Haryana Ranks 12th, Punjab 26th & Chandigarh 2nd in AMRUT’s National Rankings

Amrut India

In an online review meeting with senior officials of Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh, Secretary, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), Durga Shankar Mishra noted that Haryana is ranked 12th, Punjab 26th and Chandigarh 2nd in AMRUT’s national rankings. Appreciating the progress made by the States/UT, Secretary, MoHUA requested them to keep up their efforts and to strive further to enhance their performance.

Secretary, MoHUA further observed that out of 136 projects taken up by Haryana, 63 projects costing Rs 693 crore have been completed and 73 projects worth Rs 1,875 crore are under implementation. The total approved State Annual Action Plan (SAAP) was Rs 2,566 crore for Haryana. DS Mishra appreciated the progress made by the States/UT and requested them to implement the projects expeditiously so that the intended benefits reach the people timely.

He advised them to complete all the projects within the extended mission period up to March 31, 2021, so as to avail the Central Assistance (CA). Thereafter the State/UT Government will have to complete these projects with their own resources.

Keshni Anand Arora, Chief Secretary, Government of Haryana, Vini Mahajan, Chief Secretary, Government of Punjab and Manoj Kumar Parida, Advisor to Administrator, UT of Chandigarh attended the meeting besides the Mission Directors of the MoHUA.

Chandigarh has awarded contracts for all 12 projects (100 percent) of the approved SAAP of Rs 57 crore. In Punjab against a SAAP size of Rs. 2,767 crore, 185 projects have been taken up and contracts have been awarded for projects costing Rs 2,132 crore.

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Household Tap Connections – Haryana has provided 2.29 lakh new households water tap connections so far. Chandigarh has met the target of 20,000 for tap connections. The Secretary emphasized the need to guard against poor plumbing leading to leakages. He suggested the capacity building of the plumber also.

Sewerage connections – Haryana has provided 2.22 lakh sewer connections and Punjab has given 1.75 lakh new connections. Chandigarh has provided 20,000 new sewer connections.

Drainage – Secretary, MoHUA complimented the State Government of Haryana for eliminating waterlogging at 300 points.

Replacement of Streetlights with LED and Energy Audit of Water Pumps – Haryana has so far replaced 1.95 lakh streetlights with LED lights, Punjab has replaced 2.51 lakh lights and Chandigarh has replaced 43,853 lights. The States/UT were requested to expedite the process for replacement of the streetlights with LED lights.

Online Building Permission System (OBPS) – Both the States have implemented the system in their Mission cities. Chandigarh assured that the OBPS would be implemented by September 30, 2020, in all mission cities.

Credit Rating – Credit Rating work has been completed in all Mission cities in the two States and UT. Five cities each in Haryana and Punjab and the UT of Chandigarh have received IGR Rating.

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During the meeting, it was informed that the Ministry has developed a common dashboard for all the Missions of the Ministry where information relating to all States/UT and cities would be available. The States/UT may use this facility for monitoring the progress. Secretary, MoHUA requested the states/UT to update the details of Missions regularly so that the progress would be updated in the portal/dashboard. This data is used for monitoring, reviewing and assessment of monthly rankings on the progress among the states.

Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) was launched by Hon’ble Prime Minister on June 25, 2015, in 500 cities across the country. The thrust areas of the mission are water supply, sewerage & septage management, stormwater drainage, green spaces & parks and non-motorized urban transport. Besides creating basic infrastructure, the mission also has a reform agenda spread over four years.

Against the total State Annual Action Plan (SAAP) size of Rs 77,640 crore, Rs 39,011 crore (50 percent) has been allocated to water supply sector, Rs 32,456 crore (42 percent) to sewerage & septage management sector, Rs 2,969 crore (4 percent) for stormwater drainage projects, Rs 1,436 crore (2 percent) for non-motorized urban transport and Rs 1,768 crore (2 percent) for green spaces & parks. Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) have been approved for projects worth Rs 80,428 crore, of which contracts have been awarded for projects worth Rs 66,077 crore including completed projects worth Rs 11,523 crore.

(with inputs from PIB)