Lucknow Civic Body Failed to Complete Projects Under Smart City Mission
Uttar Pradesh’s capital Lucknow may have picked up four notches since the last estimation of projects fulfilled under the Smart City mission, but the current rank of 41 among 100 cities in the country is no less of a failure.
The failure is a little too said when 3-other cities among the 10 in the contest from UP have done reasonably well. According to the recent data released by the ministry of housing and urban affairs, Kanpur possesses an all-India rank of 7th, Agra is in 12th place, and Varanasi is gained 13th place.
The rankings are based on the progress of projects proposed for accomplishment in 2019. A complete project has received a city class A, an ongoing project has achieved class B, and if a city has failed to start a project, it has been rated C.
Lucknow had a target of 7-projects, of which it couldn’t complete a single one. In 5-projects, the city earned ‘B’ and two non-starter projects got it ‘C’.
The estimation, which was previously performed annually, is now being done half-yearly. In 2018, the Lucknow had 45th placed. It continued on to that spot in the estimation of projects done in the first half of 2019, the results of which were issued in September.
A city must complete 57 projects by 2024 under the Smart City mission. Out of these, only 3-projects have been completed until now by the assigned wing of Lucknow Municipal Corporation (LMC) while work is in progress for 36 others. The LMC is yet to start the leftover 18 projects.
Lucknow Score Sheet:
|
Project |
2019 Target |
Current Status |
Grade |
|
Kaiserbagh area development |
LPG Pipelines, Laying of power cables |
Only laying of LPG pipelines completed |
B |
|
Smart Roads |
A network of 50 km |
Only 8 km made |
B |
|
Command & Control Centre |
Resolving civic complaints |
Only LMC complaints were addressed |
B |
|
Parking Center |
3 |
None |
C |
|
Indicator Dustbins |
24 |
3 |
B |
|
Signboards |
12 |
None |
C |
|
Bus Shelters |
8 |
2 completed |
B |
Note: Grades A-Good, B-satisfactory, and C-Poor
As per LMC civic officials, smart bus shelters, a command, and control center and solar panel installation at 5-government buildings have completed.
Projects that are ongoing hold the ambitious area-based development of Kaiserbagh. The development project involves automatic shifting messaging boards to guide travelers, smart parking with an app informing people about available space in real-time, and the development of roads with green spaces and streets, among others.
SFA Zaidi, General manager of LMC’s smart city project division accused private contractors for the slow movement of work.
“We had to cancel the tenders of three projects because they hired agencies were laggard. Tendering is a long process and we need to assure that all points are met before a job is handed over,” he said.
