2 years on, Dharamsala Smart City project yet to take off

Lalit Mohan

Tribune News Service

Dharamsala, May 20

The Dharamsala Smart City project announced and sanctioned in 2016 with a lot of fanfare along with other such projects across the country, has failed to take off. The problems that the project faced during the stint of the previous Congress government continue to paralyse the project even now. The project is still short of staff and the state government has not contributed its 50 per cent share.

Sources said development works worth Rs 2,100 crore had been planned under the Smart City project. Of these, the state government had dropped about Rs 600 crore worth of projects that were considered irrelevant. A major project that has been dropped is the construction of 555 single bedroom houses for urban homeless. The authorities are of the view that there were hardly any Himachali urban homeless and so constructing 555 houses was futile. Already, about 100 single-room houses constructed in Dharamsala were lying unallotted.

Vijay Chaudhary, Executive Engineer, Smart City project, said at present the stress was on spending about Rs 203 crore, including Rs 183 crore given by the Union government and Rs 20 crore given by the state government. Some projects had been indentified and being put on fast pace.

The biggest challenge for the BJP government would be to arrange funds for the project. The Union government had released a grant of Rs 183 crore for the project. The state government had to contribute a matching grant of Rs 183 crore as its share to the project.

The previous government had demanded that since Himachal was a special category state, the Union government should contribute 90 per cent to the project and the state government should contribute just 10 per cent. The previous government had contributed just 10 per cent that is about Rs 18 crore to the Dharamsala Smart City project.

The present government had also tried to the get 90:10 package for getting grants under the project. However, it has not found any favour.

Enquiries by The Tribune revealed that the complex structure drafted by the Union Ministry for Urban Development for the implementation of the Smart City project would delay its implementation.

The stumbling block

• The project is short of staff and fund
• The Centre had released a grant of Rs 183 crore for the project. The state had to contribute a matching grant.
• The present government, like the previous one, wants funds in the 90:10 ratio, but without success