 "Varanasi")
The urban reforms and programmes central government departments are running in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s constituency Varanasi are likely to be slowed down by the state bureaucracy or for want of funds.
The programmes include household electrification, underground cabling of electricity wires, street lighting, a cleanliness drive, renovation of ghats, the Clean Ganga project, a traffic management system that includes a Metro rail, and a new centralised sewage and water treatment plan.
Power Grid Corporation is working as a consultant with the power distribution company of the area, Purvanchal Vidyut Vitran Nigam, for underground cabling and smart meters. Power Grid is providing its consultancy for free and the salaries of the 35 people executives deployed in the city are being paid out of the company’s CSR fund.
The total cost of the Integrated Power Development Scheme in Varanasi is Rs 571 crore, of which 60 per cent will come from central funds and the balance from the Uttar Pradesh government. While the central funds have been disbursed, money from the state government is pending. State government officials, however, claim fund disbursement is not an issue.
“The state government needs to pay Rs 38.5 crore to the contractor. The delay has stalled work in some areas,” said a Power Grid executive in Varanasi.
Power Finance Corporation has come to the rescue by providing a loan to the Uttar Pradesh government. Power ministry officials said they wanted to meet the deadline for their projects. Power Grid has already covered areas such as Kabirnagar, where power cables are all underground. Modi is likely to visit the area during a visit on December 22. Work is on in three other areas, including Chowk, Manikarnika Ghat and Kashi Vishwanath.
The power ministry will complete underground cabling of 20 heritage roads, erect 250 heritage LED street poles by December 22 and install smart meters in six months. Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) is overseeing the LED disbursement and installation work.
Power Finance Corporation recently issued one of the largest tenders of 90,000 smart meters to be installed in Old Kashi. All the ghats will have facade lights, LED bulbs, underground power cables and heritage lamps.
Most the other projects are either moving slowly or are in limbo. The ambitious Varanasi Metro is awaiting several levels of approval and sources said it had been described as impractical by some departments. The state government is contemplating replicating the Kolkata Metro in the city, and the Centre is studying its proposal.
Renovation of the Varanasi City and Manduadih railways stations is under progress. General cleanliness under the Swachh Bharat Mission has improved but other plans are still awaiting approvals and funds.
Funds under the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation for water and sewage systems are still pending with the state government. Central authorities claim that funds have been disbursed to the state government and it is not allocating them. The plan is to connect 52,000 houses to a centralised sewage system.
State officials said the AMRUT programme would take two years to complete. A state government official said, “The central departments are working without any coordination. Some of them are engineering marvels, such as the underground cabling, but other infrastructure projects will dig up the city again.”
Another programme facing a roadblock are projects under the Skill India Mission. Apart from one ‘Bunkar Seva Kendra’, no major effort has been made. The kendra is also likely to be visited by Modi during this forthcoming visit.
Attempts to facilitate an IT hub in the city also have not moved, said state government officials.
