Govt is working on 100 smart cities: Naidu

M.Venkaiah Naidu

New Delhi: Urban Development Minister M.Venkaiah Naidu today said that the government is working on the concept of ‘Smart City’ and the contours of implementing the project for developing/building 100 such cities. 

He said so while replying to a question raised by P.Kumar in the Lok Sabha during question hour. 

Naidu further said that all stakeholders will be consulted in the matter and this scheme was discussed at a recent meeting of Urban Development Ministers of States and Union Territories. He said that Parliament would be duly informed of the details of Smart Cities project after their finalization. 

Less patronage to JNNURM
 

Expressing concern over the lack of support from States and Union Territories on using the committed central assistance of Rs.12,397 crore under Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), the minister said in a written reply to Rattan Lal Kataria, K.C Venugopal and P. Srinivasa Reddy, that the central assistance under JNNURM which was launched in December 2005 and closed by the previous government on March 31, 2014.

Under JNNURM, central government committed itself to provide a total assistance of Rs.46,787 Cr to states/UTs for taking up urban infrastructure/development projects. Release of central assistance was linked to implementation of reforms. States/UTs could avail only 73.50% of central assistance forfeiting Rs.12,397 Cr.

Delhi topped the list of under users having failed to avail central assistance of Rs.1,130 crore as against the committed assistance of Rs.2,327 crore under the component for improvement of infrastructure and other projects in 65 identified big cities. This amounted to only 49 per cent utilization of the committed central assistance. Other under performers included – Goa with only 25% utilization of central assistance, Bihar (39%), Kerala (39%), Mizoram (44%), Punjab (45%), Jharkhand (48%) and Meghalaya(50%).

He said, 668 small and medium towns have reported better utilization of JNNURM funds with an overall utilization of 76% of central assistance. 

FDI flow

Venkaiah Naidu informed Poonamben Maadam that Foreign Direct Investment of US $ 1295.05 million (Rs.7,924.85 cr) as equity had flown into various urban projects in the country during April-2013 – April, 2014. The beneficiary projects included construction of townships, housing, infrastructure development etc., spread across 22 states/Union Territories. Delhi topped the list of recipients of such FDI with an investment of US $ 565.97 million and followed by Chennai (US $ 220.84 million ), Mumbai (US $ 177.04 million) and Ahmedabad (US $ 131.77 million).

15000 new houses for slum-dwellers in Chennai

In a move to resettle families living along Adyar, Cooum rivers and Buckingham Canal, the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) has cleared the proposal for construction of around 15000 tenements by the Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board at Perumbakkam (TNSCB).

The clearance follows the TNSCB fulfilling the requirement of constructing an 18-metre-wide road near the multi-storeyed buildings. The move seeks to facilitate the resettlement and rehabilitation of 15,000 families from the city, a Hindu report said.

However, the TNSCB is planning to reduce the number of tenements proposed in the project. The construction of 27,000 tenements at Perumbakkam was proposed under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM). 

The first phase of around 6,000 tenements in Perumbakkam is nearing completion, a TNSCB official told the Hindu. The multi-storeyed buildings are being constructed to resettle and rehabilitate residents of slums located on ‘objectionable' lands in the city. There are around 40,000 slum households that are categorised as ‘objectionable' and most of them are found encroaching the Adyar, Cooum and Buckingham Canal in the city.

Of the 40,000 families, around 33,000 families are along the Adyar, Cooum and Buckingham Canal.

The remaining families have been identified by the Chennai Corporation on areas on which habitations are not permitted such as government land, poromboke land, waterbodies, footpaths and canals. Improvement work such as removing encroachments and widening roads would follow the rehabilitation work.

The Corporation will soon start issuing Smart Cards to all residents of 6,000 encroachments along micro-drains such as the Mambalam Canal and Captain Cotton Canal to facilitate resettlement. Other drains along which encroachments have been identified are the Vyasarpadi, Kodungaiyur, Jawahar, MGR, Egankipuram, Jafferkhanpet, Guindy Estate, Chellamal, Nungambakkam, Trustpuram, Raj Bhavan, Reddikuppam and TVS canals.