Vizag bags 13th rank in centre’s smart city rankings

Vizag has stood 13th among 98 cities in the smart city rankings released by the Union ministry of housing and urban development on Tuesday.

The rankings have been awarded on the basis of the progress of various projects and works in the smart cities identified by the central government. While Nagpur, with 259.96 points, and Vadodara, with 195.31 points, topped the list, Vizag scored 88.28 points and stood first among the cities in Andhra Pradesh. State’s Kakinada and Tirupati bagged the 20th and 63rd ranks with 58.7 points and 6.17 points respectively. While 86 of the 98 cities scored points, the remaining 12 cities were handed a score of zero.

The Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC), which has completed works worth Rs 100 crores thus far under the smart cities project, is soon expected to complete projects worth another Rs 250 crores.

The delay of a few works, undertaken in the smart cities initiative, is being cited as a probable reason for Vizag losing out to other cities in the rankings.

“The works undertaken in the smart cities initiative, are being carried out at a brisk pace, and all the details were submitted to the Union ministry of housing and urban development. While the city bagged the 13th rank in the smart city rankings this time around, there’s a scope for improvement,” GVMC Commissioner M Hari Narayanan was quoted as saying.