‘Smart city needs smart populace’

September 30, 2014

The use of modern technology with ‘going green’ being the buzzword, innovation and smoother coordination between government bodies are a few key factors that can transform a city like Hyderabad into a smart city, opined a group of intellectuals who met here to deliberate on the various aspects and opportunities of building a ‘smart city,’ on Friday.

Addressing the gathering at the Administrative Staff College of India (ASCI), minister for information technology K T Rama Rao said, “The concept of a smart city changes with the country in question. A smart city in Europe might not be the same as in India. For developing a smart city, we need a smart populace and there is the need to instill discipline in people regarding all matters.” According to him, Telangana with its 39 per cent urban population has a distinct advantage when compared to Andhra Pradesh which has 21% people living in urban areas to develop such a city.

He said the government would ensure that all big building install solar power panels to make them energy efficient. “There is a rule in the GHMC Act that makes installation of solar power units mandatory in all multi-storeyed constructions. But a majority of the population is completely unaware of this rule. This could be a major step towards providing a solution to the power crisis in the city and the state. But there has to be proper enforcement of the law for this purpose,” he said, urging GHMC commissioner Somesh Kumar, who was present at the meeting, to strictly follow up on its implementation.

V Srinivas Chary, dean of ASCI, said finding permanent solution to water supply and sewerage problems was crucial to building a smart city. “As per the service delivery standards laid down by the Government of India in 2008, the water board is supposed to reduce leakage of water by 70% and make sure that there is waste water collection. We have not been doing so well in the first aspect and as for the second, it is non-existent,” he said.

He said emerging technology should be adapted to address sewerage problems, for instance, toilets themselves can be turned into mini sewerage treatment plants. “It is this sort of innovation that a smart city is made of,” he said. Urban flooding must also be tackled by installing sensor-based flood control system along the catchment area, experts said, adding, that the city will soon witness the arrival of new GPS-based bus stops where screens would be put up to give commuters regular updates the services.

S K Rao, ASCI director-general delivered the keynote address while Ahmed Babu, special commissioner, GHMC, and Somarapu Satyanarayana, MLA were among those present at the event.

Source:Magic Bricks

Written by ITW Editor · Filed Under About, Articles, Smart City

Vinayak Chatterjee: Can toll roads be made user-friendly?

September 26, 2014

Vinayak Chatterjee

The Rajasthan High Court, last Monday (September 1), stayed the hike in toll on the Jaipur-Delhi national highway till such time as the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and the operator file an affidavit confirming that the road is in good condition and that a proper and maintained highway exists that justifies the toll charged.

India has been obsessed historically with asset creation, not effective asset utilisation. Highway build-operate-transfer projects were largely seen as yet another construction project with immediate order-book gains for construction companies. Though the concession agreement specified operations, maintenance and tolling service delivery standards across the life of the project, no one paid much attention to them. Many concessionaires did not have the mindset or the experience to manage long-term assets of this kind, and the attitude was to generally get by NHAI inspections.

The ministry of road transport and highways is now keen to revive road construction activity with a slew of engineering, procurement, construction (EPC) contracts – totalling to almost 10,000 km in the here and now. Interestingly, it is understood that these EPC packages are getting bundled with five to 10 years of operation & maintenance (O&M) obligations too. This is an eminently sensible decision. With all this, thankfully, “asset management” is getting the required attention. Increasing road-asset acquisitions by long-term financial investors, pressure for maximising toll revenue, greater oversight from the judiciary, higher focus by NHAI and the ministry, and greater media and activist attention are also adding up. Many myths, hitherto used to justify poor O&M, seem to be getting exposed.

My friend and colleague Vivek Rastogi, who is a well-recognised expert in road operations and maintenance, has over the past few years been dissecting a few myths about highway operations and maintenance.

Myth one: Toll revenue is under pressure, so funds are short for operations and maintenance

Developers have been complaining about lower-than-anticipated traffic on their highways. This is indeed true in some specific cases where local and surrounding issues have lead to reduced movements. However, empirical data from different parts of the country reveal that the actual traffic over the last year, measured as passenger car units has increased by 2 to 12 per cent. This is also borne out by NHAI data. In addition, inflation-indexed toll rates have increased. Better tolling processes, wherever implemented, have boosted revenue, resulting in an overall 12 to 30 per cent increase in toll revenue in rupee terms. Therefore, toll revenue pressure is clearly not the overriding constraint particularly when one factors in that O&M expenses hardly ever exceed 3 to 5 per cent of toll collections. It is often a convenient excuse for complacency and lethargy among highway site-operations teams. Financially, the culprit is over-aggressive bids based on over-optimistic toll projections and under-estimated O&M costs that have not matched real life, thus leading to a “virtual” funds crunch.

