AP Govt spent 1.27 lakh cr on rural, urban infrastructure

Vijayawada: Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu said the State government spent Rs 1,27,705 crore towards rural and urban infrastructure development including Rs 55,000 crore in rural areas and Rs 72,000 crore in urban areas during the past four-and-half years.

Releasing a white paper on rural and urban infrastructure development at the Prajavedika at Undavalli on Sunday, the Chief Minister said Rs 35,000 crore was spent under Panchayat Raj department and another Rs 20,000 crore is currently being spent by the same department. 

He said CC roads were laid at a stretch of 23,553 km at a cost of Rs 5,694.44 crore using NREGS funds and Finance Commission funds. He said 8,000 km CC road works are under progress in the State.

The Chief Minister said 27.52 lakh LED streetlights will be installed in all village panchayats by January, 2019. So far, 21.21 lakh LED bulbs were arranged in this regard. 

He said LED street lighting was completed in East Godavari, West Godavari, Vizianagaram, Anantapur, Chittoor and Kadapa districts and the efforts were on to complete in other districts by the end of January, 2019, he added. He said AP will be top among all the States in India in using LED bulbs. 

Referring to Panchayat buildings, he said 2,071 panchayat buildings were constructed at a cost of Rs 203.38 crore in the past four-and-half years. He said 5,565 Anganwadi centres were constructed at a cost of Rs 170.56 crore and the construction of 4,214 Anganwadi centres is in progress.  He said compound walls were constructed for all government schools in the State.

He said AP Drinking Water Corporation was set up at a cost of Rs 22,000 cr to supply drinking water to all panchayats in the State. He said protected water is being supplied in 325 fluoride-affected villages.

Chandrababu Naidu further said 35.64 lakh individual toilets were constructed at a cost of Rs 4,115.82 cr. He pointed out that AP was declared as ODF State by July 7, 2018. A target was set to set up waste to energy plants in 9,000 villages by January 15, 2019 and the plants were already set up in 7813 villages so far.

The Chief Minister said parks, Gokulams and Mini Gokulams will be set up in villages. He said ratings were given to the villages basing on the performance and infrastructure facilities provided to the people. 

He said 205 panchayats bagged 3-star rating, 2,175 panchayats 4-star ratings, 5,772 panchayats five-star rating, 4,264 panchayats 6-star rating, 494 panchayats 7-star rating and 8 panchayats bagged 8-star rating.  He said Rs 12,000 crore was spent on development of rural roads.

Swacchandra and Andhra Pradesh Greenery Development Corporation were set up. The Chief Minister said priority will be given for improving greenery in urban areas. He said drinking water supply was being provided regularly in 66 municipalities.

Referring to housing, he said 10,15,000 houses were under construction in urban areas. The Visakha recycling water project and Eluru smart city project were launched by the State govt.  He said digital class rooms were set up in 594 schools.

The Chief Minister said 368 Anna Canteens were set up including 216 in urban areas and 152 in rural areas.  Over 12,95,838 families in the State are receiving monthly income of Rs 10,000 or more. He said AP is ahead in spending NREGS funds after West Bengal. 

He said priority was given for water management and Rs 63,000 cr spent on Water Resources Development. He pointed out that the Centre is yet to release Rs 1,000 crore towards NREGS works. The Chief Minister appealed to people to come forward for development of their own villages during the Janmabhoomi programme.