Panel Discussion on Smart City Mission: The Way Forward at Elets 10th Smart City Summit, New Delhi.
Jyotiraj Patra, Regional Evidence Advisor (Ecosystem Services for Poverty Alleviation-ESPA) South Asia, British High Commission, New Delhi
“We have been trying to highlight the importance of research in contributing to the smart city initiative while particularly working with municipal councils and state governments. Smart city entails restoration of natural resources. A smart city has to be smart in terms of managing its natural resources, be it forests, water bodies, plots, plains or rivers. All this is absolutely critical”
George Kuruvilla, Chairman & Managing Director, Broadcast Engineering Consultants India Limited (BECIL)
“We need to see how other cities in the world are organised – what are the practices they are following and the technologies they have implemented – to know how they are in involved in the different processes of making smart cities.”
Hitesh Solanki, President, Diu Municipal Council
“Diu has a population of 40,000 spread over 30 wards. We have taken up eco tourism in a big way, and solid waste management is already being taken care of and door-to-door garbage collection arrangement is working out well. We have taken assistance from Gujarat where we aren’t self-dependennt.”
D R Bhaskar, Nodal Officer-Smart Cities, Faridabad Municipal Corporation
“We made all-out efforts for Faridabad to get selected as one of the smart cities, though there was hi-tech city Gurgaon close by to compete with. Traffic management is one of the major issues to be addressed before the creation of a smart city. This is one aspect which Faridabad keeps addressing on a daily basis through good management of traffic. Pollution is another area where our city has already done well.”
Manish Pant, Director-IT, Dehradun Municipal Corporation
“Dehradun is a big city and given the rapid pace at which our civilization is growing, solid waste management is a very big challenge for us on which we are already working. The other challenges of our city include engaging citizens for the growth of a city as they are the ones who highlight the different problems a city faces on a bigger level.”
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