Mumbai No. 1 in smart city survey, UT among worst

UPHILL TASK A survey of 21 cities shows that Indian cities have a long way to go to match the likes of New York, London

NEW DELHI: Last year the NDA government launched its flagship programme to develop 100 smart cities across India. However, Indian cities still have a long way to go before they become smart.

A survey of 21 cities carried out by Bangalore- based advocacy group Janaagraha Centre for Citizenship and Democracy found Indian cities continue to fare poorly, scoring in the range of 2 to 4.2 on 10, as against the global benchmarks of London and New York, which have scored 9.4 and 9.7 respectively on various urban governance indicators.

Of 21 cities, Mumbai with an overall score of 4.2 is at the top for investing in public infrastructure and services, having skilled manpower to run its municipalities, using information technology for governance and encouraging citizen’s participation among others.

Chandigarh and Jaipur are at the bottom of the list. Delhi has been ranked 6th. The capital scored 0.9 for failing to implement the city’s master plan successfully.

In fact, most cities fared pathetically in the implementation of their respective master plan. Besides Delhi, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Kolkata and Mumbai have also scored 0.9 of 10. In contrast London and New York have scores 9 and 9.5 respectively.

“The survey does not focus on the dysfunctional aspects of Indian cities that stare out at citizens like potholed roads, lack of 24x7 water supply or over-stretched public transport. It seeks to highlight the flawed legislations, policies, processes and practices that lie at the root of these issues,” said Srikanth Viswanathan, Jaanagraha’s Coordinator (Advocacy).

The report recommends amending the planning laws, constituting a metropolitan planning committee for formulating city’s metropolitan plan among others.