HYDERABAD, Jan 16: The federal government has not released a single penny as matching grant for the Hyderabad Development Package of Rs10.5 billion announced by President Gen Pervez Musharraf and Rs1 billion package for supply of clean and filtered water to people of Hyderabad announced by Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz.

Sources said that an inordinate delay in release of packages’ funds was leading to rise in costs of projects.

They said that the delay might lead to a legal hitch by the federal government at a later stage when projects were not completed within the stipulated time.

The presidential package is supposed to be implemented in five years and two years have already lapsed.

Non-release of funds is affecting pace of development activities in the city because most of the schemes are part of long-term plans including mega projects of flyovers, district government sources said.

It was in spite of the fact that Gen Musharraf had been personally informed by the outgoing and incumbent district nazim regarding delay in release of funds.

The Sindh government was said to have released Rs100 million out of Rs1 billion allocated in the budget of the current fiscal year.

The package is to be jointly funded by federal and provincial governments as both of them are supposed to release matching grants.

Outgoing District Nazim Makhdoom Rafiquzzaman had submitted an uplift plan of Rs10 billion to Gen Musharraf during his second visit to Hyderabad on August 26, 2003.

Subsequently, then Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Jamali announced release of the package and then he disowned it during his second visit to Hyderabad.

The controversy was later-on settled when funds were allocated by the Sindh government.

Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ibad had also cleared confusion while talking to journalists during inauguration of urs celebrations of Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai when he claimed that the package was very much there and its funds would be released.

The Sindh government appointed consultants M/S Osmani and Company for implementation of the package while the DCO of Hyderabad is officiating as project director because a full time project director’s appointment has not been finalized.

It was learnt that Rs71 million were released out of Rs1 billion which were being utilized for different development works.

According to original plan of the package, approved cost of various development schemes of three city talukas Hyderabad, Latifabad and Qasimabad including cantonment area will be Rs7500 million.

An amount of Rs895.526 million was earmarked for development of Tando Allahyar, Rs648.228 million for Tando Muhammad Khan, Rs538.715 million for taluka Hyderabad (rural), Rs476.143 million for Matiari and Rs441.338 million for Hala.

Around Rs3 billion, out of Rs10.5 billion were earmarked for expenditure of provision of gas and electricity supply and construction of roads in formerly five talukas of Hyderabad district including Matiari, Hala, Tando Allahyar, Tando Mohammad Khan and Hyderabad (rural) taluka.

The rest will be spent in City, Latifabad and Qasimabad talukas mainly on sewerage, drainage, water supply, filter plant, flyovers and roads.