Visualize a seamless stroll to Varanasi’s Sankat Mochan Hanuman Mandir, unconcerned about slipping on water leaking from pipes and drains, garbage strewn across streets, bad traffic or facing unexpected hotel or travel cancellations. This may sound like a dream. Yet, the Cabinet’s approval of Narendra Modi’s urban regeneration project could turn it into reality. The Union Government plans to spend `48,000 crore on creating a hundred smart cities over five years.
The Prime Minister has already got commitments from Japan, Germany, France, the US, the UK and Canada on helping the plan with their experience and technology. Technology helps maximize utilization of resources by leveraging data collected from sensors, controls, and real time data analytics. It can be used to improve key segments like buildings, which consume 40 per cent of all energy in India, as well as utilities, healthcare, governance, transportation and education. This move could reverse decades of neglect.
Why are smart cities critical in the future? Three-fourths of Indians will live in cities by 2030. The water supply-demand gap will widen to 9,600 crore litre a day from 2,700 crore litre today. Closing that gap is imperative. Also, we lose `60,000 crore on fuel wastage and traffic congestion, which increases pollution by 4 to 8 times. Drivers looking for parking space cause 30 per cent of urban congestion. Cities with networked sensors can help cut transport and parking costs. By upgrading street lights, of which one-third date back to the 1960s, the world can save up to $13 billion in energy each year. New LED lights can fetch savings of up to 70 per cent. Use of smart technology helped Stockholm reduce its traffic by a quarter, cut carbon-dioxide emission by 40 per cent and pollution by 14 per cent.
The Cabinet note says focus for smart cities will be on core services like water supply, sanitation and solid waste management, efficient urban mobility and public transportation, affordable housing, power supply, IT connectivity, e-governance and citizen participation, safety and security of citizens, health and education and sustainable urban environment. It’s a huge challenge and will require significant funding and regulatory changes to get off the ground.
Says S Narayan, CEO of Lavasa: “The new regulations need to support smart cities, and reduce challenges, especially on funding. All major components of a city like roads, utilities, waste management, healthcare and housing individually are considered as infrastructure and get due financial support.’’ Currently, a city is not considered an infra project, and hence though all these come together to form the city, they don’t get any financial support. Smart cities and rejuvenation of cities will not only lay out the path for more liveable cities but also provide the desperately needed growth engine for Indian economy,’’ says Jaijit Bhattacharya, partner for infrastructure and government services at KPMG.
“Building world-class infrastructure is definitely a costly affair,’’ says Ramakant Jha, MD & CEO of GIFT City, adding that the infrastructure project cost can be funded through sale of development rights to developers and user agencies developing buildings, which includes financial institutions, stock exchanges, IT & ITeS companies. “Regeneration of commercial hubs in any Indian city can be a nightmare with disparate interests, especially to get land freed for productive use, litigations and governance issues. Every city offers an opportunity to be transformed to a smart city,’’ says Purushottam Kaushik, managing director at Cisco India. “But there are challenges. There is unplanned urbanization, scarcity of resources, density of population, lack of basic citizen services and inadequate infrastructure, as also issues of governance,’’ he adds.
Is a greenfield like GIFT City easier to do? “Yes, but it requires much higher investment. It is a challenge and an opportunity’’ says Jha. The city can’t be successful until it gets a minimum core that generates sufficient revenue and begins offering multiplier effect for other activities to grow manifold. One of the key pillars of smart cities is regulations. “There is a need to devolve power and create a strong local government. Technology and process change must go together,” says Kaushik.
What is a smart city?
A city that uses information and communications technology and the Internet to address urban challenges, such as transport, sanitation, health, governance, education, is considered a ‘Smart City’.
Source:The New Indian Express
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