Gurgaon May Still Make It To Centre’s Smart City List
Not many expected that Gurgaon, a city where a large number of people move every year to find jobs and succeed in doing so, would lose to neighbouring Faridabad when the Centre announced new names that were to be added in its smart city list in 2016. Those who were left to wonder about the reasons why such a thing should happen, knew that the sorry state of poor infrastructure — Gurgaon suffers frequent power outages and erratic water supply; the efficiency of the drainage is questionable and the waste disposal system is not as competent as it should be — has taken the toll. To make the cut, a city must run all these facilities efficiently.
After that many had begun to lose hopes of any redemption.  Recently, new names were added to the Centre’s smart city list, bring the number of cities that will be re-developed as smart ones to 99. Â
That, however, was not the end of the road for Gurgaon, the Millennium City which has all the potential to become a smart city, all the obstacles in its path to progress notwithstanding.
Union Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri recently told Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar that the city would be considered for inclusion in the Smart City Mission.
Earlier, the state government had asked the Centre to provide technical assistance for developing Gurgaon as a smart city while saying that it was fully capable of undertaking the financial implications of the project.
What happens if Gurgaon makes it to the list?
If all goes fine, and Gurgaon makes it to the list
*It will receive Central assistance to the tune of Rs 100 crore on an annual basis.
*Technical support will come to the city would also mean faster implementation of projects and the end of the red tape as we know it. Extending of Central technical support would mean the end of multiple civic agencies. With one body to oversee project development, progress would be made at a much faster pace.
With inputs from Housing News