Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has asked Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat to follow the models of New Delhi, Ahmedabad, Raipur and Bhopal for the ambitious Smart City programme.

It criticised Rawat’s move to set up a Smart City in 300-plus acre tea garden land in Dehradun and the hurry he is showing in purchasing the tea garden land while the project could be taken up in any other area under the municipal limits of the state capital.

AAP leader Anoop Nautiyal told Times of India, “Prior to taking up such a big project, the government should have looked at the preparation work by other states too. One fails to understand why the Harish Rawat-led government is interested only in the purchase of tea garden land, while developing an existing area – especially those crying for attention – are not being taken up.”

Citing the example of New Delhi, he pointed out that in Delhi, Connaught Place, which is in the heart of the state capital, would be developed under the project. “At Raipur, the plans are to develop a 450 metre stretch on Malviya Road as pedestrian walk. Besides the Chhattisgarh government would upgrade the basic infrastructure and the existing retail markets would be developed into smart markets in the state capital,” he added.

The Gujarat government has planned to develop 70 hectares, including 8,000 slum dwellings, for Smart City in Ahmedabad. In Madhya Pradesh, the state government through the project is looking forward to develop 300 acres in Shivaji Nagar area of Bhopal.

The tea estate land on which the project is proposed to come up is an area that is immensely rich in biodiversity and is one of the last remaining green lungs of the once quiet town of Dehradun.

There are approximately 25,000 trees, flowers, flora, fauna and animals that help to preserve the ecological balance.