Srinagar, Mar 28: Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leader, Muhammad IqbalTrumboo, criticised the Smart City project on Tuesday, claiming that it has held 13 lakh citizens of the Srinagar district as “hostage”.
Addressing a press conference, Trumboo said, “this Srinagar Smart City Project, estimated to cost Rs 3000 crore, is a jackpot for our babus. I am not saying that everyone is corrupt, but we have seen how these projects are money-minting machines where the essential elements of the project are put on the back burner.”
“Because of this project, 13 lakh Srinagar residents are being held hostage. If you look at the project, there is no environmental or conservationist consultation; instead, it is just an engineering project with no hope of success. It is the same like as the Dal Lake conservation project, which is a goldmine for our babus and on which thousands of crores of rupees have been spent, but with no visible results on the ground, “ saidTrumboo.
He stated, “Our babus cannot simply copy and paste European ideas into a project for a smart city and call it that. There are 3.5 lakh vehicles in Srinagar alone, and when you add the vehicles from other districts, it becomes clear that our babus should have thought about extending the roads. Ironically, they are narrowing the roads by enlarging the footpaths and replacing the historic devar stone footpaths with inexpensive cement hollow bricks, passing it off as a smart city. It is a disorganised situation when there are spaces reserved for cycling paths but none for parking cars.”