Himachal to utilize Korean expertise for urban management: Min

Himachal Pradesh government today said it would utilize the global experience of Korea and World Bank for solution of problems in areas like solid waste management, public transport, urban management, road constructions and maintenances etc.
The state's Urban Development Minister Sudhir Sharma said,the government would follow the analogy of Korean model for developing Shimla and Dharamshala as "smart cities" and solving the traffic problems ofShimla city which had also been included under Centre's AMRUT Mission.
He was presiding over the experience sharing workshop on green growth initiatives, organised here today by the state government in collaboration with Korea Green Growth Trust Fund (KGGTF) and the World Bank.

The Korean specialists in various areas were invited by the state government for exchange of ideas and seeking their support in these areas.
The visit was a part of the World Bank's long term support for the state government in its move towards green and inclusive development.
The Minister said the Himachal government had a long partnership with the World Bank and the Development Policy Loan of the World Bank to promote inclusive green growth and sustainable development had helped the state in implementing critical structural and administrative reforms necessary to achieve rapid inclusive economic growth and development.

He said Himachal Pradesh had left behind various other states of the country in many sectors because of good co-ordination and commitment of the administrative machinery and the state leadership and emerged as one of the states with the best human development outcomes, which had also been documented in the World Bank report.

Sharma said the towns and urban areas were going to be instrumental in economical and social progress of the state and government was according top priority to check haphazard and unplanned growth of these areas and to provide best infrastructural and public services like housing, sanitation, disposal of solid wastes, transport, water, health and education etc.
He said that in its initiative towards green growth, the state government had imposed complete ban on green felling, use of polythene, plastic bags, cups and plates besides smoking in public places.
Himachal Chief Secretary V C Pharka said that exchange of
knowledge through this workshop would help in the state in finding effective solutions in various issues and also help the departments concerned to learn about green technologies and make appropriate adjustments in the development policies.

The Chief Secretary said that the state was also looking forward to use of green construction technology in road sector, use of ICT applications to achieve green growth and the concept of green smart city development with the participation of citizens.
He expressed hope that the experience of Korea and Work Bank team would help the state to come up with appropriate solutions.
Programme Manager of the KGGTF, Eun Joo Yi said the fund was a single Donor World Bank Group. The 88 million dollar programme was established in 2011 in partnership with the Korea.
It finances the uptake of operational green growth technical know-how to influence investment project design of the clients of the World Bank.

She thanked the state government for inviting a team of Korean expertsand the World Bank for sharing experiences on green growth initiatives.
Appreciating the efforts of the state government, the Senior Environment Specialist of the World Bank Shri Pyush Dogra said the Bank was very much satisfied over the green growth initiative of the state.
He said that state government had also played a very proactive role in implementing World Bank's Development Policy Loans.
Additional Chief Secretary (Finance), Shrikant Baldi, said Himachal had done remarkable job in green growth initiative and by the end of year 2020, the state was going to achieve the target of carbon neutrality.