Bengaluru Gears up for Smart City Project: Free Wi-Fi, E-Toilets, Water ATMs & More!
Roads will have 50 smart card-enabled public bicycle sharing points, 30 e-rickshaw stands, 35 e-toilets, water ATMs, 420 sensor-based smart dustbins and 50 designated vending kiosks.
Imagine the busiest streets in the IT hub of India having free Wi-Fi, e-rickshaw stands, public bicycle sharing system, e-toilets, sensor-based dustbins and water ATMs!
This dream may soon turn into reality under the Rs 2,090-crore plan, set to make Bengaluru a smart city.
The technology to attain this futuristic goal is developing ‘Smart SURE’ roads. A terminology coined by the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), it refers to streets that will be equipped with IoT (Internet of Things) solutions for citizens.
These roads will have 50 smart card-enabled public bicycle sharing points, 30 e-rickshaw stands, 35 e-toilets, water ATMs, 420 sensor-based smart dustbins and 50 designated vending kiosks – all of which will be connected to 1,250 smart telecom towers, also doubled as street light poles. Another great achievement is that the smart roads will have free Wi-Fi connectivity.
Approximately, 7 km of roads in the central business district area of Bengaluru including MG Road, Brigade Road and Commercial Street will be covered under this plan, the Economic Times reported.
Bengaluru was shortlisted under the Smart Cities Mission only last month, after the BBMP’s third attempt to include it in the project. The authorities have chosen 21.8 sq km of the city’s core area for the project. This comprises the historic Pete and Cantonment with old markets and commercial hubs of MG Road, Brigade Road, Chickpet, Avenue road and Commercial Street under Area-Based Development (ABD). These are stipulated to receive Rs 1,166 crore under the Smart City project.
Read more: Suburban Railways in Bengaluru Soon? Railway Ministry Nod Set to Ease Commuter Woes!
“Smart SURE roads are essentially Tender SURE roads with a touch of technology. About 51.6 km of roads in the core area will be redeveloped as per Tender SURE guidelines. Smart telecom towers will control IoT based solutions such as smart parking and smart dustbins. For example, we are going in for smart street lighting, whose illumination will be controlled by the towers,” an official told ET.
The other projects underway include redevelopment of Shivajinagar and Majestic bus depots, Russell Market, KR and Malleswaram market, Ulsoor and Sankey lakes, Cubbon Park, Swathanthra Palya slum and KC General Hospital.
“All smart city works will be anchored by a special purpose vehicle (SPV). The proposal to set up an SPV has been sent to the Cabinet for approval. Once that is done, we will float tenders to take up the work,” Municipal Commissioner N Manjunath Prasad said.
Out of the total capital expenditure of Rs 2,090 crore, the civic body is confident to receive Rs 500 crore each from the State and Central governments. Among the other sources, it expects help from a public-private partnership and funds from Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (BMRCL) and Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC).
“We’ve worked it out intelligently. Funding for the smart city project has been dovetailed with the expenditure planned by other agencies,” said N Manjunath.
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