The first of its kind urban observatory in the country is likely to come up at Andhra University. And this will be part of the Smart City project that is being planned and designed by the USA.
Vice-Chancellor G. Nageswara Rao told The Hindu here on Friday A team from the USA and Space Application Centre (SAC), Ahmedabad, had visited the university to finalise the modalities.
According to Prof. Nageswara Rao, the USA had selected three cities Ajmer, Visakhapatnam and Varanasi to develop as smart cities and as a pilot project the first urban observatory will be set-up at Andhra University in the city.
Nodal facility
According to him, the observatory will be nodal facility and will be set-up and managed by teams from the USA, UNDP, SAC, GVMC and Andhra University.
The observatory will focus on geo mapping and assimilating and analysing data pertaining various aspects such as pollution levels, environment, civic issues and socio economic aspects, he said.
According to Prof. Nageswara Rao, this was the second meeting with the US team this year, and to begin with formulating a committee to discuss the role and modalities of the stake holders, has been recommended.
“Then we will enter into an MoU and begin the work. The observatory will be the nodal hub and will have a holistic approach to the smart city project,” he said.