SHILLONG: 11th April 2022 (PTI Source)
According to Chief Minister Conrad Sangma, Meghalaya has improved its position among 100 Smart Cities in the country, reaching the top of the Northeast.
The Chief Minister revealed that the state's ranking among 100 Smart Cities in the country has improved from 99 to 69 this year, which represents a 30-place jump over the previous six months.
“Meghalaya is now the top smart city in the North-East,” asserted the state leader.
Sangma said that the improvement in ranking was a result of the various initiatives taken by the state government under its smart city mission.
These include the setting up of a control room for monitoring and surveillance, setting up an intelligent traffic management system, installation of solar street lights, construction of green buildings, and development of apps for citizen engagement.
The Chief Minister also mentioned that the state is working on several other projects under the smart city mission, which will be launched in the coming months.
He expressed confidence that with these initiatives, Meghalaya will continue to improve its position in the national ranking.
The mission was launched by the Prime Minister in June 2015 with the objective of developing 100 smart cities across the country.
Under the mission, each city is provided with a grant of Rs 500 crore from the central government to implement various development projects.
The state government is also required to provide its own share of funding for the projects.
So far, 69 cities have been selected for the mission, out of which 24 are from Uttar Pradesh, 10 from Maharashtra, 9 from Tamil Nadu, 8 from Karnataka, and 5 each from Gujarat and Rajasthan.
Meghalaya is one of the eight states from the Northeast that are participating in the mission.
The other states are Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, and Tripura.
So far, only two cities from the region have been selected for the mission – Shillong and Guwahati.