Bhubaneswar, Rourkela of Odisha selected in first list of Smart Cities

These Smart Cities will be Formed by The Help Of Special objective Vehicle(SPV).

According to the government, the smart cities should feature area based developments; applying smart solutions to infrastructure and services, housing and inclusiveness; walkable localities; preserving and developing open spaces; variety of transport options; citizen-friendly and cost effective governance, etc. Our prime motive is to enhance urban life.

The 98 selected cities will now be allocated Rs2 crore each for preparation of smart city proposals for competing in the second stage.

Centre has earmarked Rs 48,000 crore for development of 100 smart cities. Major challenge is to provide quality urban services such as 24X7 water supply, sanitation, drainage, solid waste management, sewage treatment. “The land is going to be readily available and the returns are assured”, he said. The cities/towns of Bihar included in the AMRUT list are Gaya, Bhagalpur, Muzaffarpur, Biharsharif, Darbhanga, Purnia, Arrah, Begusarai, Katihar, Munger, Chapra, Dinapur Nizamat, Saharsa, Hajipur, Sasaram, Dehri, Siwan, Bettiah, Motihari, Bagaha, Kishanganj, Jamalpur, Jehanabad, Buxar and Aurangabad.

He informed that nine capital cities of Itanagar, Patna, Shimla, Bengaluru, Daman, Thiruvananthapuram, Puducherry, Gangtok and Kolkata failed to be selected and this goes to prove that the smart city selection was not influenced by the stature or importance of the cities.

Chandigarh, a union territory that is the joint capital of Punjab and Haryana and is the country’s only planned city, has also made it to the list.

In Maharashtra, the 10 nominated Smart cities are Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Thane, Nashik, Kalyan-Dombivali, Pune, Aurangabad, Solapur, Nagpur and Amravati.

While Jammu and Kashmir still has to nominate one city, UP has 13 slots to fill – the maximum. Interestingly, Jammu and Kashmir government also sought more time to make up its choice. The conflict-ridden state is allowed only one nomination to the mission after demands by the state government to allow for two was turned down by the Centre.

What is a “smart city”?