Post ULB elections, 20 addl wards of Prayagraj to get urban amenities

Prayagraj: Four years ago, several rural areas of the district were included in the urban fold of Sangam City. Now, the authorities have prepared the road map for developing these areas to bring them at par with other urban wards of the city.
As the process for Civic Polls-2023 is complete and the model code of conduct lifted, the plans to implement the facilities, as per norms of localities of the municipal limits, are expected to be executed within the next few weeks.
These new wards have been created in areas of Naini, Jhunsi, Phaphamau and Jhalwa, including 10 new wards created in Jhunsi and Naini areas which earlier had just five wards. Following the geographical expansion of Prayagraj city, basic amenities like developing roads, ensuring disruption free electricity and water supply as well as cleanliness are basic requirements. For this, at the behest of the state government, the civic officials have prepared a roadmap for the development of these extended areas included in the Municipal Corporation limits.
Now these additional wards will also have proper roads which will be the first requirement in these areas of the erstwhile 207 villages with a population of more than 4 lakh included in the city limits. Chief engineer of Prayagraj Municipal Corporation, Satish Kumar said that as per the plans, the municipal corporation will construct roads and drains in the extended areas at a cost of Rs 200 crore. Roads amounting to 300 kms will also be constructed. There will be an additional budget for laying of sewer lines and garbage collection, he added.
Prayagraj Municipal commissioner Chandra Mohan Garg said that the population of 4,28,206 have now become city residents following the delimitation. More than 20,000 LED lights will be installed to illuminate the roads and streets of these areas. The corporation will spend Rs 15 crore for this in the first phase, he added.
The municipal commissioner said a budget of Rs 25 to Rs 30 lakh will be allocated to each ward in the first phase in the newly included 20 wards. Apart from this, a budget of 20 lakh will be allocated to each of the old 80 wards of the city. Part of the budget of the proposed Rs 81 crores sought to ensure 24-hour power supply in these areas have been received from the government too.
Vinod Kumar Gangwar, Chief Engineer of the electricity department said that the department had sent a proposal for improving the power supply in the areas at a cost of Rs 81 crore. With the allocation of 50% of the budget in the first phase, the work is being started. The proposed works include laying 12 km of new 33,000 KV line, 21.5 km of new 11000 KV overhead lines, 6 km of 11000 KV underground lines and 45 km of new LT lines in these areas.