Berhampur: Berhmapur, the Silk City of the state, will see good connectivity as the authorities have decided to build 20 smart roads in the city. This decision was taken in view of the fact that the Silk City lags behind in the race for Smart Cities in the country, a report said.
Besides, the old Gandhi and Nehru parks will be shaped as smart parks while renovations of the some cremation grounds will be carried out. The Berhampur Municipal Corporation has many such proposals to make the city smart on various sectors.
Cremation grounds at City Bus Stand, Gosaninuagaon, Ramnagar and Teli near Fast Gate will be renovated. Meanwhile, the civic body authorities have completed the tender process for some of the major projects.
A group of engineer has received training at Bangalore on the building of smart roads. Notably, after the 2013 civic body polls, the state government had made proposals to make the major cities as smart ones.
The central government has organised a workshop in June, 2015, in New Delhi on the need of smart cities in the country. Former BeMC mayor L Madhabi and then BeMC commissioner attended the workshop.
K Madhabi had presented a paper on the existing infrastructure necessary for a smart city in Berhampur. At the competition for smart city during the workshop, Rourkela succeeded while Berhmapur failed to score.
Ahead of 2019 general elections, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has inaugurated Janibili drinking water project, which was then incomplete. At a public meeting, the Chief Minister had announced that over 200 smart parks would be developed at a cost of Rs 200 crore in the state.
Besides, Rs 200 crore will be spent to renovate cremations grounds in the state. However, it was alleged that the civic body authorities have delayed its efforts for development of the smart parks and cremation grounds in Berhampur.
In the first phase, 20 major roads in the city will be identified while the civic body authorities have allocated Rs 20 crore in its budget for 2021-22. A smart road will be 30-ft wide with provision of pavements and good drainage systems.
PNN