Ministry of Urban Development - Year – End – Review

Press Information Bureau
Government of India

Sunday, December 28, 2008


351 PROJECTS COVERING 63 CITIES SANCTIONED / IN PROGRESS UNDER JNNURM

NATIONAL URBAN SANITATION POLICY LAUNCHED

15:43 IST

Year – End – Review
M/o of Urban Development

Highlights

• Under the Urban Infrastructure and Governance (UIG) component of Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), cumulatively, 351 Projects were approved.

• The percentage of Additional Central Assistance (ACA) committed for the UIG Component has already exceeded the halfway mark of allocation for the entire Mission period.

• ACA for Urban Infrastructure Development Scheme for Small and Medium Towns (UIDSSMT) has been released in respect of 505 projects in 415 towns out of 691 projects covering 558 towns approved by the State Level Sanctioning Committee. The releases comprise almost 50% of allocation for the entire Mission period.

• Urban Reforms are on fast track with innovations at State and City levels

• National Urban Sanitation Policy was launched.

• Service Level Benchmarks were laid down in key areas of Municipal Functions

• Ministry of Urban Development was jointly identified with the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation for the “”National Mission on Sustainable Habitat’ in Prime Minister’s National Action Plan on Climate Change.

• A Capacity Building Scheme for the Urban Local Bodies was launched.

JNNURM and UIDSSMT

Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) has set the agenda for Urban Transformation across the country. Since the launch of the Mission. Memoranda of Understanding has been signed with 62 of 63 Cities and so far, 59 Cities have been covered under assistance. The percentage of Additional Central Assistance (ACA) committed in 3 years so far, as against allocation of Rs 25500 crore (UIG Component) for the entire Mission period of 7 years is 63.81%. The total project cost approved is Rs. 3360.94 crore, against which, the ACA released is Rs. 5041.47 crore. Also, of the 351 approved projects, State Governments have reported that physical work relating to 22 projects have been completed.

Under Urban Infrastructure Development Scheme for Small & Medium Towns (UIDSSMT), 691 project reports of 558 towns have been approved by the State Level Sanctioning Committee, out of which ACA has been released to 505 projects in 415 towns involving Rs. 3192.39 crore. The State Governments have informed that physical work relating to 45 projects under UIDSSMT have been completed.

Urban Reforms

JNNURM has catalysed cities to undertake important reform initiatives. The cities have undertaken reforms which contribute to sustainable functioning of urban local bodies (ULB).

Some fresh initiatives include:

• Comprehensive Land Title legislation in Rajasthan,

• Creation of a Municipal Cadre – Municipal Accounts Service in Andhra Pradesh,

• Setting up of Urban Transport Fund in Surat and Pimpri-Chinchwad,

• Setting up of Urban Transport Authority in Hyderabad, Jaipur, Chennai, Bangalore and Mumbai.

• ULBs have initiated various steps to improve their collection of property tax and user charges in a financially sustainable manner.

Public Private Partnership (PPP) Initiatives

The Mission Cities have agreed to include promotion of PPP through appropriate policies and projects as a part of the reform agenda. A number of States such as West Bengal, Maharashtra, Kerala and Gujarat have adopted PPP Policy. PPP Cell has also been established by Assam and West Bengal for promotion of PPP for infrastructure projects in their States. PPP initiatives have been taken by Indore, Vadodara, Pune and Ahmedabad for establishing City Bus services. PPP initiatives have been taken by Kochi in Solid Waste Management.

Focus on Water and Sanitation

Water Supply projects covering augmentation, distribution network and metering are under implementation in 46 Cities. In particular, in 26 cities, the citizens will also get water supply round the clock (24X&) at 135 – 150 litre per capita per day. Sewerage network and connectivity to households is under construction in 33 Cities. Upon completion, the cities will discharge sewerage into network systems rather than directly into nallahs and Sewerage Treatment Plants (STP) will treat sewerage before safe disposal. Solid Waste Management Projects are under implementation in 30 Cities and upon completion, the collection efficiency is expected to increase to 100%. Crude dumping will be eliminated with the creation of engineered landfills with positive results for water quality and environment.

National Urban Sanitation Policy

The National Urban Sanitation Policy was announced in 2008, the international year of sanitation. The Policy was formally launched through a workshop on 12th November 2008. The National Urban Sanitation Policy envisages transforming all the towns and cities of India into 100% sanitized, healthy and livable spaces and ensuring sustained public health and improved environmental outcomes for all its citizens. Special focus has been given to hygienic and affordable sanitation facilities particularly for the urban poor and women. The policy focuses on achievements of outcomes rather than on mere construction of infrastructure, and emphasizes building capacities at the city level. The main components of the policy are awareness generation and bringing about behavior change, achieving open defecation free cities, re-orienting institutions and mainstreaming and prioritizing sanitation in all urban management initiatives at the national, state, city and local level; sanitary and safe disposal of wastes, promoting proper usage and maintenance of household, community and public sanitation facilities; strengthening urban local bodies to provide sanitation services by supporting need based capacity building and training at state level.

Bench Marking of Urban Services

The Ministry of Urban Development has prescribed Standardized service level indicators for four basic urban services (water supply, sewerage, Solid Waste Management and Storm Water Drainage) for enabling Cities to monitor, manage and improve their services delivery performance for basic services. Comprehensive set of guidelines with indicators (covering access to services, quality and reliability of services, cost effectiveness) and a framework for data collection, collation and analysis and a reporting mechanism as well as Bench marking has been prepared and circulated. The Mission cities in particular are expected to keep these bench marks in view while implementing projects under the Mission.

