Punjab to take up 55 Smart City projects worth Rs6,090 cr

The Punjab government on Saturday said 11 projects worth Rs3,385 crore in Amritsar have been taken up for implementation under Smart City Mission in Punjab while 19 projects worth Rs1,899 crore and 25 projects worth Rs808 crore are at the Detailed Project Report (DPR) stage .

Reviewing urban development programmes of the central government in Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh, minister of state for housing and urban affairs Hardeep Puri said the progress of the flagship missions of his ministry showed that while the state governments have taken a number of steps to implement the various schemes for urban development, they all have a potential to do better.

Successful implementation of the programmes would further add to the attraction of these states as a hub for agricultural business and will increase the employment opportunities for the citizens, Puri said, adding that the principle of co-operative federalism has been enshrined in the management approach of the present central government. ''In all of its missions MoHUA approves only the state plans prepared by the states and releases central assistance. All decision-making including final project approvals is in the hand of state governments, thus providing greater flexibility to the states,'' he pointed out.

The projects currently being taken up for implementation in various states include:

Punjab: Under the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT), the state is focusing on universal coverage of drinking water supply in the urban areas, with a target of providing 4.6 lakh new house connections. It has already provided 1.45 lakh tap connections. About 36 per cent of the approved action plan is directed towards water supply and 61 per cent towards sewerage. Under the mission, 10 contracts worth Rs335 crore have been awarded and tenders for three projects worth Rs160 crore have been invited. The state was urged to complete the preparation of DPRs worth Rs1,708 crore.

Under the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM), Punjab aims to declare the state open defication-free (ODF) by October 2018. However, so far only 61 ULBs out of 164 have been declared ODF. The state government has agreed to expedite the mission. The state has achieved 100 per cent door-to-door collection in 2003 wards out of its 3,043 wards. However, the state is processing only 15 per cent of the waste generated. The state needs to take steps to process all the waste being produced.

Under the Smart Cities Mission(SCM), three Smart Cities have been selected in Punjab, namely Amritsar, Jalandhar and Ludhiana. In all the three cities, Smart Projects to be implemented have been selected. In all the three cities, DPRs are under preparation. Thus 11 projects worth Rs3,385 crore in Amritsar, 19 projects worth Rs1,899 crore in Jalandhar and 19 projects worth Rs1,898 crore are at the DPR stage. The projects include setting up of 'Integrated Smart city Centre', Smart roads etc. Phase I of integrated command and control centre has been completed in Ludhaina. These when implemented will improve the traffic congestion, increase open spaces and improve public amenities.

Under the Heritage City-Amritsar, projects for improvement of Rambagh Garden, improvement of Gol Bagh, upgradation of Maharaja Ranjit Singh Panorama at Amritsar are underway. So far projects worth Rs61 crore have been approved for Amritsar under this scheme and Rs45 crore have already been released. Being a heritage city it needs to improve solid waste processing.

Under the Pradhan Mantri Aawas Yojana (PMAY), a demand for about 3.5 lakh houses in the 163 towns in the state has been indicated. Total investment envisaged is Rs1,182 crore with central assistance amounting to Rs597 crore. Rs64 crore of central assistance has been disbursed. About 329 projects have been sanctioned for construction of 42,497 houses. Only 11,105 houses (26 per cent) of these have been grounded of which only 392 have been completed.

Under Credit Linked Subsidy Scheme of PMAY (Urban), 838 beneficiaries have availed an interest subsidy of Rs16.81 crore. The state has submitted proposals to cover 12 per cent of its demand so far. It is required to fast-track proposals for about 1.25 to 1.5 lakh houses to fulfil at least 50 per cent of its demand by 2017-18. Further, only one proposal for 1,025 houses has been received under In-situ Slum Rehabilitation (ISSR) component despite huge potential from 2.9 lakh slum households (Census 2011). The state has to expedite grounding of the sanctioned houses and fast track proposals for additional demands.

Under DAY-NULM, the state has achieved only 20 per cent of the target for training of candidates in the current year. Only 6 per cent of these trained persons could be suitably placed. The state may strive to impart training in consultation with business and industry to ensure full placement.

The state has also to complete survey of urban homeless and make provision of shelters for urban homeless expeditiously.

Haryana: Under the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT), the state has targeted providing 2.74 lakh new tap connections by the end of mission period, thereby providing water connections to the entire urban population of Haryana. About 80,000 connections have already been provided. Twenty-three per cent of the approved action plan is directed towards Water supply and 53 per cent towards sewerage. Under the mission, contracts worth Rs722 crore have been awarded and projects worth Rs86 crore are at the tendering stage. The state was urged to complete the DPRs for projects worth Rs1,358 crore.

