The Bilaspur Municipal Corporation (BMC) has plans of progressively increasing green cover of the city by 15 per cent during the next five years, officials said.
Urban greens would include forest land if any, tree groves, parks, tree lined avenues in public land as well as in private and institutional property, they informed.
There is a need for a well defined strategy for enhancing tree cover in urban areas. The strategy should consist of a multi-pronged approach to integrate development of tree cover as a part of the development plans of cities by viewing them as a component of urban infrastructure, the officials informed.
Urban green projects must be supported by participatory planning and implementation process for actualising the spirit of cooperative federalism, they stated.
Accessing to nature through green space will require planting more trees on our streets and public spaces, as well as adding more green space to our existing neighbourhood level planning and projects.
Since these actions happen at a local level, a robust public engagement process where local community groups, residents welfare association, educational institution and business community are actively involved in this transformation will be necessary to achieve success, the officials stated.
On the other hand, notably, the State level Action Plan (PlAN) under AMRUT project in Chhattisgarh has accorded top priority to potential smart cities such as Raipur and Bilaspur.
While preparing State level Improvement Plan (SlIP), it (priority) has been kept in consideration and infrastructure gaps in potential smart cities, officials stated.
Notably, a master plan of all projects under AMRUT to achieve universal coverage during the Mission period 2015-16 to 2019-20 had been prepared at an estimated cost of Rs 798.29 crore for Raipur and Rs 262.32 crore for Raipur covering five projects each.
As many as 27 water supply projects to be taken up across Chhattisgarh under Centre’s AMRUT project would involve an expenditure of 440.95 crore during the current financial year.
The Centre’s funding component in the project would be Rs 212.13 crore while the Chhattisgarh would contribute ` 137.08 crore with Urban local Bodies (UlBs) share being ` 91.38 crore, offcials stated.
Overall the Mission Thrust areas under AMRUT Project would be — Water supply, Sewerage and Septage Management, Storm Water Drain, Pedestrian, Non Motorised and Public Transport Facilities, Parking Space, Green Spaces, Park and Recreation centres.
The State Urban Development Agency (SUDA) in Chhattisgarh is in the process of preparing a Master Plan for implementation of Solid Waste Management Project in all the 168 Urban local Bodies (UlBs) of Chhattisgarh, officials informed.
SUDA will also get a feasibility study and Detailed Project Report (DPR) prepared for all UlBs in the State.
The Chhattisgarh government is also mulling over plans to mobilise additional financial resources through 14th Finance Commission recommendations for implementation of the AMRUT project in nine cities of Chhattisgarh, officials stated.
The action plan drawn up by the government has already prioritized proposed investment across cities as per principle of prioritization of AMRUT. Investment had been broadly distributed across nine AMRUT cities. Distribution of Investment is based on priority for providing 100 per cent universal coverage in primary thrust sectors.
Overall the Mission Thrust areas under AMRUT Project would be — Water supply, Sewerage and Septage Management, Storm Water Drain, Pedestrian, Non Motorised and Public Transport Facilities, Parking Space, Green Spaces, Park and Recreation centres.
