The Odisha High Court on Monday sought a clarification from the State Government on the modalities of evaluation of potential civic bodies for consideration of the Central Government-sponsored Smart City.
A Division Bench headed by Chief Justice DH Waghela sought the clarification while adjudicating a PIl in which it has been alleged that the millennium city of Cuttack has been left out from the list in a discriminate manner. The matter has been posted for further hearing on September 28.
President of High Court Bar Association Ashok Mohapatra has filed the PIl in his capacity as chairman of the Cuttack Smart City Action Committee. Claiming that Cuttack being the former capital of Odisha has been illegally and wrongfully debarred to get the Smart City tag by an arbitrary evaluation of its potentialities, Mohapatra maintains in his PIl.
“On the basis of the parameters set to assess the urban local bodies in the State, Cuttack’s potentialities have not been properly assessed and it was placed at third position after Bhubaneswar and Rourkela,” Mohaptra said, adding that the Union Government had invited names of only two cities from Odisha for the purpose.
“The State Government’s recommendation was lacking fairness, reasonableness and transparency and application of judicial mind for due determination,” the PIl alleged, claiming that had the marks been awarded properly, Cuttack would be assuming the top slot among the potential cities of the State for Smart City.
The Union Government in the meantime has unveiled a list of 96 smart cities in the country, including Bhubaneswar and Rourkela of Odisha.