Kuppam (Chittoor Dist): A major urban infrastructure drive was launched in the state with Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu initiating works worth Rs 11,360 crore.
The projects cover 123 municipalities and municipal corporations and include roads, parks, street lighting, central medians and sewerage infrastructure. Naidu virtually launched the works from Kuppam on Tuesday.
Speaking on the occasion, the Chief Minister said towns and cities were becoming centres of development and economic activity.
He asked elected representatives and officials to work towards making urban areas growth engines for the State. Urban development should focus on improving livability and creating clean, healthy and pleasant surroundings, he added.
Officials were asked to study the growing weekend economy in urban areas and take steps to increase economic activity during weekends.
Naidu said people were spending about 61 per cent of their income during weekends and around 71 per cent on transportation.
Pointing out that the government had taken up programmes such as TIDCO housing and Stree Shakti in view of the high expenditure of urban families on housing and transportation, he suggested that the Municipal Administration and Urban Development Department should function as an urban prosperity department.
The Chief Minister announced that construction of TIDCO houses in the state would be completed by 2027.
In Visakhapatnam, house pattas had already been issued to 28,500 families, while more pattas would be issued in areas without objections.
He directed officials to complete the Jal Jeevan Mission to provide safe drinking water to urban residents round the clock.
Building permissions were being issued faster and several reforms had been introduced to support urban development.Naidu said 143 lakh tonnes of waste had been removed across the state under the Swachh Andhra-Swarna Andhra programmes.
Two waste-to-energy plants were functioning and four more would be completed soon. He directed officials to scientifically manage and recycle solid waste and keep municipalities free of garbage and sewage.
The Chief Minister said proposals worth Rs 50,000 crore had been prepared for urban development works.
Works worth Rs 22,330 crore were already under way, while another Rs 17,000 crore worth of works would be launched within six months.
Under the latest package, Rs 7,469 crore worth of works would be taken up in 123 municipalities and Rs 3,890 crore in the Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation.
The projects include Rs 4,656 crore for roads, Rs 88 crore for central medians, Rs 247 crore for street lighting and Rs 509 crore for parks.
The works will cover about 2,165 km of roads, 502 parks, 210 km of central medians, 391 km of street lighting and 300 km of sewerage networks.
The projects are being implemented under the Hybrid Annuity Model (HYM) to reduce the financial burden on urban local bodies. Naidu set a target of developing every municipality into a Swarna Municipality by 2047.
Municipal Administration Minister P Narayana participated in the programme from Visakhapatnam, while Principal Secretary Suresh Kumar and other senior officials attended the event at Kuppam. Public representatives and municipal commissioners from urban local bodies participated via the video conference.
