Gurugram to be considered for smart city mission
Union Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri on Saturday told Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar that Gurugram would be considered for inclusion in the Smart City Mission. Responding to a specific request by Khattar, Puri said an apex body would be constituted to look into the matter, an official release said. The Haryana government had requested for the Centre's technical assistance to include Gurugram in the Smart City Mission, while saying that financial implications for the same would be taken care of by it, the release said. The chief minister put forward the request while speaking at a review meeting of various flagship missions of the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs held under the chairmanship of Puri here, it added. These flagship missions include AMRUT, Smart City Mission, Swachh Bharat Mission and Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana. Speaking at the meeting, Haryana Urban Local Bodies Minister Kavita Jain said a survey was conducted in all 80 cities of the state under the Shehri Awas Yojana, and 3.23 lakh applications were received by the government. As many as 93 slums were selected in 20 towns to be covered under the In-Situ Slum Rehabilitation. The State Level Sanctioning-Cum-Monitoring Committee (SLSMC) had given its approval to 65 towns under the Housing for All Scheme, and proposals for 56 towns were sent to the central government for approval, Jain said. A Detailed Project Report (DPR) for 77,511 beneficiaries in 66 towns were approved by the SLSMC, she added. Urban Local Bodies Department Principal Secretary Anand Mohan Sharan said while the Centre had approved DPRs on 28 cities, submission of DPRs on 38 cities was underway. Apart from this, DPRs on 14 cities would be submitted by February 28, he added. Sharan said street lights in 80 cities were being replaced with LED lights. The work of replacing street lights with LEDs had started in Gurugram and would be completed in other cities by February 15, he added.