Rajasthan first state to submit Annual Action Plan under Atal Mission (AMRUT)

Rs.1,087 cr Plan for this fiscal accords priority for Sewerage with an outlay of Rs.555 cr

Rajasthan has become the first state in the country to submit State Annual Action Plan under Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) targeting universal coverage in respect of water supply connections and sewerage connections to all urban households in the state. The State Government has proposed projects under these two categories worth Rs.1,087 cr for approval by the Union Urban Development Ministry during the current financial year.

Under the State Annual Action Plan, AMRUT projects are proposed to be taken up in 13 of the 28 AMRUT cities in Rajasthan. These include Alwar, Beawar, and Nagaur in which both water supply and sewerage projects will be taken up while water supply projects will be taken up in seven other cities of Baran, Bhiwar, Bhilwara, Chittorgarh, Dhaulpur, Ganganagar City and Sujangarh. In 3 cities of Bhiwadi, Sikar and Udaipur, only sewerage and septage management projects will be taken up.

These cities have been identified by the state government in line with the principles of prioritization suggested in the Mission Guidelines after analyzing the gaps in coverage in respect of household water supply connections and sewerage network services.

Regarding water supply connections in 28 AMRUT cities, the coverage ranged from 28% in Nagaur to 98% in Bhiwadi. In terms of quantity of water being supplies, it ranged from 38 litres per capita per day in Gangapur City to 150 lpcd in Kota. Water supply is below 50 lpcd in case of Gangapur City and Hindaun City while it is in the range of 51-75 lpcd in 7 cities, 76-100 lpcd in 5 cities and more than 100 lpcd in 12 cities. The national norm in respect of water supply in urban areas is 135 lpcd.

There is no sewerage network in 10 cities of Baran, Beawer, Bhilwara, Bhiwadi, Ganganagar city, Hindaun City, Sawai Madhopur, Sikar, Sujangarh and Tonk. Sewerage projects are proposed in Beawer, Bhiwadi and Sikar while they will be taken up in the rest after ensuring water supply.

Coverage of sewerage network services in other cities is in the range of 10-25% in six cities, 26-50% in 3 cities, 51-75% in 5 and more than 75% in 4 cities.

Rs. 555 cr has been proposed for 6 sewerage and septage management projects and Rs.344 cr for 10 water supply projects.

Project expenditure proposed in the 13 cities include : Beawar -Rs.154 cr, Alwar-Rs.130 cr, Bhiwadi-Rs.110 cr, Nagaur-Rs.110 cr, Sikar-Rs.110 cr, Udaipur-Rs.85 cr, Baran-Rs.50 cr, Chittorgarh-Rs.40 cr, Ganganagar City-Rs.40 cr, Dholpur-Rs.30 cr, Bhilwara-Rs.25 cr, Sujangarh-Rs.25 cr and Bhiwadi-Rs.20 cr.

Regarding implementation of mandatory reforms, the state government has informed that creation of website for each city, transfer of all 18 functions to urban local bodies, revision of building bye-laws, single window clearance for building permissions, 90% coverage of tax revenue, energy and water audit and migration to double entry accounting system will be implemented in the next 6 to 12 months.

Rajasthan government has reported that adequate consultations with stakeholders like MPs, MLAs, Chairpersons of urban local bodies and public have been undertaken and their suggestions and views have been incorporated in the Service Level Improvement Plans (SLIP) for each city which were integrated to formulate the State Annual Action Plan (SAAP).

For the first time in the country, formulation of urban development plans including identification of projects, their appraisal and approval has been delegated to the States and Rajasthan has become the first state to act under this new architecture.

After broad scrutiny of the State Annual Action Plans, Urban Development Ministry will release the first installment of 20% of project costs to the States.

Powered by Capital Market - Live News