HPSC flouting Smart City guidelines, alleges engineers’ council

tribune new service

LUDHIANA, December 9

The Council of Engineers, a private body of engineers, has filed complaint with the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) and Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD) against State-Level High Powered Steering Committee (HPSC) for allegedly not following the Smart City Guidelines for Ludhiana, Amritsar and Jalandhar, which are to be developed as smart cities.

“According to the Smart City Guidelines, it is mandatory to involve technical experts, resident welfare associations, slum level federations, NGOs, youth association, mahila mandali, senior citizens etc in Special Purpose Vehicle ie Local Level Advisory Forum in the Smart City Mission. However, the entire guidelines have been ignored by the HPSC,” alleged Kapil Arora of Council of Engineers.

“We have requested the PMO, MoUD and other departments concerned under the Smart City Mission that proper procedure must be adopted to ensure citizen participation in real sense. If appropriate steps are not taken, we will move to court,” he said.