GUWAHATI, May 24 ? A tussle between the State Government and the HUDCO over the conditions of loan repayment has led to the inordinate delay in completion of the much publicised HUDCO-sponsored Rs 96-crore Guwahati Metropolitan Area Storm Drainage Improvement Programme. The programme was launched in December 1999 and was scheduled for completion by March 2002.
Four State Government Departments, viz, PWD, Irrigation, Flood Control and the Town and Country Planing, are engaged in the implementation of the programme and the Guwahati Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) is the nodal agency in matters of implementing the programme. But, according to official sources here, the HUDCO has not been releasing any instalment of the loan to the implementing agencies since December 2000 slapping a new condition that the State Government should stand for surety for the HUDCO loans drawn earlier by the agencies like the Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC) and the State Housing Board.
The implementing agencies are now facing the problem of paying the contractors as physical achievement of the implementation of the schemes under the programme, is, on an average, almost 90 per cent, while the HUDCO has released about 60 per cent of the amount it had assured as loan, the sources said. The delay in completing the programme has made it a compulsion on the implementing agencies to do again the regarding and resectioning of the Mora Bharalu and the Bahini, as, heavy siltation has affected the water carrying capacity of the rivulets, the sources said.
However, sources in the HUDCO are of the opinion that the State Government, which is supposed to look into the problem of repayment of HUDCO loans as per the guarantees it had given against the amounts borrowed by various State agencies like the State Housing Board, Guwahati Municipal Corporation and the Assam Urban water supply and sewerage Board, has not been showing that sincerity, as desired, to keep the agencies committed to the debt servicing requirements.
Indirectly, this is also important to the State Government for obviating State liabilities. This has naturally caused anxiety for the HUDCO in matters of releasing further funds, even for the GMDA?s ongoing schemes like the Ganeshguri Flyover, Ulubari Flyover and the Guwahati Metropolitan Area Storm Drainage Improvement Programme, said the HUDCO sources. The HUDCO has been repeatedly indicating to the State Government that it should look into these problems to assure a commitment and the strength of the Government guarantees being provided for these schemes as well, the HUDCO sources said.
Under such a situation, the HUDCO has not effected any further release of funds for the GMDA projects for the past about seven months, asking the State Government to reassure the commitments for resolving the present stalemate by adopting some positive administrative steps, the HUDCO sources said. Already the HUDCO Board of Directors has approved release of due funds, to the extent of Rs 19.51 crore, to the GMDA as per the agreement, subject to the receipt of such a commitment from the State Government in a time-bound manner. This development was made known to the State Government as early as February 2002, the HUDCO sources said.
Of the HUDCO commitment of around Rs 70 crore for the Storm Drainage Improvement Programme, already an amount of Rs 21.46 crore has been released to the GMDA and also an amount of Rs 10 crore against the sanctioned amount of Rs 17 crore for the Ganeshguri Flyover has also been released by the HUDCO. However, no fund has so far been released by the HUDCO towards the Ulubari Flyover project against the amount of Rs 12.90 crore it has already sanctioned, the HUDCO sources said.
Sources in the GMDA maintained that the quarterly instalment of the interests on the HUDCO loan amounts had been cleared till March 2002 by the GMDA. Despite all the constraints they are facing, implementing agencies are trying hard to complete their quotas of work and the Bharalu Swice Gate is expected to be completed by the end of this month, said the official sources. Meanwhile, the GMDA sources said, the co-ordination meetings of the implementing agencies of the Storm drainage Improvement Programme continued to be held on every first and third Saturday of the month.