Myth two: Lack of support from local administration

The experience on the ground is different, particularly in the bulk of the states where NHAI has the state support agreement in place. Barring sporadic incidents of politically-inspired attacks for media attention, most developers have received reasonable support from the police and district administration. The same holds for media, which has largely been publishing all sides of an “incident” story pretty fairly. This has helped get miscreants arrested at toll plazas. Traffic diversions for escaping tolls have been blocked by the district administration, and elected representatives in most cases, have been supportive of operations according to the concession agreement. Local problems will continue but it has now been seen that solutions can be found with regular and correct liaison with the district authorities.

Myth three: Route operations and route patrolling is an unnecessary spend

The purpose of route operations is to ensure that incidents and accidents on the highway get quick support and attention, and the traffic flows smoothly. Unfortunately, route operations and patrolling are often the first areas where operators try to cut costs with hugely deleterious effects on user satisfaction. It is a rare sight to see regular patrol cars, helpful signage and roadside amenities on Indian highways. Good route operation practices can save precious lives in highway accidents – an area of notoriety for India. This uncaring attitude is primarily based on the fact that road concessionaires still do not see themselves as “service deliverers”, where customer satisfaction and loyalty are necessary for survival as in the case of other businesses where customers have a choice. NHAI clearly needs far higher enforcement of standards in this area.

Myth four: Asset maintenance can be delayed

Roads typically have the following types of maintenance patterns: routine (preventive and reactive) and episodic (say, overlays in five years). In both the categories, the usual business practice is to delay matters till the road surface is either in a shambles or the spectre of penalties looms large. Sadly also, there is minimum use of technical advancements. The net result is a severe deterioration of the life-cycle quality of the asset as well as user-satisfaction. But the concessionaire believes he has “smartly” saved costs.

Myth five: Traffic tail-ending at toll plazas is inevitable

This need not be so. The ease with which cars zip through electronic toll barriers abroad clearly demonstrates the art of the possible. It is surprising that in India, we are not sufficiently agitated with the minutes we are required to wait before passing through a toll barrier. The slow pace of implementing cost-effective electronic tolling and dedicated electronic lanes is a testimony to our collective national lethargy on this aspect. Even without this, hand-held devices with roaming toll-collectors, aggressive marketing of on-board prepaid devices and systematic lane-management, could, if there is a will, actually seek to eliminate tail-ending at toll plazas.

Myth six: Continuing toll-collection during carriageway widening is appropriate

This is clearly addressed to NHAI and the ministry of road transport and highways. The existing model concession agreements, from their lofty perch, clearly did not see the practical problems of allowing toll-collection to continue when carriageway are being widened. It is clearly messy and has a high irritability quotient for all users. Further, it takes away from the spirit of a hassle-free drive questioning the rationale of the toll, and creates a strong negative perception which, as in the case of the Delhi-Jaipur highway, invites the wrath of the judiciary. This should be discontinued in future contracts.

There is clearly a growing need for a new generation of specialised outsourced “asset management partnerships” to manage the operative life-cycle of an asset properly and most importantly, deliver value to the customer. Myths will not do.

Source:Business Standard

Written by ITW Editor · Filed Under About, Articles

Toll plaza vandalised after youth dies in hit-and-run

September 26, 2014

The damaged toll plaza on National Highway 50 in Koppal taluk after the violence on Thursday.

A toll plaza being operated by the GMR Group was vandalised and its staff beaten up by an irate mob on National Highway 50 four-lane road near Hitnal in Koppal taluk on Thursday after a youth was killed in a hit-and-run accident.

According to information reaching here, the youth, Suresh, who was heading towards Koppal on his bicycle, was run over by a heavy vehicle. He died on the spot.

As the news spread, people from Hosahalli and Hitnal started gathering near the accident spot. They started blaming the GMR company, which had taken up the road construction work, for not providing service road and also not laying humps, resulting in the death of the youth. They blocked the highway and burnt tyre to register their protest.

There was a heated argument between the people and the staff of the toll plaza over sharing of the CCTV footage and the mob damaged the windowpanes and also assaulted the staff. A vehicle belonging to National Highways Authority of India was also damaged in the incident.

