Union Minister for Urban Development M Venkaiah Naidu on Friday said there has been a major shift in the approach towards urban development in the country due to public participation.
Participating in the three-day Smart City Summit Raipur, organised by Raipur Municipal Corporation in association with Elets Technomedia Pvt Ltd, Naidu, the union minister for Urban Development, Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation, Information and Broadcasting, said:“We have collectively made a new beginning addressing the deficiencies in urban planning and the results have begun to flow.”
There is a “major shift in approach towards urban development in last two years with citizen participation, incentivising reforms and ranking of cities”, he said, adding “smart cities should focus on green energy”.
Launching a number of projects worth hundreds of crores of rupees to facilitate transforming the face of Chhattisgarh’s capital city under the Smart City Mission, Naidu sanctioned order to construct 11,000 houses under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna (PMAY) across 20 cities of Chhattisgarh at a cost of Rs. 512 crore.
Addressing delegates linked to Smart Cities, the Information and Broadcasting Minister said: “Chhattisgarh will have separate DD channel. There will also be one-hour show on Chhattisgrah show on DD Bhopal.”
On this occasion, Naidu, also launched projects worth Rs 662 crore for providing 85,000 water connections in Rajnandgaon, Bilaspur, Ambikapur and Jagdalpur areas of the State.
Naidu also said he was “happy to launch Smart City Raipur projects worth Rs144.6 crore which will dramatically transform the face of Raipur”.
Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Dr Raman Singh, who was also present on the occasion, joined Union Minister Naidu to inaugurate the expo area of the summit in the evening.
Naidu also launched a special Coffee Table Book, brought out on the occasion of 150 years of Raipur Municipal Corporation.
On this occasion, Naidu, who flagged off door to door garbage collection rickshaws, also distributed Certificates and Cheques to beneficiaries of Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana-National Urban Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NULM) and Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) – Credit Linked Subsidy Scheme (CLSS).
He also handed over the keys of eight Air-conditioned buses to Korba worth Rs. 2.8 crore during the Smart City Summit Raipur which concluded on Friday
