UP Smart City projects in 10 cities near completion as 99% works commissioned

Uttar Pradesh has completed 99% of the projects sanctioned under the Centre’s Smart City scheme, with officials racing to meet a March 15 internal deadline to operationalise the remaining works.According to a recent review by the urban development department, 677 out of the total 682 projects approved under the scheme have been commissioned. Senior officials said, as reported TOI, that three of the remaining five projects are likely to be inaugurated within a week, while the other two would also be made operational by March 14.The Smart City Mission was launched by the ministry of housing and urban affairs (MoHUA) in June 2015. In Uttar Pradesh, 10 municipal corporation-governed cities were selected under the scheme — Agra, Aligarh, Bareilly, Jhansi, Kanpur, Lucknow, Moradabad, Prayagraj, Saharanpur and Varanasi.Officials said that after these cities secured the ‘smart city’ tag, the Central government could provide support to upgrade other urban centres in the state.Progress, however, was slower in the initial years. Completion of milestones took longer than expected after large-scale irregularities were detected in the execution of projects during the first three years. Experts from the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), in their audit review, flagged specific cases of irregularities. The findings were released in the 2022-23 financial year for corrective action.Despite the delays, an officer deputed in the directorate of urban local bodies said the allocated funds were fully utilised as per mandate by March 15.At the request of the state government, the Centre had extended the Smart City Mission deadline three times. After March 31 last year -- the final deadline assigned to the state -- no further funds were disbursed by the Centre under the scheme.Meanwhile, the state government has also been upgrading the remaining seven municipal corporation cities under the ‘UP State Smart City Mission’, which was introduced in 2019-2020 to extend similar urban infrastructure improvements beyond the original 10 cities.