*162 components required to be completed in 5 yrs
Mohinder Verma
JAMMU, June 28: Notwithstanding much euphoria over selection of Jammu and Srinagar under Smart City Mission, work on majority of the components of the projects are unlikely to start before next year as Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) are yet to be formulated by the Housing and Urban Development Department. Moreover, meeting deadline of the Union Government will be a daunting task in view of perennial problems in both the capital cities.
According to the details of the proposals cleared by the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Development for Jammu and Srinagar Smart Cities, the copy of which is available with EXCELSIOR, cost of Jammu and Srinagar Smart City Projects has been worked out at Rs 3637.71 crore and Rs 3815.98 crore respectively. For Srinagar Smart City, the Equity Fund would be to the tune of Rs 989.84 crore and the same for Jammu Smart City has been worked out at Rs 984.29 crore.
As only Rs 500 crore each are available for Smart City Equity Fund under Prime Minister’s Development Package (PMDP), the State Government will have to provide Rs 500 crore for each city from its own resources. Major chunk of the remaining funds have been planned under convergence mode, Public Private Partnership or Joint Venture etc.
As far as Jammu Smart City is concerned, a total of 845 acres of area will be targeted while as 1180 acres of area will be targeted under Srinagar Smart City Project. Though some of the projects which have been planned under convergence mode are already under execution in both the capital cities yet for majority of the components the procedural formalities are yet to be started by the Housing and Urban Development Department.
“The foremost step is registration of already constituted Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) under the Companies Act as this SPV has the mandate to approve and sanction the projects including their technical appraisal, take measures to comply with the requirements of Union Ministry of Urban Development, mobilize resources within timelines, enter into contracts, partnerships and service delivery arrangements for the implementation of the Smart Cities Mission etc”, sources said, adding “the Housing and Urban Development Department is planning to complete the basic exercise within shortest possible time”.
They informed that surveys for major components, which don’t fall under the convergence mode, are required to be conducted through consultants to pave the way for preparation of Detailed Project Reports, which will then be cleared by the SPV. “All this indicates that work on majority of the components of the Smart City Project is unlikely to start before next year in both the capital cities”, sources said.
Disclosing that a total of 162 components (89 in Srinagar and 73 in Jammu) are required to be completed within a period of five years, sources said, “unless proper coordination between different Government agencies is ensured the Housing and Urban Development Department would not be able to meet the deadline”, adding “some stringent measures are required to be taken to ensure cooperation, which otherwise is a rare phenomenon in Jammu and Kashmir and has already delayed several projects”.
“The perennial problems in both the capital cities like shortage of space for creation of new facilities, encroachments on Government land, lack of space for widening of roads and confrontation between urban development agencies like Municipal Corporations and Development Authorities would again make the completion of projects a daunting task for the Government”, sources further said and hoped that Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti and Deputy Chief Minister Dr Nirmal Singh would issue specific directions at the earliest so that work is started soon after the preparation of Detailed Project Reports.
As per the proposals relating to Jammu Smart City, parkings will come up near Hari Singh Park on the banks of River Tawi, Peerkho and Circular Road. 13 chowks and roundabouts will be taken up for beautification, street vendor/ hawker zones will be developed to give smart look to the city. Even Ghats along Tawi River Front, storm water recycling and reuse at the Ghats, jogging track along Tawi and iconic River Front development have been proposed.
As far as urban mobility is concerned, construction of pedestrian walkways and footpaths, upgradation of roads, introduction of cycles in old city with four cycle stands, operation of battery cars and provision of cycle track have been planned.
Wi-Fi connectivity will be provided at Bus Stand-Indira Chowk, Raghunath Bazar, Residency Road, Manda Zoo, River Front, Urban Habitat Centre and Bahu Fort area. Moreover, electric buses with smart bus stops, common mobility card and intelligent traffic management system will also be made available under the Smart City Project components.
Underground cabling for power supply, smart water and power metering, smart solar city, emergency response system, fire station and automated fire response system, smart surveillance and CCTV centre, modern abbatoir with waste management system, bio-toilets at major public places, sewerage house connections, smart identity card solutions with POS at each ward, RFID chip based birth and death certificate system and city web/mobile apps for tourism promotion are among the other components of the Smart City Project.
In the Srinagar Smart City proposals, pathways and cycle tracks along Bund Road, improvement of Ghats along Jhelum, water transport along Jhelum, eco-STP for treatment of waste water, upliftment of shrines, upgradation of historic markets like Maharajaganj, Bohri, Zaina Kadal, car parking at 7 locations, battery cars for IPT route, bicycle sharing scheme, multi-level parking lots, smart water and power metering, smart solar city, sewerage connection and network, GPS enabled vehicles for waste collection, electric buses, intelligent traffic management system etc have been planned.
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