First instalment of Rs. 143.5 crore for Agra smart city project released by UP govt

The administration has received the first instalment of funds of Rs. 143.5 crore meant for the Agra smart city project and is now in the final stage of planning area-based development of the Agra. The work on turning Agra into a smart city is likely to begin from December. The state government has released Rs 143.5 crore as the first installment for the smart city project, which will be jointly undertaken by the state and the Centre. The amount will be utilized during the current financial year following directions from the higher authorities. The smart city proposal for Agra includes Rs 2,133 core makeover plans. 2,250 acres of area around Taj Mahal, Agra Fort, Jama Masjid and other parts of the city will be covered under the project. In September last year, Agra was selected by the central government under the smart city project. Following this, a special purpose vehicle (SPV), Agra Smart City limited, was set up under the Companies Act to implement the development work at the city level. The SPV is headed by the divisional commissioner and will plan, approve, implement, manage, monitor and evaluate smart city-related projects. Earlier this month, the SPV had sought some project-related details from the district administration, Agra Municipal Corporation, Public Works Department, Jal Nigam, Agra Development Authority, local power distribution company and 16 other departments to develop work plans. AMC officer in-charge of smart city project, RK Singh said, “Data collection and analysis will take around two months. After that, work plans will be prepared and the implementation will happen from December this year. Work on area-based development will cover 91 components including door-to-door garbage collection, solid waste management, upgradation of sewer system, integrated traffic management system, smart city surveillance system, among others.” Funds amounting to over 600 crore have also been released for the development of Lucknow, Varanasi and Kanpur.