THIRUVANANTHAPURAM A grant of ₹256 crore has been transferred to seven cities in the State, along with towns and outgrowths adjacent to them, which have been chosen as part of the 15th Finance Commission's Million Plus Urban Agglomerations programme. The seven cities and the adjacent urban local bodies, all with a total population of above 10 lakh, will get funds of ₹1,402 crore over the next five years to be spent on improving service-level benchmarks, especially in sanitation, solid waste management and provision of clean drinking water.
Kochi and the urban areas around it have got the maximum share of ₹45 crore, while Kollam has got the least at ₹23 crore. Thiruvananthapuram with a share of ₹35 crore, Kozhikode ₹43 crore, Thrissur ₹39 crore, Malappuram ₹36 crore and Kannur with ₹35 crore are the other cities which have been chosen for the programme.
Tripartite MoU
Each major urban local body (representing an urban agglomeration), the State government and the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs have entered into a tripartite memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the targets for each year. The Ministry will constantly evaluate the progress in each of the sectors. The percentage of grants that the local bodies will get will depend upon the marks in these evaluations. The major urban local body in each agglomeration will serve as the nodal local body and will be receiving the funds on behalf of the region. It will also have the responsibility of achieving the performance indicators for the entire urban agglomeration.
The urban local bodies have already prepared their five-year plans for the agglomerations, with a subcommittee formed under the District Planning Committee coordinating the activities. In Thiruvananthapuram, for instance, the plans including a faecal waste and sludge treatment plant, biomedical waste incineration plant and bio-fencing in places that have turned waste dumps. The Corporation ands 35 local bodies surrounding the city, making up an urban agglomeration, will get ₹194 crore over the next five years.
