more-in After drawing flak for delay in the execution of Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (Amrut) projects in the State, the Local Self-Government Department (LSGD) is now awaiting the final approval for the ?973.64-crore State Annual Action Plan from the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs. Six municipal corporations and three municipalities - Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Alappuzha, Kochi, Thrissur, Guruvayur, Palakkad, Kozhikode and Kannur - had been identified for funding under AMRUT that aims to transform urban living conditions of 34.71 lakh people through infrastructure upgradation. P.S. Mohammed Sagir, Mission Director, State Mission Management Unit, told The Hindu on Friday that the Department had already received an in-principle approval for the third and final plan for 2017-18. Now, the proposals have been submitted under five components such as water supply, sewerage, stormwater drains, transport and development of green spaces and parks with special provision for meeting the needs of children. Projects to the tune of ?2,357.69 crore would be implemented in the State. The Central allocation to the State is ?1,161.20 core. The share of the government and the local urban body would be 30% and 20% respectively, he said. Now, the government would contribute 15% of the project cost out of the 20% share of the urban local body for waste supply and septage management. However, the amount contributed by the government would be deducted from the annual Plan fund allocation to urban local bodies over a period of 10 years, Mr. Sagir said. Kerala along with Assam and Punjab has been lagging behind in implementing the projects for multiple reasons. That the State do not have an exclusive Project Design and Management Consultancy has been attributed to the time lag in executing the projects. In several cases, the projects had to either reworked or cancelled. An analysis showed that the State could implement just 12 schemes out of the total of 389 projects. About 28 are mentioned as ongoing projects. The fund allocation for the State was ?587.99 crore in 2015-16 and ? 796.06 crore in 2016.17. Incidentally, the credit rating for Kerala cities and municipalities for 2016-17 has been abysmally low when compared to other cities in the country. The credit rating for Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi was BBB, while for Kozhikode, Kollam and Kannur, BB+ ; Thrissur and Alappuzha, BB; Palakkad, B+ and Guruvayur, BB- .

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