Kerala - Kochi   

Support likely for City Corporation projects

KOCHI: The water supply and sewerage projects of the Kochi Corporation are likely to get funds from the Kerala Urban and Rural Development Finance Corporation (KURDFC).

The director board members of KURDFC are understood to have conveyed their willingness to support the projects to the civic representatives of Kochi at a meeting held in Thiruvananthapuram on Tuesday. Kochi Mayor Mercy Williams and Corporation Secretary Mini Antony took part in the discussions with the director board members. The funds will be used to meet the Urban Local Body share for the projects.

The civic body is planning to implement the water supply and sewerage projects with the support of the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission.

Rs.201 crore is the estimated budget for the water supply project. Of this, Rs.161 crore will come as the Central and State governments’ share.

The Urban Local Body (ULB) share will be Rs.40 crore. The corporation will have to shoulder the expenses required for land acquisition, establishment cost and the likely cost escalation. The land acquisition will add a financial burden of Rs.5 crore, cost escalation Rs.50.3 crore and establishment cost Rs.30.07 crore.

The corporation need not make the payments at one go, but would have to release the funds on a stage-by-stage manner, it was pointed out.

The project aims at bringing water from the Muvattupuzha River to the city after treating it at various plants to meet the drinking water needs of the city.

In the sewerage project, the State and Central government share would come around to Rs.60 crore and the ULB share Rs.14.81 core. The land acquisition would incur an expense of Rs.10 crore and cost escalation Rs.18.7 crore. After accounting the funds that would be at the disposal of the Corporation from various sources, the Corporation will have to raise Rs.28.7 crore for the sewerage project.

Both the water supply and the sewerage projects will be implemented by the Kerala Water Authority(KWA). KWA officials are understood to have assured the State government that they would be able to give connections to individual consumers from 2011 under the projects.

The Kochi Corporation has agreed to acquire and hand over the land for the projects to KWA before December 31. The government has directed KWA to set up a Project Implementation Unit and a dedicated team for the projects. It has also agreed to a government suggestion that the officials in the dedicated team should not be transferred from their posts until the completion of the project.

The proposed sewerage project will be able to serve only a portion of the central city area and it would require some more projects to cover majority of the city areas, it has been pointed out.

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