Chizokho Vero
Kohima | March 31
Kohima City has lost out to other Smart City contenders as it failed to meet the ambitious benchmark set by the Ministry of Urban Development, Government of India.
Government of India has already announced the list of 20 cities selected to be taken for development as smart cities in Phase 1 of the Smart City Project in which list, Kohima does not figure.
Addressing a press conference in Kohima, Parliamentary Secretary for Municipal Affairs and Economics & Statistics, R Tohanba announced the disappointing news albeit with renewed hope. The Nagaland State capital is amongst another 23 smart cities provided with an opportunity to upgrade their proposals on fast track basis.
“A revised Detailed Project Report (DPR) for the Kohima Smart City will be resubmitted to the Ministry of Urban Development, GoI, before April 15, 2016, and it is hoped that this time, Kohima will be selected for the Smart City Project, Tohanba informed.
The Parliamentary Secretary said they have been holding consultations with various stakeholders to get Kohima qualified for the Smart City. A state level consultation will take place either on April 5 or 9 where Chief Minister TR Zeliang will also be present, he informed.
Optimistic that this time round Kohima will figure under the Smart City Mission, Tohanba said the municipal affairs department in close coordination with Kohima Municipal Council (KMC), consultants from Voyants Solutions Pvt. Ltd and stakeholders are doing its best to get Kohima qualified in the smart city list.
State Secretary Commissioner of Municipal Affairs, Dr Maongwati Aier, present at the press conference disclosed that Rs 1000 crore would be pumped in Kohima once it is declared for the Smart City Project.
He said that Smart City Project would be implemented on Public-Private Partnership (PPP) mode. At least five firms have expressed their desire for the Kohima Smart City development which means it would be over Rs 3000 crore worth project, he added.
Another positive sign is that over 30 departments in Nagaland have already signed MoU for convergence programme on Smart City mission, he said.
According to Dr Aier, the main vision of Kohima Smart City, if selected would have so much potential in terms of nature and cultural assets, geo-strategic location, adding that Kohima can become a regional hub of tourism.
Earlier in the day, a consultation meeting with the various HODs and AHDOs along with consultants from Voyants Solutions Pvt. Ltd was held. The consultants for Kohima Smart City assured that they were trying to sort out all shortcomings, highlight the strength of Kohima and the uniqueness of the location, adding that they are looking at everything to strengthen the proposal for figuring Kohima in the next Smart City list.
A core issue now is to come up with concrete proposal on revenue enhancement and land aspects, the consultation meeting also decided.