According to sources, people are agitated over the location of the toll plaza as they have to cough up the fee every time they use the road. They also urged the authorities to shift the toll plaza, but the response was lukewarm. This was another reason for the attack on the toll plaza, according to sources.

The police, on learning about the incident, rushed to the spot and prevented the situation from going out of control. Superintendent of Police T.D. Pawar also visited the spot.

Source:The Hindu

Written by ITW Editor · Filed Under About, Articles

Cisco unveils smart city model for Digital India

September 26, 2014

IOT powered Globalisation East campus shows how citizens can live, work, play and learn in a Digital India

Cisco demonstrated how a future smart city would look like in its campus in Bangalore on Tuesday. Spread over 2.6 million square feet, and designed as a campus-as-a-city for thousands of Cisco employees to work, play and learn, the model city showcased all the possible city utilities which can be availed in a smart city powered by IOT.

As part of the inauguration, Cisco demonstrated the possibilities of the government’s Digital India program where infrastructure would be offered as a utility to every citizen, governance and services would be on demand and citizens would be digitally empowered. Incorporating real time, online and mobile platforms the model illustrated how intelligent networks could digitally enable Indian citizens.

Cisco in association with ELCIA (Electronics City Industry Association) is building the smart city in Bangalore’s Electronic City. The collaboration has already identified 5-km stretch where street lighting, parking, traffic and water management will be controlled centrally through intelligent sensors, information systems and the Internet to improve the quality and efficiency of civic amenities in the area. This project will form the proof-of-concept for a smart city early next year.

Cisco has already built smart cities in Barcelona, Spain and Canberra, Australia. The program highlighted how Cisco and Barcelona council have helped transform the city into a blueprint for sustainable urban development. Canberra, the capital of Australia described the role of Cisco’s technologies in achieving the city’s digital strategy.

Speaking about the hurdles and challenges of building a smart city in India, Srivatsa Krishna, IAS & Secretary to the Government Dept. Of Information Technology, Biotechnology and Science & Technology, said, “Building a smart city in Bangalore is not about selling more routers and switches. Cisco has to come up with economical, cost-effective and affordable smart city concept which can be availed by every Indian.” Cisco initially thought of making the parking lots in Bangalore smart, however the concept did not work out due to several reasons.

Anil Menon, President, Deputy Chief Globalization Officer, Cisco said, “When we build a smart concept for any city we look at five parameters which includes government regulations, cost-effectiveness, scalability, profitability and sustainability.” According to Menon, the absence of these parameters made Cisco not to build the smart parking space in Bangalore. However, with changing times Cisco hopes to be able to build smart city in Bangalore in the coming days

Source:Information week

Written by ITW Editor · Filed Under About, Articles, Smart City

Smart Cities: Motivations, Misconceptions & Realities

September 23, 2014

A recent GBI Research report claimed that the smart-cities industry will “more than double between 2012 and 2017.” But what’s really going on, and who’s driving it?

A recent GBI Research report claimedthat the smart-cities industry will “more than double between 2012 and 2017.” But what’s really going on, and who’s driving it? The smart cities debate has become muddled: It’s often accompanied by fears about top-down approaches and tech companies controlling the direction. Overall it’s not entirely clear who the stakeholders are. As someone who has worked on different sides of public and private sector fences, I thought I would try to make sense of who the smart cities players are, their roles, the hurdles, and where all of this is headed: Technology companies:Motivated by profit, given capital markets, tech companies always try to pursue the latest new thing with the hope of gaining an advantage on their opposition. So, of course they are in the smart cities space. They often fund the conferences that the public sector and academia cannot afford (or choose not to), and they are developing services and products that they hope will play well. But, also note that most technology “supports” existing city functions, playing an enabling (not standalone) role. Take smart buildings, for example: Most building technology is there to ensure the existing operations work efficiently. Academics, NGOs, and think tanks:These groups (to me) like to be seen as thought leaders in most spaces, and smart cities are no exception. They play a central role in attracting funding for smart cities research. They also give due consideration to the impact the technology will have on cities and are driven by a desire to improve people’s lives and further the discussion. Public sector/governments/specialist agencies:The public sector is a central figure for obvious reasons.

