Guwahati Smart City Project; all schemes stuck in time warp

GUWAHATI: The Guwahati Smart City Project seems to have got stuck in time warp. Since its launch in 2015, the project has not made much progress. The Guwahati Smart City Ltd (GSCL) was created in 2016 as a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) for the smooth implementation of the Smart City Project.

A reality check of the project shows that while only four schemes under the project have seen the light of the day, seven other schemes under the project are far from being completed. Some of them are at the preliminary stages.

Besides, the GSCL Managing Director has been has been transferred at least five times. Many at the helm of affairs of the project have said that frequent changes in the MD have had cascading effects on the progress of various schemes under the project.

According to sources, the four completed schemes of the project are – (ii) Installation of the National Flag atop Gandhi Mandap in the city costing Rs 2.93 crore. This work, however, is not free from the nagging problem of the National Flag not remaining in shape from time to time, especially when the city is lashed by heavy storms. (ii) Setting up of a park atop Sarania Hill at Gandhi Mandap costing Rs 2.93 crore. (iii) The setting up of 20 water ATM units in the city costing Rs 2.09 crore (though the scheme is completed many such units have gone out of order); (iv) A total of 21 of the 30 bio-toilets have been constructed at an estimated cost of Rs 9.53 crore.

The incomplete schemes of the project, according to sources, are as follows: (i) Phase-1 of the Project Jyoti Scheme with an estimated cost of Rs 13.21 crore is underway; (ii) Evaluation of tenders of the Rs 76.59-crore LED Streetlight Scheme is going on; (iii) DPR (Detailed Project Report) of the Rs 460-crore Brahmaputra River Bank Beautification Scheme is being prepared; (iv) Tenders have been invited for the Rs 215-crore Master System Integrator; (v) Tender has been invited for the Rs 17.40-crore Command and Control Centre; (vi) Tender is being prepared for the Rs 10.95-crore Aswaklanta Devalaya Development Project; and (vii) tender is under preparation for the Rs 17.42-crore Umananda Temple Development Project.

According to Government of India's records, the estimated cost of Guwahati Smart City is around Rs 2,296 crore, including approximately Rs 1,596 crore area-based development and approximately Rs 622 crore as pan-city cost.

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