NDMC's Smart City projects to be complete before 2020

New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) Chairman Naresh Kumar on Sunday asserted that the Council's Smart City projects will be completed before the 2020 deadline, with most of the work getting into implementation mode by this October.

The Chairman's assurance came after a meeting convened on Saturday by Housing and Urban Affairs Secretary Durga Shanker Mishra to review the implementation of the NDMC Smart City Plan.

Stressing that the NDMC has set up solar panels with 3.3 MW of power generation capacity on building roofs, Kumar suggested the Ministry to consider allowing it to install solar panels on central government office buildings either for free or at nominal charges.

At the meeting, timelines for various projects under the Centre's Smart City Mission for the NDMC were fixed.

Of the NDMC's Rs 1,800 crore-worth Smart City Plan, work on a range of major projects will begin in phases by October this year for which tendering is in progress, an official release said.

These include setting up of a unified command and control centre, multi-level parking at Khan Market, public bike sharing, sewage treatment plants and redesign of 13 roads totalling 31 km, including seven leading to Connaught Place.

Implementation of other projects will begin by March next year, which include India Investment Centre at Yashwant Place, Shivaji Terminal Transport Hub, World Class Skill Centre at Moti Bagh and Paryatan Bhawan.

Presenting the details of projects implemented so far, Kumar asserted that "NDMC has made a quiet and smart beginning with smart solutions initiatives already yielding positive results.

Student enrolment and OPD registration have shown good improvement.

"Further 444 classrooms so far have been converted into smart ones and online registration in hospitals is being run by the Council. The mobile app Smart City 311 is finding wider traction with citizens availing various services online," Kumar stated.

The Council has been asked to include more services on the 311 app, such as bus schedules and frequencies at all bus stops, information related to parking lots and availability of slots therein, etc.

Kumar also directed the Council to ensure that all residents of NDMC are brought on this platform, besides promoting the use of the app among the masses.

"Kumar assured that with most of the projects getting into implementation mode by

October this year and the remaining by March next year, all Smart City projects will be completed before the scheduled deadline of 2020," an NDMC release said.

The civic body was also asked to pursue pedestrianisation of Connaught Place and Khan Market with appropriate action plans.