Mayor Saurabh Joshi has directed officers to bring a white paper on all projects of the Smart City venture in the next MC meeting. The direction has been passed during a discussion on the agenda of related works.
The officers had brought the agenda for ex facto approval for floating tender on GeM portal for annual maintenance contract HYVA machinery installed at three MRF centres, set up under the Smart City project. The councillors also demanded placing on record the details regarding the tender allotted for the work.
The firm had submittted the bills of around Rs 4 crore for the period. The councillors, cutting across party lines, opposed the agenda and said that all projects of the Smart City venture are in a shambles. Majority of the projects are facing problems and have been embroiled in controversy for various reasons.
Chandigarh Smart City Limited was formed in July 2016 for designing and execution of projects but had to wind up its operation in March 2025. Over Rs 900 crore were spent on around 36 projects conceptualised under the project. Major investments under the mission include Rs 304 crore for setting up sewage treatment plants, Rs 334 crore for constructing an integrated command and control centre, Rs 80 crore on 24x7 water supply and ‘rejuvenation’ of Sector 17. The remaining funds were allocated to ancillary projects aimed at enhancing urban infrastructure The mission wound up its operation and all the projects transferred to cash strapped Chandigarh MC, which was facing difficulty in paying the operation cost of the projects.
The 24x7 water supply project in Manimajra started under the Smart City mission is embroiled in a controversy after the Vigilance Department started a probe into the project. The public bike sharing project is another one, which was launched in December 2020, but no longer operational with the docking stations and cycle tracks in a dilapidated condition. Technical glitches in the smart bike app, vandalism, broken or rusted bicycles are discouraging many from using these cycles.
Crores spent on smart street lights system is also of no use. Majority of these are now lying defunct. The sewage treatment plants upgraded have failed to give the desired results. Legacy Waste Mining project at Dadumajra dump site is not completed despite spending huge money on it. Water ATMs at many locations started with fanfare are lying defunct in many places.
Mayor, councillors protest against Sector 45 demolition
Mayor Saurabh Joshi, along with councillors from the Congress, BJP and Aam Aadmi Party, as well as nominated councillors, reached Sector 45 to protest against the demolition drive. At the site, the Mayor and other councillors raised slogans against the Chandigarh Housing Board and gave the board officials a 15-minute ultimatum to stop the demolition. The councillors also staged a brief sit-in. Subsequently, the CHB team halted the operation and withdrew from the site.
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Autor(en)/Author(s): Ramkrishan Upadhyay
Dieser Artikel ist neu veröffentlicht von / This article is republished from: The Tribune, 09.04.2026
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