KOCHI: Kochi has won national recognition from the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Development (MoHUA) as one of the top 10 cities in India for its efforts in creating people-friendly streets and nurturing neighbourhoods. The ministry had rolled out Nurturing Neighbourhood Challenge and the Street4People Challenge to promote better developmental practices in the country. Around 100 metro cities were listed in the challenge.
The city will receive a cash award of Rs 50 lakh. The Kochi corporation participated in the challenges with Cochin Smart City Mission Limited (CSML) and WRI India. “The Anganwadis at Eraveli and Karippalam and the surrounding areas were selected for the challenge. The project was to develop child care centres and neighbourhoods in a manner conducive to the healthy growth of children,” said M Anilkumar, Kochi Mayor.
Under the ‘Street4People Challenge’ project, the corporation aims to make streets more convenient for pedestrians. “We have already begun traffic re-routing, construction of footpaths and cycle tracks at Fort Kochi as part of this project,” the mayor said. CSML and GIZ INDIA are part of implementing the project. In October 2021, the city had bagged the title ‘City with the most sustainable transport system’ from MoHUA.