TN Govt earmarks ₹1,000-cr for urban infrastructure

Tamil Nadu Government has rolled out an ambitious plan worth ₹1,000 crore for Kalaignar Nagarpura Membattu Thittam (KNMT) to match the infrastructural deficit in the urban local bodies, especially municipalities and town panchayats. Each urban local body will carryout ward-wise detailed surveys and prepare an urban development plan (UDP) to know the existing basic infrastructure and the gaps that should be fulfilled. The state has 14 corporations, 121 municipalities, and 528 town panchayats. While Smart Cities Mission and AMRUT improve the infrastructure of 11 corporations and 28 towns, the state government has come up with a new scheme to support the municipalities and the town panchayats. The plans include 100% household tap water connections, sewer links, roads, and capital intensive schemes mostly in the prominent areas of the urban local bodies. Huge infrastructure gap exists in many backward areas, slums, and newly added localities of the municipalities and town panchayats.