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Centre considering scheme for smart cities
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SME Times News Bureau | 30 Jul, 2014
Urban Development Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu has suggested that there
could be a scheme for renewal of 500 urban habitations in India and
another for "smart cities".
Naidu, who chaired a two-day
brainstorming session here concerning urban renewal, has asked ministry
officials to look into the experience of the Jawaharlal Nehru Urban
Renewal Mission (JNNURM), and said the focus of the smart city project
should be on enhancing the quality of urban life through an integrated
approach to urban planning.
The brainstorming session concluded Tuesday.
An
official release said the broad view that emerged at the session was
that new urban development initiatives should aim at improving the
quality of life and go beyond merely improving infrastructure, based on
the experience of implementing the JNNURM.
Various aspects of urban development, including smart cities, were taken up for critical examination.
Power
Minister Piyush Goyal and parliamentarians Rajiv Pratap Rudy,
Jyotiraditya Scindia, Baijayant Panda and Rajiv Chandrasekhar shared
their perspectives.
Goyal suggested that issues of solid waste management and cleanliness should be addressed on priority.
On development of smart cities, he said four-five such projects could be offered to states which have land available readily.
Rudy
said six dimensions of smart cities should be "smart governance, smart
mobility, smart environment, smart ecology, smart people and smart
living", while Panda said emerging towns should be included under the
smart cities initiative.
Scindia suggested development of
'counter magnet cities' to spread urbanisation to new areas and noted
that cities which do not face issues like congestion and paucity of land
could be chosen first to be developed as smart cities.
Chandrasekhar
said that though the JNNURM had laudable objectives, it failed to
develop a single 'model city'. This experience should be taken into
account while devising new urban development schemes.
He said the
central government should play the role of a catalyst and stressed the
need for city-specific plans and empowerment of local bodies.
Shankar
Aggarwal, secretary for urban development, said a smart city could have
technology-based governance that enables efficient public services, has
24x7 water and power supply, 100 percent sewerage, drainage and solid
waste management facilities besides top class infrastructure.
He
said resources could be mobilised through public-private partnership,
multilateral agencies and viability gap funding by the central
government.
Naidu asked ministry officials to prepare notes for
the cabinet based on learning from the JNNURM and suggestions received
during the deliberations.
The JNNURM, launched in 2005, aims to
encourage reforms and fast-track planned development of identified
cities. Focus is on efficiency in urban infrastructure and service
delivery mechanisms, community participation and accountability of urban
local bodies towards citizens.
The release said Naidu suggested
there could be two different schemes - one for renewal of 500 urban
habitations and another for smart cities.
It said 500 habitations
are to be provided safe drinking water, sewerage management and use of
recycled water, solid waste management and digital connectivity as
mentioned in the union budget for 2014-15.
The National
Democratic Alliance government has provided Rs.7,060 crore in this
year's budget for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of 100 smart
cities by developing satellite towns of larger cities and modernising
the existing mid-sized cities.
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