Madhya Pradesh: Assembly takes up issue of Smart City displaced

Bhopal: Urban development minister Bhupendra Singh Thakur assured former minister PC Sharma that the problems of displaced persons of Boulevard Street and Smart City would be addressed on a priority basis. The former minister brought up the issue as a call-attention motion and raised various problems of the displaced persons.

Sharma said that, during the construction of Smart City and the road, many people had been displaced. Their houses had been razed, their kiosks had been removed and the street vendors had been pushed out. People had become homeless and jobless, too, due to the construction.

He stated that, earlier, Shivaji Nagar had been chosen as the site for Smart City, but the chief minister had come under pressure and shifted the city to North TT Nagar; later, it covered South TT Nagar, as well.

Minister Thakur assured Sharma that the government was ready to help the displaced persons. He said that 915 house units were almost complete and would shortly be handed over to the PWD for the next action. He added that the displaced persons had been kept in transit camps and agreed that the condition of the camp was not good.

The other Congress MLA, Arif Masood, raised the issue of traffic congestion near Kilol Park and Kamla Park. They said that traffic jams were a regular occurrence due to the new road and the people were facing problems.

The minister assured him that the problem would be solved shortly.