Funds for BMP projects may be delayed

Funds for BMP projects may be delayed

The Hindu

The civic body should route all its projects through KUIDFC

# <132> Projects proposed Core Ring Road
# Remodelling of Hebbal Valley
# Final approval only after State-level clearances are obtained

BANGALORE: The Bangalore Mahanagara Palike's (BMP) plans to build more flyovers and other infrastructure projects in the city with funds from the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (NURM) are likely to be delayed.

As per the mission guidelines, these projects have to go through a circuitous route before getting the final clearance.

Although the guidelines make it clear that the urban local bodies (ULB) should enact the Community Participation Law to institutionalise citizen participation and introduce the concept of "area sabhas" in urban localities, they make it mandatory for the ULBs to get projects cleared at various levels in the State and Centre before forwarding them to the Central Sanctioning and Monitoring Committee for the final nod.

The guidelines point out that every project identified for NURM funding, will first have to be cleared by a State-level nodal agency. Then the project will have to pass through a State-level steering committee (headed by the Chief Minister or Ministers for Urban Development or Housing of the respective States); the national-level steering group and finally the Central Sanctioning and Monitoring Committee. The BMP, which is the first among the 60 identified city corporations to submit a City Development Strategy Plan (CSDP) and prepare an information memorandum and funding dossier (IMFD) for two major projects, is now piqued over the process of getting them cleared at various levels. Official sources in the BMP told The Hindu on Tuesday that the BMP is ready with a detailed project report and an information memorandum and funding dossier for the remodelling of Hebbal Valley and construction of Core Ring Road that will be taken up with NURM funds.

"When we were asked to make presentations on these projects at the launch of NURM in New Delhi recently, we thought they will be cleared instantaneously. But it has not happened. The implementation of these projects is likely to be delayed if they have to go through various committees. This is really unfortunate," the sources said.

The State Government has chosen the Karnataka Urban Infrastructure Development and Finance Corporation (KUIDFC) as the nodal agency for NURM projects in the State. This means the BMP has to route all its NURM projects through the KUIDFC. The BMP plans to remodel major valleys, build the Inner Core Ring Road, fill missing bits in the 100 per cent water supply project, build more flyovers and also clean and rehabilitate major storm water drains in the surrounding seven City Municipal Councils (CMCs) and one Town Municipal Council (TMC) with NURM funds.

"In the CDSP submitted to the Centre, we have requested an investment of Rs. 10,799 crores for providing urban infrastructure and governance and around Rs. 6,000 crores for providing basic services to the urban poor," the sources added.

The 60 cities identified for funding under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission include Bangalore and Mysore from Karnataka. While Bangalore features as one of the top seven cities eligible for funding, Mysore figures in the list of cities with less than one million population. But according to official sources, the Government has requested the Centre to include Hubli-Dharwad in the list instead of Mysore.