Lucknow, Oct 4 (FN Agency) The Uttar Pradesh government is working on developing all the 762 civic bodies of the state as part of its series of initiatives to make the state a trillion-dollar economy in the next five years. Currently, all the municipal corporations, including the ten smart cities present in the state, are rapidly being developed into safe and smart cities. Chief Secretary Durga Shankar Mishra said that the development of cities is based on three pillars of sustainable growth-social, environmental and economic. “In the development of cities, the Yogi government is prioritising education, healthcare, employment, business, general infrastructure, clean drinking water, hospitals, electricity, roads and housing in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Mission to Movement’,” he said. With the aim to turn every developmental programme into a mass movement, the UP government is focusing on development of all 762 cities of the state on the lines of smart cities.
The CS said that the government’s concept of smartness is all about getting more from less, which means optimising resources. It involves paying special attention to technology along with infrastructure. For example, all the smart cities and municipal corporations in the state have already been integrated with the Integrated Control and Command Center (ICCC). During the Covid pandemic, the ICCC system did an excellent job. However, today, through this system, the entire city can be managed under one roof. Mishra said that social sustainability aims to involve the common people in the development process. “People should actively participate in development projects, understand the importance of the environment, connect development activities with our ancient Indian values, and become participants in the development work,” he said. It may be noted that UP has a network of rivers, mostly originating from the Himalayas, which have water throughout the year. However, many rivers had become lifeless with the weakening of the connection of people with the rivers and turned into dumping grounds for waste and industrial pollution.
With the efforts of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, however, more than 50 rivers of UP have been revived in the recent past. Similarly, many ponds and lakes that were almost dead have been transformed into Amrit Sarovars with the initiative of the Yogi government. Amrit Vans have also been developed near them while ghats have been built along the ponds. In other words, the process of development is being connected to the national values by involving the public, because development is not sustainable until it is connected with the people. Apart from sectors related to technology, such as horticulture, automobile, power, road, and real estate, innovations are happening on a wide scale in every field. Sustainability comes into play when innovations are aligned with society and the environment. The government is working on the sustainable development of society, the environment, and the economy as a whole.