BENGALURU: Bengaluru has been finally chosen for the Smart City project, making it the seventh city in Karnataka to make it to the list. The city is expected to get Rs. 1,000 crore in the next five years, including Rs 500 crore from the state government under the project. In its presentation, the government had pitched to develop the core areas of the city, including its heritage structures.

“We had given a presentation seeking projects worth Rs1,700 crore to improve old Bengaluru. The major places in core Bengaluru that are expected to witness a makeover include KR Market (City market), Russell Market, Cubbon Park, Ulsoor and Sankey tank, KC General hospital, and TenderSURE roads along with a slum in Gandhinagar,” said Mahendra Jain, Additional Chief Secretary, Urban Development Department.

It's all about improving quality of life: Swati Ramanathan 

Reacting to Bengaluru making it to the Smart City list, Chairperson of Jana USP and co-founder of Jana Group Swati Ramanathan who is the brain behind TenderSURE (a road project that changed the cityscape) says with or without Smart City funds, Bengaluru has to do some projects anway to fix the urban mess. In an interview with The Times of India, she spoke about what went into planning the Smart City proposal for Bengaluru. Excerpts of the interview:

Was it easy to plan for Bengaluru because you know the city well?

I had already been asked by the ministry of urban development to review the applications of some other cities for the 100 Smart City list. For Bengaluru, I had to factor in some things the city would anyway have to do. The formats for application were difficult -we had to match the funds and projects and detail how much investment was required to lighten the budgetary burden on the municipal ity, state and Centre. The first attempt made by BBMP had some shortcomings but there was very less time to revise and refocus. In the second time, BBMP wanted me to be fully involved in the application. We selected central areas of Bengaluru because the foot print is larger and took up things used by the maximum number of people, things we want to protect... Of course, enhancing the economic impact by doing so and keeping the infrastructure development aspect in the whole plan because it's all about improving the quality of life.

How good are plans proposed by other cities?

The plans have all tried to make sure they are able to develop smaller areas, monetize land, expect huge PPP, etc.Bhubaneswar, which was one of the first cities selected in the first list in October 2015, has a lot of plans which have emanated from my consultations and suggestions on urban planning for that city.

What does it mean for Bengaluru to be part of the Smart City project?

I believe that even if Bengaluru had not been selected for the Smart City project, it would still have to undertake projects that stem from its needs. There are many projects the local government was interested to take up or even for earmarking allocations. Take, for example, the revamping of KR Market; much investment has gone waste but it still remains a core historic economic zone and thousands of lives are dependent on it. So, even if it was not considered as a project under Smart City funds, BBMP would still have to take up the work.

Bengaluru is the seventh city from Karnataka to make it to the list

Bengaluru wasn’t considered in the first round when the project was announced in 2015. After it missed the bus last year too, the department prepared well, doing a survey and communicating with the public before giving the presentation, a senior official said.

With 30 cities listed this time, the total count of smart cities is now 90. Only 10 more cities from across the nation will get a chance in the next round. Karnataka had presented a list of 11 cities for inclusion in the project, of which Mangaluru, Belagavi, Hubballi-Dharwad, Shivamogga, Davanagere and Tumakuru have made it.

Article Sources: The New Indian Express, The Times of India