Andhra Pradesh - Vijayawada   

JNNURM funds for inner ring road, says Jaipal Reddy

PHOTO: CH. VIJAYA BHASKAR

Impressed: An NCC cadet trying to capture the image of Mahatma Gandhi in his mobile phone at the venue of Gandhi jayanti celebrations in Vijayawada on Tuesday. —

VIJAYAWADA: The much-awaited Inner Ring Road (IRR) from Ambapuram to Ramvarappadu would be a reality soon. The Union Ministry of Urban Development has agreed to allot funds under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) for the project that is estimated to cost about Rs. 80 crores.

Disclosing this at a press conference here on Tuesday, Union Urban Development Minister S. Jaipal Reddy said: “Generally, we don’t sanction funds under JNNURM for roads. But, as the proposed ring road will change the face of Vijayawada, we are allotting funds.”

The Vijayawada Guntur Tenali Mangalagiri – Urban Development Authority (VGTM-UDA) has been proposing to lay a 100-ft IRR linking National Highway (NH)-9 and NH-5.

On the controversial Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) project, the Union Minister asserted that the Centre would not “forcibly” implement the project in any city. The Centre, under any circumstances, had no plans to ask the local bodies to take up the BRTS project by putting underground drainage and water supply schemes on backburner. “We don’t need to go begging to take up BRTS project or allot funds for it under JNNURM.

Both the State Government and the respective local body should come forward,” he said.

Mr. Reddy made these comments when reporters drew his attention to the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC) general body passing a unanimous resolution to defer the implementation of the project.

Mr. Reddy said without any hesitation: “The local bodies lack expertise, infrastructure and funds. Capacity constraint is glaringly lacking everywhere, including in private institutions. Contractors are not coming forward to take up the works for the money we offer.” He was replying to a question on quality and standards followed while implementing the schemes like UGD.

Earlier, Mr. Reddy said BRTS project had been sanctioned to Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam in the State. Asked whether the State Government’s frequent instructions and orders to the local bodies did not contravene the spirit of the 73rd and 74th amendments to the Constitution,

Mr. Reddy maintained: “As a Union Minister, I do not want to make a definitive comment. The Government might have issued instructions depending on local circumstances. In any case, urban development is a State subject.”

MP Lagadapati Rajagopal, Vijayawada East MLA Vangaveeti Radhakrishna, Nuzvid MLA Meka Venkata Pratap Appa Rao, VGTM-UDA Chairman Malladi Vishnu and Vice-Chairman Y. S. Prasad and others were present.

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