A sneak peek into seven Smart Cities from Maharashtra
SMART CITIES

A sneak peek into seven Smart Cities from Maharashtra

“We have reached the ninth position in the Smart Cities Ranking.”...

“We have reached the ninth position in the Smart Cities Ranking.” - Trimbak Dhengale Patil, CEO, Solapur Smart City Under the Smart Cities Mission, Solapur City Development (SCDCL) has installed LED street lights and e-toilets for approximately 500,000 pilgrims visiting the Siddheshwar temple. Trimbak Dhengale Patil, CEO,shares more on the progress… Benefit of events like Smart Urbanation (SU) to India’s Smart City Mission Events such as these facilitate the exchange of ideas. People are made aware of the programmes undertaken by their cities while also providing solutions to problems. Pace of progress under the Smart Cities Mission We have made tremendous progress and reached the ninth rank. The city has a total of 50 projects, of which 34 have been completed and the rest are ongoing. Ten of these projects will be finished in three months and the rest will be completed within the stipulated time. Impact of the pandemic on project timelines Our road projects were halted as labourers were also impacted and we did see delays in our project timelines and doled out some extensions. But we are picking up pace again and will make up the gap. Upcoming tenders and projects in the city We have finished the tendering process for all 50 of our projects; 49 of these have received work orders. Only one project is lingering and that is steady water supply. This is a dream project of the city and receives 40-45 per cent of our funds. It was delayed owing to the pandemic. And because of the price rise in steel, we lost our contractors. We have now floated a revised tender. Dream project We revised the scope of our water supply project from 110 mldto 170 mld, taking into consideration the demand for the next two to three decades. The cost has gone from Rs430 crore to Rs 639 crore. The tender has already been floated and the work order will follow soon after. It will be a big push to the city because we will be able to provide water once a day to the entire region. Biggest achievement and challenge in the Smart Cities Mission There is a need to increase projects that are efficient. This has facilitated some out-of-the-box thinking from the Government. There is a misconception that just by doing civil work, a city can become a smart city.But this can only happen if there is a change in the thinking of the citizens and they keep an open mind. Thoughts on 18 per cent GST on smart cities Initially, for the first five years, 12 per cent GST had been applicable. In projects like solid waste management, there was none. Now, it has increased from 12 to 18 per cent. For projects that cost so much, this per cent is a very large amount and, essentially, the amount for the increased tax is being paid to the Centre out of the amount the Centre itself provides as grants for the smart city initiatives. So, it would be beneficial if there were no GST for projects under the Smart Cities Mission to be able to use the money allocated to its potential. Currently, the money is just going around in circles. “The waterfront project and ABD projects will help create the city’s identity.” - Sandeep Malvi, CEO, Thane Smart City A second-round city, Thane Smart City (TSCL) was incorporated in 2016. The city has various area-based development (ABD) works under progress such as waterfront development, a multimodal transit hub, metro line and others. Sandeep Malvi, CEO, shares more… Benefit of events like SU to India’s Smart City Mission This is a good platform for us to upgrade ourselves in technology, project management, assessments and more. Pace of progress under the Smart Cities Mission Like other cities, Thane Smart City was also incepted seven years ago. We have completed 20 projects and 15 are ongoing. The pace has been really good so far. Of course, there was a big challenge during the pandemic to get manpower and engage machinery but we have managed to meet our deadlines. Upcoming tenders and projects in the city No new tenders are coming up in Thane Smart City but there are two major projects. One is a new urban railway station and the other is SATIS (Station Area Traffic Improvement Scheme). Work on out-of-circulation tenders is proceeding smoothly. There is delay on the work of Thane Railway station owing to a PIL in the High Court. SATIS is one of the biggest projects for Thane to decongest the traffic around the station. Though the pandemic has delayed progress, we have started work on the scheme. Dream project They are all dream projects;for instance, the waterfront project and ABD projects will help create the city’s identity. It is difficult to pick one. The waterfront development project had many challenges with regard to land acquisition, clearances from the forest department, High Court and government, encroachment, rehabilitation, and much more. But these hurdleshave been cleared with support from the government for city development. Biggest achievement and challenge in the Smart Cities Mission This is truly the biggest opportunity for cities to develop themselves under the smart city banner. This itself is an opportunity as well as a challenge. It is encouraging cities to develop models that work for them. Thoughts on 18 per cent GST on smart cities This increase will hamper project costsas the estimates were all drawn with the 12 per cent GST level in mind. However, as it is a government decision, we have to follow the rules. “We are coming up with monetisation of the fibre, ducts, smart poles