Workshop to reorient the SCP, ’Smart City Plan’

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangaluru, April 20, 2016: At least 4 of 6 cities in Karnataka could not make it to list of top 20 smart cities announced by union ministry of urban development in January 2016, a second chance is possible now. The ministry has planned to organize a workshop for these cities short listed on the basis of their Smart City Plan (SCP) and get them to correct the plan so that they stand a better chance in the second list to be announced later.


V Ponnuraj, MD, KUIDFC, Karnataka urban infrastructure development corporation told reporters here that a  workshop is planned tentatively for the last week of April or first week of May. "It is an exercise that gives the cities that came near in the top 20 a chance to re-evaluate their plan and give them a clear insight in to what went wrong and why plans of the other 20 cities were selected," he noted.

State government incidentally has nominated KUIDFC as the nodal agency to implement the smart cities project in Karnataka in conjunction with respective consultants appointed with the central government. Referring to insights about reasons for rejection of plan submitted by Mangaluru City Corporation, MD Ponnuraj said city’s SCP while strategic one, lacked vision on immediate matters and one that could bring immediate relief to the issues that people in the city faced.

The concept of promoting Mangaluru as a knowledge city, and a sports city, while a good one in the long term was in need of short term possibilities. MD Ponnuraj said that the KUIDFC  will keep the urban local bodies informed as and when the ministry clarifies on the scope and dates of the proposed workshop.