Chhattisgarh had just two cities — Raipur and Bilaspur making it to the Centre’s Smart Cities Mission among the list of 98 cities selected across the country .
Union Ministry of Urban development selected Raipur with population 10,47,389 and Bilaspur 3,65, 579 98 as cities eligible for being nominated for the ‘Smart Cities Mission’.
In contrast, neighbouring Madhya Pradesh had as many as seven of its cities included in the Smart Cities Mission, mainly- Bhopal, Indore , Jabalpur, Gwalior, Sagar, Satna and Ujjain.
With Raipur and Bilaspur in the Smart Cities Mission list, the local bodies and the State Government would now have to work very hard to follow the stringent parameters set under the Smart Cities Mission to implement the projects.
The Chhattisgarh Government had earlier approved the proposals for Raipur and Bilaspur cities sent by the respective municipal corporations to be sent to the Centre for inclusion in the Smart City project development list.
The proposals were approved in a high-level Governing Committee headed by Chief Secretary Vivek Dhand under the Smart City Mission based on the available public amenities and parameters set by the Centre claimed in the proposals for the two cities to be included in the 'Smart City' development list.
It may be recalled that except Chirmiri, all the 12 municipal corporations in Chhattisgarh had presented their claims for inclusion in the Centre’s ‘Smart City’ project list, officials stated.
The State Government thereafter selected Raipur and Bilaspur to develop as ‘Smart Cities’ under the Centre’s ‘Mission Smart City’ in next four years.
The State Urban Development Authority (SUDA) would be the Nodal Agency for the ‘Smart City’ project.
Smart City Mission Director and SUDA CEO Dr Rohit Yadav had stated that under the Mission Smart City guidelines, two Smart Cities are to be developed in Chhattisgarh based on the urban population.
After the examination of the proposals by experts on urban development, the cities of Raipur, Bilaspur, Durg and Bhilai were jointly given the first preference, Birgaon was given second preference, Korba third and Dhamtari was given fourth preference.
“After finding equal weightage for the first four cities, the facilities provided by municipal corporations of Raipur, Bilaspur, Durg and Bhilai were evaluated in a scientific manner in which approval was granted to send names of Raipur and Bilaspur to the Centre as proposals to be developed as Smart Cities” he said.
Meanwhile, on July 30 the State Urban Administration and Development Minister Amar Agrawal had stated that although the Central Government would allocate two 'Smart Cities' in Chhattisgarh, the State Government has decided to develop all the other 11 municipal Corporations-run cities on the pattern of Smart Cities.
“The infrastructure will be upgraded, convenient transport will be provided, people's participation, good governance, health and education, e-Governance, healthy environment, adequate drinking water facilities, waste disposal management and sanitation and low-cost housing for poor are some of the proposals to develop other Smart Cities,” he said.
“The Centre had launched Amrut Mission in 500 towns whose population is above one lakh. The Mission will benefit Chhattisgarh also,” Agrawal said.
“The State Government had selected two cities-Raipur and Bilaspur, after a lot of debate and competition,” Agrawal said.
“There are 13 parameters on the basis of which 'Smart Cities' are selected. A total of eleven municipal corporations had sent their proposals. The concerned authorities after taking into consideration various issues, it was decided to send the names of two cities to the Centre,” he said.
Union Minister of Urban Development and Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation M Venkaiah Naidu in February this year had clearly stated that all cities and towns in the country seeking to participate in these schemes will be profiled based on specific parameters that have a bearing on their ability to address issues of governance reforms, resource mobilisation, execution etc.
The Minister further said that while addressing the issue of geographical spread, only the deserving will be assisted.
It may be recalled that on January 16 this year, Naidu while addressing Consultative Workshop on Urban Governance’ organised for Municipal Commissioners of 130 cities and towns from nine northern states of Delhi, Haryana, Chandigarh, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan in New Delhi had informed that his Ministry is working on a City Challenge framework with the objective of selecting right city candidates for participation in schemes like building 100 smart cities and development of 500 cities and towns.
He said that it will not be business as usual in the matter of financing of cities and towns under new urban initiatives and instead, it will be based on the ability of urban local bodies to reform urban governance and rise to the new challenges.
Naidu referred to the present appalling state of affairs in urban areas which is marked by weak urban governance structures, uninspiring leadership at the level of both selected and elected urban managers, poor inventory management and resource base, weak urban planning and execution, urban mobility being a nightmarish experience, housing shortage, inadequate water and power supply and despicable management of solid waste and treatment of sewerage etc.
In terms of service parameters, Naidu noted that only 73 litres of water per capita per day is being supplied as against the norm of 135 litres, only 50% of households having water connection, 40% households with toilet facilities, treatment of only 16% of sewerage, collection and disposal of only 23% of solid waste and recycling only 10% of city waste.