Sami-ul-Hassan
Srinagar: Call it inefficiency or non seriousness, the lackadaisical approach on part of Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) has deprived Urban Poor Families of Srinagar city from the huge benefits they could have availed under a Central government sponsored scheme.
For the overall rehabilitation of the urban poor families, the centrally
sponsored scheme “Basic Services to Urban Poor” (BSUP) was approved by the government of India for implementation by the SMC.
The sanctioned proposal included construction of 622 dwelling units at four different locations along with the allied works such as water supply, sewerage system, road connectivity, drainage system, land acquisition, development of land and community toilets under the BSUP, documents lying with Precious Kashmir reveal.
The works were approved at an estimated cost of Rs 22.38 crore including 17.48 crore for construction of dwelling units and 4.40 crore for allied works at three locations were to be complete within 12 to 18 months.
The project, according to the papers, was to be funded by the Central government and the State government in the ration of 90:10 respectively.
According to sources, SMC received funds of 10 crore (9 crore from Centre and one crore from State government under the scheme during the period of April 2010 to February 2015, but, unfortunately these urban poor, who keep on complaining and protesting for basic amenities, couldn’t get benefitted through this Central government scheme due to the inefficiency of SMC-which is responsible for the overall maintenance of the Srinagar city-the summer capital of J&K.
The documents reveal that that SMC due to con-conducting of proper surveys and allied works and preparation of faulty estimates resulted in denial of benefits to the beneficiaries. “At one project locations at Wanganpora,
comprising 240 dwelling units, not a single beneficiary got benefitted,” it
reads.
However, it’s not the first time that SMC has failed to implement a central government scheme.
When contacted SMC Commissioner Dr Shafqat Khan said they have constructed some houses at Tibetan colony for the poor.
Asked the Scheme is more about giving basic services to poor and not constructing houses, he said he was in Delhi and won’t be able to tell the exact figures and details about the scheme.
“Once I am back to office, I can give you all the details about the scheme.
The engineering wing is taking care of the said scheme,” he added.
Few years ago, according to a survey, Srinagar was declared as the fourth dirtiest city in India. Now some four to five years after that survey, there seems hardly any improvement in the city as the slum areas have turned into more slums, while the other areas portray the same picture they used to show years ago.
COURTESY: PRECIOUS KASHMIR