DEHRADUN: With an eye on the urban local body polls due in Uttarakhand next year, the BJP government has rolled out a plan to step up the basic civic amenities in about 900 peri urban areas.
“The plan to equip 889 peri urban areas with civic amenities like piped water supply, sewerage network and solid waste management has been chalked out,” said drinking water and sanitation minister Prakash Pant. “Similar facilities will also be provided in several rural areas which will be merged with 92 urban local bodies before the urban body polls due in 2018”.
According to Pant, this project will entail an estimated expenditure of Rs 3,500 crore. “The fund required will be arranged through various sources”, he said referring to the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (Amrut).
ADB will provide the state government with a fund of Rs 800 crore, of which Rs 400 crore has been released. “The fund will be used in implementing drinking water projects,” said Pant.
“Our decision to provide basic civic amenities was prompted by a burgeoning population owing to the rural-urban migration. Since the peri urban areas and rural areas were not a part of the urban local bodies, people there were unable to access basic civic amenities”, added the minister. Those inhabiting the peri urban areas, had to make do with 40 Litres Per Capita a Day (LPCD) of potable water, which fell far short of their actual requirement.
{{/usCountry}}“Our decision to provide basic civic amenities was prompted by a burgeoning population owing to the rural-urban migration. Since the peri urban areas and rural areas were not a part of the urban local bodies, people there were unable to access basic civic amenities”, added the minister. Those inhabiting the peri urban areas, had to make do with 40 Litres Per Capita a Day (LPCD) of potable water, which fell far short of their actual requirement.
{{/usCountry}}“Following their merger with urban local bodies, all such peri urban areas will be entitled to 135 LPCD of water supply. The state government will also sanction other projects pertaining to garbage disposal management or sewerage network for all such areas,” said Pant.
A proposal to relax rules for all these areas so that people there face no legal hurdles in constructing their residential premises is being worked on. “There is a plan to regulate construction of commercial establishments in those areas. The proposal will soon be put up before the Cabinet for its approval,” said Pant.