Rs 300 crore projects shelved under Smart City Mission

Subhash Rajta

Tribune News Service

Shimla, January 4

Shimla Smart City Mission has dropped projects worth Rs 300 crore from its list. Out of the projects worth Rs 1,000 crore that it had funded or was supposed to fund, it will now finance projects worth Rs 700 crore. The decision to shelve several projects was taken in the meeting of Board of Directors of Shimla Smart City Mission today.

Unfeasible projects scrapped, says GM

Those projects were shelved which were either not feasible or had not received the required clearances, mainly forest related. — Brahm Prakash, GM (technical), Smart city

“Those projects were shelved which were either not feasible, or had not received the required clearances, mainly forest related,” said Brahm Prakash, GM (Technical), Smart City. “Funding for Shimla Jal Prabandhan Nigam Limited’s project is also among the shelved projects. As the World Bank is funding the SJPNL project, the BoD decided to withdraw from the project,” said the GM.

The BoD, however, has not shut the door completely on these projects. “The Chief Secretary said these projects could still be considered if the departments concerned bring a feasible proposal with the required clearances before March 31,” said Brahm Prakash.

The Shimla Smart City Mission is looking to complete all its projects by June 2023, and hence appears unwilling to fund any project whose work is not awarded by March 2022. “The Central government has instructed us to complete the projects by June 2023. The projects whose work has not been awarded by March are unlikely to be completed by next June, 2023. That’s the reason why the BoD is insisting on awarding the work of all projects before March 31,” he said.

In other developments in the meeting, the BoD has suggested the beautification of huge concrete walls that have come up following the widening of roads, mainly on the circular road. “The concerned departments have been asked to explore ways to beautify these walls. Options like paintings, using creepers, etc, were discussed,” the GM said.

Also discussed during the meeting were the proposals to build a flyover at the Victory Tunnel to ease traffic, the proposed road from Hotel Holiday Home to the bypass road, and the construction of Municipal Corporation office. “The directors assured us that the MC office will be constructed under Smart City Mission,” said Mayor Satya Kaundal. 

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