Urban Administration and Development (UAD) Minister Babulal Gaur said works to the tune of Rs3,900 crore are being undertaken for development of towns and cities in the State.
While talking to media on Monday, Gaur said, “Of this, Rs2,600 crore has been earmarked for works related to drinking water while Rs1,300 crore has been set aside for other infrastructure development works. The State Government is providing 85 per cent of this amount as grant.”
He said 49 projects are taken care of including Bus Rapid Transport System, drinking water, housing and other infrastructure developmentof Rs3,300 crore in five cities.
Gaur told that the process of inviting tenders to prepare the Detailed Project Report (DPR) for the metro rail services in Bhopal and Indore has reached its last stages. The metro rail would move on 28.5 kms while in Indore this distance would be 32.16 kms.
The Minister said an estimated Rs6000 crore would be spent on the metro rail in Bhopal, while it will cost Rs7500 crore in Indore. A total of 24 over-bridges would be made in Bhopal, he added.
“Besides, 1,764 slums have been identified in six towns for providing 'pucca' houses to poor under the Rajiv Awas Yojana. Under the project, 6,317 houses will be built at a cost of Rs380 crore,” said Gaur, adding that the preparation of a detailed project report of about Rs1,300 crore for cleaning Narmada river is in final phases. The project will include 24 towns in the first phase and 29 towns in the second phase.
The 28.5 km-long Bhopal metro rail project and the 32.16 km-long Indore metro rail project is estimated to cost around Rs6,000 crore and Rs7,500 crore respectively.