Charanjit Singh Teja
Amritsar, February 17
Though major schemes under the Smart City mission are yet to be implemented in the city, the Amritsar Smart City Limited (ASCL) claimed to have completed 22 projects of the total 33 at a cost of Rs 183 crore. Out of Rs 995 crore, Rs 343 crore has been released by the Union Government for Smart City Limited during the last five years.
Water supply project
We will get a total of Rs 925 cr excluding administrative and office costs. A major share of Rs 350 crore would be spent on the 24×7 canal-based water supply project. Sandeep Rishi, MC Commissioner
Advocate PC Sharma, an RTI activist, obtained details from the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (Smart Cities Division) in which the Central Public Information Officer (CPIO) revealed that 22 projects have been completed till date and 11 are pending.
Sabak Lal Prasad, Under Secretary and Central Public Information Officer (CPIO), Smart Cities, said that the government launched the Smart Cities Mission (SCM) on June 25, 2015. A total of 100 smart cities have been selected through four rounds of competition from January 2016 to June 2018. A total of 33 projects worth Rs 995 crore were proposed as part of Smart City Proposals (SCPs) in Amritsar. The Union Government will spend Rs 500 crore on it. An equal amount, on a matching basis, is proposed to be contributed by the state government or the urban local body.
The projects including beautification of parks, solar panels on rooftops of government offices, colourful lights under the elevated road, installation of LED street lights, plants under elevated road, wi-fi on Heritage Street and tourist kiosks. Projects such as replacement of diesel autos with e-rickshaws, Smart Road and water supply are being implemented.
“We will get a total of Rs 925 crore excluding administrative and office costs. A major share of Rs 350 crore would be spent on the 24×7 canal-based water supply project. Rs 118 crore is for the Smart Road, Rs 59 crore would be spent on the multi-level car parking at Kairon market and Rs 55 crore on the skyway project outside Gurdwara Saheedan Sahib,” said Sandeep Rishi, Municipal Commissioner.
