NEW
DELHI: After missing the Smart City bus in the first round, Varanasi is now
revamping its proposal for the second round inculcating recommendations of an
expert panel set up by the Centre.
After
poor performance in first round with score of just 40 out of 100, Varanasi is
now preparing a revised proposal to be submitted by June 30 to the Centre. The
city stood at 96th position among the 98 cities that participated in the first
round.
SWOT
analysis of Varanasi's first proposal by the expert panel had identified a
number of challenges for the city like the deteriorating quality of life,
health hazards due to non-management of waste, ageing and old school profile of
city resisting change, low road safety standards and alarming levels of noise
and air pollution.
To improve on this, the expert panel has
recommended the revised plan to aim at "reviving the glory of
Varanasi" by conserving and promoting its heritage, protecting its
cultural and traditional environment to boost tourism and employment besides
provide quality urban services.
The city has been advised to build on its
strengths of being a heritage city and one of the oldest cities dating back
4,000 years having various monuments like ghats, temples and mosques and being
a city of diversified art and culture besides being an educational hub with
four universities and having good air, rail and road connectivity.
Inculcating
expert panel's suggestion, the city's new plan is expected to focus on
development of art, cultural & archeological heritage centers plus a solid
waste management plan.
Other prominent themes in the new plan to
include prospects for organized tourism, building of a ring road to shift the
population pressure to outer areas and developing the city as a hub for medical
tourism besides the potential of water transport. Varanasi could also flag the
scope for CSR activities by corporate houses.
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