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KOHIMA — Kohima Smart City Development Limited (KSCDL) won the coveted zonal smart city award for the Northeast zone in the India Smart Cities Awards (ISCA) for the year 2022.
This was announced by the KSCDL chief executive officer (CEO), Kezha Theunuo, during a press conference held at his office in Kohima on Wednesday, August 30.
The India Smart Cities Award Contest (ISCA), organised under the aegis of the Smart Cities Mission by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, has become the benchmark for acknowledging cities that epitomise urban transformation in the country.
[bsa_pro_ad_space id=1]Theunuo stated that the honour is a testimonial to its impressive advancements in urban development. He added that Kohima, the picturesque capital of Nagaland, stood out among other peers with its exceptional initiatives in areas such as sustainability, technology integration and community engagement.
He went on to state that the city's journey towards becoming a smarter and more livable urban centre has been met with resounding success. He reminded the people that the award recognises Kohima's dedication and efforts to improve infrastructure, enhance citizen services and implement sustainable urban practices.
Theunuo stated that the city's commitment to harnessing technology for the betterment of its residents has been a driving force behind the accomplishment. He added that the residents of Kohima, along with the entire Northeast region, can take pride in this remarkable achievement, which highlighted the city's journey from being a beautiful hill station to a smart, future-ready urban centre.
He said that Kohima's transformation story is a shining example of what could be achieved when vision, determination and innovation come together for the greater good.
Regarding the projects, Theunuo stated that they have proposed INR 1000 crore initially for various projects. However, as per last year’s Ministry’s directives, he informed that the state government gave only INR 50 crore, which was only 10% of the Ministry’s share. Subsequently, he stated that the project cost was reduced to INR 550 crore.
[bsa_pro_ad_space id=1]He informed that they have taken up 32 projects, out of which 24 projects have been completed till now with 8 more projects underway. He informed that five projects are expected to be completed by December this year and other three projects to be completed between February and March next year.
The five projects expected to be completed by December included slum area development, battle tank area development, rain water harvesting, Khuochiezhie local ground development and mini sports complex at City Centre, while the remaining three projects are hotel buliding, commercial building and multi-level parking, all located at City Centre, Kohima.
Theunuo apprised how ISAC is being organised under the Smart Cities Mission, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Government of India.
Smart Cities Mission was launched on June 25, 2015, with the main objective of providing core infrastructure, clean and sustainable environment and a decent quality of life to the citizens through the application of 'Smart solutions.' It is a transformational mission aimed at bringing about a paradigm shift in the practice of urban development in the country.
The ISAC recognises and rewards the cities, projects and innovative ideas that are promoting sustainable development across the 100 smart cities as well as stimulating inclusive, equitable, safe, healthy and collaborative cities, thus enhancing quality of life for all.
The ISAC 2022 award has a two-stage submission process consisting of ‘qualifying stage,’ which involved overall assessment of the city's performance, and ‘the proposal stage,' which required the smart cities to submit their nominations for six award categories such as project awards with 10 different themes, innovation awards with two different themes, national/zonal city awards, state awards, UT award, and partners awards with three different themes.
A total of 845 nominations were received for ISAC 2022 from 80 qualifying smart cities. The entries were evaluated in four stages. Of the total 845 applications received under the five awards categories, 66 final winners were identified including 35 in project award, 6 in innovation award, 13 in national/ zonal city award, 5 in state/ UT award and 7 in partner award categories.
The President of India would felicitate the winners of ISAC 2022 awards on September 27 at Indore in Madhya Pradesh.