Mangaluru (The Hindu): While Rs. 245 cr. is set aside for the sewage works, Rs. 218 cr. would be spent on the water project. Even as the underground sewage project taken up in the city more than a decade ago by spending Rs. 218 crore has not been made fully operational, the government is set to spend another Rs. 245 crore in three urban local bodies in Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts for the second phase of the project.

Like the earlier one, the Phase II project would also be taken up in Mangaluru, Udupi and Puttur by availing loan from the Asian Development Bank (ADB). The Karnataka Urban Infrastructure Development and Finance Corporation (KUIDFC) would take up the Phase II project under the Karnataka Integrated Urban Water Management Investment Programme (KIUWMIP).

Approval given

The Phase I of the project was also taken up using funds from the ADB. Sources in KUIDFC told The Hindu that Rs. 120 crore will be allocated in the Phase II to Mangaluru, Rs. 75 crore to Puttur and Rs. 50 crore to Udupi to cover areas which do not have underground sewerage network. The councils of three urban local bodies have given approval to prepare the detailed project reports which are yet to be ready.

Sources said that in addition to Rs. 245 crore, the government would spend another Rs. 218 crore for drinking water supply projects in the same three cities/towns and in Kundapura under the same programme.

The councils of Kundapura and Puttur civic bodies have approved the detailed project reports of water supply and the same are with KUIDFC now for verification. The detailed project reports of Mangaluru and Udupi are yet to be prepared.

A feature of the Karnataka Integrated Urban Water Management Investment Programme is that all four urban local bodies will have programme implementation units (PIUs) of KUIDFC to coordinate with the respective local bodies to address issues which will arise while implementing the projects. Each unit will be headed by an Executive Engineer, who will be assisted by two Assistant Executive Engineers, four Assistant Engineers and other office staff.

The PIUs will have to ensure that the civic bodies and KUIDFC cannot remain isolated on issues such as land acquisition, laying and linking of pipelines, building roads and retaining walls required while implementing projects.

The issues will have to be addressed jointly to avoid delay in completing projects.

The PIUs would be in addition to the regional programme management unit of KUIDFC housed in the city corporation building at Mallikatta here. This unit would overall supervise works in all four urban local bodies.