City Development Plan approved

lolGood news at last.....

The City Corporation Council on Wednesday approved a Rs.7417-crore city development plan (CDP) to be submitted to the Central Government for assistance under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM).

Apart from the Corporation area, the 20-year perspective plan covers parts of Vizhinjam, Kazhakkuttom, Sreekaryam, Kudappanakunnu and Vattiyoorkavu panchayats bordering the city. It includes projects in 10 sectors, namely water supply, sewerage, stormwater drainage, environment, solid waste management, traffic and transportation, urban regeneration, heritage and tourism, social infrastructure and basic services for the urban poor.

While the total outlay for the infrastructure sector is pegged at Rs.6840 crore, an amount of Rs.577 crore has been earmarked for the sub mission on basic services for the urban poor. The projects will be implemented over a period of seven years, with the Centre footing 80 per cent of the cost and the State Government and the Corporation providing 10 per cent each. The CDP was prepared by a core committee headed by Mayor C. Jayan Babu after detailed

The shortlisted projects are:

1. Inner, Intermediate and Outer Ring Roads

2. Dedicated road/freight corridor for Vizhinjam Container Terminal

3. Truck Terminals at Vallakadavu, Chala and Eanchakkal

4. Multi-level car parking plazas

5. Light Rail Transport System (LRTS) from Kazhakkoottam to Killipalam

6. High Capacity Buses

7. Development of Kovalam-Veli and Kovalam-Kolachel waterways

8. Water treatment plant

9. Sewage treatment plant at Valiathura

10. Automatic air quality monitoring stations

11. Artificial forests at Muttachira and Chitranjali studio complexes

12. Landscaping of waterfront at Kovalam

13. Leisure areas at Valliathura - Shankumugham beachfront

14. Tourist facilitation complexes at Vizhinjam and Kochuveli

15. Helicopter and seaplane terminals at Kovalam and Aakulam

The list looks good and includes most of the projects that were identified in various forums, as being essential for the growth of the Metropolitan area. :-) In terms of time frames, my take is that the following will be the case:

Short Term (12 - 18 months) - Truck terminal at Chalai, landscaping at Kovalam, leisure areas at Beach, air quality monitoring stations, Inner and Intermediate Ring Roads, afforestation.

Medium Term (18-36 months) - Parking plazas, Outer Ring Road, High Capacity Buses, Water and Sewage Treatment plants, helicopter and seaplane terminals, tourist complexes, new Truck Terminals.

Long Term (36-72 months) - LRTS, Freight Corridor for Vzm port and development of waterways.

Now, it remains to be seen how much funding is actually received and which projects are taken up. With the level of funding from JNURM, the last three projects cannot be executed, and only preliminary work for them can be done. So, independent funding/BOT models need to be developed independently for them.