Pimpri: The Union Urban Development Department (UDD) on Friday officially confirmed the inclusion of Pimpri-Chinchwad in the list of smart cities.
Union Minister of Urban Development M Venkaiah Naidu announced the list of these 30 cities. Earlier in the year, the UDD had asked the PCMC to send a proposal for inclusion of Pimpri-Chinchwad in the Smart City
project.
The PCMC had submitted the proposal during the initial selection process, but the city was kept out of the list as the State government had submitted the list of 10 cities, considering Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad as one city. But the Central government refused to accept this proposal.
At the time, Pimpri-Chinchwad was kept out of the Smart City project and the then ruling NCP blamed BJP for the exclusion of the city. The government said Pimpri-Chinchwad was excluded due to technical reasons and it will be included in the later stage. Before the selection, UDD asked the PCMC to submit a proposal for the project by March end.
The PCMC submitted a detailed proposal for the project, as per the guidelines. Finally, Pimpri-Chinchwad was included in the project in the third list. So far, 90 cities have been included in the project. Ten more cities are yet to be selected by the Central government.
Meanwhile, the PCMC has approved the proposal for the formation of a special purpose vehicle company for the implementation of the project. Pimple Saudagar and Pimple Gurav have been selected for area specific developments in the city. Besides this, some pan-city projects are going to be undertaken under the project.
In the coming three years, the PCMC is supposed to spend Rs 1,059 crore on the project. Out of this, Rs 500 crore will be contributed by the Central government,
Rs 250 crore will be contributed by the State government, while PCMC will raise its own funds of Rs 399 crore for the project.
Pavana riverfront development, accessibility improvement at BRTS stations, the city’s first surveillance control centre, Wi-Fi hotspots, citizens’ support centre, streetscaping and junction improvements will be the key projects under the Smart City project. IT-based solutions for effective civic services will also be part of Smart City initiatives.
Municipal Commissioner Shravan Hardikar said, “The PCMC has already initiated a procedure for formation of SPV. In the next three years, the PCMC is supposed to spend Rs 1,049 crore for the project.”
Mayor Nitin Kalje said, “Due to the inclusion of Pimpri-Chinchwad in the Smart City project, many projects could be taken up in the
coming days.”
