Integrated control centre project to be delayed again

Thiruvananthapuram: The much-touted integrated command and control centre project (ICCC) under the Smart City scheme, which was supposed to be completed by December this year, is likely to be delayed again.
The Smart City Thiruvananthapuram Ltd (SCTL) in its recent meeting has communicated that the project has achieved a physical progress of only 5% and the expected date of completion is April 2023.
The SCTL had entered into an agreement with Steel Industrials Kerala Ltd (SILK), a government accredited agency, at a cost of Rs 1.77 crore in June 2022.
The project ran into trouble after it was found that there was a live cast iron water pipe on the project site and hence the project had to be provided an extension for eight months. The project has been beset with issues right from the onset. The retender of the ICCC project had pushed the original estimate by 48%.
The SCTL had dealt with a delay in starting the project solely due to the opposition from the left union that cost two years.
The ruling council had failed to make any headway until chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan intervened and directed the officials to stick with the original proposal and location of ICCC.
However, the firm which won the bid in 2020 eventually backed out from the scheme forcing SCTL to go for retender.
In 2020, the probable amount of contract (PA ) was Rs 1.19 crore. With the project stuck for two years, the retender resulted in a rise in estimate to Rs 1.77 crore. The actual period of completion of the work was nine months.
As per the plan, the extension block of the Janaseva Kendra on the ground floor and Kerala audit department and accounts department on the first floor of the corporation building will be used for developing ICCC.
The Janaseva Kendra was demolished completely for the project. ICCC will have the video wall room, war room, help desk and common movement spaces, work area and meeting rooms on the first floor. The total facility will be constructed over an area of 858.45 sq m.
As per the project, ICCC will be an integrated system that will operate & manage multiple city service operations, including real-time monitoring & improving services delivery efficiency.
Various independent solutions will be integrated to command and control centre like smart water network, intelligent traffic & transport management, SWM data centre, early warning system, smart mosquito density system, etc.