Lucknow, Warangal among 13 smart cities announced by govt.

Lucknow, Warangal and Panaji are among the13 smart cities selected by the Union government on Tuesday. The others are Dharamsala, Chandigarh, Raipur, New Town Kolkata, Bhagalpur, Port Blair, Imphal, Ranchi, Agartala and Faridabad.

Union Minister for Urban Development, Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation Venkaiah Naidu at a press conference on Tuesday, also announced that seven more capital cities will be allowed to enter the smart city competition. They are Patna, Shimla, Naya Raipur, Itanagar, Amaravati, Bengaluru and Thiruvananthapuram.

Twenty-three cities, with the highest ranking from as many States and Union Terrritories, which failed to get representation in the first round of competition held in January participated in the ‘Fast Track Competition’ from which these 13 were selected.

The 23 cities that competed in Fast Track Competition were Warangal (Telangana); Lucknow, New Town Kolkata, Panaji, Pasighat (Arunachal Pradesh), Dharmashala (Himachal Pradesh), Faridabad (Haryana), Raipur (Chattisgarh), Bhagalpur (Bihar), Shillong (Meghalaya), Namchi (Sikkim), Port Blair (Andaman & Nicobar Islands), Diu (Daman & Diu), Oulgaret (Puducherry), Silvassa (Dadra & Nagar Haveli), Imphal (Manipur), Ranchi (Jharkhand), Agartala (Tripura), Kohima (Nagaland), Aizawl (Mizoram), Kavaratti (Lakshadweep), Dehradun (Uttarakhand) and Chandigarh.

What are smart cities?

A ‘smart city’ is an urban region that is highly advanced in terms of overall infrastructure, sustainable real estate, communications and market viability. It is a city where information technology is the principal infrastructure and the basis for providing essential services to residents. There are many technological platforms involved, including but not limited to automated sensor networks and data centres.

According to the documents released on the Smart Cities website, the core infrastructure in a smart city would include:

— Adequate water supply

— Assured electricity supply

— Sanitation, including solid waste management

— Efficient urban mobility and public transport

— Affordable housing, especially for the poor

— Robust IT connectivity and digitalisation

— Good governance, especially e-Governance and citizen participation

— Sustainable environment

— Safety and security of citizens, particularly women, children and the elderly

— Health and education

(Source: http://smartcities.gov.in/)

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