Elevated highways, decentralised bus stands and smart parking solutions topped the ideas put forth by district officials at the stakeholders meeting convened for discussing Tiruchi Smart City proposal on Wednesday.
Besides them, representatives of a few educational institutions, including the National Institute of Technology and Tiruchi Airport, took part in it, which was presided over by K.S. Palanisamy, Collector.
Participating in the discussion, B.C.H. Negi, Director, Tiruchi Airport, said that unlike many other airports, Tiruchi International Airport was located within the city limit. Hence, due importance must be provided to give a facelift to the airport and the adjacent area in the smart city proposal.
An official of the National Highways said that Tiruchi, which was one of the fast developing cities in the country, needed elevated highways. It would solve many issues including traffic snarls, haphazard parking of public and private vehicles on roads and others. It would make the city beautiful. Moreover, elevated highways would be the standing solutions for highly populated cities.
Highlighting the traffic congestion at the Tiruchi Central Bus stand, a representative of the State Transport Corporation said that it was the right time for building an integrated bus stand or create decentralised bus stands. Both State and private buses were finding it extremely difficult to operate in the existing bus stand.
A representative of NIT said that haphazard parking had been the biggest problem of the city. Hence, the smart city proposal should revolve around finding a smart solution to the issue.
Stressing the importance of providing accurate data for drafting smart city proposal, Mr. Palanisamy said officials should submit necessary details to the Tiruchirapalli City Corporation and the consultants within two days.
M. Vijayalakshmi, Commissioner, said an essay competition would be conducted for college students to bring out best ideas to be incorporated in the smart city proposal. Best idea would carry a cash award of Rs. 25,000 cash.
S. Nagesh, City Engineer, spoke.
