KCR Defends Hyderabad’s Removal From ‘Smart Cities’ List

In view of the fact that Hyderabad is developing on its own and receiving funds under various schemes, the government has made a decision to give the Smart City opportunity to Karimnagar. Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao has requested the Union Minister for Urban Development M Venkaiah Naidu to release funds for development of Hyderabad on a par with A1 cities like Mumbai.

KCR Defends Hyderabad's Removal From 'Smart Cities' List

KCR wants Hyderabad out, Karimnagar in:

On Thursday wrote a letter to Union Urban Development Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu wanting Hyderabad to be replaced by Karimnagar in the “Smart Cities” project and instead the Centre should give additional funds to Hyderabad in tune with its standing as an A-1 city.

The Chief Minister said Hyderabad is a vast city with a geographical area spread across 625 sq km. He said that the GHMC needs Rs. 15,000 crore for drinking water and drainage facilities. Therefore, Rs. 100 crore funds under ‘Smart Cities’ project would be insufficient. He said that almost 50 per cent families in GHMC have no access to proper drainage system.

The TRS MP of Karimnagar B. Vinod Kumar also addressed a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi echoing the Chief Minister’s wish that New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata and Hyderabad be treated as ‘Smart Metros’ rather than Smart Cities and allotted Rs. 1,000 crore each a year to meet their special needs.

KCR reminded that the Central Government had constituted Dr. Ahluwali Committee in 2011 to study the civic needs in Hyderabad and it had recommended allocation of Rs. 30,370 crore for city’s overall development. The annual budget of GHMC itself is of Rs. 5500 crore.

Therefore, mere Rs. 100 crore under ‘Smart Cities’ project was quite insufficient. He said that the city needs at least Rs. 20,681 crore for Strategic Road Development Project to ensure signal free junctions and better roads.

The Chief Minister said that the Centre should provide more funds to develop Hyderabad as A-1 City. He said that the population of Karimnagar has crossed 3 lakh and therefore, it should be included in the list of Smart Cities.

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