The improvement in the city’s ranking - from 12 in 2015 to 8 in 2018 - under the Smart Cities mission has baffled many observers, who say the ranking does not reflect the reality, for there is very little on the ground to showcase as Smart Cities project.
The Ministry of Urban Development had released the ranking for the 20 cities that found a place in the first list of cities approved under the mission. It had ranked Coimbatore at eight, the only city from Tamil Nadu to find a place.
It was one among the 20 the Central Government had selected in the first list in 2015. This was based on the project proposal the Coimbatore City Municipal Corporation had sent. Subsequently the Corporation, through the special purpose vehicle it had created for the implementation of the mission projects, dropped a few proposals and modified a few others.
But very little of this is visible on the ground. As of now, the Corporation is implementing projects worth over ₹1,550 crore. They include the lake rejuvenation and lake area development project covering 14 wards. It comes under the area-based development component of the city’s smart cities mission project.
The other projects include 24x7 drinking water supply, solar tree, solar plant, air quality monitoring and command and control centre. Of those, the Corporation had proposed the 24x7 drinking water project when the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) project was in implementation.
Only now, the Corporation has finalised the tender and the ₹646 crore work is yet to start. It has managed to have only one solar tree installed on its premises at Town Hall and is looking for partners to scale up the project on the public-private partnership model. As for the ₹11 crore solar power plant project, the work is yet to commence.
In the lake rejuvenation and lake front development project too, the work is yet to start, even though the Corporation had wanted to start a part of the project under the ‘quick-win’ mode. The State Government is implementing the command and control centre at State level and the Corporation has very little say in the issue.
‘No transparency’
Commenting on the developments, DMK MLA N. Karthik says though the ranking may have improved, there has been nothing yet for the city’s residents, especially when more than ₹1,500 crore of public money is to be spent.
This shows that the Corporation administration lacks the capacity to implement such high-ticket projects. It should immediately hold an open house session by inviting elected representatives and civil society activists to share the developments under the Smart Cities mission. He also blamed lack of transparency on the part of the Corporation as a reason for poor implementation.
BJP State secretary Vanathi Srinivasan says the Corporation seems to have achieved the ranking by smart presentation and documentation without real action on the ground. The Central Government should also visit the cities selected for a real assessment.
