Bhubaneswar, June 16: The state government today directed the Sundargarh district administration and Rourkela Municipal Corporation to submit upgraded proposals by June 25 to take part in the smart city race in the next round.

Last year, the state government had sent the proposals to the Centre for inclusion of Bhubaneswar and Rourkela in the list of 100 smart cities. While Bhubaneswar topped the list of 20 potential cities in the first phase, Rourkela ranked 48.

Now, with the beginning of the process for the third phase of selection, the state government today asked the steel city to upgrade its physical and social infrastructure, along with waste management and city development plans to come out successful in national-level competition to be held shortly.

Chief secretary Aditya Prasad Padhi directed the civic body to finalise the upgraded proposal by June 25, reflecting the peoples' aspirations and community needs.

"We discussed the vision statement of Rourkela smart city, the project components, implementation mechanism and convergence with other ongoing programmes. Around 24 inspirational points have been identified. Rourkela Municipal Corporation will finalise the draft with all these inputs and project proposals will be sent to the Centre by June 30," said Padhi.

Earlier, Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation and Bhubaneswar Development Authority had been roped in to assist the Rourkela Municipal Corporation to prepare its project report.

The important components of the smart city project included riverfront development at Panposh, well-connected localities, proper streets, 24X7 water supply, multi-utility citizen service, entrepreneurship development, children and senior citizen-friendly civic life, transport complex, development of smart corridor, development of core business and core institutional area, development tribal art and culture, housing and social infrastructure.

Public hearing

The public hearing to assess environmental impact for the proposed project for hot strip mill, beneficiation plant, pellet plant, and expansion of special plate plant within the Rourkela Steel Plant complex was held today at Bhanja Bhavan in Rourkela. People from all walks of life took part in the event.

Rehabilitation and resettlement issues dominated the public hearing.

Of the 38 speakers, only three persons opposed the expansion project.