Centre to withhold Taj funds till proj evaluation

New Delhi, Apr 22: The Centre would give no financial assistance to Uttar Pradesh for any new Taj Mahal protection projects unless the post evaluation study of the ten projects approved under the 10th Five-Year Plan was completed. The study is being conducted by the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI), Nagpur.

The state government has been requested to provide the detailed projects reports and status of implementation of the project to NEERI, according to the Annual Report of the Ministry of Forests and Environment.

In the last Five year Plan, the Planning Commission had approved Rs 600 Crore on a 50:50 cost sharing basis with the state government to implement the various schemes in the Taj Trapezium Zone.

The ten projects approved in the last Plan are: Improvement in electric supply in Agra and Fatehpur Sikri, water supply for Agra, Vrindavan and Mathura, solid waste management, storm water drainage system, construction of one part of Agra Bypass, widening of Agra bypass and improvement of Master Plan of roads of Agra city.

The Ministry of Forest and Environment feels that without the proper implementation of the existing projects, launching any new one would not serve any purpose.

UNI