With over Rs300 crore invested in remodelling stormwater drains wasted, where will BBMP find the money to implement a new project?
Revamping the 842-km stretch of stormwater drains criss-crossing Bangalore is one of the major programmes taken up under the multi-crore Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM).
This Centre-sponsored programme is among several mega-projects and the cost of remodelling primary and secondary drains leading to the four major valleys — Hebbal, Vrushabhavati, Koramangala and Challaghatta — is an estimated Rs643.06 crore.
As per the BBMP’s official figures, the implementing agency for the project has already spent around Rs370 crore and the project, which began in 2007, has 17 months to go before completion.
On Saturday, however, Bangalore in-charge minister R Ashok, stated that the project had failed and there was an urgent need to find alternatives.
“Blocked stormwater drains are the main reason behind floods. However, the SWD remodelling project taken up under JNNURM is a failure and we are planning to find alternatives to the project and a new project plan is being prepared,” he said during an inspection of rain-affected areas in the city.
The observation by the minister has raised concerns regarding the implementation of the project, especially because of the price tag it comes with. Sources in the Karnataka Urban Infrastructure Development and Finance Corporation (KUIDFC), the state-level nodal agency for the project, said that the civic body cannot abandon the project mid-way, especially when the central government has invested a lot of money in it.
“If there are lapses in the project, it is the duty of the state government to set things right and carry on with the implementation,” said one senior officer from the KUIDFC.
The irony of the entire episode is that the SWD remodelling project is the BBMP’s baby. “Much before the JNNURM came into existence the BBMP had prepared a project plan for the remodelling of SWDs and were waiting for a proper channel for funding. The problem with the project is about implementation. If the project is taken out of JNNURM limits, I wonder how the BBMP, which is facing a fund crunch, will carry the work forward,” said Dinakar K, a civic expert.
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