President Draupadi Murmu has stressed the need for charting out development roadmap after assessing the future needs of cities and it's citizens.
Expressing her concern over climate change, she described the tasks being executed in Smart Cities as a positive initiative. She laid stress on continuing good initiataives for sustainable development. She said that investments in urban development have been doubled over the past decades. Smart City Mission has immensely contributed to this.
Murmu congratulated the award winners at the India Smart City Conclave-2023 held at Indore on Wednesday. She congratulated Madhya Pradesh on getting the award of the Best State of the country. She distributed awards to the winning cities and states at the IC Awards Ceremony.
The Governor Mangubhai Patel, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Union Urban Development Minister Hardeep Singh Puri were present.
Murmu said that Indore has maintained its lead as the Cleanest City of India. Indore also tops the Smart Cities of the country. She appreciated the cooperation of residents of Indore, public representatives, administration officials, concerned departments of the Central Government and stakeholders.
The President congratulated citizens of the state, the Governor, the Chief Minister and his entire team on Madhya Pradesh achieving the distinction of Best State in the India Smart CitiesAward Contest 2022. She also praised those engaged in discharging various responsibilities with the work being done in the Smart Cities of the state.
She contratulated Chandigarh for having received the Best Union Territory Award and Tamil Nadu for getting the second position based on the performance of the States and also congratulated Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh for jointly securing third position.
The President also congratulated 66 award winning Smart Cities and States in different categories. She said that by the year 2047, India’s urban population will increase from about 46 crore to more than 87 crore. More than 50 percent of countrymen will concentrate in urban areas. India’s cities today contribute about two-thirds of the country’s GDP. It is estimated that the total contribution of cities to GDP will exceed 80 percent by the year 2047. These figures force administrative machinery to build a roadmap for the future keeping in mind the growing aspirations and requirements the cities and its people.
The President said that sustainable development and climate change are the widely debated issues. In this context, the Climate Smart Cities Assessment Framework, which was launched for 100 Smart Cities of India is an example of this. How climate change related issues can be addressed in cities at the national level.
The President said that emphasis is laid on green buildings and use of renewable energy for energy efficiency in cities. A lot of work needs to be done on a massive scale, she added. The goal of SDGs 11 is - Make Cities and Human Settlements Inclusive, Safe, Resilient and Sustainable – This goal underlines the importance of holistic and inclusive development of cities, she added.
The President expressed happiness that the country’s overall investment in urban development during the last decade has increased 10 times more than it was earlier. The contribution of Smart Cities Mission in implementing best practices and developing sustainable business models is commendable. Referring to recently held successful G-20 summit, she said that Urban-20 was a sub group of G-20. The Urban-20 seeks to establish a sustainable practice of connectivity between cities.
