‘Sprucing up 5 wards won’t make Kanpur smart’
KANPUR: The civic poll campaign is in full swing. But, contrary to expectation, the BJP is not talking about the smart city plan here.
Kanpur, which goes to polls in the first phase on November 22, was among the urban centres included in the second phase of the Centre’s smart cities’ mission in September 2016. The move had raised expectations here.
The BJP, which has been in power at the Kanpur Municipal Corporation (KMC) for the last two terms, didn’t touch the issue at all.
Its star campaigners also did not mention the plan. The opposition has called the plan a sham.
“This issue clearly is not in any electoral debate. You have to show something that reflects smartness,” said Chote Bhai Naronha, president of Kanpur Citizens Forum.
“The annual allocation of Rs 100 crore for a period of five years was nothing but peanuts. With this money, you can build one of two flyovers but cannot make a city smart,” he said.
Naronha and his organisation had made several suggestions to the ministry of urban development and held a number of meetings in Kanpur and New Delhi for the right approach in turning Kanpur into a smart city. The plan focuses on five wards which will be refurbished.
Mohammad Faheem, an activist fighting for cleaner air in Kanpur, asks how can a city become smart with development of just five civic wards.
“The changes in these wards will be cosmetic,” says Faheem.
“The city needs a proper solid waste management system that currently is a mess. You find heaps of garbage everywhere. The air quality index is alarming, congestion of city is nauseating. Kanpur is becoming unlivable,” he says.
“We thought the city will become more organized. The new plan leaves a lot to be desired,” says Madanlal Bhatia, a former corporator.
The BJP’s local unit president Surendra Maithani refuses to acknowledge that the party is not touting the smart city project as a success.
It is a process and it takes time for change to come by.