After Smart Cities, watch out for UP's 'Smart Villages'

The villages situated along the 165-km Yamuna Expressway, which lacked basic facilities such as drainage or drinking water facilities just a few months ago, are all set to write their success story, thanks to the Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (YEIDA).

Due to the developmental activities going on in and around, 29 villages are evolving into 'smart' ones as they are now getting modern facilities such as sewage, drainage, roads, drinking water, electricity, optical fiber for telephone and cable connectivity, among others.

According to YEIDA officials, the work on three 'smart villages' was completed last October while the work on other villages is in progress. In the first phase, YEIDA has wrapped up road constructions, sewage networking, piped water supply systems and footpath interlocking in Dungarpur Rilka, Salapur and Achcheja Bujurag. The authorities have plans to complete setting up of community centres, sports complexes and installing street lights in the second phase.

"To begin with, we have taken up 29 villages but intend to provide all villages with such facilities in the future. Our target is to develop amenities at par with urban areas because farmers have given their land for the development of infrastructure and industrial projects, including the Noida International Airport," Hindustan Times quoted YEIDA Chief Executive Arun Vir Singh as saying.

As per the initial plans, Rs 8 crore was supposed to be spent on each village, but the authority revised the budget to Rs 10 crore each for developing 10 villages in the first phase. Those villages lacked any drainage or drinking water facilities and people living here depended on groundwater for their daily needs.

Notably, sewage was mostly dumped in open spaces across the villages before the YEIDA decided to develop the region along the 165km-long Yamuna Expressway. The aim was to develop these villages on the lines of urban sectors as the economic activity in the region is expected to get a boost once the Jewar airport is ready.

YEIDA, which is located in close proximity to Delhi and other major cities in Uttar Pradesh, has given a boost to the local economy by boosting economic activities, tourism and trade. More importantly, it will provide jobs at various levels as the region is attracting huge investments from the manufacturing, IT and electronics sectors, among others.