After a series of hiccups and inordinate delays in execution of works, the Kakinada Smart City Corporation Limited (KSCCL) is all set to complete works worth ₹261.31 crore by May, besides accelerating the projects estimated to cost about ₹300 crore.
Even though Kakinada was among the 20 cities to be developed under the Central government’s Smart City initiative that was announced in 2015, the project moved at a snail’s pace in the first three years.
Barring installation of solar rooftops and distribution of smart food carts, no other significant work was undertaken under the project. The response from the public was lukewarm for the much-hyped supply of cooking gas through pipelines to households and the multipurpose cyber grid schemes.
Pending projects
With the construction of the state-of-the-art Command and Communication Centre nearing completion, the KSCCL is now focussing on expediting pending projects.
“Eleven projects, including the ₹94.89 crore Command Control Centre and ₹98.7 crore Smart Road-I project will be operational from May. The ₹12.5 crore project of providing digital classrooms, virtual classrooms, computer labs and studios in the municipal schools will also be executed from the next academic year,” says J. Sujay Arun, Chief Executive Officer of the KSCCL.
Besides giving priority to mobility and transport, street lighting, energy efficiency, drinking water supply and management, the Smart City project also focusses on solid waste management. Apart from constructing a sewage treatment plant at Yetimoga with an estimated outlay of ₹10.46 crore, e-carts will be introduced to transport solid waste. Under the e-rickshaw project, battery operated rickshaws will be introduced for denizens.
Next phase
“In the second phase, we are planning to undertake works such as the Smart Road-II project, septage management for the entire city, development of all the junctions in the city with the introduction of smart bus shelters – all estimated to cost about ₹300 crore,” explains Mr. Arun.
