Bhubaneswar, April 18: Nine cities of Odisha coming under the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (Amrut) scheme are lagging behind in execution of the planned drinking water and park projects in their areas, said a state government report.

Amrut was launched in 2015 to set up infrastructure that could ensure adequate sewerage networks and water supply for urban transformation.

Under the central scheme, the nine cities - Bhubaneswar, Puri, Rourkela, Sambalpur, Baripada, Balasore, Bhadrak, Cuttack and Berhampur - have proposed to execute 148 projects collectively in two years.

The projects' deadline was in March this year. However, the status report says that of the 148 planned projects, work on only five has so far been completed while the rest are only partially done. All five completed projects are related to drinking water supply - three in Cuttack and two in Sambalpur.

According to the report, Bhubaneswar is among those cities that are lagging behind in executing the projects.

The capital city has so far begun the work on developing three parks, while the work on the remaining 13 drinking water projects is yet to start. "We have floated tenders for all the projects. The work on the parks is on fast track. We will begin the work on the water supply projects by this month," said mayor Ananta Narayan Jena.

The three parks are located in Sailashree Vihar, Kanan Vihar and Niladri Vihar.

According to the Public Health Engineering Organisation records, of the 67 municipal wards in the city, 22 are completely covered by piped water supply while the rest are partially covered. There are different pockets spread across the city where the organisation was unable to extend the water supply through pipes.

On the delay, a senior civic body official, requesting anonymity, said Engineers India Limited was the consultant partner for the Amrut projects in city - which had made a delay in submitting the detail reports for many projects. "This has delayed the tendering process, and now, the city is running behind the others," he said.

"There were some problems in preparation of the detailed project report and also in the tendering process. Cuttack is performing well in the Amrut scheme, but the pace of work in other cities is slow. We are working to fix it," said a housing and urban development department official.

The state has sent the annual action plans for two financial years and received a central grant of Rs 144 crore in October last year.

The projects are to be executed in a 50:50 fund-sharing pattern between the state and the Centre.

The state aimed to have piped water supply to all households in all the nine cities under Amrut. Under the scheme, the state had proposed to execute 96 drinking water supply projects in two years. At present, only 58 per cent population in the nine cities get piped water supply at home.

Odisha had earned praise from the Centre for executing reform milestones such as credit rating of the urban local bodies and introducing online building plan approval system in Bhubaneswar for 2015-16 under Amrut. The state received an award from the Centre for the efforts and got an additional financial grant of Rs 10.27 crore.

"It is a great thing that the state has got an award under Amrut. There should be effort to be the first in the country in executing the projects on time," said Bhoi Nagar resident Tirthabasi Patra, a retired government employee.