What progress has been made in Smart City Mission?
ASSESSMENT The mission was launched in June 2015; five years hence, we take stock of the progress of the project
› The last one and half years have seen tremendous progress in the implementation of projects by the smart cities. There has been a growth of 223% in the number of projects tendered, a growth of 285% in the projects grounded and 387% growth in the number of projects completed.
HARDEEP SINGH PURI, housing minister
Imagine a city where solar energy powers the street lights, transport is efficient with GPS enabled buses, cameras are installed at every traffic signal and important junctions of the city for surveillance; an underground sewerage network is efficiently laid out with semi-underground bins and RFID based compacto bins. For any civic problem, a 24x7 grievance redressal call centre for the citizens is readily available and the city is data driven what with a central command and control centre (ICCC) controlling everything, and based on which things are planned and implemented. No, we are not talking of some futuristic city with alien concepts but this is the “here and now” and integral to at least some of our Indian cities, today. This was the description of port city of Vishakapatnam.
The Smart Cities Mission (SCM) was launched by Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs in June 2015. Hundred smart cities were identified and today some of the top performing cities today include the likes of Surat, Indore, Pune, Visakhapatnam, Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Ranchi, Kanpur, Rajkot etc. “Smart cities are like lighthouses for other cities to follow. Some of the best practices from these cities can be replicated elsewhere,” says an official spokesperson.
Take the case of Indore which was known thus far, as the cleanest cities in India, and is setting new benchmarks in urban mobility and transportation. “The ridership in buses has grown from 50,000 passengers per day to 3 lakh per day within a short span of six years and that I feel is an achievement,” says Sandeep Soni, CEO Indore Smart City.
It’s also the first city to put forty electric buses on road, a hundred e-rickshaws by women, and a robust integrated bus network system. How did they manage to transform the urban mobility? It was a multipronged strategy, says Soni – they started with the introduction of BRTS system, rationalising the routes, decreasing the number of buses while increasing the routes, introducing automatic fare collection system and launching pre-paid mobility cards. Besides they also tried to increase the road width as far as possible and make a signalling system, efficient. And now they are gradually introducing sustainable green public transportation with electric buses etc.
Or take the case of Surat which has emerged as India’s highest ranked smart city for the second time. What makes the city a consistent frontrunner? According to Banchhanidhi Pani Chairman (SSCDL) and Municipal Commissioner,
Surat Municipal Corporation, “Surat has a beautiful ecosystem, one where the administrative team, political team , engineering team, community, citizen – all coherently converge to make projects work and take shape. That is the main reason why today 80 percent of designated projects have taken off.” Ask him which is the project that is he proud of, he says it’s the restoration of the Surat fort, a heritage conservation project. A fort which was lying in dilapidated condition was restored and is set to become a tourist destination and state-of-the-art venue for conferences. Says Pani, “Surat is known for trading business which is 1500 old years. A sound and light show will be curated soon where everything from the city’ trading history, what Surat was in the past till present- the story will be narrated. This is something historically and emotionally people will connect with.”
Heritage reminds you of past and restoration of heritage structures is like restoring the pride of the citizens themselves and revival of past, says Durga Shanker Mishra, Secy MoHUA. Talking about restoration, the other important projects include the likes of Bhopal Sadar Manzil which was renovated as part of Bhopal smart city development program and
Indore’s Rajwada palace.
TENDERED SMART CITY PROJECTS
At the Third Apex Conference of Smart Cities 2020 held recently, Housing Minister Hardeep Singh Puri took stock of the progress made in five years recounting, “As on date, the value of tendered smart city projects is over Rs. 1,62,000 crores, and the value of all completed projects is more than Rs 25,000 crores. The last one and half years have seen tremendous progress in the implementation of projects by the smart cities. There has been a growth of 223% in the number of projects tendered, a growth of 285% in the projects grounded and 387% growth in the number of projects completed.”
The expectations from citizens are increasing by the day and that is what drives local bodies and state governments to perform better.
According to Rubal Agarwal, Additional Municipal Commissioner and CEO Smart City, Pune, “Pune citizens are very aware and demanding. They often question where the funds are being used, what is being done next, and take keen interest in civic development.” The Pune Municipal Corporation has taken a slew of measures to improve its public healthcare services and has implemented the health management information system (HMIS) project in which all the city hospitals and everything related to healthcare is inter connected. It’s the first city to have created a position of a chief knowledge officer who has introduced technology solutions across education sector with e-learning, healthcare and also launched the popular safety app for women.
Without people participation, nothing can happen- this is something all leaders of Smart Cities echo. But the Smart City Mission, apart from funds, has brought in tremendous “focus” on improving the city civic services and created a culture; the Central government keeps giving us targets for us to achieve such as climate compliant change, ease of living index and this propels us to keep working harder, says Agarwal.
Why is it that while some cities have performed, while others are laggards. It’s more about the culture of a city. Sandeep Soni credits the “the entire ecosystem” saying that when all the ward members start working, entire administration, development authority starts working, citizens, community become pro-active and everyone is interested in their city’s development, that is when real change starts to take place.
Citing an example, he says even for a simple thing like widening the roads, they have to remove encroachments, do land acquisition and in every step people’s cooperation is needed. If you talk of Swachch bharat missionwithout citizen engagement such a massive exercise is not possible. Another reason of Indore’s success is a good understanding of the problems and applying it in a local context. “A solution may be excellent in New York but not relevant in Indore. Understanding the problem and finding the best possible solution in that particular ecosystem is most important.” He adds there have been sustained efforts by local and state government, but the trigger was flagship schemes such as Swachch Bharat and Smart City Mission.
DATA A KEY DRIVER
Data is a key driver of a smart city. The absence of data has been a constraint thus far in urban planning and governance.
According to a data analyst working on Smart City Mission, “The power of data lies in its combinatorial possibilities which open up when multiple data sets come together – data leads to information that leads to knowledge which translates to insight, and wisdom and finally impact on the ground.” Currently 45 Integrated Command and Control Centres (ICCC) have been completed in India and 32 are at various stages of implementation. For instance in Vishakapatnam, as soon as the semi underground bins that have been put up across the city are full, the sensor attached over it detects and sends a message to the Operations Centre so that a vehicle can be sent to empty the bin on time. Likewise traffic violation detection systems installed on red lights convert violation by vehicles into auto generated challans with the help of this Operations Centre of the city. These centres have the ability to improve the quality of services, safety, security for citizens, and are adding transparency and accountability through data sharing.
Smart command and control centre is like brain and nervous system, says Durga Shanker Mishra Secretary, MoHUA. He adds that “Smartness is nothing but “doing more with less”. But there are miles to go. I am sure that all smart cities will develop models for sustainable, inclusive and climate-resilient growth and improve ease of living to citizens.”