Bhagalpur: After the Centre's instruction, Bhagalpur Municipal Corporation (BMC) has geared up to execute pending works of the smart city action plan in the first phase.

On January 15, the detailed project report (DPR) for the first phase of works, mainly the infrastructure of the smart city project to the tune of Rs 351 crore, will sanction during the meeting of the board of directors of the project.

On January 4, Union urban development secretary Durga Shanker Mishra, during video-conferencing with special secretary of the urban development department, Shanker Dayal and officials concerned of Bhagalpur and Muzaffarpur, instructed Bhagalpur to complete the pending works of the first phase of the action plan of smart city.

"BMC, which conevened five meetings of the board of directors in the past year after Bhagalpur was selected in the smart city project, will hold the sixth meeting of the board of directors here on January 15," said S.B. Meena, BMC town commissioner-cum-chief executive officer of the Bhagalpur smart city project.

He added that Bhagalpur would have to show utilisation of funds. "We expect the results of the first phase of works under this project to surface from May-June," he said.

"The first instalment of Rs 382 crore was sanctioned from the Centre and the meeting of board of directors of the project on January 15 would have sanctioned the DPR of seven import works for Rs 351 crore," said a source.

The source added that the blueprint for works in the first phase are complete and the tenders will be released for upgrade of smart roads in some parts of the city. Besides, the blueprint for renovation and beautification of parks in the city areas has been completed. Earlier under the early bird scheme of the plan, the parks were provided with open gym and children's swing.

Works for projects like heritage conservation, heritage walk, smart food city, smart roads, solid waste management, smart traffic signal, flyovers, drainage system, river front, bus stand, city app, wifi networking along with control and command centre will be started according to the blueprint prepared by the expert, the source pointed out.

It further said considering the parking problems of vehicles in the city, the action plan will help solve the problem. "Some underground smart parking in places like the town hall or smart bus stand is under consideration. Moreover, foot paths and cycling tracks will be created," said the source.

Meena, however, said the projects will be executed with Rs 351 crore in the first phase and allocation of money on each project would decided after the January 15 meeting.