Rs 242 cr AMRUT plan to address water logging in 25 cities

Five states join hands to construct storm water drains for discharging flood waters in 25 cities

Taking steps to tackle the problem of water logging, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Odisha and Mizoram propose to invest Rs 242 crore in construction of storm water drains for discharging flood waters in 25 cities in these states

The works would be undertaken under Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) action plans for 2015-16, according to a Urban Development Ministry statement.

The five states account for 82 Atal Mission cities.Other mission cities would be covered in subsequent years.

Kerala government, in the state annual action plan (SAAP) for 2015-16 under AMRUT submitted to the Urban Development Ministry has proposed to spend Rs 105 cr (18 per cent of the total outlay of Rs 588 cr) on storm water drains in all the nine mission cities.

About Rs 24 cr will be spent in this regard in Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram will get Rs 18 cr, Thrissur: Rs 15 cr, Guruvayoor: Rs 13 cr, Kannur: Rs 11 cr, Palakkad: Rs 9 cr, Kozhikkode: Rs 7 cr, Allapphuaza: Rs 6 cr and Kollam: Rs 2 cr.

Under the SAAP of Madhya Pradesh for 2015-16 approved by the UD Ministry, construction of storm water drains will begin in 12 cities at a cost of Rs 36 cr.

Drains will be constructed at Hoshangabad at a cost of Rs 6 cr, Ratlam: Rs 5 cr, Damoha (ranked at the bottom in the last Swachh Bharat Survey of 476 cities): Rs 5 cr, Dewas: Rs 4 cr, Satna: Rs 4 cr, Bhopal, Indore, Ujjain and Rewa: Rs 2 cr each, Shivpuri: Rs 1.73 cr, Burhanpur: Rs 1.67 cr and Chindwara: Rs 40 lakh.

In Gujarat, storm water drain projects in Bhuj and Vadodara have been approved at a cost of Rs 39 cr.

Similar works will be taken up in Puri, Odisha at an approved cost of Rs 15 cr during the current financial year.

In Mizoram, Rs 47 cr (64 per cent of total approved SAAP outlay of Rs 73 cr for 2015-16) will be spent on construction of storm water drains.

Under Atal Mission, construction of storm water drains has been prioritised after provision of basic infrastructure relating to water supply and sewerage connections.

Central assistance to the extent of 50 per cent of project costs will be extended to cities with a population of below one million each and one-third of project cost if the population is above ten lakhs.

Many metro cities including Delhi, Mumbai and now Chennai have been faced with the problem of water logging following heavy rains.