Vellore has made it to the list of cities to be developed as smart cities in the country. On Tuesday, the Union Urban Development Ministry added Vellore to its list of smart cities.
Officials of the Vellore Corporation said they had proposed to develop Vellore into a smart city at a cost of Rs. 934.23 crore during a presentation on June 30, 2016.
T. Kumar, commissioner of Vellore Corporation, said the Fort would be at the centre of the development activities, as this part of the city was essentially the old town.
“The main areas of focus would be medical, education, heritage and tourism. Our vision and goal is to make Vellore a model Swachh city,” T. Balasubramanian, Vellore Corporation engineer said. There are two components for the smart city tag – area-based development and pan city initiative.
Corporation areas on either sides of the National Highway 48 starting from Alamelumangapuram to Abdullapuram would be covered under the Centre’s flagship programme of Smart Cities Mission, he added. “Engaging citizens was vital in this project. We collected the views of people from different walks of life, compiled and presented it. Hence, the credit goes to the people of Vellore,” he said.
