Shimla gears up for AMRUT

SHIMLA: After losing out in the race for Smart City tag, Shimla municipal corporation (SMC) is gearing up for Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT). It held a special house meeting on Saturday evening, in which AMRUT plan was presented before the councillors and suggestions were sought from residents and councillors to prepare a master plan for Shimla at the earliest. Shimla deputy mayor Tikender Singh Panwar said that the matter of Shimla's exclusion from the Smart City plan is still pending with the high court and the chapter is not yet close for Shimla. "However, as we have already been included in AMRUT, which would also be benefiting this city with Rs 500 crores in the next 5 years, we will put our efforts into it. For this, our first step would be to pass our message to residents. We have already published 25,000 leaflets and would also go door-to-door asking residents for their suggestions to develop this city," he added.The SMC has sought suggestions from councillors by September 24 regarding developmental works they want to keep on priority. It has also created a special tab on its website for residents to participate in decision making by giving their suggestions for the improvement of city. Panwar said that this year they would get Rs 50 crores in which 50% will be given by the Union government, 30% by the state government and 20% by the SMC itself. If they spend it successfully, they would receive Rs 100 crore next year as second installment. He said that the SMC has received Rs 25 lakh for preparing city's plan."The plan of city's development has already been prepared, but we have to be very quick in taking suggestions from public as the plan has to be presented before the Union government by October 15 and they also have to present the utilization certificate to the Centre by December," he added.