Frontline ·
‘Smart’ outside, shoddy inside
A year after the Centre’s Smart Cities Mission ended, it is clear that it changed only parts of some cities, while residents continue to grapple with basic problems such as drainage, waste disposal and public transport.
All major locations in Faridabad, be it the metro station, bus station, or the major four-way crossing, have an open waste dumping ground, boldly announcing the metropolis’ newly acquired “Smart City” status.
Faridabad was among the 100 cities that the Narendra Modi government chose to develop and improve through its Smart Cities Mission (SCM) urban renewal programme, launched in 2015, by providing efficient services, robust infrastructure, and sustainable solutions. But a quick visit to the city reveals that the stench of filth, muck, and wretchedness pervades every urban attraction here. They are an inseparable part of every Faridabadi’s urban existence.
The discourse of “double engine sarkar” of the Central and State governments is used to put a veneer of “Viksit Bharat” (developed India) on this picture of indifference. But all it took was a few tweets by an X user who goes by the name “Biased Indian” in March 2026 to highlight just how far from being truly developed it really is.
