November 29: The government is planning to implement the ‘Integrated Urban Development Project’ in 185 municipalities of all seven provinces. The Ministry of Urban Development is planning to implement this project to develop urban infrastructure in the municipalities in an organised way. The ministry has hired a consultancy firm to prepare a blueprint for the project. The consultancy firm will be responsible to prepare the detailed structure of the municipalities including the map and design of the city along with the basic requirements of the municipalites.

Dr Ramesh Singh, director general of the Department of Urban Development and Building Construction under the Ministry of Urban Development, said that it would cost Rs 905 million just to prepare a draft of the integrated infrastructure development plan.

According to the ministry, preparing the blueprint of each city will cost Rs 5 million. Similarly, it has been estimated that development of each city will cost Rs 5 billion.  The cost will be decided on the basis of the size, population and potential of the area.

Earlier, the government had planned to implement the integrated urban development project in 90 metropolitan cities. However, now the plan has been amended and the strategy is to implement the project in 185 cities. The consultancy firm has said that the report for the urban development will be completed in two months.