PM launches 84 projects for 20 ‘Smart Cities’

Shiv Kumar

Tribune News Service

Mumbai, June 25

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today launched 84 Smart City projects for 20 selected cities, entailing an investment of about Rs 1,770 crore, to mark the first anniversary of the Smart City Mission.

Terming the mission as not just a concept or allocation of funds, but a public-based movement, Modi said the experiment has worked successfully.

“These cities were selected out of a contest with public participation to avoid problems and opposition. We received over 2.5 million workable ideas from the people which the government will have to take note of. This has resulted in a participatory approach in development and will lead to a huge transformation in future,” he said.

The programme had several Union Ministers, including Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu, Union Minister of State for Environment Prakash Javadekar, Maharashtra Governor C Vidyasagar Rao and CM Devendra Fadnavis in attendance. However, mayors and civic officials from local bodies headed by non-BJP parties, including the Shiv Sena,  were absent in the function.

He urged city planners not to treat urbanisation as a “calamity” but as an “opportunity” to  improve the lives of the people in an all-inclusive manner. He then inaugurated the Smart Net portal which allows participanting cities under the mission to share ideas on various issues.