None of the Chhattisgarh cities have found a place among first 20 winners of the ‘Smart City Challenge Competition’ for receiving funds during the current financial year.
Notably , Raipur and Bilaspur are among the 100 cities chosen by the Centre to be developed as ‘Smart Cities’.
The Central Government on Thursday announced the 20 winners of the Smart City Challenge competition for receiving funds during the current financial year.
Announcing the cities, Union Minister of Urban Development M.Venkaiah Naidu said that the winners were from 11 States and the Union Territory of Delhi and the selection was totally objective and transparent based on standardized processes.
He further said that Smart City Mission marks a paradigm shift towards urban development in the country since it is based on ‘bottom up’ approach with the involvement of citizens in formulation of city vision and smart city plans and the Urban local Bodies and State Governments piloting the mission with little say for the Ministry of Urban Development.
Naidu also observed that it was for the first time in the country and even in the world that investments in urban sector are being made based on competition based selection of cities.
Informing that 1.52 crore citizens participated in shaping smart city plans of 97 cities and towns in the first round of competition, Naidu said that this enthusiastic participation of people is a major positive outcome.
Three cities from Madhya Pradesh, two each from Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Rajasthan and one each from the remaining five made it to the winning list.
The Minister informed that 23 States and UTs who could not make to the list of winners will be given an opportunity to participate in a ‘fast track competition’. Each top ranking city form these left out states can upgrade their smart city proposals and submit them by April 15, this year for inclusion in the mission.
The 20 smart cities announced by the Union Minister were : Pune, Jaipur, Surat, Kochi , Ahmedabad, Jabalpur, Visakhapatnam, Solapur, Davannagere, Indore, New Delhi Municipal Council , Coimbatore, Kakinada, Belagavi, Udaipur, Guwahati, Chennai, ludhiana and Bhopal.
Of these 20 cities accounting for a total population of 3.54 crore, 5 have population below 5 lakhs each, 4 in the range of 5-10 lakhs, 6 in between 10-25 lakhs, 4 between 25 and 50 lakhs and only Ahmedabad has above 50 lakhs.
Notably, Bilaspur had formulated ‘Smart City Vision Statement’ of emerging as a ‘cultural capital’ based on citizen consultations as required under the Mission Guidelines of each of the Mission Cities under Central Government’s 'Smart City Mission'.
The Smart City Plans for 95 cities received in the Union Ministry of Urban Development have thrown up a variety of vision statements ranging from becoming clean and green to being a multi-functional tribal hub.
A perusal of Smart City Plans of 50 cities revealed that 11 cities aimed at emerging as clean, green and sustainable cities followed by 9 cities seeking to leverage rich cultural heritage legacy for stimulating development, 8 cities stating economic growth and development upfront as the core of their vision and the rest seeking to emerge as tourism hubs, port cities, education and health hubs, industrial and institutional centres etc., taking advantage of unique features and strengths of respective cities. Promoting economic development, improving quality of life and enabling inclusive urbanization is mentioned as part of the vision by most of the cities.
In neighbouring Madhya Pradesh, Indore has come out with the vision statement to enter an era of rejuvenation by envigorating city’s rich cultural and economic heritage and innovation in spatially restructured and sustainable urban development, mobility, environment, infrastructure, Governance and citizen services for better living.
Notably, in December this year, a meeting of High Power Steering Committee (HPSC) formed under the Smart City Mission was held in Chhattisgarh's new capital-- Naya Raipur.
Chhattisgarh Chief Secretary Vivek Dhand had chaired the meeting in which Raipur City Mayor Pramod Dubey and Bilaspur City Mayor Kishor Rai along with other officials took part.
During the meeting, detailed discussions over various proposals received for transforming Raipur and Bilaspur into smart cities was held. The proposals were then recommended to be moved to the Central Government.
Presentations over Smart City plan for Raipur and Bilaspur Municipal Corporations was also done by the respective Commissioners. They told the members of Committee that for solving various problems related with both cities, online as well as off line suggestions from the residents of both cities were sought. The suggestions were included in the planning process for the cities.
Area-based development and pan city plan have been prepared for Raipur and Bilaspur smart city project. Solar power generators would be also activated in the plan which would save power consumption through conventional means. The residents of both cities would get metered clean water through modern water treatment plants, which would lower the risk of water borne diseases, the Commissioners informed.
They further provided details on liquid and solid waste management system would keep city pollution-free. The non-motorized transport in city will ensure pollution free environment and would also decrease the risk of accidents in dense traffic/parking areas. For slum dwellers pucca houses would be also constructed.