Smart City race – Lower Parel a strong contender

Image Credits : DNA

The Smart City initiative of the Central Government aims at improving the quality of urbanization in 100 cities of India. Smart cities will receive funding to enhance their core infrastructure like water, power, sanitation, transport, housing and digital connectivity. Each Smart city is proposed central funds of Rs. 500 crore, state funding of about Rs. 250 crore and a similar amount from the local civic body.

Senior officials from The BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation said Lower Parel in South Mumbai is a strong contender among other areas like Nariman Point, Andheri (W) and Fort for area-based development under the Smart City project. The BMC is in its final stages of preparing the SmartCity detailed report which is likely to be released in two months. Many rounds of stakeholder consultations are in process and feedback is also being elicited from citizens through social media like Facebook and Twitter.

“Lower Parel has both residential and commercial uses. It has a very different connotation as far as traffic is concerned; people can walk to work. Walkability is an important factor for development of a Smart City,” said a senior civic official working on the report. “Lower Parel is the only area in Mumbai with five suburban railway stations nearby; Lower Parel, Elphinstone, Currey Road, Chinchpokli and Mahalaxmi. A monorail station is also likely to come up in the vicinity, thus providing good connectivity to citizens via the mass transit system,” the official added.

“If Lower Parel is selected, many civic services can be improved in the area. Currently the BMC provides only four hours of water supply, but has proposed to increase it to twenty hours by next year. World-class roads will be built to ease heavy pedestrian traffic,” said another BMC official. The BMC, which is working on a city mobility plan, will take up Lower Parel as a priority area for implementation. The civic body has identified missing links in the area where bridges will be proposed connecting two areas, like Lower Parel to Saat Rasta. Planning on better waste management is also on the cards for this suburb.

However, S V R Srinivas, the Additional municipal commissioner said that the report is still in its draft stage and Lower Parel is only being considered among other areas. Due to the infrastructural advantages, this area has an edge over other nominees.