Jaipur: As many as eight
smart cities have already made smart city command and control centres operational while 14 are nearing completion and 27 have already released tenders, said Durga Shanker Mishra, Union secretary, housing and urban affairs, here on Friday.
Addressing the ecosystem players at an event on ‘Building Smart & Sustainable Cities,’ organized by FICCI Rajasthan, Mishra said these centres use sensor technology to monitor security and safety, disaster mitigation, sanitation, waste management and much more.
However, he said that cities first need to fulfil certain benchmarks like supplying water and electricity 24X7, making cities walkable, providing housing for all, proper education and health facilities, among others before they can be introduced to the concept of smart cities.
Speaking on the infrastructure challenges in both rural and urban areas, Mishra said urban areas are experiencing rapid and accelerated growth in terms of migrating population from rural areas to the cities.
“In the 2011, 31.2% of the population was recorded living in cities. This number will grow exponentially to almost 40% by 2030. When today’s 40 crore population will grow to 80 crores a new urban India will emerge. That’s the focus should be on building sustainable infrastructure,” added Mishra.
He admitted that the concept of smart cities not all about introducing advanced and new-age technologies in the old cities but also making the maximum utilisation of minimum resources available. Similarly, he said, the smart city concept represents the aspirations of the citizens of a particular city and the approaches should be local.
Currently there are 11 agencies working towards the development of Jaipur as a smart city. Jaipur mayor Ashok Lahoty said that these agencies need to be brought under one umbrella organization for effective planning, coordination and implementation of various projects. He also emphasized the smart use of natural resources for leverage and adapt for the new smart cities.
