Faulty plan derailed Bhagalpur Smart City: Officials

In the wake of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar alleging irregularities in the selection of Smart Cities, officials of the Union Urban Development Ministry have blamed the faulty proposal submitted by one of selected cities in the state – Bhagalpur. According to sources in the Ministry, Bhagalpur had submitted a grand vision plan for the city, but the action plan stressed on improving only some key streets, which is why it failed to make in the first list of 20 cities selected for overall development.

Of the 97 cities evaluated in the first round of the competition, Bhagalpur ranked 65, while Biharshariff stood 91 and Muzaffarpur 94 in the merit list. 

Sources said even though the Smart City proposal of Bhagalpur had a detailed vision regarding capitalising on distinct assets in the city such as heritage, neat surroundings and home-grown silk industry, the proposed action plan was just about developing a few key streets of the town with pedestrianisation and greening the edges. “The focus of the strategic plan of the city was more on improving basic infrastructure, related more to the Atal Mission, than on promoting smartness of the city as visualised under the Smart City Mission,” a source in the Ministry said.

Citing the city’s action plan, the official said: “The existing service levels in the town, particularly in respect of transportation, was not indicated properly in the plan. The action plan was also very general in terms of area development. It did not have detailed specific action to be taken for development of the area.”

The official added that components of the plan were not detailed to justify the costs proposed. For instance, there were no details of resources to be mobilised through land monetisation in the financial plan. 

“The resource plan was also general in nature without any break-up, so no analysis was feasible; whereas special purpose vehicle, a key for overall execution of the plan, was seen more as an operating and maintenance agency,” the official said.