Smart City Project: UP government pushes for inclusion of 7 more cities

A day before the last phase of civic bodies’ poll, the state government has decided to recommend names of Bareilly, Moradabad, Saharanpur, Rampur and Ghaziabad to be developed as smart cities. The fourth and final round to select districts to be covered under the smart city project will be held in the year end.

Reportedly, principal secretary Rajiv Kumar held a meeting regarding the issue on Monday. “The state will recommend Bareilly, Moradabad, Saharanpur, Rampur, Ghaziabad, Meerut and Rae Bareli for selections to be made in the fourth round,” reads the official release of the meeting issued by the state government.

A total of 98 cities were nominated by the central government to be developed as smart cities in 2015. Of these, 13 cities are from Uttar Pradesh. Seven of the 13 cities in UP have already been cleared for funding in the three rounds of selection, however, the remaining six are still in the fray.

Though the recommendation doesn’t actually play any role in smart city selection, local BJP leaders are using the move to earn votes in the civic bodies’ poll.

BJP candidate for mayor post in Bareilly termed the move as “sign of the development which is being ushered by the BJP-led state government”. Similar claims were also made by BJP leaders in Moradabad.

Twenty-six districts including Bareilly and Moradabad will go for polling on Wednesday.

While local BJP leaders are trying use the move in their favour, the Samajwadi Party and Congress have termed it as a false rumour.

“The smart city selection will be done by an independent selection committee appointed by the ministry of urban development in Delhi. The state government has no say in the selection process. BJP members are trying to misguide people by portraying the order in a wrong manner,” said IS Tomar, SP mayoral candidate from Bareilly.