Having secured suggestions from academic experts of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) and the Pantnagar university regarding the Dehradun smart city proposal, the Mussoorie Dehradun Development Authority (MDDA), plans to hold a meeting soon towards incorporation of these suggestions in the plan. Aiming to submit the enhanced proposal for Dehradun smart city to the Government of India before March 31, the MDDA will first get the same approved by its board expected to be held in the near future, said the MDDA secretary Prakash Chandra Dumka.
Talking to The Pioneer about the steps taken by the authority after the Dehradun smart city proposal failed to make it in three rounds of the Smart Cities Mission organised by the Ministry of Urban Development so far, the MDDA secretary elaborated that the authority had shared the smart city proposal with experts of information technology and infrastructure from IIT Roorkee, IIT Kharagpur and IIT Kanpur along with Pantnagar University. He said. “The IITs and Pantnagar university experts studied our proposal based on which we have received some suggestions from them.
We will soon hold a meeting to decide how to incorporate these suggestions in the smart city plan and then get approval of the MDDA board in order to submit the enhanced proposal for Dehradun smart city. The ministry had not made any negative remarks about our proposal which failed to make it in the last round held by a minute margin of .45 marks. As such there are no major flaws pointed out in the Dehradun smart city proposal so our focus is on further enhancing it,” he said. The MDDA secretary further clarified that the smart city concept is not mainly about infrastructural development but about smart solutions. He said, “In fact the ministry has discouraged focus on infrastructure in the smart city mission with the main focus being on providing smart solutions for the city. let us be positive regarding our chances of making it this time. If we make it this time, we will get Rs 100 crore annually for executing the smart city proposal. Apart from the varied government schemes and sources of funds being accessed for infrastructural development, the additional Rs 100 crore we will receive in a year if selected under the smart city mission, will enable us to execute considerable development in the city,” he said.
It will be recalled that the Dehradun smart city proposal first failed to make in the initial competitive round of the Smart City Mission in January 2016 when the first 20 towns were announced under the mission by the Ministry of Urban Development. The proposal failed to make it in the second round in September 2016 and was met with disappointment again in the third round in January 2017. The grounds stated by the centre for non-inclusion of the Dehradun smart city proposal so far were studied and necessary measures were taken to bring about the desired improvement in the proposal and its chances of being approved. It is pertinent to mention here that the Dehradun smart city proposal had elicited controversy since the start with public groups and political parties strongly opposing the plan for using the tea gardens for the project. The proposal was first based on greenfield area development which was stated to be the cause of its failure in the first round as all the proposals based on greenfield area development were rejected in the initial round. The State authorities then altered the proposal into one based on the retrofitting concept.
Officials inform that Smart City concept mainly focuses on facilitating a smart society through empowerment, engagement and mobile phone apps; optimising use of technology for integration, connection and data; facilitating open, collaborated and developmental governance;green choice and efficiency in energy utilisation; sharing, integrating and decarbonising mobility along with resilience, regeneration and transformation to develop a sustainable city.
Being a gateway to Himalayan tourist and pilgrim destinations including the Char Dhams, wealth of natural resources, proximity to the national capital, presence of various institutions of national importance and prominent schools are stated to be the strengths of Dehradun. lack of economic base other than tourism, inadequate urban infrastructure and services, poor public transport and inadequate road network, growing environmental pollution- particularly air and water, ad hoc and unplanned urban development have been identified as the city’s weaknesses. It now remains to be seen whether the city is able to make it in the fourth round of the mission.