Bhubaneswar, June 17: The state government has formed a 19-member steering committee to look after the modalities and procedures of the model solar city project here.

The committee will revisit the detailed project report prepared jointly by the Odisha Renewable Energy Development Agency (Oreda) and the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation and suggest ways to implement the project.

"We have constituted the committee, which will be headed by the additional chief secretary and have members from the finance, home, forest and environment, housing and urban development and energy departments," said a housing and urban development official.

He said the committee would not only look after Bhubaneswar's model solar city project, but would also look into the viability of other solar and renewable energy-related projects across the state.

"The committee will meet periodically and look after compliance to the directives of the ministry of new and renewable energy," the official said, adding that the model solar city project was a priority for them.

In 2013, the ministry of new and renewable energy selected Bhubaneswar to transform it into a model solar city. The city was among 54 Indian cities selected under the solar cities programme. Following its selection, the state made a draft proposal of Rs 514 crore in 2015 to execute the project.

The project aims to reduce conventional energy by 10 per cent within a five-year period through energy-efficiency measures. Installation of solar panels on rooftops of major government and commercial establishments, encouragement for residents to opt for solar power, streetlights powered by solar energy and solar-powered water pumps form the core of the state capital's project. However, the lack of co-ordination between the civic body and the energy development agency has prevented implementation for so long.

A senior civic official, requesting anonymity, said they had convened several meetings with Oreda, but their officials failed to turn up on many occasions, resulting in the delay. "We had the detailed project report, but couldn't get away with the implementation strategy since there was no co-operation from the Oreda," said the official.

Oreda officials on the other hand were not available to speak on the issue.

Mayor Ananta Narayan Jena said they had segregated different projects of the city in six parts for timely completion. "The solar city project is one of the government's important initiatives and we are committed to implementing it on time. There were some problems, but now we have assigned a senior smart city official to look after its implementation. He will co-ordinate with the steering committee and ensure timely completion of the project," said Jena.

City environmentalists also slammed the administration for delay in execution of the project. "There should be collaborative efforts to execute such a huge and important project. The solar city project plays an important role since environmental degradation is at a high now. It is irresponsible of the government agencies for lacking co-operation between each other," said environmentalist Alok Mohanty.