Chief Secretary Kaushik Mukherjee on Friday expressed concern over the Union Government not having a plan ready for implementing the smart city concept even a year after it was announced.
He was speaking at a workshop on "Sustainable Urban Planning for Smart Cities in Karnataka," jointly organised by the Urban Development Department, Alumni Centre, Bengaluru and IIT Roorkee.
"I wish we had made up our mind about what a smart city is. The Union Government is yet to decide whether people living in a city should be smart or the city itself should be smart?", he said.
"The Government of India profounds a fantastic concept and the result of Rs 8000 crore for 100 cities is still smarting for me. It is yet to give a proper definition to the smart city concept and still the paper is circulating," he said.
A smart city does not mean an intellectually smart place but a happier place to live in, he said. Referring to sustainability, the Chief Secretary said: "Does it mean sustaining the chaos which is already there, or the high costs or the disorder. In my opinion sustainability means a city that will create a good life for people without becoming a burden on Governments."
Urban Development Minister Vinay Kumar Sorakke, who also said guidelines for smart city concept were yet to be framed by the Government, said although the State had proposed Bijapur, Hospet and Udupi to be developed into smart cities under the heritage tag, the Centre had identified Badami.
Municipal Administration Minister Qamarul Islam, Additional Chief Secretary D Satyamurthy, Chairman of Board of Governors, IIT Roorkee and President of IIT Alumni Centre Ashok Misra also spoke.
