Smart Cities funding: Mumbai, Navi Mumbai fail to feature in top 20
Officials attribute lack of political will: UD dept says cities that have lost should revise their plans for the next round
4 min read
Mumbai, as well as its satellite city Navi Mumbai, will have to put its Smart City dreams on hold for at least a few months, with both failing to make the cut in the Centre’s first list of 20 cities to receive funding on priority under its ambitious Smart Cities mission.
Both municipal corporations had faced opposition from a section of its corporators before submitting their Smart City proposals to the Centre. Officials attributed lack of political will for the failure of both Mumbai and Navi Mumbai to make the final cut among the top 20 cities.
A senior official at the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said, “The Shiv Sena corporators had suggested 14 amendments to the original proposal. So, we had sent the proposal to the Centre with the amendments. That could be a reason why the city was not included in the list.”
Corporators of both the Shiv Sena-controlled BMC as well as the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP)-controlled Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) had voiced their opposition to the structure of the Smart Cities mission, which calls for establishment of a special purpose vehicle.
The special purpose vehicle — which will have a full-time CEO, representatives of the local body, the state and Centre — will plan, appraise, approve, release funds, implement, manage, operate, monitor and evaluate the Smart City development projects. Politicians of both the local bodies said this would lead to dilution of the powers of the municipal corporations.
While the NMMC’s general body had rejected Navi Mumbai’s proposal to be a Smart City under the Centre’s scheme outright, the BMC general body cleared it but only with a set of amendments. These included making Mumbai’s mayor the chairperson of the special purpose vehicle, ensuring over 50 per cent of its members are from the BMC and reserving 85 per cent of new jobs created for locals, among others.
“We will wait for the proposal to come back to us from the Centre. We will study it and then see what can be done,” Additional Municipal Commissioner S V R Srinivas said.
Navi Mumbai Municipal Commissioner Dinesh Waghmare said one of the basic criteria that the Union government applied for selecting the first 20 future Smart Cities was willingness of the urban local bodies to participate.
“Our general body had unanimously rejected the proposal and the item has not been taken up for discussion ever since. Unless and until the general body decides to give its approval to the plan, Navi Mumbai may not be chosen in the Centre’s coming rounds for funding,” he added.
The Navi Mumbai plan had gone without the resolutions of its general body with the political class having resolved to not participate in the Centre’s scheme. The state government later suspended the resolution.
From the 10 cities of Maharashtra, Navi Mumbai had submitted the most expensive plan, requiring an outlay of Rs 8,500 crore, with the aim of projecting it as one of the first planned cities of the country. The corporation’s Smart City project involved improving core infrastructure services such as sanitation, water supply, transportation and security using modern technologies.
On the other hand, at Rs 1,018 crore, the BMC’s proposal was the most modest plan among the 10 cities. The plan focused on transforming Lower Parel, a highly congested commercial hub, by improving the quality of infrastructure.
The Union government had held a competitive process to select the first 20 cities to receive funding under the scheme – Rs 500 crore over five years – among 97 cities across India that had submitted proposals. Pune and Solapur were the only cities from Maharashtra to be picked in the top 20.
Manisha Mhaiskar, principal secretary at the Urban Development Department, said, “The Union government will have the second round of selection within the next six months. The cities that have lost out can learn from this and revise their plans accordingly for the next round.”
mumbai.newsline@expressindia.com
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