KOCHI: The Kochi Corporation will form a two-tier advisory committee to support the Corporation in matters of urban renewal programmes that are to be implemented under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM).

The committee is expected to advise the civic body on technical matters. The Corporation is looking for persons who have retired from senior official positions to be included on the panel. Those included in the panel would be given an honorarium. Retired officials who were willing to join the panel should contact K.D. Ajayaghosh, Town Planning officer of the Kochi Corporation, said Mercy Williams, Kochi Mayor, in a release here.

The town Planning officer could be contacted at 94478 18679. Those interested were also requested to attend a meeting to be convened at the Corporation office on April 9. More details of the committee could be obtained from the office of the Town Planner at the main office of the Corporation.

Recruitment

The recruitment of officials who were to monitor the implementation process of various projects under the mission would take place next month.

The Kerala Sustainable Urban Development Project (KSUDP), the nodal agency for the mission projects, had received nearly 120 applications following an advertisement it placed last month. Most of the applicants were from various services who would like to be posted on deputation to projects. A board, in which the Mayors of Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram would be members, would interview the candidates.

The mission authorities recently sanctioned around Rs.676 crore for various projects in Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi Corporations and the funds were released by the Central Government. The funds for the projects would be routed through the KSUDP.

The implementation agencies of each project should complete the groundwork for the projects before entering the implementation mode. The Corporations would have to implement some mandatory conditions like setting up of public grievance cells and monitoring committees to oversee the implementation of projects.

The appointment of public relations and development officers would also have to be made.

The city Corporation had earlier opened an office for the JNNURM projects at the main office complex.

In the first phase, funds were released for upgrading the surface water drainage for the central Kochi area, a sewerage plant for the central Kochi area covering 43, 49, 50, 51, 54 and 56 divisions and solid waste management project.

The Kochi Corporation planned to commence the implementation of projects without waiting for the funds for the projects to arrive, said Mercy Williams, Kochi Mayor.

The civic body would utilise its own finds for kick-starting the projects and the funds would be accounted as the matching funds which the civic body would have to raise for the projects, Ms. Williams said.

The Corporation would be able to save time if it starts the projects using its own funds without waiting for the funds from the mission to arrive, she said.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail