Smart City: District tops in state; residents surprised

Avneet Kaur

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Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, January 8

Taking residents by surprise, Jalandhar has topped the list of Smart Cities in Punjab and is ranked 24th in the country. The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs published a list of rankings of 100 cities on Thursday in which the district ranked 24th. But, people in the city are not at all convinced and doubt the criterion of ranking, saying the ground reality is that it’s still far away from comfort and good living conditions.

Not just this, when the councilors of the city shared this information on social media, people started trolling the Municipal Corporation (MC), Jalandhar, by sharing pictures of broken and inundated roads, unsanitary conditions, traffic snarls and among other issues and raised questions on the ranking criteria. They said forget about Smart City, the actual situation is that many issues have not been resolved here for decades.

Key demands from MC

• Good roads
• Traffic management
• Proper waste management
• City beautification
• Enhanced green cover
• Systematic work at govt offices
• Proper utilisation of funds

“I don’t agree with the ranking as nothing concrete has been done by the MC over traffic and waste management. Besides, a lot of other important issues like good infrastructure, roads and green cover too remain unaddressed. We should all work together to make the city better. Just announcing freebies won’t change anything, there is a need to focus on the ground reality”, said Jagteshwar Singh, a resident of Pratap Bagh.

Another resident Robin Sharma said issues such as traffic snarls, air and noise pollution, illegal constructions, and many others are common here. “It’s raining since the last few days, and the situation is that every second road in the city is waterlogged forcing residents to stay indoors”, he said, adding that the city will be a smart city in true sense when living conditions improve here.

The Municipal Corporation Commissioner, Karnesh Sharma, said the city ranking has been given on the basis of project implementation, fund transfer and fund utilisation under Smart City Mission. He said under the Smart City mission, the MC is planning to have an Integrated Command & Control Center which will enhance safety and security besides improving efficiency of municipal services.

“Major infrastructure works are in full swing in the city. Primary among these are storm sewer lines, smart roads, biomining, construction and demolition waste processing. Apart from these, work on the ground level has also started on two major sports infrastructure development projects i.e. Sports Hub at Burlton Park and Astroturf Hockey Ground at Mithapur,” he added.