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Title: Need to include Cuttack in J.N.N.U.R.M and devolve the powers to local bodies for improving basic urban amenities.
SHRI B. MAHTAB (CUTTACK): Sudden downpour of 330mm within a span of only 10 hrs. in Cuttack, last week has inundated large parts of the city and displaced lakhs of its inhabitants. This downpour broke 74 years record. Cuttack, known as the millennium city needs extra attention and allotment of funds from Union Government to make it livable. As such, there is an urgent need to invest more in urban areas. Six decades of central planning has not made our habitations livable. We all knew that rural India wallows in extreme poverty but even urban India is not exactly a Garden of Eden. All the basic amenities of life, such as, water supply, public health, functioning of schools, sewerage and traffic condition are in a state of disrepair. A continuous rainfall of 3 to 4 inches in Delhi, puts life in turmoil. So is the case in Mumbai, Bangalore and Kolkata. Therefore, there is an urgent need to meet the requirements of the urban amenities.
The task of providing basic amenities such as, roads, water supply, public health, sanitation, waste management, slum development, street lights etc. are assigned to urban bodies. Although it is mandatory as per the Constitutional Amendment of 1993, State Governments are extremely reluctant to devolve functions, finances and functionaries to local bodies. Unless this is done, life will be as miserable as it is now. I urge upon the Government to impress upon all State Governments to devolve power to the local bodies at the earliest in a time bound manner so that ultimately they will be held responsible for the basic amenities that they are supposed to provide. Then only we can make our place livable. I would also urge the Government to include Cuttack in JNNURM and restore the glory of the millennium city.