LUCKNOW: Uttar Pradesh bagged the first position among states in the India Smart Cities Award contest.
In the second round cities, Agra got the first and Varanasi the third position.
Besides, Varanasi got the first position under the theme ‘water’ for eco-restoration of Assi river and ‘Innovation Award’ for Covid innovation.
Besides, Varanasi got the second position in the smart cities’ city leadership category.
This is the first time that states are being awarded under the smart cities mission.
Madhya Pradesh bagged second position while Tamil Nadu grabbed third place.
UP was given the first prize among the states for taking up development of seven cities under the state smart cities scheme, which are Meerut, Ghaziabad, Ayodhya, Firozabad, Gorakhpur, Mathura-Vrindavan and Saharanpur.
State government has implemented a state smart city scheme in seven municipal corporations on the lines of the central scheme.
CM Yogi Adityanath tweeted that it was under the guidance of the Prime Minister and because of the committed effort of the UP government that the state has got the first position in the Indian Smart Cities Award contest.
Under the theme `Economy’, Agra won the award for the micro skill development centre.
Saharanpur got the first position for Covid innovation in the fourth round.
Urban development minister Ashutosh Tandon said that it has been made possible because of the continuing guidance and review by the chief minister.
Additional chief secretary Dr Rajnish Dubey said, “The faster achievement of the physical and economic targets under the scheme should be assured this year as well so that the state wins more awards next year.
This year, ICCC/ITMS solutions across the board and going the extra mile with seven state smart cities besides other achievements brought us the award.” The smart city contest was held by the Union ministry of housing and urban affairs on Friday to mark the six years of the Smart City Mission.
The participants were the 100 cities selected under the mission.
As many as ten cities from UP were selected in different rounds of the contest.
Lucknow was selected in the first round.
Kanpur, Agra and Varanasi were selected in the second round.
Prayagraj, Aligarh and Jhansi were selected in the third round and Moradabad, Bareilly and Saharanpur in the fourth round.
State government has implemented a state smart city scheme in seven municipal corporations on the lines of the central scheme.
The awards were given under various themes which included Social Aspects, Governance, Culture, Urban Environment, Sanitation, Economy, Built Environment, Water, Urban Mobility and the new themes added this year, Sustainable Business model of ICCC and Innovation award specially for Covid management.
“The purpose of the Smart Cities Mission is to drive economic growth and improve the quality of life of people by enabling local area development and harnessing technology, especially technology that leads to Smart outcomes,” is the centre’s vision on smart city.
UP bags best state award in ‘Smart Cities’ contest
