GUWAHATI, Aug 31 - City-based consulting engineer JN Khataniar while hailing the Central government�s latest proposal to develop Guwahati into a Smart City, urged the people of the State to respond to the proposal �positively�.
In a statement here today, Khataniar said the people as well as the authorities should immediately start necessary preparation for improvement and upgradation of the present Guwahati infrastructure. This should be the special area of involvement, particularly for agencies like the Guwahati Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) and the Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC), along with the Directorate of Town and Country Planning. They should work in tandem as per the guidelines in this regard and also in close association with the Union Ministry of Urban Development, Khataniar said.
A complete new setup in this area is an urgent need. This may be created to handle the Smart City concept and finally the upcoming infrastructure and related projects right from smart site selection, smart planning and designing, along with smart execution, till completion by using smart technologies in a proper manner, he said.
On August 27, the Union government announced that seven cities in the North-east would be included under its Smart City Project Mission. Union Minister of Urban Development M Venkaiah Naidu announced that day the list of cities and towns selected under the Smart Cities Mission.
The north-eastern cities include Guwahati (with a population of 9.62 lakh), Imphal (2.68 lakh), Shillong (3.54 lakh), Pasighat (24,000), Kohima (1.60 lakh), Agartala (4.4 lakh) and Namchi (12,190). Under the Mission, the Urban Development Ministry will provide Rs 100 crore per city per year over the next five years. Accordingly, the Centre has made a provision of Rs 48,000 crore for the next five years for the Smart Cities Mission.
The state governments are to make equal matching contributions to this end. This means the Centre and state governments will invest Rs 95,000 crore over the next five years for making 100 cities smart, said the Union Minister.
Meanwhile, Dhiren Baruah, Chairman of the Guwahati Metropolitan Development Authority has thanked the Centre for declaring Guwahati a smart city.
