Jammu, Srinagar would be taken up under Smart City: Deputy CM

Jammu and Kashmir government today said Jammu and Srinagar will soon be taken up under the Smart City Mission, a day after the Centre announced that only one of the twin capital cities would be included in it.
Adressing a gathering at Khan Kachi-Mir Bahri here in Old Srinagar, Singh also claimed the Union Minister for Housing and Urban Development has said that the twin capital cities would soon be taken up as smart cities.
Union Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu had yesterday announced the names of 13 more cities which qualified for the Mission through the 'Fast Track Competition'.

The Union minister, however, had said that only one out of Jammu and Srinagar in Jammu and Kashmir would be selected for evaluation under the mission.
Singh said it was due to the constant and persistent efforts of the state government that the Centre has "agreed" for taking up these cities in the Smart City project.
The deputy chief minister said the government has already undertaken a holistic programme for development of historic cities of Jammu and Srinagar, and necessary instructions have already been passed to the executing agencies to ensure their speedy completion.
Special thrust has been made for fast-tracking the developmental initiatives in various sectors such as housing and urban Development, tourism in the cities, he said.