Rs. 1,897-cr ‘Smart City plan’ finalised for Ghaziabad

After failing to make it to the list of final 20 cities in the Smart City race in January, the civic body has finalised a second Smart City Plan.

After failing to make it to the list of final 20 cities under Central government’s ‘Smart City’ programme in January, officials of the Ghaziabad municipal corporation on Monday finalised a second Smart City Plan (SCP) that proposes developmental works estimated at around Rs.1,897.7 crore.

The plan has been approved by the state government and will be submitted to the Central government before June 30. (HT File Photo)

According to officials, the plan, already approved by the state government, will now be submitted to the Central government before June 30.

“Out of the total cost, Rs.1,275.72 crore was slotted for ‘area-based development’ while nearly Rs.541.99 crore was chalked for the ‘pan-city development’ part. There is also a provision of Rs.80 lakh as contingency funds,” said Sanjay Chauhan, executive engineer, Ghaziabad municipal corporation.

Officials said that they have proposed developmental works at Kaushambi, Vaishali and Maharajpur under the ‘area-based’ plan and will include development of roads, covered footpaths (with shades) and even ducts for putting in cables for electricity, telephone etc.

“We have also proposed development of five stations in Kaushambi and Vaishali localities to house e-bikes. Commuters can hire such eco-friendly bikes and move to metro stations. Further, we have also proposed development of a one-kilometre green area below the Hindon elevated road that will offer seating facilities, lighting and even food kiosks for residents who want to enjoy an outing with their family,” Chauhan added.

Under the first SCP, an area near Meerut Road Industrial Area had been proposed for this kind of development.

Municipal officials have also proposed to bring e-rickshaws under the ‘area-based plan’ in order to improve environmental conditions.

They added that they have also proposed the concept of transit-oriented development (TOD) under ‘area based development.’ Since the selected trans-Hindon area already has the presence of metro transport, the TOD concept would be easily implementable.

TOD is meant to create compact, walkable, mixed land use communities generally centred near high-quality train systems.

Further, in the ‘pan city’ plan, an intelligent city platform (ICP) has been proposed that will have a control room for the entire city.

“The ICP is proposed to have a command and control centre, traffic management solutions, and intelligent CCTV surveillance that can also notify alerts in case of emergencies, apart from e-governance and waste management services. It will also include a ‘My government’ citizen app for services like grievance redressal, parking management, cleanliness and citizen engagement etc.,” Chauhan added.

Officials further said that out of the total proposed project cost of the SCP, Rs.1,000 crore would be provided under the Smart City programme if the city is selected.

“The amount over and above Rs.1,000 will be met from various Central government schemes,” Chauhan said.