Way to Smart Gurgaon

A luxurious city with crystalline structures, sumptuous apartments, ritzy malls and shopping arcades—that’s what comes to mind when we think of Gurgaon. But behind the glossy veneer lies a darker side. Built as mandated by the Haryana Development and Regulation of Urban Areas Act, 1975, which encouraged the private sector to develop huge land parcels and build apartment blocks and office complexes, Gurgaon is an example of poor urban planning, mismanagement and malfunctioning infrastructure. The city that aims to become India’s Singapore by 2021 has poor air quality, roads with potholes and chaotic traffic to show for itself. Also consider the absence of public transport; a water table depleting at an alarming rate of 2-3 m per year; 8-10 hours of daily power cuts; sewage spilling on roads in the absence of waste management; 50 per cent of the population residing in haphazard conditions; and a high crime rate.

To make Gurgaon truly smart, all these issues must be considered by government agencies and private developers. For its part, the Gurgaon government has come up with a zero-outage target to be achieved within a year; this smart energy grid vision offers scope—and hope—for the city to become smart. Smart water management and conservation and rainwater harvesting would lead to availability of water 24/7 while recharging groundwater. To enhance infrastructure services, smart infrastructure design and planning are needed in sync with local government initiatives. To tackle traffic issues, smart integrated mobility would reduce private vehicular traffic by providing better public transport and last mile connectivity and prediction and mitigation of congestion would lead to better air quality. And the mammoth structures of glass must turn smart, adding intelligence to buildings to conserve energy, and become responsive and interactive in order to fulfil the demands of occupants.

(The article has been contributed by Pratap Padode, Fouder and Director of Smart City Council of India.)

Courtesy: Smart Cities Council India
http://india.smartcitiescouncil.com/