GUNTUR: Guntur Municipal Corporation has decided to expedite the underground drainage works in the city. The GMC officials held a meeting with the representatives of Shapoorji Pallonji and Company Private Limited on Tuesday.The Union Urban Development Ministry had accorded permission to take up UGD works worth `903.82 crore in the city. It is one of the biggest-ever grants to any urban local body in the State. The Centre allocated `540 crore in March 2015 and the State government’s share is `363.82 crore.
The previous government gave the contract to Shapoorji Pallonji and Company Private Limited in the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) mode in September 2016 and set a deadline to complete the project within 36 months. The works began in January 2017. The city was divided into five zones and it was decided to lay pipelines extending to 1,083 km in 84.99 sq km with 43,574 manholes and construct 87,148 inspection chambers connecting 1,40,000 households.
However, only less than 50 per cent of works have been completed so far. The contract also includes road repair works. But the works have been stopped midway due to dearth of funds and the change of government in the State. Municipal Chairperson Ch Anuradha said that they were taking all steps to make Guntur a model city. She instructed the firm to complete the UGD works at the earliest.