Smart cities are not created with the wave of a magic wand but take a shape through citizen participation and their preparedness for reforms and ability to face temporary hardship, Union Urban Development Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu said here on Monday.
Participating in a programme organised to announce the opening of ‘Mahaprasthanam’, an upgraded crematorium at Jubilee Hills, Mr. Naidu said the Centre “did not possess Aladdin’s magic lamp” that could create smart cities overnight. “Citizen participation and smart leadership result in smart cities,” he said.
The Union Minister lauded Phoenix Foundation that partnered the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) in modernising the crematorium, and said he would cite the example elsewhere.
Rs. 50-cr for crematoria
Earlier, GHMC Commissioner Somesh Kumar said the civic body was in possession of 900 crematoria and burial grounds and all of them had issues that needed to be addressed.
“In this budget, we have decided to earmark Rs.50 crore for their improvement, and 36 have been selected for development now,” he said.
Chevella MP Konda Vishweshwar Reddy, Ministers Nayani Narasimha Reddy and Mahender Reddy, MLAs Chintala Ramachandra Reddy and A. Gandhi also participated in the function.
Modern crematorium
The new crematorium has been developed with a clean and green environment, three basic pyres and an electric pyre, storage and restrooms, flower arrangements and parking facility for 75 cars.
Being Wi-Fi enabled, it facilitates viewing of the funeral from any part of the world.
The ceremonial yard here comes with a cold room that can house bodies prior to cremation.
It also has a book store offering spiritual books, a full-fledged canteen and is equipped with high security features including CCTV cameras.
Citizen participation and smart leadership result in smart cities
M. Venakaiah Naidu
Union Urban Development Minister
