January: The ambitious project announced last year for replacement of existing electricity poles with Smart Street Poles having Wi-Fi points, smart LEDs and CCTVs for city surveillance, took a back seat after NDMC's allocation of tender was challenged before High Court. The same project will be undertaken this year and NDMC is in process of refloating the tender. With a provision of Rs 187.71 crore for education services, NDMC has announced to develop smart classrooms, provide e-learning solutions in NDMC schools and make the curriculum digitally available to facilitate teaching. The smart classroom project will also include virtual-labs, interactive white boards and digital library. Extension of door-to-door municipal solid waste collection facility, setting up of bio-methanisation plant in Pillanji village, tri-cycles for safai sevaks and deployment of mechanised sweeping during night as well, are the initiatives announced for 2016-17 under the "Swachh NMDC" project. The projects that will be taken up under AMRUT scheme of the Urban Development Ministry include redevelopment of existing tubewells, installation of water ATMs, commissioning of sewage treatment plant and desilting and rehabilitation of sewage lines on Shahjahan Road and Ashoka Road. Setting up of state-of-art AYUSH polyclinic, incubation centre to help entrepreneurs create start-ups and signing of twin-city agreements with international cities to facilitate cooperation and exchange of ideas, are some of the new initiatives announced in the budget. The NDMC chairman did not disclose whether the pending projects that have not made way to the new budget have been scrapped or no -PTI