FINAL NOD: Municipal Administration and Water Supply Secretary K. Deenabandu (centre) signing a memorandum of understanding along with Union Urban Development Joint Secretary M. Rajamani and Chennai Corporation Commissioner Rajesh Lakhoni, to impleme nt projects under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission, in Chennai on Friday. Local Administration Minister M.K. Stalin and Chief Secretary L.K. Tripathy are also in the picture.

CHENNAI: A slew of projects — urban sanitation, water supply, transport and development schemes — will be taken up in three urban agglomerations in the State as part of the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission.

Chennai, Madurai, Coimbatore and surrounding areas stand to benefit from this project, which focusses on development of common facilities in these areas, Local Administration Minister M.K. Stalin said here on Friday.

Over a seven-year period, development works worth Rs.45,000 crore would be taken up in Chennai Metropolitan Area (CMA) alone. This year, water supply projects would be taken up at a cost of Rs.500 crore, sanitation work at Rs.400 crore and underground sewage work at a cost of Rs.170 crore in Chennai.

"The entire Comprehensive Development Plan for the Chennai area was put together in the last five months and we are now ensuring that the plans are acted upon. It is like a seven-year development plan for the Chennai area," Mr. Stalin said. Work on four grade separators and six road over-bridges (over railway track) would also be taken up.

Mr. Stalin told The Hindu that an identified priority area was draining of floodwater. Flooding was common in the CMA and works such as desilting and formation of additional drains into the sea would be taken up to ensure that the water drained faster. "Take Velacherry for instance. Water stagnates for about five months after rains. We are working on solutions for such areas and the funds from the Mission will help us accomplish the task faster," he said.

The Metrorail project also had a component of the Mission aid.

Municipal Administration and Water Supply Secretary K. Deenabandu and Union Urban Development joint secretary M. Rajamani signed a Memorandum of Understanding extending the project to the CMA area.

Chennai Corporation Commissioner Rajesh Lakhoni signed the agreement on behalf of the civic body while Municipal Commissioners of 16 Municipalities in the CMA areas, including those of Alandur, Ambattur, Madurayoval, Avadi and Poonamallee, signed the MoU later.

Grant for schemes

Of the total cost of the project, the Centre would provide 35 per cent as grant and the State government, 15 per cent.

The civic body should raise the remaining 50 per cent. There are a series of stipulations to be followed by the State and the local body before gaining access to the funds. For the local bodies, the stipulations include adopting e-governance, shifting to accrual-based accounting system, levying user charges and ensuring basic services to urban poor.

Rs.300-crore plan

Mr. Stalin recently inaugurated a Rs.60-crore water supply project, the first urban renewal project for Madurai.

The department of Municipal Administration is working on a Rs.300-crore plan for the city.

The department had also sent a detailed project report for underground sewage system in Coimbatore. The Union Urban development department had sought more additions to this and had sent it back. "We had 1999 as the base year from which we prepared the project. They [the Centre] want us to add the newer layouts and cater for the addition in population," an official said.

The detailed report on the second phase of the Pilloor water supply scheme would also be sent to the Centre in a couple of weeks.

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