Kochi may win ‘100 smart cities’

KOCHI: Kochi, the fast growing  commercial capital of the state,  is likely to be Kerala’s  only city selected for the union government’s ‘100 smart cities’ programme.

After complying with the guidelines and fulfilling the eligibility criteria, the city corporation has submitted the application to the chief secretary to participate in the city challenge round.

The state government will forward the application to the Union Ministry of Urban Development for consideration.

The ministry has introduced a city challenge round where the cities have to present their credentials and compete  to be included in the list of 100 smart cities.

“We’ve complied with all the norms and in the primary assessment,  Kochi has received more marks compared to other municipal bodies in the state.  We are hopeful of getting selected for the coveted programme,” said Mr V. R. Raju, corporation secretary.  

Five city corporations and two municipalities of the state have been in the race. But only one city will be selected.

Kochi has  good marks in many of the benchmarks like increase in the number of sanitary latrines under Swach Bharat Mission, operable online grievance redressal system, double-entry accounting system and publishing e-news letter.

The ‘100 smart cities project’ of the NDA government aims at developing new urban spaces and also at modernising the existing mid-sized cities for tackling large-scale migration of people from rural areas.

Meanwhile, the Kochi Metro Rail Limited authorities have offered to provide technical support to the civic body in its efforts to get included in the smart city programme.

“Technical support from the urban planning experts of KMRL will be helpful in the second phase of selection,” added the corporation secretary.