New Delhi: Ten cities including Greater Warangal, Aizawal, Guwahati, Amravati, Diu, Imphal, Port Blair, Shillong, Puducherry, and Kavaratti have been identified as poor performers as far as physical and financial progress of the smarty cities are concerned.
A government document in possession of Etv Bharat shows that the progress of these cities has been lagging behind, and several projects have not been completed even after the five-year period since the announcement of the Smart City Mission.
Amravati, for instance, has a total project cost of Rs. 1,812 crores, of which the government of India has released only Rs. 488 crores. The same amount has been released by the state as marching share funds. Interestingly, none of the 42 planned projects in Amravati have been completed so far. In Guwahati, out of a total of 185 projects planned, only nine have been completed, with a total project cost of Rs. 2,256 crores. Similarly, in Diu, only 14 out of the 50 planned projects have been completed, with a project cost of Rs. 1,442.70 crores.
The Shillong Smart City project, with a cost of Rs. 1,039 crore, has only one completed project out of a total of 96 planned projects. Aizawl has completed only seven projects out of 105 planned projects, with a total project cost of Rs. 2,053.01 crores. Greater Warangal, a smart city project in Telangana, has completed only 32 projects out of 128 planned projects, with a total project cost of Rs. 2,740 crore.
In contrast, some cities have performed exceptionally well under the Smart City Mission. For instance, Kakinada Smart City project in Andhra Pradesh has completed 72 projects out of the total of 10 planned projects. Raipur Smart City project in Chhattisgarh has completed 240 projects out of the total sanctioned projects of 90 for implementation. The New Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) has completed 97 projects out of a total of 40 planned projects. Other cities like Surat, Jammu, Srinagar, Belagavi, Davanagere, Tumakuru, and Indore have also completed excess projects under the Smart City Mission.
The official report of Ministry of Housing and urban Affairs (MoHUA) also highlights that 32 smart cities have completed more projects than planned in some cases even four times more than the actual target, while the remaining 68 smart cities are yet to meet the project completion targets. The report further states that projects worth Rs. 39,085 crores have been completed in the last 12 months, despite challenges such as the Covid-19 pandemic, political and regional considerations, local challenges related to land and labor, etc.
The report also mentioned that the mission period of the Smart City Mission has been extended till June 2023, and all smart cities are expected to complete their projects within the stipulated time. The Smart City Mission was launched on June 25, 2015, with the objective of promoting cities that provide core infrastructure, clean and sustainable environment, and a decent quality of life to their citizens through the application of smart solutions. 100 cities were selected to be developed as smart cities through a two-stage challenge process at the state and central level.
