SHILLONG, Oct 31: The opposition Voice of the People Party (VPP) on Thursday asked the state government to come clean on the amount spent on the Smart City project, an ambitious proposition handed over to the state by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs in the year 2018 — around 6 years ago — that now hangs fire.
The party remarked nothing has changed for Shillong since it was selected for the project.
Expressing concern over the implementation of the project, VPP spokesperson Batskhem Myrboh said: “We were happy when Shillong was selected for the project funded by the Centre to improve the city, but we are shocked to see no improvement in the condition of the city as well as the lives of the people.”
He said only signboards welcoming people to ‘Shillong Smart City’ are visible in the name of the project. “If one looks at the drains and traffic jams, there is no improvement or development as such. If this is the smart city that was planned then I feel very sad,” he added.
Stating that it is important to see how much has been spent on the project, he said, “The government should say how much has been spent on this project and what is the status of different activities under it.”
Myrboh said although the project is centrally funded, “we have to be mindful” as this is public money.
Recalling the introduction of the traffic signal lights in the city, he said, “Crores were spent on traffic light posts erected all over the city but they were abandoned after a few weeks of operation.”
He said studies or surveys should be conducted before implementing or utilising the funds for any project. “We have to take responsibility and be accountable so that the project is successful,” he said.
Shillong was picked as a Smart City candidate in June of 2018 by the Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry, as the 100th city to get funding under Centre’s flagship ‘Smart Cities Mission’. Remarkably, this was the final empty slot.
The government allocated a little over Rs 1,000 crore for Shillong’s smart city development projects, with Rs 500 crore coming from the central government and an equal contribution from the state and other sources.
Overall, the Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry allocated an amount of Rs 2.05 lakh crore to fund the selected 100 cities under this mission with the objective of improving urban infrastructure, e-governance, waste management, and public transport, among other areas, to enhance the city’s livability and sustainability.
But Shillong remains a laggard insofar as the implementation of the Smart City project is concerned.
