More than 600 kilometres of cycle tracks have been developed in 100 smart cities while over 76,000 CCTV surveillance cameras installed so far, the Union Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry said on Thursday.
Under the Smart Cities Mission, 6,855 "smart classrooms" and 40 digital libraries have been developed. Also, over 50 lakh solar and LED streetlights have been installed and over 89,000 km of underground electricity cabling constructed, it said.
Smart Cities Mission (SCM) has achieved significant milestones as of November 27, 2023. With an ambitious vision, work orders have been issued for a staggering 7,959 projects of approximately Rs 1,71,224 crore. Demonstrating efficiency and progress, 6,271 of these projects, valued at Rs 1,16,269 crore, have already been successfully completed. The financial commitment to this transformative initiative is evident, with an impressive Rs 78,749.88 crore released, of which Rs 71,135.70 crore (90%) has been effectively utilized
Central govt initiated the Smart Cities Mission (SCM) on June 25, 2015, with the objective of promoting cities that offer essential infrastructure and a decent quality of life to their citizens. The mission aims to create clean and sustainable environments through the application of smart solutions. Over the years, 100 Smart Cities have been selected through four rounds of competition from January 2016 to June 2018.
Read more: IN: Center's Smart Cities Mission shows significant progress in urban development
Over 1,000 cameras to keep an eye at 180 locations in city
In contrast to several stalled Smart City projects, Integrated Command and Control Centre (ICCC) is set to become operational soon.
Initially laid in 2018 by former MP Chaudhary Santokh Singh and inaugurated on August 14, 2022, by the then Local Bodies Minister Inderbir Singh Nijjar, the ICCC is set to go live in the next few days.
Read more: IN: Punjab: Jalandhar: Command centre set to become operational soon
Passengers travelling in the public transport buses in the state could soon know where their reserved buses have reached while waiting at bus stations, the time required for the bus to arrive, and more, just like the facility offered by the Indian Railways. The Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) is all set to introduce the cutting-edge Passenger Information System (PIS) to provide real-time information to commuters, ensuring that they are well-informed at every stage of their journey.
“We’ve started the trial run at Kozhikode bus station. The facility will also be started at the Thiruvananthapuram bus station on an experimental basis by the end of this month. If successful, we’ll implement the system on all main bus stations across the state,” a top KSRTC official told Onmanorama. Though the project was first conceived several years ago, the corporation couldn’t implement the same for long due to several reasons. Now it has tied up with a Start-Up ‘Busz Transit Solutions’ to finally roll out the project.
Read more: IN: Kerala: Alappuzha: KSRTC starts trial run of 'passenger info system' to track buses
The regional conference on Electronic Governance (e-governance), organised by the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG), in association with the Assam government, concluded in Assam’s Guwahati on Wednesday.
The two-day regional conference provided a platform for intensive deliberations during five sessions. It aimed at bringing national and state-level public administration organisations on the same platform to share experiences in innovations in public administration, transforming future public solutions for improving the quality of life, good governance, e-governance, and digital governance, among others, the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, stated in a press release.