February 2019. That’s the deadline for Panjim city to become an ‘intelligent’ or ‘smart’ city. According to TOI, the state capital’s intelligent city management system could be up and running by then. This will enable citizens to enjoy services such as smart parking, city-wide Wi-Fi network and efficient solid waste management.
Work to turn Panjim city into a ‘smart’ city to begin soon
The Smart City Mission aims to turn a number of cities across the country into ‘Smart’ Cities. Panjim city is among the cities that are shortlisted for the same. Work is likely to begin from next month.
With this new system, citizens will possibly see the integration of Internet of Things (IoT) devices, air quality sensors, radio frequency identification (RFID) tags, emergency management systems and security systems. The intelligent city management system is also likely to allow people to pre-book parking slots in Panjim city.
“Around 70 firms have shown an interest of which 12 companies have paid the bid document fee,” chief executive officer of the Imagine Panaji Smart City Development, Swayandipta Pal Chaudhuri said.
“The RFP was floated on March 19, and we will close it by April 19. Our estimate is completion in about eight months,” Chaudhuri said. He also added that they expect to issue the work orders within a month of selecting the master systems integrator.
What can an intelligent city management system do for Panjim city?
So what is this sophisticated system going to do for the city? According to the news report in TOI, a lot.
This system will be the backbone of the integrated command and control center (ICCC), which is being developed under the Smart City Mission.
It will focus on a number of actions. City surveillance through smart cameras, efficient solid waste collection through RFID tags which will be embedded on trucks, garbage bins and even at weighbridges. The RFID tag readers will be placed around the city to monitor the movement of garbage trucks.
“We will not allow any deviation from the project proposal. Most government projects are delayed due to deviations and it also leads to cost overruns,” Chaudhuri said.
The ICCC also plans to implement smart parking across the capital. In doing so, it will enable citizens will be able to pre-book parking slots and pay for these through an app.
Information source – TOI
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