All 100 smart cities to have Integrated Command Centres by Aug 15

Of the 100 cities being developed under the Smart Cities Mission (SCM), 80 have already installed Integrated Command and Control Centres, while the remaining will have them by August 15, Housing Minister Hardeep Singh Puri told the media on Monday. Integrated Command and Control Centres (ICCCs) are a key element of the Smart Cities project, which strives to create 100 citizen-friendly, self-sustainable urban settlements. Puri said that work has started in almost all government-funded projects in the Smart City Mission, and projects under SCM will be finished by next year. Puri was addressing the three-day Smart Cities, Smart Urbanisation conference in Surat organised by the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) in association with Surat Smart City Corporation Development Ltd (SSCDL) as part of the Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav. Developed for real-time monitoring, the ICCCs were initially aimed at controlling and monitoring water and power supply, sanitation, integrated building management, traffic movement, city connectivity, and Internet infrastructure. However, they will now also be linked to the Home Ministry’s Crime and Criminal Tracking Networks and Systems (CCTNS). These command centres also served as war rooms during Covid-19. According to the ministry of housing, along with other smart infrastructure developed under the Smart Cities Mission, ICCCs helped cities fight the pandemic through information dissemination, predictive analysis, better communication, and supporting effective management. With the Union government preparing a 60-point action plan following the Prime Minister's meeting with secretaries of all departments and ministries in September, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs has also started work to finalise its recommendation for providing ICCCs as a service to states and smaller cities. The ministry strives to finalise the ICCC model and execute a pilot project across six key states — Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Rajasthan, and Tamil Nadu. According to the current progress of the Smart Cities Mission, out of the total proposed projects, 7,905 projects of Rs 1,93,143 crore have been tendered so far. Of the total investment of Rs 2,05,018 crore under the Smart Cities Mission, Rs 93,552 crore projects were proposed to be developed by the Centre and State funds. Almost 100% of these government-funded projects, Rs 92,300 crore projects have been in working order. Image Source Also read: Govt extends timeline for execution of Smart Cities Mission to 2023