If a massive project like making the twin capital cities of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir into modern smart cities as envisioned by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as back as in the middle of 2015 would have been translated into reality , some hectic noticeable activities should have been visible in that direction . The question is whether any project associated with the massive developmental initiative of smart cities mission has been completed in Jammu and Kashmir? Whether any progress has been made towards the prerequisites like setting up of Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs), engaging Project Management Consultants (PMCs), hire necessary human resources , call tenders within stipulated time and the like? Whether, at least, any review or rescheduling of those associated projects required to be completed by 2021-22 has been done and the likely date of completion announced , even tentatively, since the set deadline is unlikely to be met ? Has requisite rapport and cooperation of the Housing and Urban Development Department with the Union Ministry been very poor ? More importantly , what has been the role of the State Level High Powered Steering Committee comprising top bureaucrats which , as a matter of fact, should have regularly assessed progress on the ground projects periodically? These are few pertinent questions that need answers from the concerned authorities.
The aim behind Smart City Mission , among other objectives , has also the incentive of competition with other cities across the country to obtain maximum benefits and to show which one scored better in terms of performance. Not to speak of Jammu and Kashmir participating in such a competition, the Housing and Urban Development Department has not shown up in any way in adhering to the deadlines even for all the preparatory activities. While in the third round competition held in June 2017 , capital cities of Jammu and Kashmir were selected by the Union Ministry of Housing , by now at least 30 to 40 percent of work should have been fully completed to touch the timeline of 2021-22. Where has the hurdle come and what was done during two and a half years is best known to the concerned ministry of the UT. So far as funds support is concerned, the same is assured as a whooping amount of Rs.98000 crore stands approved and earmarked for development of 100 smart cities and rejuvenation of 500 other cities including Jammu and Kashmir.
Smart cities, besides being people friendly and sustainable, are loaded with the prospects of economic growth, improving the quality of life of people and creating developmental infrastructure which both the capital cities are in need of. The scheme being so flexible in its broader objective and in its accomplishment that the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs has the provision in its mission management to see whether projects concerned anywhere were stuck due to any reason and faced problems with the overall achievements and the technical team is mandated to help such cities . Besides, the concept of “implementathons” too was introduced to get projects from paper to ground .
All these facilities provided for under the Mission were apparently not made use of and no benefits derived therefrom by Jammu and Kashmir through its designated departments . The data provided by the Union Ministry gives a dismal performance of Jammu and Kashmir and is putting it among those five states and Union Territories in the country which have not made any headway or any discernible progress in the matter under reference even though reasonably considerable time has elapsed. Proverbial ‘better late than never’ should at least start operating now but any further ‘late’ would mean another proverbial consequence of ‘missing the bus’ which we cannot afford.
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