Seven years later, Smart City sinks in troubled waters

CHENNAI: The Smart City Mission that was launched by the Union government on June 25, 2015, brought amount of funding and opportunities to Chennai, whose civic infrastructure needed smart upgradation.

But, seven years after the mission was launched, it seems to have become a flop. Moreover, the smart city projects were mired in so much controversy during 2021 floods that even the Chief Minister expressed discontent over the way they were conceived and implemented.

As per GCC data, 57 projects have been completed during the period and 16 projects are under implementation.

As per the mission condition, project should be completed or tenders should be finalised before the end of 7 years, and cities should implement projects that would generate revenue.

Of all smart city projects, cycle sharing and vertical gardens on the piers of flyovers were launched amid much fanfare, as both are expected to reduce pollution. But, cycle sharing, which was launched under public private partnership mode, is running at a loss, despite attractive rental plans.

Dockless cycle stations were planned at more than 350 locations with around 5,000 cycles. But the city has less than 100 stations with meagre footfall.

Similarly, on-street parking management system, implemented in 2019, has also failed, as the project has neither reduced parking woes nor generated revenue to the civic body, which was expected to earn Rs 7 lakh/month from parking charges alone.

Recently, the GCC held a meeting with police department to revive the project by stricter enforcement on selected roads.

“The project has not generated expected revenue. Officials at the revenue department have been instructed to conduct thorough inspections on 80 roads where parking management system has been implemented,” an official said.

When conceived, city’s first multi-level car parking (MLCP) facility on Thanikachalam Road, was seen as a viable solution to parking conundrum in T Nagar. But poor response from vehicle owners forced the civic body to drop other MLCPs, including the one planned in Nungambakkam.

And, vertical gardens created on some of the city’s major flyovers have been wilting due to poor maintenance.

The Chennai Waste Exchange Platform, an initiative to promote recycling of dry waste and sales of organic manure produced by the GCC, remains idle since its launch before the pandemic.

Meanwhile, the State government has launched one-man committee under former IAS official PWC Davidar to investigate the implementation of Smart City projects across the State, since it’s considered to be the main reason for flooding in several areas, especially T Nagar, last year.

After the flooding, the civic body has stopped restoration works of Mambalam Canal by providing cycle track and walkway.

Eco-restoration of Villivakkam Lake also hit a limbo with NGT cases despite the project nearing completion.

Jayaram Venkatesan of Arappor Iyakkam opined that the failure of most of Smart City projects is because the GCC concentrated on beautification rather than building basic infrastructure.

“We did not see any material recovery centres for segregating waste under the mission. Garbage is still going to dumping yards, “ he said.