An urban rejuvenation and beautification scheme, which was announced in the State Budget earlier this year, is set to be rolled out in six corporations in Kerala.
The scheme aims at transforming the face of the six cities through a design strategy to upgrade the standards of the city focusing on the conservation of heritage areas and surroundings, improvement of pedestrian infrastructure, equipping public places and recreational areas, improvement of hygiene, and other such measures.
The Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB) will provide ₹100 crore this year for the scheme, out of a total estimated primary cost of ₹300 crore. The project will focus on bringing in an appealing design aesthetic and quality standards for city infrastructure. It would initially roll out in the city corporations of Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi and Kozhikode, the biggest among the six.
A strategic plan for city beautification is to be prepared under the project for each city. The plan will have an overall vision for the city, priorities, and optimal solutions, and will also consider people’s aspirations for the city. The execution of projects will either be through joint ventures or public-private partnership.
A State-level committee chaired by the Minister of the Local Self-Government Department (LSGD) with the Additional Chief Secretary (LSGD) as the convenor, and city-level committees with the respective Mayor as the chairperson and with the Corporation Superintending Engineer as convenor, will be formed to oversee and coordinate the project. A Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) will be responsible for the execution of the project for each city. The final design standards will have to be vetted by the respective city council.
The funds from the KIIFB will be routed to the SPV units through Impact Kerala, which will function as the nodal project management unit for the project. Rajesh P.N., Additional Chief Town Planner, LSGD Planning, will be the State-level Nodal officer to coordinate the activities under the scheme.
