Inept management hits KSUDP plans

Inept management is reported to have taken a toll on the urban infrastructure and service improvement initiatives taken up under the Kerala State Urban Development Project (KSUDP) in five Corporations in the State.

Official sources told The Hindu here that majority of the projects that are limping for want of effective guidance, coordination, and monitoring would have to be relinquished and the State might lose substantial sums in this score.

‘No more aid’

The Centre is understood to have informed the State government that works that have not been tendered so far will not get financial assistance anymore.

The ongoing projects will get only two more years for completion.

Slow pace

Going by the current pace of execution, completing the projects within the deadline will be a tough proposition.

A recent high-level official review of the major schemes above Rs.100 crore had found that the fund absorption rate of the urban development schemes was below the 50 per cent limit.

Schemes which had fallen short of even the 50 per cent target alone were taken up for scrutiny at the meeting. Though it was decided to expedite implementation, no significant progress has been made after the secretary-level review, sources said.

Urban water supply, sewerage and sanitation, drainage, solid waste management, roads, and transport are the key components of the Asian Development Bank-aided venture.

Main issues

Vexatious issues, mainly land acquisition, local resistance against starting solid waste management projects, and providing financial assistance in time to compensate the affected, are not being effectively resolved.

Works are not being done in conformity with the schemes.

Frequent shuffling of officials holding pivotal positions is reported to be one of the prime reasons for lack of continuity in executing the works, sources said.

Prime problems

Almost all the major issues that were sought to be addressed through the schemes in urban areas such as flooding, road development and refuse management and evolving income-generating schemes for the poor, continue to annoy the civic bodies as well as the government.

The Mission 676 drawn up by the government too had not given due significance for supporting such schemes.

The State was hence likely to lose yet another opportunity for augmenting the urban infrastructure, sources said.