Our Correspondent
KOHIMA, NOVEMBER 23
A state level consultative meeting on Kohima Smart City Mission was held at the State Banquet Hall, Kohima to deliberate and put up proposals for the project.
In his address as the chief guest at the meet, Chief Minister TR Zeliang acknowledged that the concept of a smart city is a new thing for the people of Nagaland. Stating that the new national flagship programme of the government at the centre is also one of the dreams of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to transform the face of India, the Chief Minister underscored that it is the duty of all the citizens to try and contribute their best to translate that dream into a reality.
“As I understand, a smart city is to be a progressive and sustainable city,” he said, and maintained that a smart city has to have a good and efficient transportation system, effective system for disposal of waste, sufficient and regular supply of water and electricity, good health care and education facilities, effective policing system and security arrangements, etc.
Viewed in the context of the present Kohima city, he admitted, these goals seem to be a very tall order. Kohima being a very old and unplanned city, the Chief Minister expressed concern that there will be serious limitations. Towards this, he stressed the necessity for cooperation of every citizen and the participation of all the departments.
“Every citizen will have important role to play in conceptualizing and in planning how make Kohima a smart city,” Zeliang stated. He expressed optimism on the large participation in the activities of the Municipal Affairs department towards creating mass awareness, and to involve the public in the Smart City Project. “The success of the Kohima Smart City Project will clearly depend on the involvements and contributions of the whole community of Kohima, particularly the landowners, who should be willing to sacrifice individual interest for the larger cause of the whole community as and when necessary,” he said.
He called upon the people to start cultivating a better sense civic consciousness and try to make the town clean and healthy, as the first steps towards the smart city project, and also emphasized the need to involve departments like PHE, Power and Road & Bridges etc to renovate or replace the entire system to be a sustainable one.
Meanwhile, the Chief Minister also shared his thoughts on the possibility of Nagaland going for a “Green City Project”, which will be a planned city and will be able to satisfy the aspirations of the present and future generation of Nagas in the long run. To this, he urged upon urban planners to simultaneously start charting out for such a modern planned township for the younger generation as Kohima is being retrofitted into a smarter city.
Delivering the keynote address, Chief Secretary Pankaj Kumar said besides the key components, Smart City Mission guidelines do not provide for what a smart city is, thus leaving it upon the people to come up with creative concepts like a “wish list or a dream” of how they want their city to be.
Pointing out that a scheme in itself cannot make a city smart, the bureaucrat highlighted the need for conversions and inventory, the need to find and bridge gaps and to make Kohima Smart City happen convergently.
Parliamentary secretary for Municipal Affairs, R Tohanba in his speech said with Kohima being selected as one among the 98 cities across India for Smart Cities Mission, the citizens have been bestowed a vision and their support and understanding of the project is vital to make it into a reality. Stating that the mission demands dedicated personnel to execute its many plans, the legislator called upon all to contribute their best towards the cause. He admitted that Kohima may not feature in the Centre’s first list of 20 cities under the first phase of the mission, however, he said that should not deter the minds of the citizens and everyone involved should continue to strive to do better in the next phase.
Kohima Municipal Council (KMC) administrator, Kovi Meyase highlighted the challenges that Kohima faces towards becoming a Smart City, which included the lack of basic sustainable infrastructures and facilities such as road, water, energy, digital connectivity, drainage, septage management, waste management and sanitation etc. He said at the citizens’ level is the evident lack of civic sense and empathy towards the general welfare of the city and its institutions of authority, which he feels is accentuated more due to absence of a sense of belongingness among the citizens.
“Our unique landholding system and the haphazard constructions bereft of any safety measures, unplanned and unregulated developmental activities coupled with the increasing traffic congestions are amongst the many challenges that confront us, besides the absence of an effective and responsible common channel to address the grievances of the citizens in the urban delivery system,” the municipal official pointed out.
While admitting that challenges are daunting and plenty, Meyase said the prospects appear far greater basically because the citizens have realized that the purpose of the mission is to improve the qualities of the city and drive economic growth by enabling local area development and harnessing technology which would lead to smart outcomes. He said land and its related issues is a primary concern, but there is now a general consensus that no major obstacles would arise out of it, and this stand, he pointed out, was further endorsed by the four neighbouring villages of the capital- Jotsoma, Phesama, Meriema and Kohima Village.
Atreyee Mitra Aggrawal, head of Infrastructure Planning & Design VSPL Gurgaon, delivered a presentation on smart solutions on Kohima Smart City.
The programme, chaired by Municipal Affairs secretary Dr. Maongwati Aier, was attended by a host of legislators, bureaucrats and heads of different departments.
