Three cities in Karnataka have won Smart City awards in various categories. Belagavi, Shivamogga, and Hubballi-Dharwad are the winners as per the India Smart Cities Award announced by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs recently.
Belagavi has won the Zonal Smart City Award for the Southern Zone, Shivamogga for the development of conservancies in package two, and Hubbali-Dharwad has won the Innovative Idea Award for its initiative of Open Space Upgradation 2 by Nalla Renovation and setting up the green corridor in the twin cities.
Belagavi was among the cities listed under the Smart City Mission in the first list in 2016. A total of ₹930 crore was approved for Belagavi. Of this, ₹854 crore were released. Smart City Limited has utilised ₹761.21 crore on 103 works.
The works include a physiotherapy centre for disabled children at Mahatma Phule Garden, Ravindra Kaushik e-Library, kid zone, development of 11 concept-based parks, Kanabargi lake rejuvenation, Integrated Command and Control Centre and development of hospitals and smart roads. Another six works taken up under public-private partnership at the cost of ₹211.06 crore.
In what was touted to be the country’s first green corridor under the Smart City project, a 5.6 km stretch of corridor was developed from Unkal lake to old Hubballi at a cost of ₹130 crore. Residents can walk or cycle along the track. The project was evaluated by experts from France and National institute of Urban Affairs.
Shivamogga has developed conservancy lanes by taking up concrete flooring and storm-water drain development along the lanes. Officials have created civic amenities like food courts and parking slots in the lanes. Shivamogga was selected for the project in October 2016. As many as 53 works have been taken up at a cost of around ₹970 crore in the first phase.
Smart City development is a scheme in which the Union government and the State share the cost of projects. At the national level, 6,041 works have been completed at a cost of ₹1 lakh crore under the mission in 100 cities. Another 1,894 are expected to be completed at a cost of ₹60,095 crore by July 2024.
There are six award categories like Project Awards with 10 different themes, innovation Awards with two different themes, National and Zonal City Awards, State and Union Territory Awards, and Partners Awards with three themes. As many as 66 winners were announced out of the total 845 nomination applications received by the Union government.
President Droupadi Murmu will give the awards in Indore on September 27.
