100 cities in India would turn into Smart Cities

#SmartCities #AMRUT #JNNURM #Modi The Smart City project is yet another pet project of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It is meant to recast the urban landscape of the country and, towards this, the Union Cabinet has approved Central government spending worth Rs 98,000 crore under two new urban missions over the next five years.
This has been reported in indianexpress.com dated 30 April 2015.
For those who felt that Smart Cities’ would house Smart Alecs, please be informed that under this mission, 100 smart cities would be built with central assistance of Rs 48,000 crore and another 500 cities with outlay of Rs 50,000 crore. The cities that would be developed would be selected through a ‘competition’ which would ascertain their ability to achieve mission objectives. The task would be broken down into elements - each state would have to shortlist a number of smart city aspirants and their task would be to prepare proposals for the Centre.

The aim of the mission is to more efficiently utilize available assets, resources and infrastructure in order to enhance quality of urban life and, simultaneously, provide a clean and sustainable environment.
Some pointers on how to proceed are – develop intelligent transport solutions that would pay dividends by reducing commuting time. There would be focus on adequate and clean water supply, sanitation and solid waste management, efficient urban mobility and public transportation, affordable housing for the poor, power supply, robust IT connectivity, governance, especially e-governance, and citizen participation.
Under the AMRUT scheme, the focus would be in 500 locations with a population of one lakh and above. Cities under this category would be those situated on stems of main rivers, a few capital cities and important cities located in hilly areas and tourist spots.
AMRUT is the acronym for Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation and is said to be an improvement over the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM). It seems to be a case of a new wine in the old bottle. From all appearances, the leaders at the center are allergic to the names of Nehru and Gandhi and want to erase them from public memory.
Of course, there is nothing to complain about because everyone does it. When the British left, we renamed plenty of roads and monuments. Later, whenever any government changed in any state, those who took over power went on a renaming spree. West Bengal is the best example. When the Left Front took over the reins, they painted the Ochterloney Monument in the Maidan in red and when the Trinamool Congress took over, they painted the roads and curbs in white and blue and also renamed the stations of the Kolkata Metro.
Therefore, AMRUT in place of JNNURM would be fine if Smart Cities really emerged from the filth and chaos that has become the trademark of our country. We Indians must first learn the basic civic sense and stop spitting, littering the surroundings, follow traffic rules, show respect to elders and women. Once that is achieved, the Swatchh Bharat Mission would not be needed nor would the Ganga Bachao Andolan be necessary.

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