City yet to get its share of urban mission funds

The Delhi government has not been able to go ahead with several of its much-hyped projects under the Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission, writes Anuradha Mukherjee.

The Delhi government has not been able to go ahead with several of its much-hyped projects under the Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission. Reason: The Centre is yet to allocate enough funds for the schemes that include roads, flyovers, underpasses and the Yamuna interceptors.

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The projects were announced amid fanfare two years back but the government has only received a small part of the amount promised for the development projects, prompting Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit to take up the matter with the Union Urban Development Ministry.

In a meeting held to review urban renewal mission projects, Dikshit told officials that she would write to the Urban Development Minister if funds were not released.

Delhi Chief Secretary Rakesh Mehta confirmed this. "We are yet to receive funds for a number of projects. The Chief Minister said she would take up the matter with Union Urban Development Minister. But this has not prevented us from going ahead with the work," said Mehta.

Officials say so far, the Delhi government has received money - about Rs 300 crore - only for the low-cost housing projects for the poor.

"But no money has been released for the MCD road projects, including several flyovers and underpasses, planned across the city.

Everything put together, we need about Rs 3,000 crore," said an official.

The Yamuna interceptor project has also been shown the red light by the Union Urban Development Ministry. The apex court ordered the project -- which involves setting up barriers to prevent filth pouring into it through some of the biggest drains in the city.

"The Union Urban Development Ministry has not released funds for the project because the Delhi government did not seek its clearance before going ahead. This was a court-ordered project and we wanted to expedite it," said a senior government official.

Despite announcing a slew of projects under the urban renewal programme that aims at improving facilities in cities, the Delhi government is yet to receive much in terms of funds. "It has been two years and the government cannot be expected to hold out on projects for very long," said the official.