CDP faulted on many counts

BHUBANESWAR: The Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) has faulted the Comprehensive Development Plan (CDP) of Bhubaneswar saying it does not follow an implementation time frame and allows no mid-course correction.  The CDP, prepared by IIT Kharagpur is a detailed sector-wise plan for sustainable development of the Capital which entails an investment of ` 31,450 crore in different sectors by 2030. As per guidelines, the CDP should have a fixed time frame for its implementation but the current one has none, a JNNURM review says.  Over five years have passed since the preparation began but the framework prescribed in the guidelines like review in the first and the sixth year, community stakeholders consultation on odd years, capacity building, institutional reforms and financial reforms, financial operating plan, capital investment plan continuously in each of the first five years have not been done since the CDP does not make any mention of such analysis. This prevents any mid-term correction of the plan document. Besides, financial assessment and operating plans are not realistic since the CDP took into account the accounts of Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) in 2006 which were in arrears then. “Guidelines provided that financial assessment can be made using annual accounts, annual administrative data including budget estimates, demand and collection of tax revenue for the last five years and opening balance sheet the for last two years. Since the CDP was finalised for submission during May 2006, accounts statements and administrative reports from 2000-01 to 2005-06 of BMC were used and those were in arrears. So, no scope was there to study the accounting returns,” it says adding, the preparation of financial assessment for inclusion in CDP was definitely not realistic. Besides, the JNNURM review says that critical issues like resource mobilisation forecast and ascertaining the investable surplus for service delivery mechanism have not been reflected in the CDP to assess the extent of capital expenditure that can be accommodated through various sources of funding. As per the guidelines, the issue was critical.  That apart, important factors such as stakeholders’ involvement, awareness measures taken through meetings before finalisation of the CDP are not mentioned in the CDP which are a violation of the guidelines issued by the JNNURM, it added.