By Bizodisha Bureau Bhubaneswar, May 13, 2016 : Odisha government has worked out an ambitious plan to accelerate development in 9 urban centers  in the state entailing an investment of Rs 537 crore in this fiscal under Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT).

State High Powered Steering Committee (SHPSC) headed by chief secretary Aditya Prasad Padhi on Friday approved the State Annual Action Plan (SAAP) of 2016-17 for 9 AMRUT cities comprising of 143 projects worth of Rs 537 crore.

These projects would be implemented in the cities like Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Puri, Berhampur, Rourkela, Sambalpur, Balasore, Bhadrak and Baripada.

Presiding over a meeting of SHPSC, Padhi took stock of the preparedness for implementation of the projects and asked the housing and urban development department to expedite the utilization of the funds and avail the incentive grant.

Housing and urban development secretary G Mathivathanan said that incentive up to 10% of the total project value would be available for progress of the projects as per the mile stones set in it. Padhi also asked the department to conduct energy and water audit in all the AMRUT cities. Special Secretary H & UD-cum Secretary Odisha Urban Infrastructure Development Fund (OUIDF)

Sisir Kumar Ratho presented the projects and outlined the issues for discussion.

These 143 projects for the Mission cities of Odisha under AMRUT were worked out through a long course of consultation and consensus from city to State level in four phases including consultation meetings with concerned MPs, MLAs, Mayors and Chairpersons.

Special Secretary Ratho said that the funding pattern of the project would be on 50:50 cost sharing basis between Central and State Govt. Besides, the State or concerned ULB would make appropriate cost recovery mechanism for operation and management of the projects.

The approved projects include 91 water supply projects of worth Rs 487 crore, sewerage and seepage management projects of worth Rs.20.55 crore and 48 other projects including parks of worth Rs 22.85 crore.

Officials said, Urban Local Bodies [ULB] and public health engineers have been trained and the capacity building at ULB level has already been taken up for expeditious implementation of the projects.

So far 239 engineers, town planners and executive officers have been trained. Exposure visits have been organized for 33 elected representatives from AMRUT towns. Training for additional 270 officials and exposure visit for 60 elected representatives have been planned for this year.. With all these, 9 AMRUT cities of the State now all set for speedy implementation of the projects, said a senior officer of the department.