Smart cities' contours to be visible in six months: Minister
New Delhi, June 7: Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep S. Puri on Thursday said the 99 designated smart cities in the country, which entail an investment of nearly Rs 2 lakh crore, will start showing visible signs of excellence in the next six months.
"This project was announced in 2015 and is due for completion in 2022, but between June and December we will begin to see their physical manifestation and I think that is already obvious," Puri said as he talked on achievements of his ministry in the last four years.
"In the next few days, we are making arrangements to inaugurate the 10th Integrated Control and Command Centre (ICCC). These are cutting edge, state-of-the-art technology centres which integrate all urban services on one huge screen, making it possible to use technology for providing ease of living to all including the disabled, women and children with security features and others," said the minister.
Puri said it takes 15 to 18 months for a smart city project to get underway, as it takes that much time to appoint a project management consultant (PMC) and to establish a special purpose vehicle (SPV). Most of the 99 smart cities already have a PMC and an SPV, he said.
At the time of his joining the Union Council of Ministers in September 2017, the amount of expenditure incurred on the smart cities at that stage was Rs 8,000 crore. "By May 2018, it became Rs 30,000 crore and at the end of December, it would be Rs 50,000 crore," Puri said.
In May, the Madhya Pradesh government launched the country's first cloud-based ICCC for all its seven smart cities. The ICCC would enable the government to monitor and control various citizen services like smart lighting, parking, traffic, waste management and water supply from a single platform.
"I have good basis to believe that another 14 of these ICCCs will be operational very soon," he said.
Of the 99 smart cities, 90 are brownfield projects where smart features are introduced in existing cities.
The total investment proposed for the smart cities is Rs 2,03,979 crore, while 948 projects costing Rs 30,675 crore are under implementation, 399 projects costing Rs 19,190 crore are in tendering stage, and detailed project reports (DPR) are either approved or under preparation for 2,130 projects, costing Rs 1,05,813 crore.
"The NDA government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi views increasing urbanisation as a challenge and opportunity to bring about a transformative change in the lives of the people," said the Minister.
Further, he said, the government is working on creation of a National Urban Housing Fund (NUHF) of Rs 60,000 crore, to be raised in phases through extra budgetary resources.
Puri said the Ministry is following a three-level strategy.
"At the bottom level, the government is working on poverty alleviation, affordable housing and cleanliness for all 4,041 cities across the country, at the middle level water supply and sewerage is the focus for 500 Amrut cities, having more than one lakh population.
"At the top level, ease of living is addressed in the 100 smart cities with the use of digital technology to improve the urban infrastructure and services," the Minister said.
Comparing 10 years of UPA rule (2004-2014) with four years of NDA's rule (2014-2018), he said the total proposed investment in urban infrastructure was Rs 1,57,703 crore during the UPA rule, while it is Rs 6,85,758 crore during the Modi government.
On Swachh Bharat Mission, he said it has truly become a Jan Andolan (people's movement), as 17 states of the total 35 states and Union Territories are now Open Defectaion Free (ODF), 2,729 cities of the total 4,041 are ODF cities, 48 lakh of the planned 66 lakh individual toilets have been constructed and 3.3 lakh of the planned 5.08 lakh community toilets have been constructed.
On Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY), which envisions pucca house to every eligible urban poor by 2022 and plans to build 1.2 crore houses across the country with basic amenities like toilet, water and power supply, Puri said 47.5 lakh houses have already been approved.
On Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, the Minister said 10 states have already established permanent authority and 19 established interim RERA authority.
Talking about urban transport, the Minister said 231 km of Metro projects have been commissioned in the last four years compared to 199 kms in the UPA's 10-year rule.
"Today there are 479 km of Metro systems operational in 10 cities and another about 630 km are under construction," he added.
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59 percent voter turnout in first phase in J-K, polling peaceful: CEO
Jammu, Sep 18: A voter turnout of about 59 percent -- "the highest in the past seven elections" -- was recorded in the first phase of assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday, Chief Electoral Officer P K Pole said.
However, these are tentative figures and may rise after the final reports are received about postal ballots, and from remote pockets like Marwah, Wadwan, Dachhan and Machail in Kishtwar, the officer said.
