Local self-government secretary approves various development projects under Jaipur Smart City

JAIPUR: In a Smart City Board meeting on Thursday, August 29, several proposals, including renovation work on heritage sites in the Walled City in Jaipur, construction of a digital museum in the Rajasthan assembly premises and repair work at city’s SMS hospital were given approval.

Bhawani Singh Detha, local self-government secretary, chaired the meeting and a review of various schemes and approval of new proposals under the Smart Cities Mission was undertaken. Vishnu Sharma, mayor of Jaipur, T Ravikant, commissioner, Jaipur Development Authority, Jagroop Yadav, Jaipur collector, and Alok Ranjan, CEO, Jaipur Smart City were among the several officials attended the meeting.

In a presentation by Alok Ranjan about the works undertaken by the Jaipur Smart City, he said that 13 works worth Rs 268 crore have been completed while 32 projects worth Rs 528 crore are under progress.

Further, Alok said that a digital museum showcasing the political, economic and social history of Rajasthan will be built in the assembly premises at a cost of Rs 20 crore. The foundation stone laying ceremony of the proposed museum will be held on October 2.

Adding on to the development works, Ranjan said that a sum of Rs 14 crore will be spent on repair and renovation of market corridors in the walled city. Rs 19 crore have been sanctioned for renovation of Darbar school, construction of a sports complex and community centre, repair of the Maharaja library in Chaura Rasta, repair of Maharaja Girls School in Chhoti Chaupad and repairing of the Yaadgar police control room, he added.

Ranjan said that as part of the Krishna Circuit, pedestrian paths will be built between Govind Devji temple to Atish Market, Jai Niwas garden, development of roads, renovation of Gopinath temple will be undertaken at a cost of Rs 50 crore. Moreover, Rs 16.6 crore have been sanctioned for works to be taken up in the first phase, added Ranjan.

Smart Cities Mission’s obejective is to create cities where citizens get a better standard of living and facilities through smart solutions that include basic services like water and electricity, public transport, e-governanace, education and other public works, said Detha. Further he directed the officials to speed up the work under and monitor regularly the ongoing projects. Quality should be ensured and deadlines should be met, added Detha.

Detha also directed the authorities to take up the work of repairing and renovating corridors in walled city market, on priority, in line as suggested by Urban Development and Housing minister, Rajasthan government, Shanti Dhariwal, who had inspected the walled city area some days back.

Smart toilets should be put up at public locations and they should be built for women as well, added Detha.

Among the proposals brought on table and got approved were that of a parking at Sawai Manshingh Stadium at a cost of Rs 12 crore and a parking at Ramlila Maidan at a cost of Rs 90 crore. Also, Rs 40 core budget was approved for construction of indoor stadium, badminton court, table tennis court, boxing ring at the Chuagan stadium and Sawai Mansingh Stadium. Further, Rs 25 crore was sanctioned for renovation and development of the Talkatora lake.

Rainwater harvesting structures were proposed at various spots by the mayor. The meeting also approved Rs 97.32 crore for solid waste management in the city.

Dr Sudhir Bhandari, principal of SMS medical college, put up several proposals in the meeting, including shifting of the mortuary, installation of WiFi facility in the hospital, construction of underground multi-level parking, construction of private rooms and cottages and hostels for medical students. A sum of Rs75 crore from the Smart City was sanctioned for the work.

Other proposals discussed includes installation of high resolution cameras at crossings with heavy traffic and linking them to the Abhay Command Centre. Moreover, as per officials, 2 MW solar panels have been installed on 20 government office buildings at a cost of Rs 18 crore and the smart city and the government authorities have earned around Rs 60 lakh each from sale of electricity generated.