Civic chief meets Chandigarh team to seek tips on smart city

All efforts are being made to ensure that the new proposal appeals to the Union ministry. The new proposal has to be sent by April 15.

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Chandigarh had received Rs 2 crore from the Centre to prepare its plan along with technical agencies and other organisations. Expres

To fill in the gaps in the new Smart City proposal, if any, municipal commissioner Baldeo Purushartha, along with other officers, attended a meeting with the officials of the Ministry of Urban Development in Delhi on Wednesday.

Getting the Smart City status for Chandigarh in the next phase has become a matter of prestige for the administration. All efforts are being made to ensure that the new proposal appeals to the Union ministry. The new proposal has to be sent by April 15.

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Talking to The Chandigarh Newsline from Delhi, the MC commissioner said” “We have come to discuss the smart city proposal. The discussion was to know if there are any requirements in our proposal that should be cleared well in tim”.”

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Assured of Chandigarh making to the top 20 Smart Cities, especially after the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Francois Hollande, the result of the first phase left the residents disappointed.

The proposal has to be completely revamped now in such a way that it appeals to the ministry. Experts had pointed out several gaps in the previous proposal. Suggestions have been invited afresh from people on the observations, which have to be submitted by March 18.

Chandigarh has been selected as one of the Fast Track Cities for Smart City Mission under the Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD). A special fast-track provision has been made for those 23 states or UTs whose city was covered in the list of 20. They have been asked to upgrade their proposal.

Chandigarh has to compete with 23 other cities now by enhancing the Smart City proposal and becoming eligible for funding on accelerated basis in 2016-17.

Hina Rohtaki

Hina Rohtaki is a Special Correspondent with The Indian Express, Chandigarh. She covers Chandigarh administration and other cross beats. In this field for over a decade now, she has also received the prestigious Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Award by the President of India in January 2020. She tweets @HinaRohtaki ... Read More

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