Six years on, projects under Smart City in Puducherry make little progress

Nearly six years after Puducherry was selected to be developed under the Smart Cities Mission in the country, most of the projects begun under the mission, have seen no progress. Out of 31 projects approved by the Puducherry Smart City Development Ltd Board, only five have been completed so far; the Union Territory will miss the June 2023 completion deadline; government sources say lack of a dedicated team of staff to implement the projects is causing the delays

Nearly six years after Puducherry was selected to be developed under the Smart Cities Mission in the country, most of the projects begun under the mission, have seen no progress.

The projects, cleared by the Puducherry Smart City Development Ltd (PSCDL) Board, have not been implemented with the speed with which they should have, while cities in other States that were selected along with Puducherry, are inching closer towards the completion of targets.

Out of 31 projects approved by the PSCDL Board during its meeting held in March last year, only a few projects, particularly the restoration of heritage educational institution – Pensionnat de Jeunes Filles have been taken up, while the remaining projects are yet to be taken up for implementation.

According to the Smart Cities Mission website under the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, only five projects – upgradation of public toilets, installation of mobile toilets, construction of stormwater drains, fixing of granite stone benches and LED light illumination at the Kargil War Memorial and Beach Road have seen completion. While some other projects are under execution, the rest are still at the tendering stage.

Official sources said that Puducherry was unlikely to meet the Smart Cities Mission completion deadline of June 2023, since it was lagging far behind in the implementation of projects.

Cities have been ranked on project implementation, money spent, and citizen engagement and Puducherry’s performance is far from satisfactory, officials admit.

Major projects cleared by the PSCDL Board such as the development and improvement of markets – Goubert market with additional commercial space including a multi-level car parking facility at the old jail premises, a smart integrated bus terminus on 4.5 acres, an intra-city bus terminus along with multi-level parking and commercial space development at the Thiruvalluvar bus stand and old bus stand, disabled friendly pedestrian footpaths, an iconic cycle track for 10.3 km, the improvement of the Botanical Garden, eco-tourism within the urban forest area in the Swadeshi mill, rehabilitation and beautification of the Grand Canal, an intelligent traffic management system and a command control centre – an integrated system to operate and manage multiple city service operations -- have still not been taken up despite the fact that these were among the first projects cleared by the Board.