Govt working hard to get smart city plan ready on time

SHILLONG: The Meghalaya Urban Affairs department is burning midnight oil to complete and submit its plan for the proposed Shillong smart city project ahead of the December 15 deadline set by the Union Ministry of Urban Development.
Shillong is one of the 98 cities which the Central government had selected for its smart city project.
Speaking to The Shillong Times on Monday, MUDA Director, B. Dutta, said the consultant appointed by the State government to prepare the plan was working on it. The consultant has been asked to submit the plan to the department before December 1 to pave way for public consultation before the plan is submitted to the Centre.
He said that the smart city project is an area based approach which aims to re-develop an area with modern amenities.
Dutta informed that the consultant has had four meetings with the stakeholders, government departments and political leaders of the State, and added that all plans such as Shillong Master Plan and city development plan have been handed over to the consultant.
“Initially we thought of proposing New Shillong Township for the smart city project but there was a lot of resistance coming from every quarter,” Dutta said.
He further said that the department will once again explore the possibility of developing the New Shillong Township under the smart city project since the State government has some land there; besides the government can also think of developing Polo or certain areas in Laitumkhrah as the smart city.
The proposed smart city will have smart public transport system, IT enabled solutions and other   features and if the plans works out then such features will be applied in the entire city.