Staff Reporter
Guwahati: The implementation of the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT), as well as AMRUT 2.0, in the state has not been completely satisfactory.
This was revealed in a report by the Standing Committee on Housing and Urban Affairs on the implementation of different central sector schemes across the country.
Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) was launched on June 25, 2015, in 500 selected cities and towns across the country. The Mission focuses on the development of basic infrastructure in the selected cities and towns in the sectors of water supply, sewerage management, stormwater drainage, green spaces and parks, and non-motorized urban transport. A set of urban reforms and capacity building have been included in the Mission.
Under AMRUT, Guwahati, Dibrugarh, Silchar, and Nagaon were selected for implementation of the Mission and a total of 17 projects were taken up. While 12 projects were completed, 5 are still incomplete. The total cost of the 17 projects was Rs 625.71 crore, of which Rs 511.71 crore was released. The total utilization of the funds was Rs 457.67 crore, the report said.
The Mission was launched for a five-year period from 2015-16 to 2019-20. AMRUT Mission has been subsumed under AMRUT 2.0, which was launched on October 1, 2021, and ongoing projects of the first edition of AMRUT will be funded with central assistance till March 31, 2023. The AMRUT 2.0 scheme, launched for the period of 5 years, i.e., from the financial year 2021-22 to the financial year 2025-26, is designed to provide universal coverage of water supply through functional taps to all households in all the statutory towns in the country and coverage of sewerage and septage management in 500 cities covered in the first phase of the AMRUT scheme.
Under AMRUT 2.0, in Assam, a total of 96 urban local bodies were included, and 60 projects were planned. Of this, 39 projects were awarded in 24 districts, and work on the projects is going on.
The budget for the second edition of the Mission in Assam was Rs 961.98 crore. Of this total, an amount of Rs 56.65 crore was released while Rs 37.01 crore has been utilized to date.
AMRUT 2.0 will promote a circular economy of water through the development of a City Water Balance Plan (CWBP) for each city focusing on the recycling and reuse of treated sewage, the rejuvenation of water bodies, and water conservation. It will help cities to identify scope for projects focusing on universal coverage of functional water tap connections, water source conservation, rejuvenation of water bodies and wells, recycling and reuse of treated used water, and rainwater harvesting. Based on the projects identified in CWBP, the Mission envisages making cities ‘water secure’ through a circular economy of water.
Mission also has a reform agenda on ease of living of citizens through reduction of non-revenue water, recycling of treated used water, rejuvenation of water bodies, augmenting the double-entry accounting system, urban planning, strengthening urban finance, etc.
Also Read: Arunachal: 100 KLD Septage Treatment Plant inaugurated in Itanagar under AMRUT 1.0
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