Srinagar Smart City aims to secure sustainability, efficiency for citizens: Lt Guv

Srinagar, Jun 23: Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha Thursday inaugurated two prestigious projects, the Integrated Command & Control Centre (ICCC) under the Srinagar Smart City initiative and Srinagar Municipal Corporation’s Storm Water Drainage Scheme at Shalteng.
Terming Integrated Command & Control Centre as the Nerve Centre for all Smart City IT interventions, the Lt Governor said that the Centre will act as a situation room of the city, integrating civic operations and creating opportunity for data-driven decision making.
The new facility will provide a single platform aimed at monitoring and addressing public issues on a real-time basis, he added.
The Lt Governor said, Srinagar Smart City aims to secure and increase livability, sustainability, efficiency for all citizens. The holistic approach in functioning of Srinagar Smart City will help in achieving five long term goals-smart mobility, smart economy, smart environment, smart living and smart governance.
Ground-breaking technological interventions are bringing efficiency in urban governance and strengthening the response capability of various stakeholders. Srinagar is embracing modern technical tools for sustainable and integrated urban living, the Lt Governor said.
Real time data will ensure effective management of services like water, electricity, mobility, education, healthcare, environment, and security, he added.
All stakeholders are working in tandem to make the Srinagar city a best example in the smart city movement in the country. With a wide range of smart solutions and infrastructure, we hope to enhance resource efficiency and seamless citizen services, the Lt Governor further added.
The Lt Governor emphasized on continuous evaluation of the functioning of the Integrated Command & Control Centre for analyzing the impact of civic services, effectiveness of Plan-B; Emergency Response Mechanism; developing Policy framework as per the needs of the people, and public feedback.
The Lt Governor also advised the Srinagar Smart City functionaries for replacement of overhead cables providing electrical power with underground cables and adopting a convergence model to develop such institutionalized mechanism which will lay a strong foundation for extension of better civic amenities in the years to come.
The Lt Governor further stressed on the need to bring about behavioral change among the officers as well as the public in terms of civic and other government services.
For better facilities, it is necessary that the consumers pay their bills on time. At the same time, it must be ensured that the rightful and honest consumers who are paying their electricity bills get quality power supply, the Lt Governor added.
He asked the concerned officers to develop a public feedback mechanism for online services of Water and electricity connections.
Speaking on the occasion, Junaid Azim Mattu, Mayor SMC said that the Integrated Command & Control Centre will prove as a pivot for the technological understanding of the governance challenges.
With various smart city initiatives, we are inching closer towards realizing the goal of a smarter city, he added.
Athar Aamir Khan, CEO Srinagar Smart City Limited and Commissioner SMC briefed the Lt Governor on the key features of the new Integrated Command & Control Centre.
ICCC enables collation of information and collaborative monitoring, thus helping in the analysis of data for quicker decision making. Intelligent operations capability ensures integrated data visualization, real time collaboration and deep analytics that can help different stakeholders prepare for emergencies, coordinate and manage response efforts and enhance the ongoing efficiency of city operations, it was informed.
He further briefed the Lt Governor about the 175 km long optical fiber project.
Later, the Lt Governor visited Shalteng and inaugurated the new Storm Water Drainage Scheme. It was informed that the new Drainage Scheme will benefit one lakh population and bring about a great change in the sanitary conditions of the area.
Dr Arun Kumar Mehta, Chief Secretary; Dheeraj Gupta, Principal Secretary to the Government, Housing and Urban Development Department; Pandurang K Pole, Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir; Charu Sinha, IGP CRPF; Vikramjit Singh, IGP Traffic, J&K; Mohd Aijaz, Deputy Commissioner Srinagar and other senior officers of Police and Civil Administration were present on the occasion.