Guwahati missed out on the prestigious Indian Smart City Award (ISCA) bestowed by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) as part of the Smart Cities Mission (SCM).
According to reports, despite competing in the urban mobility category, Guwahati fell short of the award due to its lack of implementation in other categories.
Kohima (Nagaland) and Namchi (Sikkim) emerged victorious in the Zonal Smart City Award (Northeast Zone) division.
The awards spanned various categories, including Built Environment, Culture, Economy, Governance, ICCC Business Model, Mobility, Sanitation, Social Aspects, Urban Environment, Water, Innovative Idea Award, COVID-19 Innovation Award, and Partner Award for industry contributors.
Guwahati was among the initial 20 cities selected for transformation into smart cities, designed to enhance core infrastructure, foster sustainability, and improve citizens' quality of life through intelligent solutions. However, the city faced setbacks due to project delays and non-completion, hindering its progress.
A retired official from Guwahati Smart City Ltd (GSCL) highlighted, "The delay in implementation is the only reason why Guwahati lost out. Not a single project taken up by GSCL has been completed. Rs 396 crores funds received from the center remained unutilized till 2021."
Even the Integrated Traffic Management Project, slated for completion by March 2023, remains unfinished. Apart from minor initiatives like water ATMs, bio-toilets, and the tallest national flag at Gandhi Mandap, significant projects are yet to be completed by GSCL.
Indore secured the national smart city award, while Madhya Pradesh and Chandigarh received the state and UT awards respectively. A total of 845 nominations were received for ISAC 2022 from 80 qualifying smart cities, with 66 final winners identified across various categories.
Notably, Coimbatore clinched the top spot in the built environment category, Ahmedabad dominated in culture and the Integrated Command and Control Centre (ICCC) category, Jabalpur excelled in the economy section, Chandigarh stood out for governance and mobility, Indore triumphed in sanitation, water, and urban environment, Vadodara shone in social aspects, Hubballi-Dharwad innovated in the idea category, and Surat's COVID-19 innovation was recognized.
Enviro Control Private (infrastructure), L&T Construction, and PwC were honored with the partner award for their industry contributions.
President Droupadi Murmu will felicitate the ISAC 2022 winners, showcasing the recognition of outstanding efforts and innovations in the field of smart urban development.
