Warangal: After failing to qualify by a mere 0.7 points in the first phase of the Centre’s Smart City mission, Warangal made it to the list of cities that are going to be developed by taking part in the Fast Track Smart Cities Competition.
The list with 13 new cities was announced by Union minister M. Venkaiah Naidu on Tuesday. Warangal improved its smart city plan by 13 per cent.
The Greater Warangal Municipal Corporation revised the Smart City Proposal for Warangal based on advice from urban development ministry. Administrative staff college of India acted as the mentor institute in revising the SCP filling in the gaps to be addressed. The GWMC went ahead with a vision to transform Warangal into an economic hub with focus on tourism and heritage and to make it a liveable, clean, green, inclusive, modern, safe and citizen friendly and well governed city.
Celebrating Warangal’s entry to the smarty city mission at the GWMC office, mayor N. Narender said that strategic focus was put on heritage and tourism, public transit improvement, clean and green city, surveillance and monitoring, diversified economic base while preparing the DPR. Under area-based development proposal, seven themes were chosen to realize the potential of ABD development and make it as a lighthouse project to inspire the rest of the city to become a smart city.
The seven themes include Bhadrakali lakefront and recreational district, extended business district, liveable neighbourhood, smart mobility, green urbanism environmental watch and smart central Warangal. Inclusion of Warangal in SCM would result in pan city smart initiatives and ensure the historic city would continue to be the centre of heritage and cultural tourism for which the city is identified.