Briefing mediapersons here after polling ended at 6 pm, Pole said the elections -- which covered 24 seats in seven districts -- ended peacefully without any untoward incident.
There are reports of some minor incidents of scuffle or argument from a few polling stations but "no serious incident" occurred that could have forced a repoll, he said.
Over 2.3 million voters were eligible to cast the ballot to determine the fate of 219 candidates, including 90 Independents.
"The polling percentage of 59 percent is highest in the past seven elections -- four Lok Sabha polls and three assembly elections," he said, attributing the increase in the voter turnout to various factors including improved security situation, active participation of political parties and candidates and a campaign by the department.
He said Kishtwar district recorded the highest 77 percent turnout, while Pulwama district witnessed the lowest 46 percent.
Doda district recorded a turnout of 69.33 percent, Ramban district 67.71 percent, Kulgam district 61.57 percent, Anantnag district 54.17 percent and Shopian district 53.64 percent.
In the 2014 assembly elections, the district wise poll percentage was: Pulwama 44 percent, Shopian 48 percent, Kulgam 59 percent, Anantnag 60 percent, Ramban 70 percent, Doda 73 percent and Kishtwar 76 percent.
In Kishtwar districts, he said, the Padder-Nagseni segment recorded the highest 80.67 percent voting followed by Inderwal (80.06 percent) and Kishtwar (78.11 percent).
In the nearby Doda district, Doda west segment recorded 75.98 percent, Doda (70.21 percent) and Bhaderwah (65.27 percent).
In Ramban district, Banihal segment recorded 71.28 percent and Ramban 67.34 percent, he said.
Among the seven constituencies of Anantnag district, Pahalgam recorded the highest voter turnout at 67.86 percent, followed by Kokernag (58 percent), Dooru (57.90 percent), Srigufwara-Bijbehara (56.02 percent), Shangus-Anantnag (52.94 percent), Anantnag West (45.93 percent) and Anantnag 41.58 percent, Pole said.
In Pulwama district, the CEO said, the Pulwama segment witnessed 50.42 percent polling, followed by Rajpora 48.07 percent, Pampore 44.74 percent and Tral 43.21 percent.
In Shopian district, the Shopian segment recorded a voter turnout of 54.72 percent and Zainapora 52.64 percent.
In Kulgam district, D H Pora recorded a turnout of 68 percent, Kulgam 62.70 percent and Devsar 57.33 percent, Pole said.
He said seven districts of south Kashmir had been traditionally low poll percentage constituencies and in some of the past elections, the percentage had not even crossed the single digit.
Asked about a social media video purportedly showing a policeman losing temper and aiming his gun before being overpowered by his colleagues outside a polling station in Kishtwar, he said the district election officer and the returning officer concerned have taken note and issue was resolved amicably.
PDP and BJP candidates were involved in an argument at the polling station.
Pole expressed hope that the remaining two phases on September 25 and October 1 will also see high polling percentage.
Meanwhile, the election commission expressed satisfaction over the long queues of voters at the polling stations showcasing the entire world, the deep trust and confidence of the people of J&K in the democratic exercise.
The polling was held across 3,276 Polling Stations in the seven districts and 24 special polling stations set up for migrant pandits in Jammu, Udhampur and Delhi.
According to officials, 31.42 percent of the more than 35,000 eligible kashmiri migrant voters exercised their franchise. While 27 percent cast their votes at 19 polling stations in Jammu, 40 percent at four polling stations in Delhi and 30 percent at one polling station in Udhampur.
In each of the seven districts where voting was held in the first phase, the voter participation exceeded the participation during the Lok Sabha 2024 elections, the election commission said in a release.
The performance builds on the trend witnessed during the Lok Sabha elections in Jammu and Kashmir which saw a voter turnout of 58.58 percent at polling stations, highest in the last 35 years.
Voting began at 7 am and proceeded steadily through the day. Men and women, the young and old, some too frail to walk and others patiently waiting their turn, queued up outside polling booths across Kashmir Valley and Jammu.
Security forces fanned out to ensure that there was no trouble. The day was largely without incident except for reports of clashes between political workers in some areas of Bijbehara and D H Pora.
