JNNURM: a Nehruvian farce
The Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) was introduced in 2005 with Rs 50,000-crore central aid. Another Rs 50,000 was to be raised from the private sector. The aim was to develop 63 cities into model sustainable areas. 226 projects worth Rs 18,728.73 crore have been sanctioned already under JNNURM till August 2007
Most JNNURM proposals have ignored the core problems in the cities
In the Rs 2,732.4 crore aid to Mumbai, Rs 1,329 crore is for the Middle Vaitarna dam project. This will bring in another 455 mld (million litres per day) water to the city that dumps in the sea 2,567 mld of raw sewage. With Rs 364.47 crore allotted for sewage disposal and not for treatment more raw sewage will reach the sea
Thane, where water mismanagement results in large supply losses, plans to augment its supply by another 100 mld with allotted money of Rs 71.18 crore. This will generate an additional 80 mld of sewage. Currently 62 per cent of sewage goes untreated
Nagpur, which gets water from the Pench dam, received Rs 695 crore for water supply augmentation. It has a high water supply of 200 litres per capita per day (lpcd) and faces a 30 per cent distribution loss. It also lacks competent sewerage. Of the 235 mld of sewage generated in the city, more than half goes untreated. There are no plans to treat sewage
Agra, Lucknow, Mathura, Kanpur and Meerut were given aid only for solid waste management. Sewage was ignored
Of the Rs 1,050 crore given to Kolkata, Rs 317 crore is for improving water supply. This includes improving the Dhapa water treatment plant and setting up a treatment plant to tap water from the Hooghly. The city has a high per capita supply of 223 lpcd but faces 35 per cent loss from leakage
In Bhubaneshwar (Rs 500 crore), Jabalpur (Rs 150 crore), Jammu (Rs 130 crore) and Srinagar (Rs 130 crore) assistance has been provided for sewerage while core demands like road transport and water supply have been ignored
Bhopal's existing sewer serves 30 per cent of the city's population but treats only 20 per cent of its waste. The lack of sewage management has polluted the Upper Lake, Bhopal's main water source. No funds have been allotted for lake cleaning
Rs 44 crore have been allotted for revitalising the Musi river in Hyderabad. But Rs 81.20 crore is allotted for getting additional Krishna water to Secunderabad. Already, 75 per cent of the city's untreated sewage pollutes the Musi
Bangalore has only five sewage treatment plants, dealing with 40 per cent of waste water. Rs 12.26 crore has been allotted for getting an additional 100 mld of water from the Cauvery river. This will increase the sewage load. There isn't much money for sewage treatment. But Rs 43.61 crore and Rs 50.44 crore have been allotted to upgrade sidewalks in M G Road and Koramangala, respectively