Amaravati smart city needs good roads, mass rapid transport facility, enough drinking and raw water, piped gas lines, power, separate industrial corridor, common space and GPS facilities, said former Tamil Nadu Governor P.S. Ramamohan Rao here on Monday.
Mr. Rao was delivering a lecture on ‘Smart cities with reference to Amaravathi’ organised by the Rotary Club of Vijayawada, The Vijayawada Industrial Estate, the J.R.D. Tata Industrial Estate Association, the AP Small Industries Association in association with the V.R. Siddhartha Engineering College Old Students’ Association.
Though there was no official definition for smart cities, planning, urban development legislation, metro rail project, digital connectivity, workstations in all villages and towns, technology to tap solar power and rainwater harvesting plans were a must, he said.
“As per the plan, Amaravati is a conurbation of nine cities with about 75 lakh population, which needs good designing in all aspects. For constructing a smart city, land band should be created in advance,” Mr. Ramamohan Rao, also a retired IPS officer, said.
New York, London and Paris have developed mass rapid transport facility with good residential and commercial areas some 100 years ago. In India, smart cities concept was introduced recently, he said and explained the history and prominence of Bezawada some 70 years ago.
Stating that metro project is a must for smart city development, Mr. Rao said the metro lines could be erected along the Krishna river bank and on canals in flowing through the city. Later, he released a book ‘Changing Values’ by journalist Andavalli Satyanarayana.