For
Allahabad to be a SMART city
(
Those pictures related to
the various public services in a city in any primary school Civics text book
have always been so fascinating. But, of course, the reality has always been so
remote from them. Now, however, with the coming up of SMART city, we might experience
our city as a picture-perfect one – one with tree-lined, wide, clean roads with
orderly traffic; tidy offices, public conveniences (even for the differently
abled) etc, etc.
The
concept of a SMART city, in brief, is the use of information technology and
electronics for the optimum management of a city’s resources and provision of the
best services to the public.
Before
embarking on how the technology can be used to turn our city of Allahabad SMART,
it would be worthwhile to identify the big sores that are to be addressed. Some
of them being- the roads sans pavements but with lots of cattle acting as speed
breakers, non-existent clean and safe public transport system, public parks
encroached as parking spaces or at worst turned into garbage dumping grounds,
the biggest park i.e. the Company Bagh itself in need for oxygen with the
depleting tree cover, pitiable condition of the government hospitals, poor
sports facilities, and non- availability of public conveniences even for the
able leave alone the handicapped.
To
make this city a nice place for living some essential features required are as
follows.
A traffic system which will make the flow of
traffic non-polluting, swift, orderly and safe. It would require removing
cattle from all the streets and lanes of the city and creating cattle sheds or
piggeries outside the city limits. It would further require creating road
conditions in which cyclists and pedestrians can use them confidently and
safely. Lanes have been drawn on certain roads but are not followed for many
reasons one of them being the encroachments for example by vegetable sellers as
on the very busy Stanley Road. Instead of the polluting tempos a credible
public transport system has to be put in place which apart from serving the
city connects the nearby small towns.
A
green and environmental friendly city in which polythene is a strict no-no and
the trees like the neem and tamarind line the roads at regular intervals. This
city which, when seen from a high building as the Indira Bhavan, looked so
green a couple of decades back, looks like an alopecia patient who has
become bald in large ugly patches. Even
the Company Garden that has become a playground to amateur tinkering planners
can be simply afforested and left to its pristine self. Also, the hundreds of
parks in various localities can be freed of encroachments and filth to become
green and playgrounds and spaces for leisure for kids and senior citizens
respectively.
All
the electricity meters can be made into pre-paid ones to ensure non-pilferage.
The big buildings, both governmental and private, and the street lights should
have provision for automatic switching off lights when not in use or not
required.
Clean
toilets for the differently abled besides both the genders at every public
place and all buildings and offices are a must. The fact is that even such places
as the University, the Sangam Place or the Indira Bhawan housing many offices
have very poor facilities for public conveniences. They are in fact public- inconveniences!!
Waste
management is essential in any human setting. Instead of dumping it at places
not much visited, it would be good if it is recycled or used as fuel in an
energy conserving and environmentally friendly manner.
Public
services like medical, policing and sports have to be ensured by the provision
of human and material resources to the respective areas.
To make the above possible, information
technology has much to do. Wireless interconnected platforms can involve public
in collaborative projects and real time decision making. For example, the City
of Amsterdam has had projects to reduce traffic, save energy and improve public
safety. It accepts proposals from the citizens for applications and developments
that can be of use to the city. An example of a resident developed app is
Mobypark, which allows owners of parking spaces to rent them out to people for
a fee. The data generated from this app can then be used to determine parking
demand and traffic flows in Amsterdam.
E-surveillance,
e- monitoring, e-collaborative planning and e-records available in the public
domain can thus go a great distance to create a city as our school book writers
envisage.
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