Fifth anniversary of the Smart Cities Mission

Fifth anniversary of the Smart Cities Mission

Part of: GS Prelims and Mains I, II and III – Govt schemes and policies; Urbanisation and related issues; Infrastructure

In news:

• Fifth anniversary of the Smart Cities Mission was held recently.
• Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry announced initiatives like – plan to promote cycling in cities (‘Cycles4change Challenge’) and a finance portal for urban local bodies. 

About Smart Cities Mission

• It is an innovative initiative under the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.
• The Mission covers 100 cities for the duration of five years starting from the financial year (FY) 2015-16 to 2019-20.
• It aims to drive economic growth and improve the quality of life of people by enabling local development and harnessing technology as a means to create smart outcomes for citizens.
• Objective: To promote cities that provide core infrastructure and give a decent quality of life to its citizens, a clean and sustainable environment and application of Smart Solutions.

Do you know?

• Low-cost interventions such as pop-up cycle lanes and non-motorised zones and community-led cycle rental schemes would be explored.
• The finance portal will get financial statements of all cities on a single platform. This will enable sharing and learning of best practices and helps urban local bodies in accessing market funds. 

Important achievements in the five years of Smart Cities Mission

• About 31% of projects identified under the Smart Cities Mission have been completed
• About 33% of urban housing sanctioned through the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) have been completed
• Under the Smart Cities Mission, 5,151 projects worth Rs. 2 lakh crore had been identified in 100 cities. 
• So far around 4,700 projects worth Rs. 1.66 lakh crore or 81% of the total projects had been tendered and 1,638 projects worth Rs. 27,000 crore had been completed.
• Through the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT), the government had provided 79 lakh household water tap connections and 45 lakh sewer connections.