Gurugram not on smart city list: Khattar

Aksheev Thakur

Advertisement

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, August 5

Union Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs Manohar Lal Khattar said Gurugram is not on the list of 100 smart cities. He also noted that no Indian city was equipped to handle 8-8.5 cm of rainfall.

The minister was responding to Rajya Sabha MP Jaya Bachchan, who raised the issue of waterlogging in Gurugram in the House.

“I couldn’t go to Gurugram as there was waist-deep water due to the rains. If this is the condition of Gurugram, which is supposedly on the smart cities’ list, how many capitals in India would actually qualify as smart cities?” Bachchan asked.

Khattar clarified that in Haryana, only Faridabad and Karnal were on the smart cities’ list.

“When I became the CM of Haryana in 2014, I still remember the condition of IFFCO Chowk, Honda Chowk and Rajiv Chowk in Gurugram. We constructed roads, flyovers and underpasses, and today, rainwater no longer remains stagnant there,” he said.

Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar interrupted Khattar, stating that since he had served as the CM of Haryana and now holds the ministry, he should explain how the issue of waterlogging could be alleviated.

Khattar explained that heavy rainfall leads to waterlogging.

“This is a natural phenomenon. We will look into it. Gurugram is an iconic city, and we should be proud of it. Today, 300 out of the Fortune 500 companies are in Gurugram. Our cities are equipped to handle rainfall of around 1.5-2 cm, but there is no planning in place to deal with rainfall of around 8-8.5 cm, as was the case in Delhi-NCR last week. However, we will consider suggestions on how to equip cities to deal with climate change,” the minister added.