Determined to place Hyderabad on the global map as a safer, greener and smarter city, Telangana minister of information technology and panchayat raj KT Rama Rao has said that efforts are being made to transform Hyderabad into a smart city with the help of technology.
“The idea of a smart city is to put technology to good use in order to improve the quality of life and living standards of the people. For that to happen, we need better management of traffic, energy, sanitation as well as improve the public education system. Our goal is to ensure that the city becomes more efficient and to empower semi-urban areas,” he said at the inaugural of a pre-congress workshop on ‘Transforming Indian cities to smart cities’ here on Friday.
The workshop was organised by the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) in collaboration with the government of Telangana and the Administrative Staff College of India (ASCI) as a build-up to the XI Metropolis World Congress which will be held in the city from October 6 to 10. Explaining that power crisis was one of the major issues the state had been facing since its formation, Rao urged citizens to opt for rooftop solar panels. “It (power crisis) is a problem which we have inherited. To address this, we are thinking of an initiative to have solar panels installed on the rooftops of buildings across the city.”
The IT minister also stressed the importance of developing slums in the city. “There are 1,400 notified slums in the city. One cannot dream of developing a smart city without developing slums. We plan to build quality housing for slum-dwellers to make Hyderabad a slum-free city,” he added. Pointing out that the perception of a smart city varied from place to place, Rama Rao said the idea of a smart city in the United States or Europe was completely different from India’s because of difference in the mentality of the peoples. “At the end of the day, cities are all about people. We need to instil a sense of discipline among the people to ensure progress and development. Telangana is a very urban state with 39 per cent urban population. On the other hand, Andhra Pradesh has an urban population of 21 per cent. So what is applicable to AP is not applicable here. Each city has its own set of problems and solutions,” he observed.
Explaining that a smart city is a matter of perspective, Greater Hyderabad municipal commissioner Somesh Kumar said, “To ensure development as a smart city, the GHMC has enhanced its digital presence. We have 24 online services which are easily accessible to people. We are now working on a traffic management project to ensure smooth traffic movement in the city.”
Babu A, special commissioner of GHMC, was also present on the occasion.
Source: The New Indian Express