But, in particular, the public sector is involved because of shrinking budgets and the perception (correct, if done wisely) that smart city initiatives can provide “more with less” by incorporating ICT into existing legacy city functions. Of course, the public sector doesn’t control all of cities’ functions or assets — the opposite is often true. But it’s clear, from a political imperative, that cities need to be seen as active and hence take leading roles in this movement. Indeed, some parts of government are tasked specifically to work across the urban space. Private sector: Ironically, the private sector actually owns most of the real assets in cities, not government. For example, real estate owners own the bulk of city assets, and the utilities that service them are becoming more and more privately owned. However, the private sector and asset owners and operators tend to be far less involved in this debate than they should be. Some groups worry too much about tech companies forcing technology into cities. This won’t happen at scale because the profit-motivated private sector and the cash-strapped public sector will predominantly only adopt those goods and services that make sense or are likely to be embraced by citizens. One of the missing discussion points in this whole debate is the distinction between technology innovation and business innovation. So much tech innovation already exists, but the gap lies in the business innovation as both the private and public sectors grapple to understand how to deploy new ideas that cross over existing silos. Cities are still confused over new products and services being offered to them.

New business innovations will provide the answers. At present, too much time is being spent justifying smart cities and rehashing what’s already been discussed. We need to keep the debate not about “why” smart cities are a good idea or “what” technologies we should use but rather discuss “how” to make things happen. We need to work out how to do more with less and how to promote business innovation in smart cities that match the pace of the technology innovations available and allow the use of smart technologies where they make economic sense, are logical, provide benefit to the users, and ultimately improve quality of life. If we don’t do this, I suspect the industry will not double in size by 2017 — and all the advantages that smart cities genuinely bring will not occur.

Source:Information week

Written by ITW Editor · Filed Under About, Articles, Smart City

Can intelligent transportation systems solve India’s traffic congestion problems?

September 17, 2014

In 2012, an IIM-Transport Corporation of India study revealed that India loses Rs 60,000 crore a year due to congestion. For most citizens, traffic congestion and unpredictable travel-time delays are problems that is already factored in their daily lives. Can technology help in clearing traffic congestion? In India, a first step for testing whether technology can help in clearing congestion is being tried out in the city of Ahmedabad by a company called Zero-Sum ITS. Once implemented, this solution will be showcased as a mechanism of using technology to aid in decongesting traffic conditions in other cities. Understanding that the high cost of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) undermines its importance, the firm has customized the solution to best suit Indian conditions. The ITS solution uses a hybrid model of gathering vehicle information on the roads from camera based traffic sensors and GPS information from vehicles. The collected traffic information is sent to a cloud based control center which then analyses the gathered traffic information to understand the traffic flow and congested areas in the target area. The ITS solution then displays the processed information onto huge electronic information boards that are placed approximately 200 meters before every traffic light. This information will aid motorists in making a decision on which roads to avoid and taking up alternate routes to reach their destination. A cloud-based control center negates the need for having to setup up a physical control center with manned personnel and manual intervention through a tablet computing device. This enables the police to control the solution in case of an emergency from any location within the city. “The key goal of the ITS solution being implemented by Zero-Sum is to ensure better traffic management by providing more information to road users and enabling them to plan their trips optimally thereby reducing travel time, saving fuel and decongesting busy roads,” says Chikara Kikuji, Managing Director, Zero Sum ITS. Key components of the traffic management solution Based on a traffic study undertaken by Zero-Sum in cooperation with the Ahmedabad Traffic Police and Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation, Zero-Sum will install ten camera based traffic sensors across various locations on 132 Feet Ring Road of Ahmedabad. These sensors will gather information on the traffic flow including speed, density, vehicle classification and send the information to a cloud based traffic control center. This center will receive the information from the traffic sensors and the traffic police will process the information that needs to be shared with the public regarding the traffic jams in the city. This center will not require any physical space to be setup thereby eliminating the need of having to allocate space inside the Ahmedabad police station for the hosting of the ITS solution. The solution will be hosted through a cloud data center and therefore no physical set-up is required in Ahmedabad. The ITS setup will include setting up of four electronic information boards across key road junctions in Ahmedabad. These information boards will receive what information is to be displayed from the traffic control center and will display to the public which roads are congested and the de-tour route to take so as to avoid entering into the traffic jam or congested areas. For the dual purpose of providing real time traffic updates and gathering traffic information, mobile phone users in Ahmedabad city will be provided mobile applications that can be downloaded free of cost. This application will also have useful information such as city map, important POI (Point of Interest) locations such as gas stations, shopping malls and restaurants. As part of the ITS trial solution, five tablet computing devices will be made available to key personnel of Ahmedabad Traffic Police allowing them to control what information needs to be shown on each of the Electronic Information boards. Therefore, in an emergency, the traffic personnel can operate the solution from anywhere across the city. The entire cost of the ITS solution, its implementation, training and maintenance will be borne by Zero-Sum with no cost being charged to the local Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation or Traffic police. Zero-Sum will monetize the solution by using 50 percent screen space of the Electronic Information Board to display commercial advertisements. These advertisements will not be shown during any emergency and the advertisements shown will only be static advertisements without any video content so that motorists are not distracted. The system can easily expanded for implementation across an entire city and can integrate with other traffic management/ enforcement systems including parking systems, disaster management and weather systems. Beyond traffic management If used intelligently, the system can greatly help in detecting incidents – by pinpointing locations of accidents or vehicle breakdowns. This is extremely important in handling emergency situations. The ITS solution can also help in classifying vehicles, which in turn helps in planning the road width and the space of the pavement.The same solution can be effectively used for monitoring pollution and road quality. Once the foundation for intelligent transportation systems is laid, the same can be extended for further benefits such as traveler information, road management, public transport management and incident and hazard response.

