23 Small Towns of Uttarakhand with Less than 50 thousand Population will be Rejuvenated

• 08 Sep 2023

Why In News?

According to information received from the media on September 5, 2023, 23 small towns of Uttarakhand with a population of less than 50 thousand will also be transformed. The Centre has given in-principle consent to the state's proposal. Now a detailed proposal will be sent to the Union Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry.

Key Points:

• Six municipal corporations of Uttarakhand - Dehradun, Haridwar, Haldwani, Rudrapur, Kashipur, Roorkee as well as Nainital - were included in the AMRUT-1 scheme. In these cities, sewage and drinking water etc works were done after making the master plan under the scheme.
• Now the central government is going to launch the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT 2.0).
• Recently, a meeting was held in the Union Ministry, in which Uttarakhand's Chief Town Planner Shashi Mohan Srivastava attended.
• He had demanded that small towns of Category-3 should also be included in a state with odd geographical conditions like Uttarakhand, to which the ministry had given its consent. After this, the department has sent its proposal to the Center.
• According to the state's chief town planner, there are 23 cities in the state that are in category-3. There are a total of 10 cities in category-1 and category-2.
• Under the AMRUT 2.0 scheme, the master plan of the cities will be made. According to this plan, apart from sewage and drinking water lines, drainage, green space and parks will be developed here. For this the budget will be received from the central government only.