The Union government has sanctioned Rs 151.74 crore for augmenting drinking water supply and sewerage facilities in six Punjab towns. The funds have been sanctioned from the Urban Infrastructure Development Scheme. This development took place yesterday, the last working day of the previous financial year, in which 80 per cent of the cost of the project will be borne by the Central government, the state and the local body and the remaining by the municipal committee, municipal corporation or notified area committee. If Bathinda and Majitha will benefit from a special Central government package for augmenting their drinking water supply, Jalandhar, Malout, Pathankot and Zirakpur will have plenty of Central funds for improving their sewerage networks. Many Punjab towns have major problems with their sewerage that are either defective or inadequate. Not many towns have sewage treatment plants and the entire waste is released into natural water channels, including rivers and canals, thus making the drinking water supplied through conventional channels unfit for human consumption. In fact, the Punjab government had prepared development plans for 28 small and medium towns and cities under the Urban Infrastructure Development Programme. Naresh Gujral, Rajya Sabha member from Punjab, had been pursuing the case of various Punjab towns for release of grants. Last week, accompanied by the president of the Shiromani Akali Dal Sukhbir Singh Badal and Punjab Local Bodies minister Manoranjan Kalia, Gujral met the union minister for urban development for clearance of the pending Punjab projects before the closure of the 2007-2008 financial year. "Only yesterday, we were informed that Rs 151.8 crore has been finally sanctioned for six Punjab towns,' said Gujral. Gujral told The Tribune that Bathinda would get Rs 21.13 crore for augmenting its drinking water supply while Majitha would get Central assistance of Rs 96.80 lakh. The state government would contribute the remaining 20 per cent of the water supply projects in Bathinda and Majitha. "The state government has given an undertaking that it would pay the share of the beneficiary local body for both drinking water and sewerage schemes,' Naresh Gujral added. For augmentation of sewerage facilities, Zirakpur will get Central assistance of Rs 33.58 crore out of a total project cost of Rs 41.97 crore. Similarly, Jalandhar, Malout and Pathankot will get Central assistance of Rs 39.64 crore, Rs 18.28 crore and Rs 38.12 crore, respectively.