Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu on Wednesday sought Japan’s expertise in building the new capital city, three mega cities and 14 smart cities in the State on the third day of his visit to that country.
The Chief Minister and his team visited the Nakata Waste Management site in Fukuoka city, one of the 10 populated cities in Japan.
Following a 13-minute film on the city’s waste management system, a presentation on landfills was made. He was informed that the landfills could be reclaimed and used for residential or farming purposes. At the UN Habitat Centre in Fukuoka, Deputy Mayor of Fukuoka Atsushiko Sadakari said Fukuoka was identified as one of the 38 best cities in the world by the United Nations. He said they would be happy to share their knowledge in building Andhra Pradesh’s capital city.
‘Striking similarities’In his address, Mr. Naidu said India was nearly 10 times the size of Japan, yet Japan’s economy was bigger. However, A.P. had many similarities with Japan, he said. “We have a 1,000 km-long coastline, natural resources and tourism potential.” He added that he wanted to build a capital with Japan’s expertise. “I want to build the capital on both sides of River Krishna,” he said, adding Vizag too was on the agenda.
Mr. Naidu also visited Smart Grid Community (Fuji Electric) where he was informed how the smart grid monitored consumption of energy and predicted the demand for the next 24 hours to ensure efficient energy management. Mr. Naidu invited Fuji Electric to do a feasibility study for a smart grid project in A.P. Later, the Mayor of Kitakyushu city gave a presentation on the environmental policy. The city administration involves industry, public sector and consumers in the creation of integrated systems to make it eco-friendly. The city was being developed as a pilot project under the ‘Japan Smart City.’
Earlier, the A.P. team visited San-no storm water reservoir site for flood control management. Following floods in 1999, a deep structure was built where all the water from the city gets collected and roads are drained by the storm water system. Mr. Naidu said A.P. could learn from this.
