The government has signed a $61 million loan deal with the Asian Development Bank (ADB), to improve livability, harness technology, and support new developments to support the increasing population in Agartala city. Rajat Kumar Mishra, Additional Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, inked the deal on behalf of the Government of India, while Takeo Konishi, Country Director of ADB’s India Resident Mission, inked for ADB. After inking the loan deal for Agartala City Urban Development Project, Mishra told the media that the project is aligned to the vision of the centre's Smart City Mission to improve urban infrastructure services and will enhance livability in Agartala with terms of better road connectivity, flood resilient measures and making tourist locations more attractive. ADB will catalyse synergies through this project, with the smart city elements being executed in Agartala via an underground utility corridor with the shifting of electrical lines, including elderly, women, children, and differently-abled responsive features, enhancing road geometry along with urban design interventions. He additionally said that the provision of asset management and sustainability strategy, capacity-building of tourism operators and livelihood enhancement of street vendors and artisans, would serve as a model to other assets and tourist attractions in Agartala, and other cities in Tripura. The project will develop and improve 48 km of new or existing stormwater drainage and build 23 km of climate-resilient urban roads. Other interventions would involve renovating open spaces and building water recreation and lakeside walkways in the Maharaja Bir Bikram College lake and the Ujjayanta Palace, which are significant tourist places in the city. Developing Agartala’s central and north zones as models of area-based development following the principles of the smart city mission initiative is likely to have a ripple effect on other parts of the city and nearby cities and towns by improving urban areas and making them more citizen-friendly, resilient, livable and sustainable. Image Source