The Uttar Pradesh Government is working on an initiative to improve traffic and public transportation while reducing the state’s carbon footprint. The government plans to develop an integrated and green road network by widening all municipal roads in urban areas and replacing the Urban Road Improvement Scheme with the Chief Minister Green Road Infrastructure Development Scheme (Urban). The proposed plan aims to develop cost-effective, low carbon emission roads to enhance transportation efficiency, develop safe roads and intersections, maintain and manage assets, and achieve financial autonomy for municipal bodies.
The proposed plan is based on principles such as easy access to transportation systems, seamless mobility, innovative utilization of road spaces, stakeholder participation, and citizen engagement. Eligibility and funding allocation criteria must be fulfilled by urban areas to benefit from the initiative. Urban bodies achieving a minimum 10% increase in revenue collection compared to the previous year will be eligible for grants under the urban body scheme. The government will allocate funding for road development for urban bodies achieving double the revenue growth in their revenue collection compared to the previous year, not exceeding INR 100 crores in a financial year.
The funds received under the scheme will solely be utilized for road development. A bank account in the name of CM-Grids (Urban) at the headquarters level by the agency has been opened to transfer funds to urban bodies. Grants will be given to all municipal corporations in the first phase, and remaining municipal councils and Nagar panchayats will be included in the second phase. Road selection criteria have been determined based on prioritizing factors such as traffic load, road width, connectivity, five-year-old roads whose maintenance period has been completed, deteriorated roads, roads requiring major repairs, and roads prone to accidents and waterlogging.
The road network’s development is usually disorganized and unstructured due to the management of roads and related auxiliary facilities such as green cover, drainage, solar-based street lights, footpaths, utility ducts, landscaping, and EV charging stations being carried out by different departments or agencies. The proposed initiative’s focus is to achieve coordination between concerned departments and agencies involved in road construction for planned and organized development of road networks, as well as for the formulation of plans, effective monitoring, and maintenance.
