Make info of all Smart City projects public, say NGOs

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, September 19

As information and plan of a number of Smart City Mission projects are allegedly not being made public, questions are being raised over the role of the Municipal Corporation and Ludhiana Smart City Limited.

Representatives of NGOs have been demanding for a long time that all information regarding every project should be made public on the official web portal. They are also demanding that project information boards with the date of starting, deadline and cost must be displayed at project sites.

When Secretary of the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs Durga Shanker Mishra had visited the city on Friday, representatives of the PAC and the Council of Engineers had submitted separate complaints to official, raising questions over different projects.

Jaskirat Singh of the Naroa Manch, Punjab, said: “When public money is used for projects, it is the responsibility of the department concerned to make sure that all projects’ plans and documents be made available on its official website to ensure transparency. Even, a link to the official website with a project code should be mentioned on boards at the project sites so that the public can easily get required information. ”

Chairman, Indian Institute of Architects, Punjab chapter, and one of the directors of Ludhiana Smart City Limited Sanjay Goyal said: “The project starting date and deadline along with other important information should be displayed at project sites.”

Notably, Ludhiana Smart City Limited has displayed an information board regarding the Retrofitting project of the Sarabha Nagar Market. However, the project cost has been displayed with names of officials and contractor but the starting date and the completion date were not mentioned on the board.

“At every project site, a complete set of drawings as well as bar chart with information about starting and completion of respective items of the project should be made available for the public,” said Kapil Dev of the Council of Engineers.

MC Superintending Engineer Rahul Gagneja, who looks after Smart City Mission projects, did not respond to phone calls. Mayor Balkar Singh Sandhu said he would ask Ludhiana Smart City Limited to make documents related to all projects public on the official web portal.