65 per cent projects completed in Karnal under Smart Cities Mission

Tribune News Service

Parveen Arora

Karnal, July 7

Five years after inclusion in the Smart Cities Mission programme, Karnal Smart City Project is taking shape. Around 65 per cent projects are either completed or on verge of completion even after facing shortage of material and labour owing to the Covid-induced lockdown, said an official.

As per the information collected by The Tribune, Karnal was included in the list of Smart Cities on June 23, 2017. The government had hired consultant and appointed the CEO for the execution of projects in October 2018.

So far, 101 projects, costing around Rs 940 crore have been taken up by Karnal Smart City Limited (KSCL). Of them, 65 projects worth Rs 273 crores have been completed, while work on 23 projects estimated to cost Rs 159 crore is underway.

Out of remaining 13 projects, tenders have been floated for 10 projects costing Rs 290 crore by the KSCL. The remaining three projects of Rs 70 crore, including construction of business complex on the old building site of the Karnal Municipal Corporation (KMC), SCADA for water supply, and laying of lease line for the surveillance cameras in the city, would be done by the civic body.

Earlier, the Union Government had fixed the deadline to invite tenders till March 31. Also, the Centre had directed the KSCL to rope in government agencies to construct remaining projects.

“Now, the Union Government has given one month to the KSCL to call tenders for the remaining projects, which could not be floated by the department concerned,” said an official associated with the KSCL.

“Under the Smart City Mission, our focus was on improvement of education. For this, we have initiated several projects like upgradation of 53 classrooms of nine government schools with STEM and robotic labs. Digital libraries have been constructed at Budhakhera and Ram Nagar. We have developed math parks in four schools by installing 17 different geometrical shapes and structures,” said Anish Yadav, Deputy Commissioner-cum-CEO, KSCL.

“For the promotion of sports among citizens, the Smart City has provided various state-of-art infrastructure projects, including sports facilities at Community Centre, Sector 6, Sardar Milkha Singh Stadium, hockey stadium with community hall, yoga deck and tot-lot, pathways for walking and running,” said Yadav.

“Sports facilities at Karna Stadium will be redeveloped in two phases, along with indoor sports complex at Nyaypuri, badminton court and squash court. Indoor swimming pool will also be constructed,” Yadav added.

“To curb pollution, encourage biodiversity in the city, Atal Park has been rejuvenated. Besides, open air gyms have been set up in different parks,” said Yadav.

“Roads and footpaths are being developed to ensure safe passage for pedestrian and smooth vehicular movement. Equipment like super sucker machine, mini tippers with hopper having segregated chamber for wet and dry waste and two sewer cleaning jetting machines for maintaining sewerage system have been procured to ensure cleanliness in the city,” Yadav added.

“Besides, several projects like development of recreational zone at Karna Lake, walking street in the newly developed cultural corridor, Western Yamuna Canal front and others have been constructed to promote tourism and beautification of the city,” the CEO maintained.

“Integrated Command and Control Centre (ICCC) has been established for the safety, security and smooth flow of traffic in the city. Emergency call boxes have been installed in various parts of the city, where citizens can connect with the ICCC through one push of the button,” Yadav said while adding that 25,000 LED lights were being installed in the city.

Focus on overall development

Under the Smart City Mission, our focus is on improvement of education, sports infrastructure and development of roads and footpaths to ensure safe passage for pedestrians and streamline traffic movement in city. — Anish Yadav, Deputy Commissioner-cum-CEO, KSCL

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