Visakhapatnam: The concept of a smart city, as promised by the BJP in its election manifesto, is yet to be finalised, revealed Union minister for urban development and parliamentary affairs M. Venkaiah Naidu.

He said a concrete plan on the proposed cities will be ready within three months. Giving out details, he said the smart cities will not be new cities built from the scratch, but existing cities that will be made smarter.

“Developing new cities from scratch will require a lot of money. The opinions and ideas of experts and general public will be taken before finalising anything,” he said.

On the Polavaram project, the Union minister said there was no looking back on the issue and added that the government will go ahead with the construction of the dam.

He reiterated that there will also be no rethinking on the special status for Andhra Pradesh and the decision will be implemented soon. Mr Venkaiah Naidu further added that all the Central government institutions that exist in Telangana will stay there, but new institutions will be constructed in Andhra Pradesh although it will take time. Mr Venkaiah Naidu stressed on the party’s stand that development of AP will have a decentralised approach.

While many questions were put forward to the minister pertaining to issues ranging from new railway zone’s headquarters and captive mines for Rashtrya Ispat Nigam Limited to solid waste management, the minister had a standard reply to every question He said that the Central and state government will look into the issues and provide correct answers.

He criticised the Congress in Delhi for carrying out protests against the power crisis and said that the party leaders do not have a right to conduct dharnas and demand quick solutions.

“When the Congress was in power for many decades they did not do much. We have been in power only for a few days and we will deliver soon. The Congress should graciously accept defeat, be patient and respect people’s verdict,” he said.

