 "PM Modi launches Smart City projects, hails spirit of 'public participation'")
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said in Pune that people should not consider urbanisation as a problem, but take it as an opportunity. Modi made these remarks while speaking at an event to inaugurate various Smart City Projects under the Smart Cities Mission at a function in the city. “Cities can deal with poverty. It is our responsibility to strengthen cities and work towards development,” Modi said. “People of the cities have to decide about the development of their urban spaces. These decisions can’t be taken in Delhi,” he said. Saying that the size of the roads and buildings are not the only way to evaluate a city, Modi said that every city has “a distinct identity.” He cited the example of Banarasi sarees to emphasise the point about different cities having distinctive features. While talking about waste management, Modi also referred to the recent controversy after the Bombay High Court banned the holding of IPL matches in Maharashtra due to drought conditions. “Wherever there are stadiums, irrespective of whether cricket is played or not, water is needed to keep the fields green. However, the country believed that if the match stops, there will be no need to water the grounds,” Modi said. Speaking about the Swachh Bharat Mission, Modi said that the scheme became a success though no incentives were given for it.
There is a positive atmosphere, of competing on development works and that too in the spirit of Jan Bhagidari: PM @narendramodi in Pune
— PMO India (@PMOIndia) June 25, 2016
Gone are the days when there we competitions to be poorer. We are competing to move ahead, on the path of development: PM @narendramodi
— PMO India (@PMOIndia) June 25, 2016
Modi launched 84 such projects including 14 for Pune, for various other cities across the country, at an investment of around Rs 2,000 crore. The 20 Smart Cities selected were linked to the Pune venue through videoconferencing wherein their states’ chief ministers and other leaders gave details of their plans for the Smart Cities in their states and interacted with the PM. Modi visited an expo on Smart Cities, and inaugurated a contest on Make Your City Smart and a Smart Net Portal on the occasion at the Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex in Balewadi, on the outskirts of Pune. Maharashtra Governor CV Rao, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Union Urban Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu and other dignitaries were present on the occasion
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