The first Smart hill town in the country would soon become a reality in Himachal Pradesh.
The Government of Himachal Pradesh will sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Singapore on February 27 to build first ‘Smart hill town’ of the country near Waknaghat, where 450 bighas of land was available.
The Singapore Government will invest Rs 2500 crore for the Smart city.
The details were fine tuned in a meeting presided over by Chief Minister, Virbhadra Singh to review progress of various schemes being implemented by Municipal Corporation (MC) Shimla within the municipal limits.
The Smart Hill town will have all the facilities of International Standards. New planned settlements will be created so that population aggregation at one place could be arrested and a more balanced distribution could be achieved.
Briefing the Chief Minister, Urban development Minister Sudhir Sharma, said that the Smart Hill town is expected to provide abundant opportunities in Hospitality, Health and Wellness and Education sector. He said that it will have a special economic zone (SEZ), international education zone, integrated townships, an entertainment zone, a convention center, Parks, shopping malls etc.
Virbhadra Singh stressed to complete the ongoing works of beautification of town and the roads at the earliest. He said that Shimla being a state capital needs to be given priority so that Shimla may be included in Smart City Mission. He appreciated the Shimla Mall road restoration project and conservation of churches in heritage zone.
The CM wanted musical fountains be installed in the town, besides the process of shifting vegetable market to Darni Ka Bagicha and the Anaaj Mandi (Grain Market) and Timber Market to Shnaan, Malyana should be initiated as soon as possible. The Chief Minister appreciated the renovation of Rani Jhansi Park and the fountains installed therein. He also appreciated the ongoing renovation projects of roads and parks of Shimla besides lightening the streets and tunnels with lED lights.
He said the renovation of the town hall was being done in a planned manner and would be completed by June this year. He attributed the delay construction as because the town hall was not vacated well in time despite repeated requests. “It was on my way to Vidhan Sabha in 2015, that strict orders were given to vacate the premises to pave the way for refurbishing of the gothic style structure”, said the Chief Minister.
The Chief Minister was also briefed about the ongoing work of multistory parking at Tutukandi and the ropeways within the town including the one from Tutikandi to Mall Road. He was also briefed about the works being undertaken under Jawahar lal Nehru Urban renewal Mission (JNURM) and Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT).