BHUBANESWAR: Even as people in many urban areas of the State are deprived of uninterrupted supply of safe drinking water and are facing considerable challenges for treatment of sewage, poor planning and funds constraint have led to cancellation of several projects to be taken up under Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) scheme.Sources said the State Government has cancelled at least 25 projects worth `257.7 crore and replaced 10 projects of `246.4 crore which were approved as per the State Annual Action Plan (SAAP) 2015-16.
The projects, which have been cancelled, include water metering, water supply and septage facilities and parks. While highest nine projects have been cancelled in Bhubaneswar followed by four in Bhadrak and three each in Balasore and Cuttack, one each has been cancelled in Baripada, Berhampur, Puri and Rourkela besides two in Sambalpur.Even two years after approvals, the projects could not be grounded mostly due to lack of planning. Ironically, not a single project approved under AMRUT scheme has so far been completed in the State, which was ranked third in the country in achieving reform milestones mandated under the scheme in 2015-16 and received an incentive grant of `10.27 crore.
The Housing and Urban Development (H&UD) Department, which is the implementing agency, however, cited that the water metering projects were cancelled due to funds crunch. During the third and final SAAP 2017-18, it estimated that additional `365 crore was required to achieve 100 per cent water supply coverage in all nine cities. A letter sent to National Mission Director (AMRUT) Shiv Das Meena by Secretary of H&UD G Mathi Vathanan clarified that since no further fund is available under the scheme, the projects could not be taken up.
“It was also felt that without ensuring provisions of piped water supply to all areas of the AMRUT towns, it is not desirable to take up end user water metering. When one area of the town is deprived of water supply, provision of water meter in other areas is not considered to be prudent,” the letter stated.
Similarly, while unavailability of in-depth hydrological study of continuous river water availability and sustainability throughout the year led to cancellation of water supply projects in Balasore and Bhadrak, parks were non-starter due to lack of land.
Meanwhile, the State Government has decided that the metering project will be taken up under State Finance Commission (SFC) grants and State Plan for implementation in Smart Cities initially and then in AMRUT and non-AMRUT cities in phased manner.
In the first phase, nine cities were included in the Centre-sponsored scheme, which had a statewide launch in January last year. Of 81 projects approved in 2015-16 fiscal, work has started on only 45 projects so far.