CPIM: BJP casual about smart city projects

Tribune News Service

Shimla, February 23

CPIM district secretary and former Mayor Sanjay Chauhan accused the BJP-led Shimla Municipal Corporation and the state government of adopting a casual attitude towards implementing the Shimla smart city projects. He said they had not deposited the state’s share of Rs 500 crore as proposed under the smart city mission.

Chauhan said if the state government’s attitude towards the smart city projects worth Rs 2,900 crore remained like this, the projects would meet the same fate as those under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM).

He said there were projects worth Rs 4,000 crore for development of Shimla town under the JNNURM. The work was to be completed between 2007 and 2012. But, the then BJP government and the Congress-ruled municipal corporation “did little” to take up these projects in a time-bound manner and people were deprived of development, he added.

He said when the CPM ruled the MC in 2016, they earned the smart city tag for Shimla through the High Court and floated Rs 2,906 crore smart city projects involving engagement with 1.01 lakh residents. These projects would include Rs 500-crore Union Government and Rs 500-crore share from the state government, he added.