Parliamentary Committee on Housing Emphasizes on Phase-2 of Smart Cities

Context

∙ The Parliamentary Committee on Housing and Urban Affairs emphasizes the need to launch the second phase of Smart Cities Mission for tier-2 cities

located between 50 and 100 kilometers.

Smart Cities Mission

∙ The Smart Cities Mission is an initiative of the Union Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry, launched in 2015. 

∙ Objective: To promote cities that provide core infrastructure, clean and sustainable environment and give a decent quality of life to their citizens through the application of ‘smart solutions’. 

Key Features

∙ Four pillars: Social Infrastructure, Physical Infrastructure, Institutional Infrastructure, Economic Infrastructure.

∙ Integrated Command and Control Centre: These ICCCs are designed to enable authorities to monitor the status of various amenities in real time.

∙ The ICCC acts as a smart city and acts as a “nerve center” for operations management.

∙ Other steps taken under the SCM for digital infrastructure are;

∙ Adaptive Traffic Control System (ATCS), Red Light Violation Detection (RLVD), and Automatic Number Plate Recognition System (ANPR), 

∙ Digital assets for solid waste and waste-water management and water distribution management, 

∙ CCTV surveillance systems, smart education and smart health systems.

Challenges 

∙ Financial Constraints: Keeping the funds and finances flowing in for the smart cities mission is a challenge. Most Urban Local Bodies are not even financially self-sustainable.

∙ Infrastructure Development: Many Indian cities lack basic infrastructure, such as efficient public transportation, waste management systems, and reliable water and electricity supply. Implementing smart solutions requires significant upgrades to existing infrastructure.

∙ Data Security and Privacy: Smart cities rely heavily on data collection and analysis to optimize services and resources. However, ensuring the security and privacy of this data is a major concern.

∙ Technological Integration: Integrating various technologies and systems to create smart solutions poses a challenge, especially in cities with outdated or disparate infrastructure.

Way Ahead

∙ Data protection: A robust system is required to protect digital platforms from cyber attack and safeguarding sensitive public and private data adequately.

∙ Integrated Command and Control Centres (ICCCs): The role of ICCCs in cities should be expanded by enabling them to provide a variety of services in the fields of health, internal security, waste management, traffic management, disaster management, e-governance etc.

∙ Leveraging the Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV): The experience and expertise gained by SPVs must be leveraged in other projects, such as AMRUT, Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana-National Urban Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NULM) etc.