BANGALORE: At the Indo-German initiative to promote the use of smart technologies in major cities, Additional Chief Secretary for state government K Jairaj, emphasised that there was a ‘dire’ need to address the challenges of sanitation and energy in Bangalore.
He was speaking at the inauguration of the symposium on ‘Smart City Technologies as Innovation Drivers’ organised by Centre for Infrastructure, Sustainable Transportation and Urban Planning (CiSTUP), Indian Institute of Science and Acatech, the German Academy of Science and Engineering on Wednesday.
“Bangalore has a daily garbage production of 3,500 tonnes. It is a herculean task to ensure that it is picked up, sorted, transported and stored while ensuring no significant spills. People are frustrated that this work is not happening effectively in all areas. The gap between expectation and performance has not been bridged,” he said, while referring to the idea of converting waste into energy that was proposed to the government but never took off.
Focusing on energy conservation, Jairaj said that there was a big demand-supply gap despite the government’s measures.
“The city consumes 2,500 MW of power, which accounts to 45 per cent of the state’s consumption. The industrial sector has resorted to captive power, which is expensive and pollution-intensive. However, we see today that the city has the highest installed capacity of solar water heaters of around 1,500 MW,” said Jairaj.
He added that measures such as green buildings had reduced power outages.
Advisor to the Prime Minister on Public Information Infrastructure & Innovations Sam Pitroda, who delivered a speech on teleconference, said that Indian cities face a major task of countering sanitation problems.
The joint symposium sought to generate ideas on how smart technologies could assist mega cities to address problems of infrastructure, sanitation, transport and others.
Members of academic and industry sector from India and Germany, such as Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC), Bosch, Jacobs University, CiSTUP among others were present.
Clas Neumann, president of the Indo-German Chamber of Commerce, said, “For instance, the city of Cologne has 30,000 smart meters installed in new households, which makes the role of IT very crucial. We need technology that can help us predict a traffic jam or energy shortage,” he said.