Nearly seven years after the introduction of the smart cities mission by the Union govt, four smart cities – Kakinada, Visakhapatnam, Tirupati, and Amaravati – selected from Andhra Pradesh under this mission have executed various innovative projects.
With over 85% completion, projects worth ₹5,657 crore have been completed out of a planned ₹6,620 crore. Kakinada and Tirupati have exceeded expectations, each completing projects valued at approximately ₹2,000 crore.
The remaining projects in these cities are at various stages of development. Visakhapatnam has completed projects worth about ₹1,575 crore to date, out of the proposed ₹1,700 crore projects. Amaravati has completed projects worth ₹746 crore out of the planned ₹930 crore works.With regard to Vizag smart city project, the Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) submitted its proposals to the Union Govt in 2015. RK Beach area was selected by 75 per cent of respondents (approximately 95,000 people) in a survey conducted by the GVMCto be developed under the mission.
The other two options provided in the survey were the Rushikonda and Kailasagiri areas. Vizag competed with 97 other cities across the country to secure its place on the first list of 20 smart cities, announced by Union govt in January 2016.
Consequently, the civic body constituted a special purpose vehicle for Vizag Smart City, namely the Greater Visakhapatnam Smart City Corporation Limited (GVSCCL), for the timely implementation of smart city projects.
On the other hand, Amaravati was selected as a smart city in the third round of the smart cities mission competition in June 2017. Twenty projects, totalling Rs 2,046 crore, were proposed to be implemented in Amaravati.
However, according to the Union Govt’s latest data, only Rs 930 crore worth of projects have been completed or are being implemented in Amaravati, while the other three smart cities in Andhra Pradesh have each been executing nearly Rs 2,000 crore worth of initiatives.The remaining works will be completed well before this deadline.
For example, Visakhapatnam has undertaken several innovative projects under this mission, including floating solar power plants, solar street lighting, smart classrooms, a semi-automatic multi-level car parking system, the conservation of heritage buildings, a sewerage project, a 24×7 water supply in the ABD area, a sports arena project in MVP Colony, a city operations centre, and more,” said Vinay Kumar.
