look news india
According to the decision, Khurpiya in Uttarakhand, Rajpura in Punjab, Agra and Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh, Gaya in Bihar, Dighi in Maharashtra, Jodhpur-Pali in Rajasthan, Kopparthi and Ovarakal in Andhra Pradesh, Zaheerabad in Telangana and Palakkad in Kerala will be established.
These cities will develop around major industrial corridors. It is known that the establishment of these industrial cities was announced in the general budget. The government believes that an investment of Rs 28,602 crore will be made on the development of these industrial cities and industrial investment of Rs 1.50 lakh crore will come, which will create 10 lakh direct and 30 lakh indirect jobs.
At present it is difficult to say when these cities will be built and when the country will start getting their benefits, because the big schemes of the government are hardly completed on time. It cannot be ignored that in the past some such ambitious announcements could not move forward properly and some even lost their importance. For example, the establishment of Special Economic Zones (SEZ) could not be done as expected.
It is clear that the government will have to make special efforts to ensure that the target of setting up 12 new industrial cities is achieved within the stipulated time. Success in setting up new industrial cities will be achieved only when the government gets all possible support from the private sector. This support is possible only when the private sector takes interest in them. Note that some of the proposed industrial cities are far from major cities. Only the future will tell whether skilled artisans and management experts will want to live there or not.
Of course, the country needs such cities, but unless a good number of industries are established in them and adequate infrastructure is built to accommodate the civilian population, they will not become a centre of attraction for people. If these new cities can be developed properly, then the population burden on the big cities around them can be reduced.
The infrastructure of these big cities seems to be in a bad shape. How it is failing can be clearly seen in these monsoon days. These days many big cities of the country are facing the problem of waterlogging. Some cities are facing the fury of floods and due to this their infrastructure is deteriorating even faster.
In other words, the institutions associated with the local body department of every city in the country had claimed to make arrangements for drainage before the monsoon, but those claims broke down after two-four rains. The situation of the capital Delhi is also bad in this matter. The system of drainage and especially rainwater drainage in cities is very inadequate. This system is not only inadequate, but has become even worse due to poor engineering and illegal encroachment.
There are many cities in our country where the sewerage system is incomplete. Now when the central government is going to develop 12 new industrial cities, it should also review the infrastructure of big cities.
Ideally, the infrastructure of small cities should also be improved, but this work has to be done by the state governments. The problem is that the state governments are not paying enough attention to this. Due to this, the functioning of institutions like Municipal Corporations is not improving. Now the time has come that the work of improving the functioning of Municipal Corporations and Municipal Councils should be done on priority basis. The result of the lack of priority of the state governments is that the Smart City scheme could not give the expected results. While developing an industrial city, it is important to consider the reasons why the Smart City scheme did not live up to the expectations.
Even after the implementation of the Smart City scheme, there has been no significant change in the functioning of the local body department and other government agencies related to the urban infrastructure. This could not happen because the public representatives and bureaucrats responsible for improving the functioning of these institutions could not be held accountable.
The infrastructure of cities cannot be improved without making them responsible and accountable. Of course, the local bodies as well as the general public will have to become responsible. They will have to be vigilant about following the rules and regulations related to infrastructure. Large scale illegal construction and encroachment take place because the common people do not follow the related rules and regulations. When illegal construction takes place at one or two places, it becomes an example for others. When illegal construction or illegal occupation is taking place, there is no one to stop it. This leads to the establishment of slums.
When their population increases, the priority of declaring them legal begins. In the greed of vote bank, governments even regularize illegal settlements and colonies. When this happens, unplanned development gets a boost and this spoils the look of the cities. Unplanned development is also one of the reasons for most of the problems of today's cities. To run the cities smoothly, people along with the administration will have to become responsible.
Unless the public cooperates and follows the rules, cities cannot get rid of problems.
If the public is not aware of the planned development of infrastructure, then the problems of cities which are increasing every year will become serious and their solution will become extremely difficult. The deteriorating infrastructure of cities will only create a situation of distress for the people living in them.
Our policy makers should not ignore the fact that cities are engines of growth and if their infrastructure is not improved, it will be difficult to achieve the goal of economic development. Until the goals of economic development are achieved, the public will have to remain deprived of the available basic amenities.