When Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the 100 Smart Cities Mission in India on 25 June 2015, it changed the way urban development was seen in Indian cities. The idea of launching the mission and taking 100 cities from across India under its cover was to develop cities on the basis of infrastructure and citizen centric services, making them citizen friendly and sustainable. Here is a look back at some initiatives which the Indian smart cities undertook to make Indian cities ‘truly smart’.
AmdaBike by Smart City Ahmedabad Development Limited
This was an initiative that was launched in 2019, took a step back during Covid and made news in 2022. AmdaBike is the Public Bicycle Sharing System of Ahmedabad, which is one of the few smart cities that has introduced Bike sharing system for greener public transport. With 4000 bicycles, 300 bicycle stations and over 65,000 rides since introduction, the AmdaBike has been in news for being a sustainable initiative.
Integration Of MPGRS With Police Emergency Helpline by Lucknow Smart City
The Lucknow Smart City Limited took its Public Grievance Redressal System (PGRS) a step ahead by integrating it with the UP 112 Police Emergency Helpline. It became the first city in the country to integrate the two services, making grievance reporting easier and less time consuming for the citizens. People can now call up 112 helpline for municipal emergencies too. Lucknow was also declared the 'No.1 city' in the national ranking of 'Clean Air Survey 2022’ under category 1.
Asia’s Largest Bio CNG Plant Inaugurated in Indore
In February 2022, the Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated Asia’s largest bio-CNG plant in Indore in Madhya Pradesh. This plant, which has been set up under the Indore Smart City Project, was set up on Public Private Partnership (PPP) model. It has been set up with an investment of Rs 550 crore and is likely to generate 19,000 kg bio-CNG gas. The Indore Municipal Corporation will purchase bio-CNG at Rs 5 per kg and use it to fuel nearly 400 of its buses.
Aligarh Smart City Flagship Project Aligarh Habitat Centre Completed
The Aligarh Smart City Limited completed its flagship project Aligarh Habitat Centre in 2022. It is all set to be operational from 2023. Situated at the Lal Diggi Road, this will be a premium convention centre which will work as a hub of creative cultural and commercial activities of the city. It is an environmentally friendly green building, which has seven floors. It has conference rooms, auditorium, singing and dancing studios, parking facility for 170 vehicles and a digital record room. What adds to its beauty is Amrit Sarovar, a resurrected and redeveloped pond that not only enhances the beauty of the building, but the water from this pond will also be used for air conditioning of the building.
Rourkela Smart City Got Ready To Host The Hockey World Cup 2023
The Steel City of Rourkela will be playing host to the Hockey World Cup 2023 in January and the city’s Smart City project ensured that it is ready to host its first big event. The city has seen installation of smart lights, apart from completion of Smart Road Phase 1 that ensures better road connectivity in the city. A science park of the RSCL too will be ready before the world cup, attracting the visitors to the city.
Ropeway Project And Multi Level Parking At Jammu
The Smart City project came as a blessing for Jammu and Kashmir. Under the mission, City chowk multi-level parking, renovation of MA stadium, construction of musical fountain at Bagh-e-Bahu, improvement of street lighting by LED bulbs, multi-level parking at bus-stand, 100 bedded emergency block at GMC-Jammu, Jammu ropeway project are some notable projects completed under smart city mission in Jammu city.