Municipal Administration and Water Supply gets nearly 19k crore

“Basic infrastructure like roads, stormwater drains and streetlights are being taken up under the ‘Integrated Urban Development Mission’ (IUDM) and ‘Chennai Mega City Development Mission’ (CMCDM), and projects which are aimed at improving urban quality of life are being taken up under Smart Cities Programme,” Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam said in his budget speech.

In the 2019-20 budget estimates, the government has allocated a whopping Rs 18,700.64 crore for the Municipal Administration and Water Supply (MAWS) Department.

This includes Rs 1,450 crore for AMRUT scheme, Rs. 302 crore for Tamil Nadu Urban Flagship Investment Programme (TNUFIP),Rs. 750 crore for IUDM and Rs. 500 crore for CMCDM.

It may be noted that the State government had re-launched the ‘Chennai Mega City Development Mission’ during the 2018-2019 budget and allocated Rs 500 crore. Till March 2018, the government has released Rs 2,100.00 crore since the implementation of CMCDM, of which a sum of Rs 1,981.33 crore has been disbursed to Chennai Corporation and Metrowater.

In his budget speech, Panneerselvam also explained that 326 projects have been sanctioned in the State under Smart City Programme at a cost of Rs 11,776 crore. Under the AMRUT scheme, 445 works, amounting to Rs 11,441.32 crore, have been taken up. Meanwhile, Rs 836.39 crore has been allocated to implement the World Bank-assisted ‘Tamil Nadu Sustainable Urban Development Programme’ (TNSUDP). Since 2015, projects at cost of Rs 3,831 crore have been taken up. The government will also take up works at an estimated cost of Rs 200 crore in town panchayats with NABARD funding in 2019-2020.