Smart City Jinx in Udaipur - ranking drops to 9
Udaipur has slid to the 9th position after being ranked 3rd in the all India Smart City Ranking in January. The main reason for this is the extension of deadlines for completing the pending works under the Smart City Project, as indicated by reports.
While the COVID lockdown and associated delays were absorbed subsquently by a few other citieis who are part of this project, the Smart City Project office extended the deadlines for the second time, suggesting 31 March 2022 as being the new deadline.
As per reports, the flyover at Kumharon ka Bhatta was to be completed by 31 December 2021 and the Ayad Beautification Project never took off, even after Rs. 50 Crore was allotted to this task.
Udaipur though, still maintains its top position in Rajasthan, with Kota and Ajmer both sliding down from 8 and and 9 to 14 and 22 positions respectively. The capital Jaipur has surprisingly moved from 44th to 10th position among the 100 cities in the first phase of the Smart City Project. Bhopal has been ranked first in the ranking released by the Ministry of Urban Development. Each month, the Ministry evaluates the performance of the cities under this projects on various parameters, which include new tenders, status of work in progress, fund utilisation, among others.