In a major push for Smart City development, the Puducherry Smart City Development Limited (PSCDL) Board has cleared two projects – bicycle sharing and modular toilets —under the first phase.
The 12-member Board headed by Chief Secretary Ashwani Kumar, discussed both the projects and gave the green signal recently. Two operators have been identified as the execution agencies for the implementation of the bicycle sharing project and modular toilets.
The bicycle-sharing scheme is among the 22 prioritised projects worth ₹493.51 crores, out of the 63 projects listed in the smart city proposal approved by the City Level Advisory Forum. The ambitious project envisages an exclusive bicycle track of 10.3 km in the Area Based Development component of the smart cities mission.
“The operator has been approved by PSCDL. To start with, we are planning to establish around 21 docking stations with 10 to 15 cycles in each station. PSCDL will devise the working model in consultation with the operator. The first phase of the project will cover the Boulevard and it will be subsequently expanded to the city. The operator has been asked to start the work,” Arjun Sharma, Chief Executive Officer of PSCDL told The Hindu.
The bicycles will be a mix of regular cycles and e-cycles and equipped with GPS and can be tracked for their availability at the nearest docking stations. The bicycles will be equipped with smart locks which will open with a QR code.
The Beach Promenade, Bharathi Park, Gandhi Thidal, Mairie building, Sri Aurobindo Ashram and the Railway Station are some prominent points identified for the bicycle docking stations.
The second project, approved by the Board, will be modular toilets. The operator will soon start work on the installation of 10 e-toilets most of which will come up in the Boulevard frequented by tourists. Apart from this, project reports submitted by line departments on Stormwater drainage systems and convergence of transformers has also been approved by the Board, Mr. Sharma added.