Written by ITW Editor · Filed Under About, Articles, Traffic Congestion, Traffic Control

Italian passion for cars ebbs as Milan warms to congestion fee

September 15, 2014

Photo: R. Ragu

From Vespas to Ferraris, Italians have long had a love affair with motorised vehicles, but an urban transport revolution in their country’s second-largest city has caused many to ditch them in favour of public and shared transport options.

Commuters have been deterred from driving into Milan’s city centre thanks to a congestion charge scheme – similar to one in London – that levies a 5—euro (6.5—dollar) charge on drivers who enter a zone called Area C.

“Having a car is no longer a status symbol like it was in the past,” Mayor Giuliano Pisapia, 65, said.

“Young people have embraced this, even if it is more difficult to accept for older generations like mine or that of my parents.” Since the introduction of Area C in January 2012, the number of cars entering Milan’s downtown zone every day has dropped from around 130,000 to 90,000. Over the same period, the city’s car-sharing programmes have grown to more than 180,000 subscribers. “I hear more and more people telling me, ‘We don’t need a car,’” Damiano Di Simine, regional head of Legambiente environmental lobby, said. “Milan is de-motorising itself, it’s happening.” Almost 80 per cent of Milan residents voted in favour of the congestion charge in a non-binding referendum in 2011. But bureaucratic wrangling, popular protests and legal appeals against the scheme delayed the creation of Area C, Pisapia said.

The centre-left mayor, who unexpectedly beat a Berlusconi-backed conservative incumbent three years ago, said sceptics of the congestion charge had come around to the idea, pointing to a poll from last year showing that 58.5 per cent of residents backed Area C.

“At first, even I did not agree with the principle,” said Pisapia, a trained lawyer . “The horrific traffic jams that you see on the days Area C is turned off have convinced [the sceptics]. I am quite sure that any administration coming after me would not scrap it.”

Not everything is rosy in Milan, however. Critics say Area C needs to be expanded considerably to solve Milan’s endemic pollution problems, which have prompted threats of economic sanctions from the European Union.DPA

Source:The Hindu

Written by ITW Editor · Filed Under About, Articles, Traffic Congestion

Experts’ speak: Why are smart cities important?

September 15, 2014

Modi’s dream project is building 100 Smart Cities across the country and the 2014 Budget has laid out a roadmap by providing the fund of Rs 7,060 crore? But what are these smart cities? Are they good investment options? Magicbricks asks the experts

In his Budget-day speech, the Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said that the Smart Cities will be developed as satellite towns of larger cities and by modernizing the existing mid-sized cities.

Apart from the allocation of Rs 7,060 crore Magicbricks reveals the other key steps aimed at encouraging the development of Smart Cities and their impact on the Property Market. These include, requirement of built-up area being reduced from 50,000 sq. m to 20,000 sq. m and capital conditions for FDI that have been brought down from USD10 million to USD 5 million, with just a three year post-completion lock-in period.

What are Smart Cities?

