Rourkela, Sept. 18: The city, which has been chosen by the Centre to be developed as one of the 100 smart cities in the country, will shortly wear a cleaner and greener look.

The newly announced Rourkela Municipal Corporation, along with Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP), has launched a cleanliness drive in the city.

As part of the drive, the civic body has either repaired or replaced a large number of garbage bins in the city.

Speaking to The Telegraph, civic body commissioner Durga Mohapatra said: "We will go phase by phase with the cleanliness drive instead of doing it at one go."

Maintenance of manholes has also been undertaken as part of the drive.

"The manhole maintenance is part of the larger sewerage system modernisation, but we will like to complete this task as soon as possible," said Mohapatra.

The corporation is also going to complete developing the parks project. The major project under this will be the completion of Chhend Park, which has a project layout of over Rs 32 crore. The work on the park, which will have a lake for boating, is under way. Though the park is being developed by the Rourkela Development Authority (RDA), it will be maintained by the civic body.

"We will try to keep the roads and other places as clean as possible so that anyone coming to Rourkela will go back with a good impression," said Mohapatra.

He added that with the inclusion of the city in the list of smart cities, the responsibility of the civic body to keep it clean had increased.

RSP, on the other hand, is planning to provide public toilets at designated places such as parks, markets, bus stands and slums located under its jurisdiction.

At present, it has planned to build toilets at 12 public places.

Three public toilets near Ispat Haat, IG Park and Nehru Park, which draw a lot of visitors every day, have been completed and handed over for use. "The facility at IG Park is well maintained," said a visitor to the park.

The one at Sector-5 VIP Market Complex has been completed and will be handed over soon. "At least, we will get a neat and clean urinal," said Rafiq Zoul, who runs a shop in the market.

RSP chief executive officer G.S. Prasad reiterated the company's commitment towards corporate social responsibility (CSR) and Swach Bharat Abhiyan. "This initiative has been taken up by the RSP as part of its CSR initiative," said Prasad.