SILCHAR, Aug 30 - Unhappy with the illusive promises by the BJP to convert Silchar into a �Smart City�, Silchar MP Susmita Dev has demanded that the second most urban sprawl in the Northeast must be developed under the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) scheme of the government.
In her letter to Union Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu, she said that Silchar is loaded with the potential to feature in the list of cities being developed under the AMRUT scheme as it has some distinctive advantages owing to its demographic, geographical location, natural resources and agro-climatic conditions which make it a congenial avenue for investments in the region.
Moreover, Cachar district has the largest water area among other districts in Assam, she said. �Silchar, a traditionally agro-rich city, is in dire need for infrastructure development to become the financial and trade hub of Barak Valley. It should be included in the list of 500 cities under the AMRUT scheme,� she appealed.
Further, taking a dig at Sports Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, who had wooed the voters during the 2014 Assembly byelection to make Silchar a smart city, Susmita said according to the guidelines of the proposed concept, no MP can decide how many cities should feature in the list. �How could he (Sarbananda) declare this with such audacity and toyed with people�s aspirations. This is just like Prime Minister Narendra Modi�s pre-poll promise to wipe out the detention camps from the State which turned out to be largely fallacious,� Susmita said.
