‘Smart City Mission’ projects likely to be completed in 2023

NEW DELHI: Data released by the Government of India shows that around 88 per cent of the fund assigned by the government for the ‘Smart City Mission’ (SCM) projects has been utilised. As of December 2, 2022, the government has released ₹34,675 crore, out of which ₹30,418 crore has been utilised. Work orders were issued for 7,738 projects costing ₹1,81,112 crore out of which 4,987 projects worth ₹92,439 crore have been completed.

A senior official said that the Integrated Command and Control Centre has been made operational in several cities, including Nagpur, Pune, Rajkot, Ahmedabad, Kakinada, Visakhapatnam, Surat, Vadodara, Bhopal etc. These cities are becoming cleaner day by day as they are using CCTV cameras for monitoring, resulting in reduced incidences of garbage thrown on roads, littering, urination in public and night time burning of garbage.

The Intelligent Transit Management System has helped cities in improving operational efficiency by reducing the cost of operation and improving the service level. Smart City Centres are also providing technical support to improve safety of women on the streets, generate sensitivity towards the environment in people, rapid response and better preparedness for emergencies and disasters.

The mission focuses on sustainable and inclusive development, while the idea is to create replicable models which could be built in other aspiring cities. SCM guidelines say that the central government has to provide financial support to the extent of ₹48,000 crore over the period of five years to the 100 Smart Cities, and an equal amount has to be contributed by the respective states and UTs.