In a move that may have wide political ramifications, no city from the state has been included in the list of 20 names for the smart city project announced by the Centre today.
This exclusion can cast its shadow over restitching the alliance between the PDP and BJP in the state as the ‘Agenda of Alliance’, which led to formation of the coalition government on March 1 last year, had recommended the two capital cities for the smart city project.
Political observers see it as major snub to the PDP. After the death of Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed on January 7, PDP leaders had expressed unhappiness to party president Mehbooba Mufti over poor implementation of points agreed upon by the alliance partners.
“Exclusion from the list can be a message to the PDP, which has accused the Centre of not fulfilling promises made to Jammu and Kashmir. It may create roadblocks in government formation in the state, which is under Governor’s rule,” said a source.
It raised questions over BJP leaders in the state, particularly former Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh, who headed the Urban Development Department, for failure to convince the Centre to include J&K cities in the project.
“There was hope that the PDP-BJP coalition will bring a new phase of development, but it ignored crucial reforms. Municipal corporations and committees are non-functional as elections have not been conducted for five years. This is another reason for exclusion,” said an Urban Development Department official.
Former Chief Minister and National Conference working president Omar Abdullah said the PDP-BJP coalition had again let the state down. “So much for the ‘Agenda for Alliance’ being a sacred document. Once again, the PDP-BJP coalition let the state down. No smart city for J&K today,” he tweeted. Under the smart city project, focus will be on providing quality services such as 24×7 water supply, sanitation, drainage, solid waste management, sewage treatment and improving basic infrastructure by involving the private sector.
The cities will be developed to have basic infrastructure through assured water and power supply, sanitation and solid waste management, efficient urban mobility and public transport, information technology connectivity, e-governance.
Smart City list may impact PDP-BJP ties