Under the Swachh Bharat Mission(SBM), Haryana is already a certified ODF state and the state has achieved 100 per cent door-to-door collection in 966 wards out of its 1,475 wards. However, the state is processing only 3 per cent of the waste generated. The state needs to take steps to process all the waste being produced. Execution of the Waste to Energy and Waste to Compost plants under execution may be expedited.

Under the Smart Cities Mission (SCM), two Smart Cities have been selected in Haryana, namely Karnal and Faridabad. In both the cities, Smart Projects to be implemented have been selected. Sixty projects worth Rs2,342 crore have been approved and are at the DPR/tendering stage. The projects include rejuvenation of Badhkal lake and Barahi Talab in Faridabad. These when implemented will improve the environment in these cities and also provide more leisure facilities.

Under the Pradhan Mantri Aawas Yojana (PMAY), a demand for about 3.5 lakh houses in the 80 statutory towns in the state under PMAY has been indicated. Total investment envisaged is Rs1,743 crore with central assistance amounting to Rs 375 crore. Although 85 projects have been sanctioned for construction of 24,980 houses, only 720 houses (1 per cent) of these have been grounded.

Under Credit Linked Subsidy Scheme of PMAY (Urban), 1,016 beneficiaries have availed an interest subsidy of Rs18.92 crore. The state has submitted proposals to cover 27 per cent of its demand so far. The state has been asked to fast-track proposals for at least 60,000 houses to achieve at least 50 per cent of its demand by 2017-18. Further, no proposals have been received under In-situ Slum Rehabilitation (ISSR) component despite huge potential from 3.3 lakh slum households (Census 2011). The state has to expedite grounding of the sanctioned houses and fast track proposals for additional demands.

Under the DAY-NULM, the state has achieved 64 per cent of the target for training of candidates in the current year. Only eight per cent of these trained persons could be suitably placed. The state may strive to impart training in consultation with business and industry to ensure full placement.

The state has also to complete survey of urban homeless and make provision of shelters for urban homeless expeditiously.

Chandigarh: Under the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT), the union territory is focusing on universal coverage of water in the urban areas and proposes to provide 13,000 new house connections. About 35 per cent of the approved Action Plan is directed towards Water supply and 64 per cent towards sewerage. Under the mission, contracts worth Rs33 crore have been awarded. However, DPRs are yet to be prepared for project worth Rs60 crore. Chandigarh has been asked to complete the preparation of DPRs worth Rs60 crore.

Highlighting the achievements of Chandigarh, Puri mentioned that the union territory has replaced 39,000 of the targeted 46,000 conventional streetlights with LED lights.

Under the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM), Chandigarh is already a certified ODF city and the city has achieved 100 per cent of the mission target for Individual Household Latrine (IHHL). The city has achieved 100 per cent door-to-door collection in all its 26 wards. The city has very impressive achievements in SBM; however, it is lagging in SWM with only 30 per cent of the waste generated being processed. The UT needs to take rapid steps to improve waste processing and ensure that 100 per cent waste gets processed..

Under the Smart Cities Mission (SCM), 70 projects worth Rs6,214 crore have been approved and central assistance amounting to Rs196 crore released for the city. In Chandigarh, 6 projects costing Rs56.7 crore have been completed and contracts for Rs185 crore are under implementation/tendering. In respect of the remaining projects costing Rs5,919 crore, DPRs are being prepared. It was urged that the impactful projects, which will improve the quality of life for the citizens, might be taken up expeditiously.        

Under the Pradhan Mantri Aawas Yojana(PMAY), the UT administration has indicated a demand for about 12,900 houses under PMAY. Under Credit Linked Subsidy Scheme of PMAY (Urban), 35 beneficiaries have availed an interest subsidy of Rs0.68 crore. The UT administration is yet to submit any proposal and is required to fast track proposal for about 12,887 houses to saturate its entire demand by 2017-18.

No proposal has been received under In-situ Slum Rehabilitation (ISSR) component of PMAY (Urban), despite the potential for 0.22 lakh slum households (Census 2011). The UT has to expedite grounding of the sanctioned houses and fast track proposals for additional demands. Further, it was also pointed out that 5,170 houses constructed in earlier schemes of JnNURM and RAY are still unoccupied and urgent steps may be taken to ensure their occupation.

Under DAY-NULM, the administration has achieved only 27 per cent of the target for skill training of candidates in the current year. Only 16 per cent of these trained persons could be suitably placed. The administration may strive to impart training in consultation with business and industry to ensure full placement.

The UT has also to complete survey of urban homeless and make provision of shelters for urban homeless expeditiously.