So will these Smart Cities be planned on the same lines as upcoming cities, such as Lavasa, Auroville and Pallava?” asked Magicbricks. “Cities like Lavasa are not considered home for lower or middle-class income groups but are targeted towards the upper middle class. The government is keen on focusing housing for all and that can be possible only through affordable housing.” replied Dr. PR Swarup, director general, Construction Industry Development Council (CIDC), at the `Magicbricks Budget Discussion on Real Estate & Urban Infrastructure’ organized by Magicbricks recently.

But are these efforts enough to convert this vision into a reality? Is this enough? Magicbricks asked real estate experts to find out.

“The seed has been sown, the vision is bang-on, the intent is there and it is a welcome move. But the actual question is how and when will this be implemented,” added Dr. Swarup.

Speaking to Magicbricks he added “The allocated money is just like ‘token money’. The amount translates into a meager Rs. 70 crore per city, which is not enough to develop one whole city. The blueprint of this dream is still in the pipeline. Identification, time-lining and definition of the concept still remain to be executed. There is also a question mark on how they will provide 24×7 water and electricity, transit, jobs, etc.”

Why Smart Cities?

Magicbricks data clearly shows that development in the country is city-centric and is thus, making a large number of people migrate to the fast-developing cities. The Finance Minister substantiated this fact when he stated, “The pace of migration from the rural areas to the cities is increasing. A neo-middle class is emerging which has the aspiration of better living standards. Unless new cities are developed to accommodate the burgeoning number of people, the existing cities would soon become unlivable.

Impact of Smart Cities on real estate

Speaking to Magicbricks, experts were upbeat about the impact this decision would have on real estate and on infrastructure across the country. Navin Raheja, chairman, National Real Estate Development Council (Naredco), said, “With the Smart Cities project, there will be a surplus of land issued for urban development and housing. This will ensure that with more supply, the prices of property are reined in.”

Raheja also pointed out to Magicbricks that because of lack of regular planning and small-term perspectives, land utilization is sub-optimal. By freeing up land for planned urban development and long 50-year term plans, cities can continually regenerate themselves and adapt to changing demographics.

V Suresh, principal executive officer, HIRCO, added to the Magicbricks discussion, that Smart Cities should boast of good infrastructure, well-maintained drainage and sewerage facilities, good connectivity and more.

What else does the real estate sector gain from the Budget?

Discussing the impact of the Budget 2014 on the Indian real estate market, the Magicbricks discussion panelists unanimously agreed that the Budget was a positive move towards reviving consumer sentiments in the real estate sector. Vaibhav Sankla, director, H&R Block India Private Limited said that the additional incentive on home loan and the tax rebate is comforting to the business community and the tax payers. “The housing loan rebate raised from Rs 1.5 lakh to Rs 2 lakh may also boost youngsters to buy homes,” he said.

Speaking to Magicbricks, Partner and Head Real Estate and Construction, KPMG India, Neeraj Bansal said, “Accepting the modified version of the Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) was also felt to be another positive move. “It will help in easing liquidity requirement for developers, paving the way to raise easy capital and also provide access to retail investors to benefit from regular income and appreciation benefits from the real estate.”

“Overall the government’s commitment to boost the real estate sector seems to be well intentioned. The idea to create Smart Cities was welcomed, but it is still to be seen how this vision of PM Narendra Modi will get off the ground.” summarized Jayashree Kurup, Head of Magicbricks Research and Content.

Source:Economic Times

Written by ITW Editor · Filed Under About, Articles, Smart City

How to be smart- An article by Sama Khan

July 31, 2014

How to be smart

Sama Khan |

The smart cities project lacks consideration for small towns — class III to VI — that have populations lower than 49,999 and which account for 29 per cent of the total urban population.

SUMMARY

It is important to look at what went wrong with the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission.

Sama Khan

Israelis and Palestinians must stop circling the grindstone of violence, remember the future

At A time when the contours of the new scheme for 100 smart cities are being decided, it is important to look at what went wrong with the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), launched in 2005 to improve infrastructure and governance in cities. With an overall investment of more than Rs 1 lakh crore, it covered both small towns and big cities. Amid all the criticism of the scheme, it is imperative to look at what went right and what didn’t.

One of the major drawbacks of the JNNURM was that it focused too much on big cities, directing fewer funds towards small and medium ones. In principle, it was meant to include all cities/ towns as per the 2001 Census. One of the things it did right was provide funds for class V and VI towns, which have populations of less than 10,000 people. Though their share in resources was dismal, it started a process that could have been taken forward in the future.

