Thiruvananthapuram Mayor Writes to Kerala CM Over Smart City Tag

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Peeved at the non-inclusion of the city Corporation from the smart city project and demanding immediate solution to the apparent anomaly involved in the selection of smart cities, Mayor K Chandrika submitted a letter before Chief Minister Oommen Chandy on Wednesday to be forwarded to the Union Urban Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu. The civic administration is seeking to include the Corporation in the remaining two slots left in the total 98 cities that are considered for becoming Smart City.

To validate her claim, the Mayor cited the special consideration given to Tamil Nadu and Karnataka while awarding smart cities- 12 and six citie,s respectively- whereas the state  got only one, Kochi.

 This, when the state has a population of 3.34 crore and density of population of 860, she pointed out. “If the allotment is based on urban population and the number of statutory towns, a minimum of six smart cities should have been allotted to the state to ensure a minimum capital base of Rs  600 crore per year out of the estimated amount of Rs 48,000 crore,” Chandrika said.

 The capital city faces manifold problems relating to urban development such as waste management, sewage treatment, transport, road development and drinking water.

All these issues cannot be redressed with the state funding alone. It should be noted that the city Corporation was also able to implement the centrally-sponsored schemes satisfactorily and even won awards for the efforts, said Mayor K Chandrika.