June 12: Better roads, an improved drainage system and a supermarket ? Tezpur Municipal Board has promised all of these and more through a slew of projects undertaken recently.

A multi-storeyed super market is coming up on the banks of Dhubi Pukhuri, near the Kanaklata Civil Hospital, under the Integrated Development of Small-Medium Town Project.

The Centre has already sanctioned Rs 96 lakh as the first instalment for the estimated Rs 35 crore-market, to be thrown open by 2007.

Kusum Mech, chairperson of the municipal board, said: ?We are also planning to add a floor to the Hembaruah Hall under the Swarna Jayanti Sahari Rojgar Yojana at an estimated expenditure of Rs 19 lakh to boost the financial health of the board.?

The Centre has also approved a Rs 25-crore scheme from the non-lapsable pool of resources for the reconstruction of drains and roads, most of which are in need of urgent repairs. Mech said the board will be the first civic organisation of the state to implement the Solid Waste Management Project, at Rajabhoral, 7 km from this town.

?The garbage collected and stored at Rajabhoral will be converted into fertilisers, once the scheme is implemented,? she added. To be executed by the Delhi-based National Building Construction Company, the project will cost Rs 5.34 crore.

The estimated cost of the project is Rs 5.34 crore and the said project will be executed by a Delhi-based firm, National Building Construction Company which will also maintain coveted dustbins to protect the environment.

The chairperson, said, ?The population in the municipal area has increased considerably. So have business establishments and vehicular traffic, leading to the present congestion. However, there has been no proposal for expansion of the Tezpur Municipal Board area either from government or from the board. But we are now weighing the pros and cons of extending the jurisdiction of the board for a planned growth of the town.?