and kiosks, and VMDs.” - Shekhar Singh, Municipal Commissioner and CEO, Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation Shekhar Singh, Municipal Commissioner and CEO, elaborates on the plans of the Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) to monetise the city’s infrastructure under the smart city framework, integration, and more…. Benefit of events like SU to India’s Smart City Mission I think it's a great platform to bring all the stakeholders together. There's a lot of cross-learning, networking between the government and technical experts, and interaction between cities as well. It is a good platform for us to plan for the future, to make sure the infrastructure we have developed is utilised meaningfully and to deliver better services to citizens. Dream project One of the good things PCMC has done well is a GIS-based ERP system. Many cities take up property tax platforms, water tax platforms and many more but this system integrates it completely into one. A lot of decision variables can be taken going forward where we can have cross-connectivity between departments. Integrated command centres are implemented in all smart cities but this is a bit different. The monetisation of the fibreoptic cable leveraging 5G on the backbone of the city’s infrastructure is a readymade solution for the industry as it often faces ROW issues. Upcoming tenders and projects in the city More than tenders, the monetisation I mentioned is something we are very kickedup about because no one has really thought about monetisation in the smart city framework. Our physical infrastructure of fibre laying and ducting is already at 600+ km. We are coming up with monetisation of the fibre, ducts, smart poles and kiosks, and VMDs. Biggest achievement and challenge in the Smart Cities Mission One big achievement is that we started off with a project no one expected. Of course, there are some teething problems; we see it every day in our cities. It is also about the way cities have grown. It was a smart strategy to push cities towards a head-start. “Projects implemented by smart cities need to be emulated by the nearby areas.” - Dr Sanjay Kolte, CEO, Pune Smart City Leveraging its rich cultural and natural heritage, strong human capital and strong business environment as key strengths, Pune Smart City aspires to become the most liveable city in India. Dr Sanjay Kolte, CEO, shares more on the city’s progress…. Benefit of events like SU to India’s Smart City Mission It has been a great learning experience for Pune Smart City. We have been with the event since the first edition. It is an opportunity to interact with stakeholders, experts from the industry and academia and for peer learning. It plays a key role in taking ahead the Smart City Mission. Pace of progress under the Smart Cities Mission Pune Smart City is a first-round city and has been implementing programmes since 2016. Most of our projects have completed 85 per cent of the work and in the next three months, most of them will be finished. The last project, which is related to adaptive traffic, will be completed by March 2023. Impact of the pandemic on project timelines For the first two months, the ongoing projects suffered slightly due to the non-availability of workers. After the relaxation of lockdown rules, relevant arrangements were made for workers to stay onsite and transport of construction materials slowly picked up. In the end, we were able to maintain the momentum without much hindrance to the projects. Ongoing projects in the city Most projects under Pune Smart City have already been floated. Major projects like the integrated command-and-control centre coupled with the smart element projects are already operational in the city. Under the smart elements, we installed 750 IoT devices in the city that provide real-time decision-making tools. Smart city LED lighting is another pan-city project where over 147,000 street lights are replaced with LED lights; it is a PPP project operational for 12 years. Also, 150 smart e-buses have been procured and the city will be procuring 500 more. We are also working on getting water supply 24/7. Adaptive traffic management is another project that will help solve traffic woes. Dream project The adaptive traffic management system is definitely one of them. The projects implemented by Pune Smart City, especially the ones I mentioned, along with the green initiatives and the road redesigning initiatives have set us on a path to carbon neutrality. So that is a significant achievement. Biggest achievement and challenge in the Smart Cities Mission The Smart Cities Mission carries the vision of making cities smarter using technology, making them more durable, climate-friendly, inclusive and cost-effective. On these fronts, the mission has taken the cities a long way. Projects implemented by smart cities need to be emulated by nearby areas. That should become the culture for the development of cities overall. Any message to stakeholders Pune has a very good ecosystem of administration, academia, startups, institutions and industry. With the contribution of all these, Pune has a great potential to leadthe state and the country in urban development. “The brownfield development will be a huge impetus for us to develop existing areas into planned areas.” - Chinmay Gotmare, CEO, NSSCDCL 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. “We need to implement projects that take growing population into consideration” - Pralhad Rode, CEO, Kalyan Dombivali Smart City Incepted in 2016, the Kalyan Dombivali Smart City had identified transformationof its waterfronts and safe