Tripura Chief Minister Prof. (Dr.) Manik Saha on Saturday emphasized completing the ongoing Smart City projects in the capital Agartala before the upcoming Durga Puja.
To review the progress of various projects implemented under the Smart City Mission with the aim of making the capital a modern, cleaner, and more people-friendly city, the Chief Minister on Saturday visited Bidurkarta Chowmuhani, Purbasha, Ashram Chowmuhani, Math Chowmuhani, Lal Bahadur Club, Ujan Abhaynagar, Paradise Chowmuhani, and adjacent areas and inspected the ongoing development works.
“Wherever I receive information regarding the National Highway issue, yesterday itself, with all the photos and videos, I wrote to Union Minister Nitin Gadkari and requested him to solve the matter as soon as possible. Today, we are reviewing and inspecting the works of Smart City. Rain is a major problem here. We get only four months to work, and due to rain, we are unable to work properly. Whenever the rain stops, we are working temporarily to make the roads motorable. Giving the final touch before September is not possible, and so I have directed everyone to make the roads motorable,” he said.
He said that in some places there are gaps in several drain junctions and asked the officials to solve the issues as soon as possible.
“There are centres of pipelines and water flows through them. If we use iron-type materials, they get stolen. So, I have asked the engineers and officials to use concrete structures so that they are not affected. Yesterday, I also held a meeting with the Science and Technology Department and Pollution Control Board to take steps towards making the city plastic-free. They have assured that they will take steps. Earlier, we had seen waterlogging remain for around three to four days due to rain, but now within one hour, water gets drained from city areas. We are working more by using modern facilities so that water does not get logged,” he added.
Mayor of Agartala Municipal Corporation (AMC) Dipak Majumdar, Corporator Ratna Dutta, Chief secretary, JK Sinha, Secretary Kiran Gitte, Secretary Milind Ramteke, Municipal Commissioner Saju Wahid, and other officials of Smart City and the Municipal Corporation were present with the Chief Minister during the visit.