NEW DELHI: Meghalaya is yet to submit a proposal for the next round of selection for Smart City Mission.
The Centre will announce the next set of 10 cities for funding under the mission by the end of coming January. An official in the Urban Development Ministry said 15 proposals, including Itanagar, have come for the fifth and the final round of the mission. Five cities have not submitted their plans.
Bidhannagar, Durgapur and Haldia in West Bengal, Shillong in Meghalaya and Greater Mumbai in Maharashtra have not submitted their proposals under the scheme.
The West Bengal government has already announced that it would not participate in the programme. In case of Meghalaya, there is no such announcement either.
The state government had earlier asked the Centre to revise the funding pattern of 50:50 to 90:10 as the cash-strapped state could not afford it.
The Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry has till now announced the names of 90 cities among the 100 smart cities that the government aims to build under the scheme.
Meghalaya has also missed the bus for Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation, or AMRUT.
Besides Meghalaya, other states which are lagging behind in achieving project milestones include Punjab, Kerala, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Nagaland, Tripura and Sikkim, according to a status report circulated by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs a month ago.
The delay in achieving project benchmarks has affected further fund releases by the Centre to these states.
The central ministry has not cleared the states’ Annual Action Plan (SAAP-III) whereas the plans of 23 states which met the project milestones, have been approved, the sources said. The first instalment of Rs 2,500 crore has already been sanctioned.
The apex committee of AMRUT had last month decided to assess the states on progress made in the implementation of the first two annual action plans, transfer of 100per cent of central funds and state share to the implementation agency or department and appointment of a project management and development consultant for approval of SAAP-III and release of more funds.
Meanwhile, another study said cities in developing countries like India are in the spotlight of sustainable development with the biggest wave of people rushing to urban agglomeration.
It has great importance in achieving the objective of SDG, which focuses on building sustainable cities and communities.
