Chinmay Gotmare, CEO, shares his insights on Nagpur Smart & Sustainable City Development Corporation’s (Nagpur Smart City) area-based and pan-city developments, the opportunity to experiment, and more….
Benefit of events like SU to India’s Smart City Mission
Well, no one city can say that it has seen all and done all. So, when we come to conferences like this, it helps us to understand the challenges, opportunities and how current issues are handled by counterparts in another city, and what issues may come up in the future.
Pace of progress under the Smart Cities Mission
In Nagpur, we have two types of interventions.One is ABD, wherein we are developing some existing brownfield areas into a planned area. The other is pan-city interventions in which we have worked towards a smart and safe city by installing CCTVs at various junctions as per data received from local police. This has helped tremendously in crime detection. We have also taken up some new work of which some is infrastructure driven and some is technology driven.
Impact of the pandemic on project timelines
I wouldn’t say there was any stay on infrastructure projects but, yes, it did affect timelines due to non-availability of workers and permission delays. However, the pandemic has showed us how to use the existing smart city infrastructure to further develop.
Upcoming tenders and projects in the city
The ABD area has reserves for developments such as schools, hospitals, parks and more. As and when the area develops, this area will present numerous opportunities.
Dream project
The brownfield development will be a huge impetus for us to develop existing areas into planned areas. We generally see planned development in greenfield developments. Out of the projects we have recently tendered, the upgradation of municipal schools is one of the projects closest to me. Another one is the use of robotic scavenging machines to clean manholes.
Thoughts on 18 per cent GST on smart cities
It needs to be economical. While I cannot comment on it, development needs to be incentivised.
Biggest achievement and challenge in the Smart Cities Mission
In my opinion, the biggest opportunity is the leverage to experiment. The cities were able to do what they thought was important to them. It has at least given us the first step towards understanding the needs of our cities. However, a concern with the Smart Cities Mission was that there are no clear-cut guidelines. How to utilise the freedom to experiment has taken us some time to understand. But now that we have a clearer picture, as we go ahead, we will be more focused on development in a more appropriate manner.
