PMC complains of delay, Centre blames civic body: Why haven’t you acquired land yet?

In response, the Environment Ministry has sent a letter to Shirole, saying while a project management consultant would be finalised by the end of the month, the PMC had not even utilised the funds that have been released by the Centre so far.

The project was sanctioned in 2016, at an estimated cost of Rs 990.26 crore, and is to be implemented by the PMC.

The cost of the project would be shared by the Centre and state government, along with the PMC, in a 85:15 per cent ratio. Till now, the Union government has released Rs 25.99 crore as its share of funds, for the acquisition of land to construct new STPs under the project.

In the letter, Environment Minister Harsh Vardhan wrote, “The land acquisition process is slow and needs to be expedited by the PMC as they have been able to acquire only 1.24 hectares of land, out of 8.91 hectares required for the construction of proposed new STPs, and have also not been able to fully utilise the funds released by this ministry till date for the project”

“Regarding the appointment of a project management consultant, I would like to inform you that the process of selection of consultant has already been initiated by the ministry… It is expected that the consultants would be appointed latest by September 2017, after completing all requisite requirements for their appointment,” the minister stated.

Four firms had submitted their technical bids and they were being evaluated by an expert committee formed for this purpose, wrote Harsh Vardhan.

Earlier, in a letter to Harsh Vardhan, Shirole had written that the project was getting delayed on account of non-appointment of a project management consultant. “The present proposal has been recommended by the Expenditure and Finance Committee of the government of India. The loan agreement between JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency) and the government of India was signed on 13 January 2016. But it has been brought to my notice by the PMC that the appointment of the principal project management consultant by the government of India has not been completed yet, and hence the execution of work has not started,” wrote Shirole.

According to the PMC, about 744 MLD of sewage is generated in the city, while the total treatment capacity of its 10 existing STPs is only 567 MLD. Due to the insufficient wastewater treatment capacity, non-functioning of intermediate pumping stations and non-availability of a sewerage system, the untreated sewage was finding its way to Mula-Mutha river and polluting it.

Under the proposed project, the PMC plans to construct 11 new STPs of 396-MLD treatment capacity, set up 113.6 km of sewer lines and construct 24 community toilets. Meanwhile, the Union government, on the request of the PMC, has given permission to start work for the construction of community toilets and sewerage system in Baner area, sanctioned under the project.