Bhubaneswar bagged the first rank among 20 smart cities announced by the Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu. These cities are among the first round of smart cities challenge competition.
The other winners are Pune, Jaipur, Surat, Kochi, Ahmedabad, Jabalpur, Vishakhapatnam, Solapur, Davanagere, Indore, New Delhi Municipal Council, Coimbatore, Kakinada, Belagavi, Udaipur, Guwahati, Chennai, Ludhiana and Bhopal.
According to the Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu a total investment of Rs 50,802 crore has been proposed in the selected smart cities and towns during the next five years.
Naidu said Smart City challenge required cities to come up with integrated plans, proposals, so that there is maximum analysis, and planning. A total of 1.52 crore citizens participated in the preparation of Smart city plans at various stages.
The objective of the Smart Cities Mission is to promote cities with core infrastructure, clean and sustainable environment for its citizens. Smart Cities will drive economic growth and improve quality of life by providing adequate water and supply, sanitation, efficient urban mobility and public transport, affordable housing, IT connectivity, health and education. The Mission will cover 100 cities in the next five years.
The announcement is not only a paradigm shift in the approach to urban development in the country but also a historic landmark .
While temple city Bhubaneswar in Odisha topped the smart city competition, Pune came second. Bottom up approach has been the key planning principle under the mission. The results of the competition also revealed the unrecognized strength of the federal structure in the country. Hopefully, the smart cities with smart technologies can deliver better quality of life for people.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has congratulated the winners of Smart City Challenge and extended his best wishes for the cities to move forward with implementation and transform urban India. In his tweet, PM Modi thanked all those who took part in the comprehensive deliberations on various forums to decide the winners of the competition
