The Coimbatore Corporation has sent a proposal for over ₹80 crore to the State Government for approving a part of its lake development project under the Area Based Development component of the Central Government’s Smart Cities project.
The Coimbatore Smart City Limited, the special purpose vehicle (company) formed for executing the Smart Cities project, approved of the same and sent it to the State Government, which would first give the administrative sanction for the project.
Committee
The sanction is to be accorded by a committee comprising the Secretaries of the Municipal Administration and Water Supply Department, Finance Department and Chairman, TUFIDCO, who is also the State Mission Director, Smart Cities programme.
Once the committee gives its approval, the project proposal will again go to the chief engineer at the Commissionerate of Municipal Administration, who will then give the technical sanction. Thereafter, the corporation will float tenders for the project.
At present, the lake development project awaited technical sanction from the Government. The other two Smart Cities projects - model roads development at ₹24 crore and smart schools development project at over ₹20 crore - await administrative sanction.
The bureaucratic set-up delayed the execution of Smart Cities projects as the State Government had created an additional layer of clearance and the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs Secretary wanted it removed, said corporation sources.
The Government should follow the practices adopted in other States - make the approval of the special purpose vehicles final to go ahead with execution.
Corporation sources said the second level of clearances (administrative and technical sanctions) delayed execution of projects and made Smart Cities projects look like other projects implemented by the local bodies.
And, it also defeated the very purpose of establishing special purpose vehicles.
Sources said the Government was working on the proposal and would soon empower the special purpose vehicles so as to expedite the projects, particularly the second phase of lake development projects, the proposal for which was ready at around ₹300 crore.
