The Greater Vijayawada proposal has apparently moved forward with Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy agreeing to the idea. The Chief Minister has asked the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation authorities to send the proposals to the government after obtaining the resolutions from the respective gram panchayats.
The Chief Minister chaired a State level Sanctioning Committee meeting at Hyderabad on Monday. The corporation authorities brought to his notice that there were 28 revenue surplus villages abutting the city and stressed the need for merging them with the city for development in the right direction. The boundaries of the city need to be extended as development was taking place in leaps and bounds in the surrounding villages, they told the Chief Minister. In response to it, he asked them to send the proposals, sources say.
The Hindu had reported in these columns in mid-August that the Greater Vijayawada move was gaining momentum. The SLSC also cleared the projects that were revised to meet the deadline set under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) programme. The corporation authorities revised the BRTS Project and pegged the project cost at Rs.98.99 crore, against the original estimate of Rs.151 crore. The revision was made in view of land acquisitions, permissions from NHAI and railways, etc. The Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) project has also been revised though the estimates remained same at Rs. 58 crore. The committee cleared new projects like road overbridges (RoBs) at Madhura Nagar, Gunadala and Vambay Colony, sources say.
The Chief Minister has also directed the APUFIDC to look into the issue of pending dues. The VMC and APUFIDC need to sort out the issues that were turning hurdles in release of the funds. The corporation had spent Rs.98 crore in excess on projects taken up under the JNNURM programme. The funds are likely to be released soon, sources say.