project proposes to desalinate at least 10 million litres of water per day and is aimed at supplying water to industries and indirectly enhancing water supply to domestic consumers, the civic chief explained.
GVMC chief engineer B Jayaram Reddy said the corporation has decided to first build a 10 MLD plant and then ramp it up to 100 MLD. The pre-feasibility study report for the project has already been submitted by Andhra Pradesh Industrial and Technical Consultancy (APITCO) to GVMC a few months ago following studies at Singapore and Dubai.
Also on the cards is the replacement of the nearly 80,000 fluorescent streetlights in the city with LED streetlights at a cost of Rs 110 crore. GVMC, which spends Rs 12.89 crore per annum on street lighting, is expected to save Rs 5 crore per annum with LED street lighting.
Apart from these, the development of nine foot over bridges (FOB) in addition to the existing 19 FOBs in the city as well as development of foot paths along 72 km of roads are also among the 10 proposed projects, the civic chief said.
