The State Urban Development Authority (SUDA) will be developing Korba City classified as ‘Supreme Smart City’ project, officials informed.
The SUDA is now looking for Smart City consultants who have the experience of making project proposals of cities which are among the country’s 33 ‘Smart City Plans’ ( SCPs) declared winner in the Round One or Fast Track City Challenge under Smart City Mission of the Union Urban Development Ministry.
The Chhattisgarh Government has decided to develop industrial city of Korba as ‘Smart City’ through its own resources. This was informed by Urban Administration and Development Minister Amar Agrawal on his visit to the city in January this year to review the work of Korba Municipal Corporation.
Notably, the State-level Technical Committee of the Urban Administration and Development Department which met for the first time in Naya Raipur on January 8 this year had also approved the proposed formation of Project Development and Management Consultancy (PDMC) for implementation of Centre's Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) Mission .
As many as nine districts of Chhattisgarh have been identified for AMRUT project. The districts identified for AMRUT mission are-- Raipur, Bilaspur, Durg, Bhilai, Rajnandgaon, Korba, Raigarh, Ambikapur and Jagdalpur, said officials sources.
Notably, the Central Government had released the first installment of Rs55.29 crore out of the approved Rs573.40 crore for State Annual Action Plan (SAAP) under AMRUT project for the current financial year in Chhattisgarh.
The Union Ministry of Urban Development has already released Central Assistance of Rs1,062.27 crore to 13 States as first installment under AMRUT project for the current financial year, officials stated.
This is a part of total Central Assistance of Rs5,311.38 crore committed to 13 States for which the Ministry has approved Atal Mission Action Plans for 2015-16 entailing total investment of Rs11,671.76 cr in 286 cities in these states.
AMRUT project launched in June this year aims at ensuring water supply connections and sewer connections to all urban households in 500 mission cities besides supplying water at the norm of 135 litres per capita per day, on priority. Under this mission, construction of storm water drains, promotion of non-motorised urban transport, provision of parks and green spaces also will be supported.
Under the Mission, Central assistance is provided based on an objective criteria giving equal weightage to the total urban population and number of statutory urban bodies in each state.
Total central assistance of Rs50,000 crore has been provisioned under the mission for 5 years.
Central assistance is upto 50% of project costs for cities with population of less than 10 lakhs each and up to one-third for cities with population above 10 lakh each.
The purpose of AMRUT is to ensure that every household has access to a tap with assured supply of water and a sewerage connection, increase in amenity value of cities by developing greenery and well maintained open spaces (parks) and reduce pollution by switching to public transport or constructing facilities for non-motorized transport (like walking and cycling).
Moreover, Chhattisgarh Government is also mulling over plans to mobilise additional financial resources through 14th Finance Commission recommendations for implementation of the AMRUT project in nine cities of Chhattisgarh, officials stated.
The action plan drawn up by the Government has already prioritized proposed investment across cities as per principle of prioritization of AMRUT. Investment had been broadly distributed across nine AMRUT cities.
Distribution of Investment is based on priority for providing 100 per cent universal coverage in primary thrust sectors.
Notably, as many as 27 water supply projects to be taken up across Chhattisgarh under Centre’s AMRUT project would involve an expenditure of 440.95 crore during the current financial year.
The Centre’s funding component in the project would be Rs212.13 crore while the Chhattisgarh would contribute Rs137.08 crore with Urban local Bodies (UlBs) share being Rs91.38 crore, offcials stated.
Overall the Mission Thrust areas under AMRUT Project would be-- Water supply, Sewerage and Septage Management, Storm Water Drain, Pedestrian, Non Motorised and Public Transport Facilities, Parking Space, Green Spaces, Park and Recreation centres.