‘Smart City’ remains Mission Impossible

Ludhiana: More than three years after Ludhiana was included in the list of cities to be developed as a ‘smart city’, the delay in major projects under the Smart City Mission are high on the agenda of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Lok Insaf Party (LIP), as they seek to make it a major Lok Sabha poll issue. Meanwhile, those associated with the mission reveal that most major works under it are yet to get off the ground.
Apart from the construction of a smart road at Ghumar Mandi, and a multi-storey parking at Feroze Gandhi market, the five other projects that were in the news since 2016 included retrofitting and beautification of Sarabha Nagar market, and development of Malhar Road as a ‘smart road’, besides 24x7 water supply, stormwater system, and augmentation of the existing sewerage system in ABD (area-based development) areas.These projects were among the most ambitious ones, on the basis of which the city was ranked among the top 20 cities in the country under the Smart City Mission.
“I just want to know whether they have completed any major project under the Smart City Mission. What good can installing solar systems on municipal buildings do to residents? Even three years after Ludhiana came under the Smart City Mission, nothing has been achieved on the ground, and the city remains the same city,” said Darshan Singh Shankar, AAP’s state media team member and a senior leader from Ludhiana. “This is the failure of both Congress and SAD-BJP, as both have been in power after the project was announced. We will raise the issue in the coming Lok Sabha elections,” he added.
Not only AAP, but LIP too is set to make delays in mission projects the main issue in the Lok Sabha elections. “This is not a Smart City Mission, but a ‘Satyanash City Mission’, as they are making money from it. We are not able to manage even garbage, or carry out patchworks on roads. The central government is giving funds, but who will keep a check on where the money is going? The present Congress and previous SAD-BJP regimes have not done much on the mission, as not a single project has been completed. Why should we not make it a major election issue, as it concerns the city’s residents,” said LIP chief and Atam Nagar MLA Simarjit Singh Bains.
Congress says they are working hard on the project. “We know there is delay. The central government has declared that the city would be developed as a smart city, but we did not have any plan. Congress was voted to power only two years ago, but before that, the SAD-BJP government too had not done much on it, even as the NDA was in power for the past five years. However, we have worked really hard, and we know how we got the projects started,” said Ludhiana MP Ravneet Singh Bittu.
On the other hand, SAD says the delay is because of the present member of parliament. “Ludhiana was among the first 20 cities to be developed as a smart city. However, after it was included in the list, we had to do a lot of work to complete the formalities, get people’s feeback, and study the viability of the projects. These things were time- consuming, but we still got Rs200 crore from the Centre. After that, the Congress came to power in the state and they have not done much during the past two years. It is a failure of the MP, as he was unable to follow up works in Delhi, even as the central government had provided funds,” said SAD district president (Ludhiana-Urban) Ranjit Singh Dhillon.
Meanwhile, residents are also waiting for the city to be developed as a ‘smart city’. “It has been many years since we have been hearing of the city being developed as a smart city, but I don’t think much has changed on the ground. For us, Ludhiana being developed as a smart city with proper waste disposal, better roads, clean drinking water, better parking facilities etc is a dream, and we will keep that in mind while voting in the Lok Sabha elections,” said Manjeet Singh, a city resident.
NOTHING DONE
One of the directors of the Ludhiana Smart City Limited (LSCL), architect Sanjay Goel said retrofitting and beautification of Sarabha Nagar market, and development of Malhar Road as a ‘smart road’’ had started only around 10 days ago, while 24x7 water supply, stormwater system, and augmentation of existing sewerage system in ABD areas of the smart city have not even started so far. “So too, work on Ghumar Mandi smart road has not begun, nor has the multi-storey parking in Feroze Gandhi market, even though these works were announced in 2016.
“Work is extremely slow on the ground, and nothing concrete has been delivered to citizens. Even the company has not made its own office. There is no paucity of funds from the central government under the mission, and out of the Rs200 crore received in 2016, less than half has been spent,” said Sanjay Goel.
FIRST BATCH
On January 28, 2016, the government announced the first batch of 20 cities to be developed as ‘smart cities’ from 11 states and Delhi. The list had Ludhiana at No.19.