With the states and cities preparing them to become the part of PM's 100 Smart cities project, Amanora has already been recognized and considered as a perfect model for smart city by the Ministry of Urban development. Amanora Gateway Towers at Pune's renowned Township Amanora Park Town is seen as a bench mark in Township living for its every imaginable technical and modern facility. Maria R caught Mr. Aniruddha Deshpande, MD, City Corp. Ltd. to know about the concept of smart cities, its importance, challenges in way of its development, eligibility criteria, transformation procedure of a city in to smart one and also many more aspects. Here are the excerpts:
What are the preparations going on in the states, interested to become the part of PM's 100 smart cities project?
To be the part of PM's elite '100 smart cities' club, states like MP, Gujarat, AP, etc. have all geared up and initiated steps and plans in the same direction.
As expected from Maharashtra, Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Nasik, Thane, Solapur, Nagpur, Amaravati, Kalyan, Dombivali, Pune were shortlisted by the state. Pimpri Chinchwad missed in the political wrangle. But PCMC is a strong urban body and they can become 'Smart' with or without the Govt. support.
To highlight the preparation of Pune City to be the smart one, City Corporation Ltd. (Amanora) recently conducted a workshop on the topic "Preparing Pune to become a Global smart city" wherein city MP, Mayor, Dy. Mayor, MLAs, Experts from IBM, Honeywell, Janwani, etc. had prominently participated.
All the speakers agreed in unison and said that if Pune aspires to be a smart city, all the concerned people like political representatives at various levels, bureaucrats, civic administration and experts from various fields should come together with an appropriate plan which complies with the norms of qualification for smart city.
Fortunately, the presence of Amanora Township in Pune has given an added advantage to the city. The Amanora Township city plan presentation was considered as the role model for the Indian smart city by the Ministry of Urban Development and its presentation was posted on the Ministries' website.
PMC's selection of Mankesy as Consultant was good idea but again in L-1 practice has come into the problem. This would delay the process of preparing the report and may harm Pune's chances of selection unless the court & PMC decides quickly.
After being recognized by the Ministry of UD, how are you planning to practically use the smart concepts and technologies in your smart projects?
We are using the Information & Communication Technology (ICT) in managing our infrastructure, which is a heart of the Smart city concept. For example, we buy bulk electricity from the State Electricity Board as a Franchisee and distribute it to the Citizens where the losses are minimum but gives benefits to both the Citizens as well as the Electricity Board. Thus, the smart Grid in the Smart city concept is already implemented. We manage our Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) through a Control Room, which can also be operated from a Control room in Barcelona University, which has helped us to set up an intelligent STP plant under the Dept. of Science & Technology, and the European Union partners. We have implemented the Smart card concept even before the Aadhar Card become operational. This smart card is an I Card, Entry card, SBI debit card also if the citizens want. We have 100% connectivity of telephones, internet, and entertainment through our own network. We have 24 x 7 water, power, gas supply monitored through the Data Centre. We also operate 24 x 7 Help Desk for the Citizens. We have 20 out of 66 Awards, for our environmentally friendly township. We have made successful beginning in the 'use to pay' concept to make the model sustainable.
Our Smart grid management in electricity was recognized by the CII in the recently held 16th National Award for Excellence in Energy Management 2015. We also prepare to share our experience with other large townships and participate in execution of Smart cities plans when the dust settles down.
How important role technology plays in making a city smart?
In Smart city, Information & Communication technology (ICT) plays an important role but basically there need to be a good robust infrastructure which ICT can manage efficiently to make citizens' life hassle-free. The use of technology in the e-governance is also important and the City Administration will have to be attuned to the smart technology.
Mr. Devendra Fadnavis has declared 2015 as the 'Year of Digitised and Time-Bound Services' and if it is implemented, it will help the State to become Smart.
What are the vital steps to be taken for making a city like Pune a smart city?
If MPs, MLAs, bureaucrats, civic administration together join a single goal of taking Pune to global level with the help of its citizen, the dream of Pune being a global city can be achieved. I personally would also stress on branding of the city to optimum level so that it catches the fancy of people at the centre. For making a City to become a Smart city, first, the Govt., the people, and the business needs to be smart. All the stakeholders should be trained to be smart for the City to be smart.
What are the norms or qualifying procedure for the smart city?
The qualifying procedure developed by the Central Govt. is exhaustive and needs certain amount of pro-activeness and preparedness by the state and require certain specified benchmark in range of services like transport, spatial planning, water supply, sewage and sanitation, solid waste management, storm water drainage, electricity, telephone connections, Wi-Fi connectivity, health care facilities, education, firefighting, etc. It also requires fulfilling the 4 Ps-norm of People-Private-Public-Partnership.
In the latest revision of the Smart City guidelines, the MoUD has added para which state: 56. 'It will be ensured that a comprehensive lens is taken in identifying potential Smart Cities, taking into consideration economic growth, political framework, execution capability as well as positive externalities of clusters and urban agglomerations.' It is going to be a hard work.
The process has begun and it will be survival of the fittest.
What type of development plans, the Applicant City needs to prepare and submit for qualifying?
According to the guidelines, the applicant city should prepare a master plan having future infrastructure development plans. The project report for the Smart City to be prepared by the ULB and the approved by the State & Central level project managements, and proceeds a detailed work on the Citizen Reference Framework (CRF), Smart City Development Plan (SCDP), and Environmental Sustainability Plan (ESP). The city should also make financial plans emphasizing on the private investments, tariff structure and cost of services. On this basis, only the centre and state will sign a Memorandum of Understanding to move on the making of smart city. In a survey conducted by India Today, Pune tops only in medical health care segment. In education, it is placed 5th, while in housing sector, it is nowhere in top 15. Also, in environment and cleanliness, Pune ranks distant 14th & 11th, respectively. Chennai tops overall. Therefore, a city should take into account the systems that Chennai follows. Pune has to go a long way but if there is a political, administrative, and societal will, it is possible. But eventually the "Smart City" concept would be institutionalized. As "Puneri" I wish Pune the best.
There is a tremendous scope for making country's education system smart, especially in Rural areas. We plan to work on this with some IT majors.
