THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The State Government has given administrative sanction to the water supply project for Alappuzha, eight adjacent panchayats and other four municipalities under the Urban Infrastructure Development Scheme for Small and Medium Towns (UID SSMT).A statement from the Kerala Sustainable Urban Development Project (KSUDP) said that works worth Rs 193.51 crore had been sanctioned for the water supply projects in Alappuzha and Malappuram districts and Changanassery, Ottapalam and Vadakara towns.The UID SSMT, which has to come to an end in March 2012, is yet to make steady progress in the state. It is in this context that the KSUDP has been coaxing towns to intensify their efforts to kickstart projects in their respective places so that the funds do not lapse. Until the month of October, of the projects worth Rs 427 crore approved for the state (of which Rs 173.43 crore was released), only Rs 108 crore was utilised. The KSUDP is on a drive to increase the spending so that medium towns benefit out of the project.According to the KSUDP officials, Rs 192 lakh has been allotted to Malappuram municipality to develop water supply project there. While it is Rs 150.34 lakh for Changanassery, an amount of Rs 52.56 lakh has been sanctioned for Vadakara under two packages. The Empowered Committee which met under the auspices of Urban Affairs Minister P K Kunhalikutty recently gave the go-ahead for the water supply works worth Rs 26.74 crore for Ottapalam municipality too. The meeting was attended by Water Supplies Minister P J Joseph. The remaining project tenders will be placed before Cabinet through the Finance Department for urgent approval, the Committee decided.KSUDP Director Ajithkumar said in the statement that a recent workshop had decided to intensify efforts to increase expenditure under UID SSMT and launched a massive action plan.
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