Rourkela, Jan 17: Smart City Rourkela has won a place among top 10 Cities of India as part of the ‘Nurturing Neighbourhoods Challenge’ under the aegis of the Smart Cities Mission of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Government of India.

The winning cities announced by MoHUA, also include Bengaluru, Hubballi-Dharwad, Indore, Jabalpur, Kakinada, Kochi, Kohima, Vadodara, and Warangal. The Finalists were selected after thorough evaluation of their proposed and implemented projects by a jury consisting of representatives from MoHUA, BvLF, and independent experts in urban design, early childhood development, and behavioural change.

In the first stage of the challenge, the Rourkela Smart City Limited (RSCL) and Rourkela Municipal Corporation (RMC) jointly responded to MoHUA’s open call for proposals to implement neighbourhood -level pilot projects improving public spaces, streets, transport, and access to services to enhance the health and wellbeing of 0-5 year old children and their caregivers.

In February 2021, Rourkela was shortlisted by an expert committee from 63 applicant cities across the country. Over the next 7 months, it was part of a cohort of 25 cities that received technical assistance and capacity building to solicit citizen participation, implement trials and pilots, and build consensus around their proposals.

“Happy to note that Rourkela is one of the Top 10 Cities in the ‘Nurturing Neighbourhoods Challenge’. Under the program, future plans are being made to provide children with a variety of components, a better environment, and to build better relationships between senior citizens and children in urban slums,” said Nikhil Pavan Kalyan, Collector Sundargarh. He further thanked the former ADM Rourkela, the former Commissioner RMC and the CEO of Smart City Rourkela and all the people of Rourkela.