Chief Minister Conrad Sangma today met Union Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs Kaushal Kishore in New Delhi and apprised him on the initiatives under Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) and sought his assistance in release of funds for further implementation of the urban water scheme.
The Meghalaya government has sought Centre’s assistance of Rs 215 crore for the implementation of its New Shillong Water Supply Scheme (NSWSS) under AMRUT with Umkhen River as the main source for the water supply project.
The State government is also pursuing with the Government of India for sanctioning funds for the Williamnagar water supply scheme.
The Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation 2.0 (AMRUT 2.0) scheme was launched on October 1, 2021 for the period of five years that is from the financial year 2021-22 to the financial year 2025-26.
AMRUT 2.0 is designed to provide universal coverage of water supply through functional taps to all households in all the statutory towns in the country and coverage of sewerage/septage management in 500 cities covered in the first phase of the AMRUT scheme. A set of reforms and capacity building are also the part of the mission.
So far the Centre has allocated Rs 110 crore to Meghalaya for AMRUT 2.0 projects. Further, the Central fund allocation for Administrative and Office Expenses (A&OE) is Rs 3.57 crore.
Under AMRUT, Shillong has been sanctioned as the mission city for implementation of the mission. As per the AMRUT guidelines, achievement of universal coverage of water supply is the first priority hence Greater Shillong Water Supply Scheme sanctioned under JNNURM is being completed.
As per the guidelines Sewerage and Septage Management being the next priority has been taken up.
Under AMRUT another component is Green Spaces and Parks where eight parks namely Lumparing Social and Cultural Club Park, Upper New Colony Park, Lady Hydari Park, Ward’s Lake, Lion’s Harmony Park, Fire Brigade Junction, Talent’s Club (near AIR Shillong), Bomfyle Road (near PGT College) have been identified for improvement and rejuvenation and DPRs are currently being prepared.
