Tamil Nadu directs local bodies to finish pending civic projects before December

Chennai: With the Assembly elections scheduled for next year, the state government has directed all local bodies in the state, from city corporations to village panchayats, to finish all the pending and sanctioned civic projects like road relaying, bridge and drain construction before December.

“Oral instructions have been given through the local administration ministry and at present the road relaying works are progressing at full pace and in the next three months, there will be more inaugurals and functions. Adequate funds required for the projects have started pouring in since May”, admitted a municipal chairman from southern Tamil Nadu.

Secretariat sources said there are 12 municipal corporations, 124 municipalities and 528 town panchayats in the state and all the local bodies had been instructed to speed up civic works. To ensure that the local bodies did not suffer any funds shortage, Rs 5,000 crore including Rs 1000 crore, for road relaying had been sanctioned in May.

Tamil Nadu Urban Finance and Infrastructure Development Corporation had also accorded administrative sanction to a tune of Rs 4,000 crore for storm water drains, underground sewerage, new buildings and water treatment plants. To ensure safe drinking water, the local administration ministry in May also passed orders sanctioning Rs 68 crore to install 1139 reverse osmosis plants in all Amma canteens, hospitals and schools.

Chennai corporation sources said funds were never a problem for tier one cities, but the release of funds will speed up projects and road repair works under the integrated urban development mission which were in progress at full pace.

However, a top government official said that multi crore projects like world class oceanarium at Mahaballipuram, mono rail connecting corridors of Chennai, and advanced wildlife research institute at Vandalur zoo may take some more months to materialise as the projects were yet to cross the half-way mark.