Special Purpose Vehicle to implement Smart City plans

Visakhapatnam: A Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) will be formed to implement proposals for the Smart City, approved by the Union urban development ministry.

Talking to reporters here on Friday, GVMC Commissioner Praveen Kumar said that Vizag could get a place in the top 20 Smart Cities challenge as the civic body had submitted realistic proposals to the Union urban development ministry.

“The district collector will be the chairman of the SPV and the GVMC commissioner will be the CEO. The heads of various other important departments, like Vuda and Eastern Power Distribution Company Lts (EPDCL), will also be members of the SPV that implements the Smart City proposals. We are awaiting guidelines from the urban development ministry for the formation of the SPV,” said Mr Kumar.

He added that Smart City work would begin with EPDCL laying the underground cabling. A disaster management centre would also be opened in the city, which would interlink various important government departments and serve as an e-governance centre, he added.

Mr Kumar said that he was committed to developing a world class beachfront at RK beach, which was part of the plans for the Smart City and one that the public had proposed. He also said that it was not only 1,700 acres that would be developed under the Smart City initiatives, but that there would be inclusive and overall development of the city.

Mr Kumar said that representatives of the United States Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) would visit Vizag on February 12 when an agreement to begin work on putting together the detailed project report (DPR) was likely to be signed and the USTDA would release around $1.6 million for its preparation vis-a-vis its plans for the Smart City.