Mangaluru : Councillors of the Mangaluru City Corporation (MCC) were on Tuesday urged to expedite the process of discussing and approving a detailed project report for the second tranche of the Rs. 280-crore loan of the Asian Development Bank.

The ADB had approved the loan in 2014. However, the civic body is yet to complete the exercise of finalising the detailed project report. The corporation council has to approve the preliminary design report at its monthly meeting first.

Speaking at a special council meeting chaired by Mayor Harinath here, Karnataka Urban Infrastructure Development Finance Corporation (KUIDFC) managing director V. Ponnuraj said that the project would have to be closed by 2020. Voicing concern over the delay, Mr. Ponnuraj impressed upon the councillors to discuss the preliminary report and approve it at the earliest. The priority would be to fill the gaps in underground drainage and drinking water schemes, he said.

Meanwhile, councillors raised doubts about the scheme citing deficiencies in the project already implemented with the first tranche of Rs. 360-crore loan from the ADB. The project was implemented under the Karnataka Urban Development and Coastal Environment Management Plan (KUDCEMP) by KUIDFC. However, Mr. Ponnuraj, who was earlier Deputy Commissioner here, said that the KUIDFC would put in place an institutional mechanism to address their concerns.

The official said that the KUIDFC would accept councillors’ suggestions in preparing the DPR and the councillors’ participation would be ensured in the execution of the project component as well as maintenance of assets so created. The KUIDFC would assist them in finalising the plans to be incorporated into the DPR at ward levels.

Strengthening and upgrading the existing UGD network in old municipal areas would get the focus initially. Regarding water supply, the KUIDFC would put in place GIS enabled asset mapping system where existing water supply network is mapped and additional made would get reflected in the network.

Mr. Ponnuraj also suggested constituting a separate standing committee to consolidate and oversee plan preparation and its implementation.