Other Initiatives of the Ministry of Urban Development

( a) Interventions for JNNURM: A few of the various innovations undertaken by the Ministry of Urban Development for better implementation and monitoring of the projects sanctioned under JNUURM are as follows:

(i) Supporting professionally manned Programme Management Unit (PMU) at State level and Programme Implementation Unit (PIU) at ULB level

(ii) Third party monitoring through appointment of Independent Review and Monitoring Agencies (IRMA)

(iii) Capacity building and communication activities for slow performing cities through Rapid Training Program (RTP)

(iv) Peer Experience and Reflective Learning (PEARL) to foster cross learning among cities and institutions

(v) Community Participation Fund (CPF) with the objective of enhancing engagement of citizens in the process of urban management.

(b) Credit Rating of Urban Local Bodies (ULB) - The financial requirement for funding urban infrastructure is significant and it is recognized that public funding alone will not be sufficient. In order to facilitating leveraging of debt for urban infrastructure projects, credit rating of ULB has been undertaken. In the Mission Cities, of the 57 ULB which have been assigned draft ratings , 36 ULBs have investment grade credit rating,

(c) Accrual Based Municipal accounting - A National Municipal Accounting Manual based on accrual based double entry accounting system was prepared and circulated to all the States/UTs in January, 2005 to provide a common framework and simplified toolkit to the ULB for recording accounting entries. As a result now, almost all the States have either adopted double entry accounting system or are in the process of adopting the same.

( d) National Urban Information System (NUIS). A Centrally Sponsored Scheme on NUIS was launched in March 2006 to develop GIS databases for 158 towns/cities in the country. The major objectives of the scheme are to develop attributes as well as spatial information base for various levels of urban planning, use of modern data sources, develop standards and urban indices, and build capacity of personnel in State Town and Country Planning Departments and the ULB in NUIS Scheme towns. So far satellite images have been received for 140 towns, aerial photography has been completed in 35 towns, and data collection is completed in 47 towns. Besides, 28 training programmes as well as 4 regional workshops have been conducted under the Scheme.

(e) Capacity Building in Urban Local Bodies (C-BULB). A Capacity Building Scheme for Urban Local Bodies was launched in 2008-2009 for providing grants to build capacities of the officials and elected representatives in ULBs. The capacity building programme for ULBs would address the needs of those municipal bodies which are not covered under JNNURM or other schemes of the Ministry like UIDSSMT.

Urban Transport

The National Urban Transport Policy (NUTP) was formulated by the Government in 2006. The policy, inter-alia, seeks to promote integrated land use transport planning, better use of public transport and non-motorized transport mode, use of cleaner technology.

Progress in the Field of Urban Transport

• Delhi MRTs phase-I consisting of 65 kilometers has already been completed at a total cost of Rs. 10571 crores. Delhi MRTs phase –II and its extension for about 125 kilometers at a total cost of Rs. 19,000 crore is in progress

• Metro Rail projects have been approved for Bangalore, Kolkata on DMRC pattern and for Mumbai and Hyderabad on PPP pattern and are in different stages of progress. The metro project for Chennai is under advance stage of consideration.

• Proposals for Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) in Ahmedabad, Bhopal, Indore, Jaipur, Pune / Pimpri-Chinchwada, Surat, Rajkot, Vijayawada and Vishakhapatttnam have been approved under JNNURM scheme of the Ministry at an Estimated outlay of Rs. 4510 crore covering 409 kilometers with Central Financial assistance of Rs. 2065 crore.

After the NUTP was launched in 2006, a number of initiatives, particularly for capacity building, were taken to operationalise the Policy.

• World Bank/DFID assistance was availed for preparing the toolkits and guidelines, which were finalized in a national workshop in June.2008 for capacity building of State/city level Urban Transport Authorities and other stakeholders: - These toolkits related to:

i) Institutional Frame Work for Urban Transport – Guidelines.

ii) Toolkit for alternative analysis.

iii) Bus System (BSM) toolkit.

iv) Toolkit for Public Private Partnership (PPP).

• Asian Development Bank (ADB) assistance was availed for preparing the toolkits and guidelines, which were finalized in a national workshop in July 2008 for capacity building of State/city level Urban Transport Authorities and other stakeholders, The toolkits related to:

i) Toolkits/guidelines for Bus Service Improvement and Bus Rapid Transport (BRT).

ii) Toolkits/guidelines on Parking and non-Motorised Transport (NMT).

iii) Toolkits for Comprehensive Mobility Plan (CMP).

• World Bank/GEF assistance was availed for preparation of Sustainable Urban Transport Project in 9 demonstration cities to be implemented over the next 4 years with the World Bank, GEF, UNDP and JNNURM assistance.

• A new scheme of urban transport planning has been launched w.e.f. August, 2008 for providing Central financial assistance up to 80% for taking up traffic and transportation studies and preparation of Detailed Project Reports (limited up to 50% in case of DPR). The scheme covers the wide gamut of urban transport matters for promoting comprehensive and integrated urban transport planning, studies, integrated land use and transport planning, comprehensive mobility plans, preparation of DPR, clean development mechanism (CDM) studies, Intelligent Transport System (ITS) studies, launching of awareness campaign in line with the NUTP, 2006.

• In October 2008, the Ministry of Urban Development and National Capital Region Planning Board co-ordinated with the State Governments of Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi for facilitating the signing of Reciprocal Common Transport Agreement for unrestricted movement of vehicles in National Capital Region (Contract Carriage).

• An International Exhibition cum Conference on Urban Transport-Urban Mobility India was held in December 2008.

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