Minister for Urban Development and Housing and Local Self Government, Government of Rajasthan
We have already made substantial growth ensuring development of our cities and communities. The Government is not leaving any stone unturned to make the cities of Rajasthan safer, cleaner, affordable and liveable, says Shrichand Kriplani, Minister for Urban Development and Housing and Local Self Government, Government of Rajasthan, in conversation with Kartik Sharma and Harshal Y Desai of the Elets News Network (ENN).
“The Government of Rajasthan is focussing on an all-round development of the State. Apart from the Smart Cities Mission, we are closely monitoring the growth of our all 29 AMRUT cities.
It has been a great month for the State of Rajasthan as the Central government has inaugurated projects worth Rs 15,000 crores, how do you view this development?
This is certainly a great time for the people of Rajasthan as these infrastructure projects have been inaugurated in the State. Infrastructure is the most necessary component for the development, and we are fortunate that under the leadership of Honourable Prime Minster of India Shri Narendra Modi and Honourable Chief Minister of Rajasthan Smt Vasundhara Raje, Rajasthan is actually witnessing the growth. I believe these projects will play a vital role in boosting the sustainable economic growth in the State. These 12 national highways projects, as rightly mentioned by our Honourable Prime Minster and Honourable Chief Minister, will be gateways to progress.
The Government of Rajasthan is working hard to fulfil its promises; we are glad to state that we have already made substantial growth ensuring development of our cities and communities.
Smart Cities Mission is the most talked about initiative of the Government of India, how do you perceive this initiative?
The Government of Rajasthan has been making every possible effort to ensure effective implementation of Smart City projects. In all the four cities i.e., Ajmer, Udaipur, Jaipur and Kota, crores of projects have already been implemented. It should be noted that it takes time to implement projects.
The Government is not leaving any stone unturned to make the cities of Rajasthan safer, cleaner, affordable and liveable. Be it e-governance project, LED-based street light project, efforts to make the urban areas Open Defecation Free (ODF), installation of CCTVs in cities, Air Quality Monitoring Systems, Rejuvenation of Rajasthan School of Arts, initiatives such as Smart Classrooms, Smart Toilets, Rehabilitation of Bawaris, Waste to Energy (there are hundreds of more such initiatives), and other crucial schemes, we are committed to implement them all with complete success ratio in all the four cities.
What are the plans to develop other cities, especially where the sewage and water supply management need to be focussed a lot?
Every city, every town, and every village is important. The Government of Rajasthan is focussing on an all-round development of the State. Apart from the Smart Cities Mission, we are closely monitoring the growth of our all 29 AMRUT cities.
Under AMRUT, Rajasthan Urban Drinking Water Sewerage and Infrastructure Corporation Limited (RUDSICO), has given an order for executing a sewerage project which will have treatment facilities. This project will witness construction of more than 350 km of sewerage network with a total eight sewage treatment plants of a total capacity of over 24 million litres on everyday basis. These plants will use batch reactor (SBR) technology. Sewage treatment and water supply are the prime focus areas for the Government of Rajasthan and we are going to spend huge amount to improve the infrastructure and services.
Please shed some light on the significance of the 6-Lane Cable Styled Bridge across river Chambal at Kota.
This bridge has been built at a cost of Rs 278 crores and it marks the completion of the East-West corridor. Since the bridge will facilitate transportation of heavy vehicles without the need to enter the city of Kota, it will have positive impact on pollution.
Transportation is another crucial element that needs to be improved. Kindly elaborate.
It is indeed. We are working on strengthening our infrastructure for better transportation within the States. We are enabling our buses with GPS. Further, all the Smart City SPVs in the four cities are making individual efforts to streamline the transport services within their domain. Few projects like bike sharing are being undertaken innovatively in all the Smart Cities. Municipal Corporation and Smart Cities SPVs are also working on creating better and sustainable space for parking within the cities.
How the Ministry of Urban Development and Housing is gearing up to materialise the projects?
We are committed to ensure all-round development of our cities, following a systematic and scientific approach. We are working to make our cities liveable. Through our various departments including Jaipur Metro Rail Corporation, Jaipur Development Authority, Rajasthan Housing Board & Town Planning, Urban Improvement Trusts (UITs) and other development authorities, we are contributing to the development of the State of Rajasthan.
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