In view of media reports of comments by the ministers and officials of State government alleging the citizens being the hurdle for smart city project implementation during the celebration of completion of one year of launch of Smart City Mission by the Government of India on June 25, 2016, National Centre for Human Settlements and Environment (NCHSE) Environment Helpline convened a meeting on Thursday to discuss the matter.
In her opening remarks chairperson of NCHSE, Nirmala Buch conveyed that we and the citizens of Bhopal are ready to cooperate with the government for smart city and other developmental issues, which environmentally sustainable.
We have already extended our cooperation by writing to the Chief Minister and Chief Secretary.
;We still feel there is enough scope for proper dialogue to eliminate misunderstanding between the government and the people.
In the meeting all unanimously said that citizens are not against the Smart city project but the manner in which it is being implemented.
It emerged that it seems that the government is not very keen to take views of the citizens.
Citizens want to cooperate with the government, and government also needs to ensure peoples participation. Main objective should be to ensure development where people’s needs and environmental issues are addressed fully.
After all we need to ensure that development is carbon neutral. Therefore there is need for proper dialogue between government and the people.
On media report of award of contract for the survey of the new site in TT Nagar and DPR preparation, it was felt necessary that the consultant should consult people and give due importance to the people’s needs while developing DPR.