City gets a manna, it's only time to act

City gets a manna, it's only time to act

State may get Rs2,300 crore, thanks to the increased allocation in the interim budget for JNNURM projects

Rohith BR. Bangalore
The interim Union budget 2009-10 on Monday allocated Rs11,842 crore to projects under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM).
Sources in the Karnataka Urban Infrastructure Development and Finance Corporation (KUIDFC) told DNA that the state might get around Rs2,300 crore under this head. The exact figures are yet to come.
"I don't think the allocated amount is an additional grant but another instalment as part of the seven-year long mission," said an official from KUIDFC.
However, he added that for the civic agencies which had completed spending the initial grants, this has come as a bonus and they should soon take up new projects.
As far as the implementation of JNNURM projects in the state is concerned, the allocation would benefit the Bangalore Metropolitan Transportation Corporation (BMTC) which is far ahead of other civic agencies in utilising funds.
"All JNNURM projects taken up by the BMTC have already started and a few of them are ready for inauguration. We have spent Rs400 crore so far, and have recently submitted a letter to the central government for fresh grants. We hope to get a major grant now," said an official from BMTC, on the condition of anonymity.
He added that the Traffic Transit Management Centre (TTMC) constructed at Jayanagar under the mission would be inaugurated in March 2009, and a similar facility is awaiting inauguration in Mysore.
TTMCs are all-in-one centres where facilities like bus station, shopping centres, medical shops, food courts and ATMs are provided.
An official associated with the JNNURM in BMTC said that Bangaloreans can look out for more TTMCs, especially in busy areas, with the bulk allocation in the budget.
In other civic agencies, the utilisation of funds has not been good enough. The Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has been sanctioned 16 infrastructure projects (worth Rs951.52 crore) under JNNURM, but only two projects have started.
"We are stuck with two underpass projects at RV Teachers College and Tagore Cirlce," said an officer-in-charge of JNNURM projects in BBMP.
The Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) is another civic body which has not moved a finger over a Rs15.3-crore JNNURM project.
The project aimed to instal a water metering system to keep a tab on the supply volumes, water wastage and imbalances in water supply system.
"The project is pending for 27 months now. The BWSSB has left the Rs15.3 crore allotted for this unutilised. Officials are clueless on where over 300 million litres, of the 900 million litres being drawn from the Cauvery, is going," said RS Sudhakar, a retired BWSSB engineer.
The civic agencies should consider the huge interim grant for JNNURM as an opportunity and soon chalk out action plans to utilise the funds effectively, civic analysts said.