Uttarakhand received Rs 22 crore for Dehradun smart city project

According to a reply given by Union housing and urban affairs minister Hardeep Singh Puri in Parliament on Tuesday, Uttarakhand government has received Rs 22 crore under the central government smart city project for Dehradun but no project plan or tender has been issued for the project yet. The reply given by the minister revealed that another Himalayan state, Himachal Pradesh, has issued two tenders for works worth Rs 8.20 crore under the smart city mission. When queried on the issue, officials in the Uttarakhand administration said that the smart city project has taken a backseat due to the ongoing massive demolition drive in Dehradun. Giving out a pan-India progress report of smart city related projects, the minister stated that a total Rs 11,340 crore were earmarked and 436 projects tenders worth Rs 20,542 crore has been issued by the state government for their selected smart cities. Garhwal commissioner Shailesh Bagoli said, “We are a late entrant in the list of selected smart cities but significant progress has been made as a draft DPR is ready and by next month the first tender of the project would be invited.” He, however, didn’t divulge the detail of the work to be taken up under the project.