Sluggish pace of Smart City works takes toll on commuters

Srinagar, Mar 25: The much-hyped Srinagar Smart City project, aimed to transform the summer capital’s infrastructure, is facing growing public discontent due to its sluggish progress.

Except for a few renovated locations in city centre areas, the rest of the city especially Downtown remains marred by scars of unfinished Smart City initiatives.

Roads, lanes, and drains earmarked for beautification have been either abandoned or work is going on at a snail's pace, particularly in Downtown areas like Safa Kadal, Khayam, Khanyar, Malarata, and Nowpora.

Manzoor Ahmad, a resident of the Downtown areas rued difficulties faced by patients during medical emergencies, where reaching the hospital on time becomes a challenge due to poor road conditions.

“It is ironic that work on roads and drains has been started simultaneously on various vital roads in Srinagar. This has severely hit vehicular movement. Roads in Downtown have been dug up and work is going on slowly. There is hardly any adherence to deadlines. This not only causes inconvenience to commuters but also leads to cost escalation of projects due to inordinate delay by contractors,” said Abdul Hamid a local of Downtown.

“There must be an independent agency to monitor the quality of works and deadlines of Smart City projects," he added.

Another resident, Farooq Ahmad, pointed out that the workers involved in the project are slow and barely visible on the roads.

Despite spending Rs 462 crore by December 2023, commuters grapple with daily nightmare of passing through dug-up roads, potholes, and open drains.

As per information provided by the Srinagar Smart City Ltd under the RTI in response to an application filed by social activist M M Shuja, out of Rs 499.65 crores allocated, Rs 462.29 crores have been utilised so far, however, many projects are still pending.

Moreover, 343 new modern bus stops were to be constructed under Smart City, but only a few of them have been completed so far. Out of 33 public toilets approved, 20 of them have been completed and 13 are still pending.

The total projects which have been completed under “Smart City Project are 90 for which Rs 206.52 Cr were utilised. The total budget allocated for these 90 projects is 29437 Cr.

Also, Rs 161.69 Cr was allocated for the beautification of the Downtown Srinagar, but only 13.47 cr has been utilised so far.

However, officials told Greater Kashmir that all the projects will be completed by June 2024.
"SSCL is actively working towards meeting this deadline and significant efforts are being made to ensure timely completion of all ongoing initiatives," they said.

Meanwhile, Deputy Commissioner, Srinagar, Bilal Mohiddin Bhat told Greater Kashmir that they are trying their best to ensure that people do not face any problems.

“Unfortunately, some things are not under our control," he said.

DC Srinagar said that by next month, roads will be macadamised. "I have been working on it since I joined the office. Works are ongoing at different places, including downtown. There are some bridges as well, such as Sanat Nagar and the road from Khanyar to Rainawari,” he said.