PM for urban reforms to check chaos

New Delhi, Dec 3 (PTI) Noting that urban chaos was
becoming a way of life, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
Thursday emphasised on urban reforms, saying cities and towns
are not an acceptable face of a rapidly modernising and
developing economy.
"As infrastructure struggles to keep pace with demand,
urban chaos is becoming a way of life. Our cities and towns
are not an acceptable face of rapidly modernising and
developing economy," he said at the national conference of
Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), to
mark the fourth anniversary of the flagship programme of the
government.
He said the success of JNNURM was critical to tackling
the problems that go with rapid urbanisation.
Singh said the Indian Government has committed
substantial funds for urban renewal along with the states and
urban local bodies.
He said the two ministries of Urban Development and
Urban Poverty Alleviation have approved projects worth Rs
103,462 crore for which the Government has committed an
assistance of Rs 55,625 crore.
"It is good that the focus of projects approved under
the Mission has been on basic services like water supply,
sewerage, drainage, solid waste management, improvement of
slums and construction of houses for the poor," he noted.
Stressing the government's commitment to urban sector,
he said JNNURM has created a "paradigm shift" in how the urban
sector is viewed, both at state and city levels. (More) PTI