Banglore, July 25: As elections to Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) are round the corner, the Y S Rajasekhara Reddy government, in its budget for the financial year of 2009-10, made a special mention of projects proposed and being implemented in the State capital. It has promised to make Hyderabad a world-class city. Finance Minister Konijeti Rosaiah, in his budget presentation in the State Assembly on Friday, said that the government had approved the ‘Maulana Abul Kalam Hyderabad Sujala Sravanthi’ scheme to draw water from the Godavari river in three phases for Greater Hyderabad. An amount of Rs 250 crore was provided in the Budget for the same. Cost of phase-I of the project was put at Rs 3,375 crore. “Our government is committed to improving the quality of water supply in slum areas particularly in the Twin Cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad. For this purpose, an amount of Rs 37 crore has been provided in this year’s budget,” he added.
Asserting that the Government has taken major initiatives to make Hyderabad a world-class city, Rosaiah said that steps have been taken to expedite construction of the 158-kilometre long Outer Ring Road (ORR) as an eight-lane ‘Access Controlled Expressway’ with an estimated cost of Rs 4,607 crore. In order to empower poor women living in slum areas, an action plan has been prepared by providing Rs 1,200 crore credit to IKP (Indira Kranthi Patham) urban groups. About 1.83 lakh groups of poor women living in 7,040 slums have been organised into self-help groups under IKP urban and have been provided a credit of Rs 843 crore through bank linkage during 2008-09, he noted.
On this occasion, the Finance Minister claimed that the State government has taken proactive steps to access funds under Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), a flagship programme of the Central government. So far, about 268 projects which include water supply and sewerage, transport, integrated development of slums, solid waste management etc have been sanctioned at an estimated cost of Rs 12,523.70 crore, he added.
BUDGET BONANZA
* Rs 250 crore for Godavari drinking water scheme
* Rs 37 crore to improve water supply in slums
* Rs 1,200 crore credit to Indira Kranthi Patham urban groups
* Work on 158-km Outer Ring Road to be expedited
–Agencies–