KOCHI: In what comes as a respite to Kochi and other cities included under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), the Central Government is likely to extend the tenure of the projects under the scheme for two more years. This will help the Kochi Corporation complete the projects under JNNURM that are now at various stages of completion. The term of the projects are set to expire by March 31. If the Union Ministry okays the extension to the said JNNURM projects for two more years, it would be a definite relief to the Corporation that has only been able to spend 30 per cent of the `600 crore allotted for the projects. According to sources at JNNURM, an official confirmation regarding the extension of tenure is expected to arrive soon. So far, projects worth `590 crore have been allocated by the Centre under eight components for Kochi under the JNNURM, but the Corporation had so far spent only `174 crore.The Corporation authorities had cited lack of funds for acquiring land for the projects as the main reason for the delay in completing JNNURM projects. “Since the JNNURM-KSSUDP funds cannot be used for land acquisition, we will have to identify other sources for funds so as to acquire land. We have already requested the State Government to allot us funds for the purpose,” Mayor Tony Chammany said.So far, the state has allotted Rs 84 crore for land acquisition. A total of 18.31 hectares of land need to be acquired and the estimated cost for total acquisition is Rs 392 crore. After land acquisition, local resistance is another major problem for some JNNURM projects. The proposed water treatment plant at Nettoor and the sewerage treatment plant at Mundamveli are failing to progress owing to the local resistance.
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