Vellore officials skip Kavaratti over virus scare

As part of the sister city concept under the ambitious smart cities project, the top best performing 20 cities were paired with the least 20 cities so that the sister cities could help each other in implementing the projects. Accordingly, Tirupur in Tamil Nadu which ranked third was paired with Silvasa in Goa while Vellore which ranked tenth was paired with Kavaratti in the Lakshadweep islands. Kavaratti was ranked 90 in the smart city national ranking.

Recently, officials from Vellore and Kavaratti interacted through video conferencing in the presence of Collector A Shanmuga Sundaram in the Vellore collectorate. Officials from both sides exchanged notes on their areas of expertise, informed sources revealed. However, “Kavaratti officials have repeatedly been inviting us to visit the island for an on-the-spot analysis of problems so that the island can improve its smart city ranking at the earliest,” he said.

When asked about the outcome and takeaways from the interaction, a senior official said, “We plan to borrow their expertise in the efficient usage of solar power as they are proficient with the technology. Their expertise will come be useful for us as the Vellore Corporation plans to set up a 2.40 MW solar power plant at a location near Vellore at an estimated cost of Rs 11 crore in the next phase of the smart city projects.”

“Once the coronavirus scare subsides then interaction and visits between officials of both cities will become regular to ensure that both cities gain from the experience and their respective rankings improve,” officials averred. The officials assured that the smart city projects were going as per the schedule.