An Insight into the Smart Cities Mission:
Smart Cities Mission has been proposed by the Government of India which is an urban development and renewal strategy aimed to develop target 109 cities across the country to make them sustainable and modernized with employment of advanced technology. The Government of India under the vision of the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, has visualized the development and modernization of 109 small cities into smart cities in collaboration with the state governments of the respective cities.
Jaipur- the Pink City, the Smart City:
Among the list of the 109 smart cities of the country, Jaipur – the capital city of Rajasthan is one of those aspiring small cities which has been chosen by the Smart Cities Project of the Union Government of India. Jaipur has been selected in the list of 109 Smart cities under the Smart City Mission of Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD), Government of India launched in June 2015. Upon being shortlisted under the Smart City Proposal (SCP), Jaipur claims to work in order to become one of India’s well-connected cities under the smart city initiative. The vision of Rajasthan Govt is to change Jaipur into a smart city in phases.
An Overview of the Jaipur Smart City Mission:
The total project proposals of the Jaipur Smart City Mission under the SCP was proposed to be 2401 crores INR. Under the proposed budget, the Area-based Development (ABD) was presumed to be around 1582 Crores INR and the PAN City proposal to be around 819 Crores INR.
Area Based Development: Under this proposal of the Jaipur Smart City Mission, the total area comprised of the walled city area of Jaipur on either side of the axis between Badichopad, Chotichopad, which extended to the Albert Museum covering an area of total 600 acres. The major sectors under this proposal include:
- Sustainable mobility corridors
- Smart civic infrastructure
- Heritage and tourism
PAN City Proposal: Under the Jaipur Smart City Mission, the proposal for the PAN city includes:
- Smart mobility card
- Multimodal public transit central operation and management center
- Solid waste management
- Public information system
With the Smart City Mission of the Indian Government, the Rajasthan government has decided to amalgamate the Digital India mission as well through the Jaipur Smart city project by launching citizen management mediums to connect with the citizens of the city through the Internet medium. This include:
- Smart City website: The official website of the Jaipur Smart City Mission which gives complete details about the project and possible smart solutions to the engagement plan.
- Online opinion polls: Calling for online public polls for understanding the citizen’s priority on key issues, areas of preference, idea of smartness and how they perceive Jaipur as a smart city.
- Facebook page: This project even has its presence on the social media through the official Facebook page to bring awareness to the citizens of the city. In addition to promotional activities, the page also aims at making regular posts on the best practices in understanding the views of the citizens and regular updates on the upcoming events.
- Other Social Media: The Jaipur Smart City Mission has also made its online presence on the other social media platforms as well including Twitter and WhatsApp to create awareness about the mission.
Current Status of the Jaipur Smart City Mission:
After the launch of the Smart City Mission by the Central Government of India, Jaipur as the proposed smart city has shown considerable advancement in the desired field. Some of the key points about the status include:
- Jaipur ranked 3rdas declared by MoUD, GOI on 20th September 2016.
- Facilitation committee and advisory board to the SPV constituted
Eptisa Services SL, a Spanish company has been appointed as the PMC (Project Management Consultant) for Jaipur.