Ghaziabad officials devise new Rs 2,200 crore ‘Smart City’ proposal

The proposal is to be submitted to the Centre by March 31 for the next round of ‘Smart City’ scheme.

The officials of Ghaziabad municipal corporation and its consultant firm have chalked out a new Rs 2,200 crore Smart City proposal for Ghaziabad.

The areas under the area-based development plan will include Vaishali, Vasundhara, parts of Site-IV Industrial area and Sahibabad vegetable market.(Sakib Ali/HT Photo)

The proposal is to be submitted to the Centre by March 31 for the next round of ‘Smart City’ scheme.

The officials said the proposal will be submitted soon to the Regional Centre for Urban and Environmental Study, the nodal agency in Uttar Pradesh.

After the approval and modification, if any, the plan will be reviewed by a high-power committee and forwarded to the Centre. This will be the third time that the city will be participating in the ‘Smart City’ competition.

“The areas under the area-based development plan will include Vaishali, Vasundhara, parts of Site-IV Industrial area and Sahibabad vegetable market. The areas will be further developed with underground cabling, underground parking, and loading and unloading facilities for trucks. One major underground parking will also come up in Vasundhara,” said Sanjay Chauhan, executive engineer, Ghaziabad municipal corporation.

“We have improved a bit upon the previous plan and new plan will include the intelligent traffic management system and surveillance cameras. Proper footpaths, cycle tracks and provision for e-bicycles are also retained under the proposal,” he said.

Recently, the officials had planned to redevelop and makeover the old city area in Ghaziabad which is of heritage value. But the idea was dropped and officials instead included Vaishali and Vasundhara.

Under the Centre’s Smart City competition, cities across the country will be reviewed on certain parameters and the selected ones will be allotted funds for development. Ghaziabad did not make the cut in previous two lists.

In the first round in January 2016, the city failed to make it to the top 20 cities. In the second round in September last year, Ghaziabad ranked 53rd among 63 cities.

Only Agra, Kanpur and Varanasi from Uttar Pradesh have made it to the list of 27 cities selected for funding under the plan in September.