10 out of 25 Smart City displays not working; officials quickly blame interrupted power supply
It seems like Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) is falling short of ‘smartness’. Its Variable Message Display (VMD) boards — currently used to spread social messages — installed under the smart city initiative are not in a working condition.
These VMD machines are erected at various intersections and major junctions of the twin towns. They share real-time information and guidance on traffic congestions, diversions, emergencies, programmes, weather and other important announcements.
PCMC has proposed a total of 60 VMD systems of 4.8x2.8 metres in size. Of those, work of 25 screens is complete, and work is in progress at the remaining spots.
Out of the 25 systems, 10 screens at Babasaheb Ambedkar Chowk, Shahunagar, Bijlinagar, Shivar Chowk, Ahimsa Chowk, Kiwale, Hutatma Chowk and Thermax Chowk are out of order.
Apart from the ineffectual boards, there have been complaints about the boards being erected on footpaths — hampering foot traffic. Some screens are hidden behind trees — like the one at Santoshi Mata Chowk in Nehru Nagar — making the message unclear and the whole project futile. Also, a VMD system on the auto cluster road in Chinchwad is uprooted.
Citizens are demanding that the civic body gets these boards fixed at the earliest and also remove the systems if they are not in accordance with the advertisement and billboard control regulations of the PCMC.
The contract to install VMDs has been awarded to a private company, with the Pimpri-Chinchwad Smart City Corporation Ltd bearing all the costs.
Neelkanth Poman, PCMC chief information technology officer, said, “VMDs are being set up across the city by the smart city corporation.
They convey social messages, but some of them were shut down due to irregular power supply. The civic administration has planned to upgrade the systems and install an uninterruptible power supply. The work for the same is in progress.” Civic officials informed that all the VMDs will be functional from September 20.
Sandesh Jadhav, a resident of Bhosari, said, “This VMD is an interesting project by the civic body. During the COVID-19 pandemic, we used to get updates, helpline numbers and essential information through these boards. PCMC should sort out the issue and start displaying messages on the screen as early as possible.”
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Autor(en)/Author(s): Archana Dahiwal
Quelle/Source: Pune Mirror, 22.08.2021
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