Another criticism was that access to JNNURM funds was linked to the achievement of mandatory reforms. Many feel this kind of incentivising did not work because a number of states and cities refused to comply. The Centre had no choice but to release funds after being given assurances on paper. However, many states did comply. As of January 2014, states like Himachal Pradesh, Kerala and Tamil Nadu had completed 19 out of the 23 reforms. Others like J&K, Chhattisgarh and West Bengal had completed 16. Bigger cities like Delhi did not perform as well and managed to complete only 15 reforms but still received the highest funding under the JNNURM.

The constant dependence of urban local bodies (ULBs) on state or parastatal agencies was another criticism. The JNNURM was supposed to encourage the role of ULBs in project preparation and implementation. However, in practice, the role of the ULB was reduced to that of quiet spectator in some cases and appointing agency in others. The funding pattern did encourage cost-sharing between the Centre, state and ULBs. However, in some cases, smaller towns were unable to contribute their share of the project cost.

Underutilisation of funds was another issue. Since the smaller ULBs are not financially independent, implementing reforms can be difficult, which leads to delays in the release of funds. Also, since a number of smaller ULBs lack capacity, the funds, even when released, were not enough to realise their potential or utilised optimally. This leads to a vicious cycle of poor performance stemming from poor capacity and lack of funds.

While the JNNURM is likely to be discontinued, the new concept of “smart cities” doesn’t hit the nail on the head either. As enunciated in the Union budget speech, the development of satellite towns and modernisation of existing mid-sized cities seems to be the plan. But this lacks consideration for small towns — class III to VI — that have populations lower than 49,999 and which account for 29 per cent of the total urban population. Many of these towns may not be near big cities but may actually possess enormous growth potential. Consider this, between 2001 and 2011, the population living in class I (1,00,000 and above) and class II (50,000-99,999) towns has increased by 27 and 20 per cent respectively. Whereas the population in class III (20,000-49,999) and class IV (10,000-19,999) towns has increased by 40 and 41 per cent respectively. Further, the population in class V (5,000-9,999) and class VI towns (less than 5,000) has doubled. This increase in small-town populations needs to be backed with investment to sustain urbanisation as it will contribute majorly to economic clusters.

The investment allocation for the 100 smart cities project, Rs 7,060 crore, is 6 per cent of the total estimated investment of the JNNURM. As of March 2012, the JNNURM covered 1,274 small towns and 65 big cities. In terms of both investment and coverage, the JNNURM was a much larger scheme. It had a definitive structure that got lost in implementation. What is needed is capacity building at the local level. Until ULBs are empowered to carry out their functions properly, no new scheme can achieve its objectives. When a large number of our cities struggle with even the delivery of basic services, creating technologically advanced cities may not be attacking the root of the problem. What is required is the equitable distribution of funds and resources to small and medium cities instead of identifying a few smart cities.

The writer is a research associate at the Centre for Policy Research, Delhi

[email protected]

Source-http://indianexpress.com/

Written by ITW Editor · Filed Under Articles, JNNURM, Urban Local Body (ULB)

1 lakh CCTV cameras to monitor city

July 25, 2014

GHMC promises their installation before Metropolis meet. Other departments including Labour, School Education, Medical and Health too should join in and make these provisions mandatory for the licenses they issue.

Hyderabad would be equipped with at least one lakh closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras before the World Metropolis Congress meet in October, GHMC Commissioner Somesh Kumar said here on Thursday.

Speaking at a workshop on ‘Public Safety Act’ jointly organised by the GHMC and the Police Department, he rejected the commonly-held belief that public safety was the task of the police alone and said all departments should collectively work to implement the Act.

Mr. Somesh Kumar said the civic body was planning to include provisions of the Act such as making CCTV cameras mandatory before issuing building permissions and trade licenses. Other departments including Labour, School Education, Medical and Health too should join in and make these provisions mandatory for the licenses they issue, he said.

He pointed out that under the Act, all establishments where 100 or more people gather regularly, should mandatorily install CCTV cameras.

Hyderabad Police Commissioner Mahender Reddy said the city would have such cameras installed at all public places such as places of worship, educational institutions, bus stops, malls, hotels and railway stations. Cyberabad Police Commissioner C.V. Anand said the workshop had brought all stakeholders on one platform to create awareness about the Act.

Source :The Hindu

Written by ITW Editor · Filed Under Andhra Pradesh, Articles, CCTV Surveillance

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