The government is going to select consultants for smart city master plans in Lumbini, Nijgadh, and Palungtar area of Gorkha within mid-July this year.
Currently, the government is analyzing the bid documents submitted by various companies interested in preparing the smart city master plans. It has already evaluated the technical proposals submitted by these companies. Following this, three consultants have been shortlisted for Lumbini smart city project, six for Nijagadh smart city project, and three for Palunhstar smart city project.
The government is going to evaluate their financial proposals on June 30 and select preferred bidders. These preferred bidders will be entrusted with the task of framing the smart city master plans, according to Parag Kayastha, Project Director of the New Town Project Coordination Office (NTPCO).
“We are planning to select the consultants by the end of the current fiscal (mid-July),” said Kayastha. “The shortlisted consultants will begin the work soon after the agreements are signed.”
According to Kayastha, the consultants will be given a time of nine months to prepare the master plans.
Smart city master plans will include the detailed information on approximate financial resources required to implement the projects, sources of funding and types of infrastructure that needs to be built. It will basically work as the main guideline for coordinated development of the projects.
The government has allocated a budget of NPR. 1.4 billion for the implementation of New Town Project in the current fiscal year. “We will be spending around NPR. 145 million in the current fiscal year to conduct preparatory works for the development of smart cities in three places.”
However, the government has not yet finalized the location in which these smart cities would be built, and also the facilities these urban centers would contain. The government has targeted to complete the projects within 2033.
The government introduced the concept of ‘Smart City’ for the first time in 2012. Smart cities will have modern facilities with well-managed schemes for drinking water, electricity, sewage, hospitals, schools and government offices, among others.
This project mainly aims at managing the population density in the valley. And if things went as per the plan, we will soon explore a positive change in the valley.
Reference: The Kathmandu Post