Varanasi wakes up to smart city mission

Two-and-a-half years after Prime Minister Narendra Modi was declared winner from Varanasi, the city languishing in its past glory is waking up to a smart plan, as announced by the Urban Development Ministry here on Wednesday.

The new Rs. 2,500 crore plan will cover the old city around River Ganga, which was not included in the earlier heritage city plan, invoking severe criticism, that the government was targeting only VIP areas, and to make new VVIP localities. “As per the plan, Rs 1,659 crore will be spent on area development and Rs 618 crore on pan-city solutions. The rest will include technical and administrative expenses and other contingencies,” said a ministry official.

Since 31% of Varanasi's population resides in the old city, accounting for 7% of the city’s geographical area and 38% of city’s GDP, the new plan focuses on developing the old city with Ganga as its pivot and areas around the Kashi Vishwanath Temple. The administration claims to have sought suggestions from four lakh residents before finalizing its plan.

Under the new scheme, the centre plans to convert the ancient city also known as Kashi into Suramya (appealing), Samunnat (socio economic growth), Sanyojit (allowing hassle free movement) and Nirmal (clean).

With 65 lakh tourists visiting the city each year, “The idea is to make Varanasi a tourist friendly city, providing easy and safe access, safety, cleanliness and hassle free traffic movement,” said the official.

Under the Heritage City Development Scheme, the centre has been funding roads, sewage and other infrastructure projects in Varanasi. Restoration of façade and buildings along the ghat are a part of the Heritage scheme.

For a total repackaging, smart city mission will ensure, rejuvenation of ghats and temples, ensuring supply of power and water, waste management, improvement of waterways, developing of 11 parks, smart multi-level parking spaces, cultural-cum-convention centre, Kahsi Kala Dham, Town Hall, Silpi Haat, Centre of Excellence with Hall of Fame, light and sound show, night bazar, rejuvenation of water bodies, pedestrian pathways, non-motorised transport, energy efficient streets, lighting, underground cabling, and improved sign boards.

Offering Sanyojit solution, Varanasi Municipal Corporation will be providing optic fibre connectivity across the city, online payment of utility bills and service delivery, intelligent traffic management systems including GPS on buses, e-booking of boats, guides and taxis. CCTV based monitoring and surveillance, e-Suvidha centres, information delivery on Mobile Apps are also part of the smart Varanasi solution.

While the Centre and states have been pooling in funds for Varanasi, a part of funding is also to come from the Public Private Partnership Model (PPP). In addition to the support from central and state government, costs of Varanasi’s smart city proposal are to be met with resources of Rs1,290 crore through convergence of various schemes, Rs505 crore from the Corporation’s own resources and Rs.140 crore from PPP.