Drinking water in parts of West Guwahati, South Guwahati from Bohag 1
By our Staff Reporter
GUWAHATI, July 26: Assam Fince Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma today said that on the first day of coming Bohag, people in some parts of West Guwahati and South Guwahati would get drinking water through JnNURM and JICA projects respectively.
The minister said this in his speech after tabling the State’s annual Budget 2016-17 in the Assembly today. The minister, however, made a startling revelation that due to enormous delay in implementation of JnNURM water project, the Central Government had foreclosed the project and now the State Government was compelled to bear the burden. “I, therefore, propose to allocate Rs. 5150 lakh so as to ensure completion of the West Guwahati drinking water project,” he said.
Smart city in the making
Sarma said that Guwahati city is one of the Smart Cities under Smart City Mission. “A Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) under the me and style ‘Guwahati Smart City Development Agency Limited’ has been formed to implement the project,” he said, and added: “This project envisages about Rs 2,256 crore investment over a period of five years in order to improve the quality of life in the city. Of this, the Centre’s contribution is Rs 488 crore and State’s contribution is Rs 500 crore. The remaining amount of Rs 1,276 is to come from convergence of existing programmes like AMRUT etc., (Rs 786 crore) and through PPP (Rs 468 crore).”
The main components of Smart City Mission, according to Sarma, are area-based programme – development of Bharalu, Mora Bharalu, Deepor Beel, Borsola Beel, and Brahmaputra River front and pan-city development like Integrated ICT-based application for public transport, street-scraping etc. Other programmes of the power department for underground cabling etc., will also be taken up simultaneously, he said, and added: “For the current year, I set aside Rs 19,600 lakh from the budget for 0releasing the Central share.”
Guwahati floods
Floods in Guwahati are a major concern for all. Guwahati Development Department (GDD) Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said: “We are taking with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to undertake a massive and technologically viable solution, and we are hopeful that the details will be shared with the Assembly once the discussions with ADB come to conclusion.”
City parks
With the green Lungs of Guwahati fast disappearing, the State GDD Minister is proposing to create a master plan of open spaces and parks of greater Guwahati and interconnect them on the lines of Singapore’s Park Interconnect Model and develop them. “This project will be called, GOPI Network (Guwahati Open spaces and Park Integrator) Network. Citizens can move by foot, bicycle or bus from one park to another seamlessly. This would also cover the water bodies. To begin with, the State Government has decided to develop an intertiol standard botanical park on the site of old Jail complex in Fancy Bazar. I propose to allot Rs 100 lakh for the preparatory works,” Sarma said.
Sarma also said that the government is going to erect solar panel on each and every electrical post and generate solar energy not only for the street lighting but also to contribute to the electricity grid.
User-friendly foot-over-bridges
Sarma said that the foot-over-bridges (FOBs) constructed in Guwahati are not being used by the pedestrians because they are not user-friendly. The government has therefore proposed to install lifts at the FOBs for safety and better traffic.
Multi-storeyed car parking
The Fince Minister has proposed to allot Rs 1363.95 lakh for Shraddhanjali Kan Multi-storeyed car parking and Rs 500 lakh for MMC Hospital car parking so that both the utilities would be ready within this fincial year.
Guwahati-North Guwahati Ropeway
The Ropeway project from Guwahati to North Guwahati has been taken up for encouraging tourism in the State and shall make efforts to complete at the earliest. State Fince Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma set aside an amount Rs 2349.85 lakh in the budget for the purpose.
City shops can remain open till 12 mid-night
Now on shops in Guwahati can remain open till 12 mid-night and round the clock when there are festivals like Bihu, Durga Puja etc., State Fince Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma informed the House today during his Budget speech.