Kohima is yet again gearing up to compete for a place in round 2 of the selection of Smart Cities having failed the first round and also the fast track round. It is expected that another forty cities will be selected in the second round of the smart city competition. In the last fast track competition Kohima, the capital city of Nagaland scored 51, three points short of the last city that qualified and a good improvement from the earlier score of 42.55 in the first round.
The ministry of urban development in its objective of what a smart city need to fulfil states a city that provides core infrastructure with a decent quality of life to its citizens and a clean sustainable environment. The core infrastructure includes water supply, electricity, sanitation, urban mobility (pedestrian friendly roads and quicker traffic) and public transport, affordable housing, IT connectivity and digitization, governance with e-governance, sustainable environment, security, health and education. The list does not have any farfetched plans but the usual basic necessities and the qualifiers for the improvement of the quality of life of a city’s citizens. The scoring is further divided into City level plan (30%), Area-based development (55%) and Pan-city solution (15%). It is laudable that the department of Municipal Affairs along with the consulting firm is trying its best so that Kohima also gets a place along with the next forty in the round 2.
Unfortunately for many cities including Kohima, the qualifier does not only look for a city that has the best plan but also the performance of the city during the last 3 years in improving the quality of life. It is redundant to mention the almost zero development initiatives taken within Kohima on those core infrastructure requirements but for the purpose of clarity of this piece it is pertinent to repeat.
In terms of electricity Kohima has decent supply with fewer outages than most cities in India. It is only the revenue collection that has to be better monitored. In the absence of data, on face value, Kohima also might just fare well in the Health and Education sectors with reputed hospitals, schools and colleges in and around the city.
However in the remaining areas like water, sanitation, urban mobility, affordable housing, IT connectivity, good governance with e-governance and sustainable environment, Kohima has failed its citizens over the years. The most important being water supply. The low Litres Per Capita per Day (lpcd) supply of water in Kohima has now achieved legendary status with citizens of Kohima left to avail water from private suppliers and carriers. The city with one of the highest rainfall in the state still has no mega project on rain-water harvesting. The inability of the government as well as the landowners to provide enough water to a city that is actually situated in one of the best areas in terms its proximity to water sources is in fact unfortunate.
Nevertheless, it has to be a lesson well learned for all the people of the state so that the other towns can hereafter plan ahead. It is like adding salt to injury but looks like the NREGs bubble has burst in Nagaland, Urban Development is in. A big thumps-up to the team that is tirelessly working for Kohima’s inclusions; it’s everyone’s wish that Kohima becomes a Smart City.
