Kathmandu, October 6 The process to build smart cities on the outskirts of Kathmandu Valley has gained momentum as the government is in the final stage of awarding contracts to different companies to prepare the detailed project report (DPR) for four smart cities planned in the Valley. Bhai Kaji Tiwari, development commissioner of the Kathmandu Valley Development Authority (KVDA), informed that the authority is in the last stage of short-listing the applications of companies to prepare the DPR of planned smart cities in the Valley. “We have received numerous applications from firms to prepare the DPR of smart cities in the Valley. We will soon short-list a few applications and seek technical and business proposals from these companies to prepare the DPR,” said Tiwari adding that KVDA will subsequently award the contract to four companies to prepare the DPR of each of the four smart cities planned in the Valley. KVDA plans to prepare separate DPR of each of the four planned smart cities in Kathmandu Valley. The Cabinet meeting, on May 8, had decided to build four smart cities in four different corners of Kathmandu Valley with proper urban planning in order to ease the population density in the Kathmandu downtown. Though the government has already finalised areas in Kathmandu Valley where smart cities would be built, the structure of smart city and required infrastructure will be determined by the DPR. The planned four smart cities in Kathmandu Valley cover more than 125,000 ropanis of land. Of the four smart cities in the Valley, the first such city would stretch across the eastern part of the Valley connecting places like Jorpati, Mulpani, Gothatar, Sankhu and Bhaktapur, among others. This is the largest smart city planned by the government and will cover almost 100,000 ropanis of land. Similarly, the second planned smart city would stretch over 10,000 ropanis of land and connect different parts of Lalitpur, including Khokana, Bungmati and Saibu. The third smart city would also stretch over 10,000 ropanis of land connecting places like Samakhusi, Tokha and Bypass, among others, in Kathmandu. Stretching over 10,000 ropanis of land, the fourth planned smart city would connect different areas of Bhaktapur like Balkot, Thimi and Araniko Highway. Tiwari informed that these smart cities will have sound infrastructure, open spaces and playgrounds. As per him, each smart city will have a population not exceeding 500,000. Tiwari said that the government had brought the concept of developing smart cities to control haphazard urban planning and in consideration of increasing population density in Kathmandu Valley.