Urban Renewal Mission must be expedited

Urban Renewal Mission must be expedited
New Indian Express

BANGALORE: The centrally sponsored Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) has not taken of in the State despite the government being the first to come out with a project proposal last year. The Mission would benefit Bangalore and Mysore but lack of systematic approach has led to the delay.

Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BMP) last year worked out a city development strategy plan (CDSP), including strategies for transport and water supply. The government submitted the plan with an estimated cost of Rs 11,000 crore for Bangalore on the launching day of JNNURM.

Then the Centre had not yet finalised the guideline and BMP went by the guidelines it followed under its reform linked MoU with Karnataka government which was a success three years ago.

Then the Centre asked BMP to take up consultation with citizen for specific projects which the civic body complied with. But the civil society was not happy with consultations held in all wards on a single day.

With Janaagraha founder Ramesh Ramanathan heading the technical advisory group of the mission, things became tougher for Bangalore.

Later CDSP too suffered due to difference of opinion over who should commission the work. The nodal agency Karnataka Urban Development and Infrastructure Finance Corporation (KUIDFC) felt that BMP should not have taken it upon itself. Now KUIDFC commissioned another CDSP which further delayed the process.

In the meanwhile many Indian cities, especially in Congress ruled states. Karnataka’s case was further weakened after the Dharam Singh led coalition was replaced with Kumaraswamy’s JD(S)-BJP combine.

During recent his visit to city even the union urban development minister S Jaipal Reddy maintained that Karnataka had not submitted any CDSP. But the national mission director Rajamani said that the CDSP was submitted but was not in accordance with the guidelines.

Interestingly, BMP has invited expressions of interest from the prospective consultants to prepare master plan. BMP sources said that the consultants would soon be empanelled and would be asked to prepare master plans for all the components under the mission.

The consultants would also prepare detailed project reports for works. However, BMP had prepared information memoranda and funding dossiers for to renovate all the valleys of stormwater drains but these reports are now forgotten.

Even now the consultants are being selected through a national competetive bidding for the works at an approximate cost of Rs 22,000 crore and not through global tenders.

The government must now speed up the process and have someone lobbying its cause at New Delhi. Karnataka has only two people who could do that; Ramesh Ramanathan and additional secretary to union urban development ministry S M Acharya. Going by what has happened, these two Kannadigas have done little.