T Nagar will be Chennais test location for smart city plan
Posted on: 17/Dec/2015 9:38:51 AM
The latest flood may have battered the city`s commercial capital - T Nagar - but on a happier note, the corporation has finalized it for the Centre`s smart city project.
Beating Mylapore, Sholinganallur and George Town, other shortlist areas of the project, the move is expected to enlarge the overcrowded T Nagar into a pedestrian-friendly shopping area, with a safe and continuous network of footpaths and cycle tracks.
Even as the deadline to present the Smart City Challenge Mission Proposal as a requirement to find a place in the final list of 20 cities across the country expired on Tuesday, Tamil Nadu has gotten an extension till December 28 since of the floods.
The municipal body is also expected to come up with a parking management system to reduce prohibited parking of vehicles. A corporation official said, We will install bollards to prevent illegal parking on busy streets and we are also considering a multi-level parking facility to accommodate vehicles.
Experts say the smart city project will change the face of T Nagar, which was once a residential neighborhood. Advait Jani, Chennai program coordinator, Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP), said the project will help get the basics right. The augmentation of existing infrastructure is also key to its success.
It is a long-term project, which can be extended to other parts of the city.Many shoppers in T Nagar welcomed the proposal. We have been waiting for this project as T Nagar has become increasingly overcrowded. Occasionally, there is no space for people to walk,said K Sathish, a regular visitor of Pondy Bazaar.
The website, mygov.in, where citizens could register their proposals, arriving more than 1,800 suggestions. A majority of them (25 percent) voted for motorized transport, followed by intelligent traffic management (23 percent) and waste reduction and recycling at 21 percent.
To create it to the first list of 20 cities, which will be released next year, a city has to formulate a Smart City Challenge Mission Proposal. If selected, each city can carry out development work worth 1, 000 crore over five years. Of this, 500 crore will be provided by the Union government, whereas the state government will donate 250 crore. The city corporation will have to generate the remaining 250 crore during external funding throughout the five-year period.
In the meantime, newly added neighborhoods such as Tiruvottiyur, Ambattur, Madhavaram and Alandur have been recognized for the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation scheme. These areas will get funds to develop infrastructure for water supply, storm water drains, sewerage, transport and enlargement of green places and parks with special provision for meeting the needs of children.
Sholinganallur leads at 57 percent but lost. T Nagar may have been chosen as the corporation`s entry for the Centre`s Smart City project, but Sholinganallur garnered the highest number of votes according to the data available on mygov. in. Although 57 percent of residents voted for Sholinganallur, T Nagar could bring in only 33 percent votes, followed by George Town (5%) and Mylapore (4%). Granting toto the Centre`s guidelines for the Smart City project, areas should be selected based on public participation. Many people voted for T Nagar via the ballot boxes in zonal offices and also through a corporation`s website, said a senior official. TNN
