The New Delhi Municipal Council is working towards making areas under its jurisdiction wi-fi zones and has finalised a design for common streetlight poles which will have wi-fi antennas, security cameras and LED lights to save costs.
NDMC chairman Jalaj Srivastava, who presented the 2014-15 Budget of the Council, said this was part of the civic body’s welfare measures. “Wi-fi facilities are available for free in major cities in this world. Our idea is to provide a way in which people can use it for emergency purpose if they need to look up a hospital or call for help,” he said. “The sarkari wi-fi will be offered for free for about 15 minutes or so, after which the user will be charged.”
With a provision of Rs.10 crore for new projects under the Budget, the NDMC also plans to introduce a CCTV-based system to monitor the entire public space which will go beyond crime and accident control and also facilitate assistance to senior citizens, women and children. Further, Mr. Srivastava said there is a comprehensive plan for non-motorised transport in the NDMC area and a plan to fully automate existing surface parking.
“Parking space has always been a challenge for us. Although we developed two multi-level fully automated parking [at Sarojini Nagar Market and Baba Kharak Singh Marg] they have not been complete success stories possibly due to perceptions and habits…” he admitted. “We will have to focus on parallel urban planning and put a cap on the number of cars that can be parked in the C.P. area. We will also soon put on our website details of every parking spot in that area. So if the parking is full the user will have to go to the next parking area,” he added.
With the delay in the Connaught Place redevelopment project plaguing the Council over the last few years, Mr. Srivastava said that “the façade restoration of 12 blocks, five existing subways and two new subways with 22 escalators has been completed”. He also added that areas such as Scindia House, Middle Circle and Radial Roads left out during 2010 will be more exhaustively planned for revival.
The Council, he said, has also approved the Rs.153-crore project for ‘uninterrupted 24x7 water supply in the NDMC area’. “The project was submitted to the MoUD for funding under JNNURM and has been approved in-principle. Final approval is expected soon. This should be a model for civic agencies as it involves the sustainable concept of saving, recycling and waste minimisation as the three core approaches simultaneously,” he said.
Further, the NDMC has roped in IIT-Delhi for improving the storm water drainage system of the area and retrofitting will also be carried out after de-silting. There are also several new proposals to intensify the green areas with development of garden huts, a fragrance park and a new cactus house to be created in Lodhi Garden nursery.
