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Monday, 4 April 2016

MoUD Selects Chandigarh Under Fast Track Cities for Smart City Mission

By 121 News

Chandigarh 04th April:-   Chandigarh has been selected under the Fast Track Cities for Smart City Mission under the Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD). In this phase, Chandigarh will be competing with 23 other cities, to enhance its Smart City proposal and become eligible for funding on accelerated basis in 2016-17.

To refine its vision, mission and a proposal based upon suggestions received from panel of expert and MoUD, the consultant team from AECOM India Pvt Ltd has been hired. The consultant team is on ground since last 4 week reviewing comments received from panel of experts and MoUD, talking to stakeholders, conducting assessment of previously submitted SCP and making necessary refinements to the Chandigarh Smart City Proposal.

A Press Conference was held today at the UT Secretariat, under the chairmanship of Anurag Agarwal, Home Secretary cum State Mission Director, Smart City to give an insight into the revised smart city proposal for Chandigarh. Other senior officers present during the conference were Baldeo Purushartha, Commissioner Municipal Corporation cum Nodal Officer, Smart City, Additional Deputy Commissioner cum Director CTU, UT, Chandigarh. The press conference highlighted various aspects of the revised Smart City Proposal, which included: The strategic blueprint for Chandigarh was developed based upon the City's SWOT analysis, Citizen Input in terms of their needs and aspiration, benchmarking of relevant case studies and review of planned, ongoing and proposed projects. The strategic focus of Chandigarh over next 5-15 years would include, Chandigarh to emerge as vibrant regional centre that builds upon its strong social, intellectual and cultural heritage. Chandigarh will focus on inducing people-intensive activities and uses in the fields of arts, culture, sports and innovation by providing necessary infrastructure while building upon the presence of strong institutes. A vibrant Chandigarh will use technology that will enable enhancement in governance, providing the citizens real time information while giving them tools to make daily choices. A vibrant Chandigarh will tap into its tourism potential building upon its natural resources, architectural heritage, distinct regional identity and opportunities. 

Chandigarh to emerge stronger to withstand the 21st Century challenges of Climate change, and modern day man-made disasters such as flooding, air pollution, rising temperatures and unforeseen events. The recent flooding in Chennai to drastic measures taken by Delhi to confront unhealthy air to alarming increase in the number of vehicles plying on the Chandigarh roads and resultant health and safety hazards are strong indicators where climate change is real and Chandigarh will become resilient to address such challenges. Such a strategic blue print for Chandigarh will ensure "Prevention is better than cure" and will put in place measures to ensure that the City doesn't have to resort to drastic measures in future to counter today's problems.

Chandigarh to emerge as a healthy and sustainable city where health and safety of the citizens is of primary importance. With the rising urbanization and better living standards, the city people are more prone to life style diseases.  There  is  rise  in  number  of  cases  reporting  to  the  Hospitals  with Hypertension, Obesity, Cardiovascular diseases (source: Chandigarh Action Plan on Climate Change). In addition, Chandigarh is experiencing high vehicle growth rate that result in air pollution, high congestion levels and high incidents of road accidents. The strategic blueprint of Chandigarh is to grow towards a more healthier and sustainable growth addressing these issues by creating a more walkable &bike friendly city where people have choice of non-motorized transportation, easy access to public transportation, where the city will promote a compact and mixed-use model of future development that will bring jobs closer to home, and where the citizens are able to live a healthier lifestyle.

 

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