and smooth transportation as key areas. Pralhad Rode, CEO, shares more on the city’s progress…. Benefit of events like SU to India’s Smart City Mission The platform facilitates exchange of information that can help us improve the projects going on in the city. Pace of progress under the Smart Cities Mission All our ongoing projects are well on their way to completion by December this year. We have one civil project that will be finished by January 2023. Upcoming tenders and projects in the city We are not floating any more tenders as we have issued work orders for all our projects. As far as procurement is concerned, the vendors will be procuring their own material and using it to their needs while we reimburse them for it. Impact of the pandemic on project timelines Some of our civil construction works were impacted due to non-availability of workers. We have extended the timelines for these projects and are working hard towards meeting these. Owing to the pandemic, we had made extensive use of IT and our integrated command centre,for which we had placed first in the rankings along with Varanasi Smart City. Dream project I wouldn’t pick a dream project as such but our commissioner, Dr Vijay Suryawanshi,has a dream project to set up Maharashtra’s first naval museum. We have already issued work orders for this. We are also developing the nearby areas of Ulhas River where the museum will be established. Biggest achievement and challenge in the Smart Cities Mission The work going on in the 100 smart cities has been extremely beneficial to the cities. The pace of these projects has inspired other cities to take up their own projects and maybe even come under the smart city umbrella. A challenge I have noticed is that the population of the country is increasing and so is the pressure on the urban infrastructure. We need to implement projects that take this growing population into consideration for it to be successful. “We have floated a tender that is a combination of three different projects” - Anil Tadkod, General Manager IT, Nashik Smart City Part of the Golden Triangle (Mumbai-Pune-Nashik), the Nashik Smart City proposal had a total of 50 identified projects, which were funded through different mechanisms. Anil Tadkod, General Manager IT, shares more on the progress of these projects… Benefit of events like SU to India’s Smart City Mission This is a very good platform to connect. I have learnt a lot on the best practices adopted by other cities. The event has also allowed us to connect with various OEMs, vendors and consultants and interact with them to discuss ideas not only for the present but for the future. Pace of progress under the Smart Cities Mission The pace has been a little slow due to the pandemic. As the city is a religious tourism hub, ABD has been a little slow. We are doing utilities, underground utilities, roadworks and more, which takes time. But we have completed 60 per cent of our projects and the rest will be completed in the next six to eight months. Upcoming tenders and projects in the city We have floated a tender that is a combination of three different projects. They are supervisory control and data acquisition (Scada) projects in which we are constructing two water treatment plants, upgrading the existing elevated water reservoirs with Scada meters and making a user-friendly dashboard for the water department. We are also implementing 13,000 smart water meters for commercial establishments. A project that has finished technical evaluation is the construction of a smart school. We are making 656 state-of-the-art smart classrooms. Another project is an emergency response centre as the city is quite prone to natural disasters. It will be equipped with drones, evacuation centres and video conferencing for all departments. Dream project I am involved in the installation of smart water meters, the Scada projects, and the Nashik Safe and Smart City project. The Nashik Safe and Smart City project is a collaboration between the Nashik Municipal Corporation and the Nashik Police Department. We are putting 800 cameras across the city, flood sensors in the rivers, 21 environmental sensors, 21 public announcement systems and emergency call bells for citizens and pelican signals for citizens to change traffic signals, and converting 40 traffic junctions into adaptive traffic control with AI. Thoughts on 18 per cent GST on Smart Cities Until now we did not have any issues in terms of GST; only the vendors used to charge GST to us. But now this will have a setback and require us to rethink our strategy. This will impact the overall budget available to us – because when funding is made available, we are always asked if it is inclusive or exclusive of GST. Biggest achievement and challenge in the Smart Cities Mission I will start with challenges first. There has to be a single-window policy. Currently, getting numerous approvals is a nightmare for us and the vendors. The resulting delay leads to cost and time overruns and wastage of resources and demotivates the vendors. As for achievements, from an urban perspective, we have integrated technology, built infrastructure, and undertaken citizen-specific initiatives. There is, of course, a long way to go in terms of SOPs and pace of the projects. (The interviews were conducted at the Smart Urbanation (SU) conference in Mumbai this year)

Related Stories

Gold Stories

Hi There!

Now get regular updates from CW Magazine on WhatsApp!

Click on link below, message us with a simple hi, and SAVE our number

You will have subscribed to our Construction News on Whatsapp! Enjoy

+91 81086 03000

Join us Telegram