After slipping to fifth place in the most recent Swachh rankings, Mysuru has missed the ‘Smart City’ bus yet again.
Meanwhile, Bengaluru finally made it to the list of cities to be developed under the Smart Cities Mission. In the first round of 20 cities announced in 2015, only Davangere and Belagavi were chosen from the State.
Mysuru did not make it even when four more cities from the State — Mangaluru, Tumakuru, Shivamogga and Hubballi-Dharwad — were included.
One of the reasons cited by officials from the Union Ministry of Urban Development for Mysuru not being considered in the first round is that the city corporation had not audited its accounts since 2011. Another reason is non-utilisation of 80% of the funds under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM). Mysuru would have scored an additional 10 marks if the JNNURM funds had been spent in full.
Sources in the Mysuru City Corporation told The Hindu that no fresh efforts were made to get Mysuru a place in the list. “The State government should have exerted pressure on the Centre when the city missed the bus in the first round,” a source said.
Mysore Grahakara Parishat (MGP) convener Bhamy V. Shenoy said the reason given for the city not making it to the list was that it did not score well on 13 parameters, including existing service level, reform track record, implementation of JNNURM works, and self-financing capacity.
“Why did Mysuru score low on these parameters? Why did our elected representatives not press for Mysuru and its potential as a Smart City,” he asked. “We need to find fault not only with our elected leaders but also with civil society groups. To some extent, the citizens should take the blame.”
In Mangaluru, when suggestions were requested from the public for both the Smart City rounds, more than 11,000 opinions were submitted. “When MGP organised protest campaigns to save Chamundi Hills and People’s Park, we got no more than 2,000 in a city with 10 lakh people. Citizens should also take interest and become more involved,” Dr. Shenoy said.
What Mysuru missed out on
Devaraj Market and the surrounding Central Business District (CBD) could have been developed using part of the ₹1,000-crore grant.
On an average, every smart city has submitted proposals of ₹2,000 crore, to be spent over five years. Given that the MCC’s budget for 2017-18 is ₹870 crore, the Smart Cities Mission might have facilitated the development of Mysuru in many critical areas, including transportation problems in the CBD, said Dr. Shenoy.
One more push
Till last year, Mysuru was the country’s “cleanest” city. It has now emerged as a yoga capital of sorts, with foreigners thronging the city to discover the ancient practice.
In spite of this immense potential, the city was not considered to be developed as a ‘Smart City’. But does it still have time to catch up?
“Mysuru can still be considered as the city deserves to be in the Smart Cities Mission,” Dr. Shenoy told The Hindu .
He has written to the mission’s advisor in New Delhi to find out whether there is scope for Mysuru to be considered even now.
“How can the city enter the next and final round of the smart cities competition? As you know, the Chief Minister of Karnataka is from Mysuru and we should have a good chance of winning it. It will be a crying shame if Mysuru is not one of 100 Smart Cities. Being a JNNURM city, we have learnt some hard lessons on how to execute these kind of missions. I feel that the mission will be proud of including the yoga capital as one of the Smart Cities,” Dr. Shenoy has said in an email to the advisor.
