Rourkela only Indian city among 15 winners of 2021-22 Global Mayors Challenge

The industrial city of Rourkela from Odisha is one of the 15 winners of the 2021-22 Global Mayors Challenge, which was announced on Tuesday.

Bloomberg Philanthropies announced the 15 winning cities of the 2021-2022 Global Mayors Challenge, the fifth edition of the global innovation competition which supports and spreads cities’ most promising ideas.

Rourkela is among the 15 winners, hailing from 13 nations, of a prestigious worldwide innovation competition, which recognised the cities for designing the boldest and most ambitious urban innovations to emerge from the global COVID-19 pandemic.

“Congratulate @smartcityrkl on winning @BloombergDotOrg’s #MayorsChallenge from among the 600 participating global cities & the only city from India to win it. #Rourkela won the challenge by offering women entrepreneurs access to cold-storage to reduce food waste. #OdishaLeads” Odisha CM Naveen Pattnaik said in a tweet.

“The yearlong competition launched in 2021 elevates the most promising urban innovations to emerge from the pandemic,” said a press release issued by Bloomberg Philanthropies.

More than 631 cities from 99 countries participated in the competition.

According to the release, Rourkela bagged the honour for providing “cold-storage units to women co-ops to empower female food vendors, reduce food waste, and increase access to fresh foods.”

The winning cities will receive $1 million each and multi-year technical support.

The other winners are Amman (Jordan); Bogota, (Colombia); Butuan, (Philippines); Freetown (Sierra Leone); Hermosillo (Mexico); Istanbul (Turkey); Kigali (Rwanda); Kumasi (Ghana); Paterson (US); Phoenix (US); Rochester (US); Rotterdam (the Netherlands); Vilnius, (Lithuania); and Wellington (New Zealand).

“As the world works to address the profound public health and economic effects of the ongoing pandemic, cities can implement innovative ideas at a pace that national governments simply can’t match,” said Michael R Bloomberg, founder of Bloomberg Philanthropies and Bloomberg LP and 108^th Mayor of New York City.

(With inputs from Agencies)