Amrut 1.0 rollout hits roadblock: 6 ULBs asked to expedite work
Lucknow: Six
urban local bodies
have been asked to expedite the pending work stalling the completion of the
Amrut 1.0 rollout
. Among 17 key cities,
Ayodhya Municipal Corporation
has been flagged for falling behind the schedule, along with five more nagar palikas.
While work is progressing on the ground, funds amounting to Rs 90 crore have not been paid by the six ULBs so far. As a result, the final completion of the project was held up since the six civic bodies were unable to contribute their share of expenditure. For the execution of the
Amrut scheme projects
, the state, central, and the concerned ULB need to pool in money as per a given sharing formula.
A total of 11 civil works, with major ones pertaining to household water supply, are being executed through the funds. The
urban development department
needs to wrap up the Amrut 1.0 scheme before moving on to the next phase as per the newly evolved expenditure sharing formula between the three stakeholders.
Owing to the lack of funds, the share of the ULBs having a population under 10 lakh was revised significantly to reduce the financial burden on them by the state govt in a recently concluded cabinet meeting.
However, Ayodhya Municipal Corporation and municipal councils (nagar palikas) administering the urban areas in Etah, Ghazipur, Mirzapur, Rae Bareli and Unnao were unable to provide their share for the completion of the projects being implemented under the previous phase.
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Mirzapur and Unnao nagar palikas owe the highest amounts, with outstanding of Rs 37 crore and Rs 22 crore, respectively. Meanwhile, the urban development department is making provision for providing the funds from the pooled funds for now and would recover the said amount from the six ULBs in a gradual manner over the course of 10 years. "The immediate release of funds would only improve the urban service delivery system in the six cities and pave the way for rolling out new schemes," said an officer.
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