VIJAYAWADA: Municipal Administration and Urban Development Minister Ponguru Narayana has said Anna Canteens intended to serve quality food to the poor people at a subsidised price, will be inaugurated on August 15.
Recalling that the TDP government set up 203 Anna Canteens during 2014- 19, Narayana said only 183 of them are in good condition now. Buildings for 18 of the remaining 20 canteens have been completed, and the construction of two other canteens are underway.
Speaking to mediapersons at the State Secretariat on Thursday, he said the previous YSRC regime closed down all the Anna Canteens, and converted some of them into ward secretariats and some others as storerooms. Now, all those buildings will be turned into Anna Canteens. Tenders were already invited to complete the required works, and make the buildings operational by August 10, he said. Stating that Akshaya Patra supplied delicious food to the canteens in the past, he said tenders have been floated to supply food at the same price. The tenders will be opened on July 22.
On other works, he said Rs 50 crore was released to desilt drains in urban areas and the municipal commissioners were directed to complete the works within 10 days. Narayana said during a video conference with the commissioners of 106 municipalities and 17 municipal corporations, he directed them to take measures to prevent the spread of seasonal diseases.
Informing that the duration of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) project ended by July this year, he said the time was extended by another month responding to an appeal from the government. However, the government is keen to get the project extended by another two years to develop infrastructure in urban areas, he said.
A sum of Rs 5,350 crore was provided through AIIB to supply drinking water to households round-the-clock, repair pipelines and develop other infrastructure during the previous tenure of TDP. The previous YSRC regime spent Rs 240 crore only and diluted the project without releasing the matching grants. Drinking water problem would have been addressed in 50 municipalities by now if the project was completed, he said.
Similarly, Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation 1 and 2 projects were launched during the then TDP regime to improve infrastructure in Nagar Panchayats with less than one lakh population. The previous YSRC regime diluted Amrut 1 and 2 projects also. A request will be made to the Centre to restore the two projects, he added.