Everything has suddenly become ‘smart’ in Bhubaneswar. After all, bagging the number one position in the Smart City Challenge among 100 cities in the country, is no doubt, a huge achievement for the State capital. For a fortnight after the city was catapulted to this exalted status, everywhere people were either talking or dreaming of a metamorphosed Bhubaneswar and some still are, despite the fact that they were pulled back to the ground realities on February 15 when it was ranked 24th among 73 cities in the cleanliness survey under the Swachh Bharat Mission. The paradox was stark.
It required a lot of hard work to get this recognition though. The Citizens’ Connect initiatives of the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) saw participation of at least 2.69 lakh people, 26 per cent its population, more than any other city in the race when it pitched for the Smart City Challenge. The street plays, photography contests, flash mobs, surveys, information kiosks, community mapping and a huge social media build-up paid off.
To cut a long story short, consultants hired by the BMC did their job admirably in getting Bhubaneswar on top of the Challenge list by projecting grandiose plans on infrastructure, sanitation and waste management, housing, public transport, water and power, e-governance and services delivery etc. But a closer look at the Bhubaneswar project reveals a different picture.
The BMC has proposed to develop 985 acres as Bhubaneswar Town Centre District (BTCD), as Smart City, where ‘Smart Solutions’ will be introduced. The BMC has been smart enough to demarcate the most posh and planned parts of the Capital spanning Sahid Nagar to Sishu Bhawan Square as the BTCD. These are areas that are the most developed parts of the city, boasting of modern urban infrastructure, services and amenities. They will now be bestowed with `4,095 crore for further development of institutional, physical, social and economic infrastructure.
The huge investment would be concentrated around 46,000 people against the total city population of more than 11 lakh. With so much resources committed for such a small area, the big question is does the State Government have a firm plan for the entire capital to prevent the skewed development scenario that is going to emerge? Bhubaneswar is one of the most ancient cities in the country but the new capital conceived in 1948 brought in planned growth.
With abundant availability of free land for expansion, natural drainage system, green cover, a salubrious weather year round and a little over one million population, Bhubaneswar had many advantages over other cities in the country in the smart city race. However, though among the first planned cities in the country, its urban woes are brimming over, thanks to building population pressure, expansion and lopsided development indices. For all its claims of a clean and green city, the BMC has not yet been able to fix the solid waste management system, one of the basic requirements of good municipal governance. A city that generates more than 500 tonne of garbage daily does not even have a single solid waste treatment plant nor a proper waste disposal system in place.
The situation is aptly captured by the Swachh Sarvekshan Survey, which accorded a measly 25 of the total points to the city in the “Waste Management Processing and Disposal” category. The capital is also struggling to manage its ever-increasing population, particularly the exponential growth in slums over the last decade.
A latest assessment reveals, at least 36 per cent of the city population live in slums, which are more than 500 in number and rising. The unplanned growth and mindless encroachment is also taking a heavy toll on the capital city’s natural geographical advantages. Bhubaneswar’s natural drainage systems are fast collapsing with disastrous consequences.
Large parts get submerged and rendered cut-off in the event of showers and this has become a common phenomenon now. The city woefully lacks in basic sanitation and amenities like public toilets even as the integrated underground sewerage network is taking ages to be completed.
The public transportation system is in a shambles despite introduction of City Bus service under erstwhile JNNURM. The city doesn’t even have a parking plan in place and allowed roads to double up as parking lots. The Smart City goals of 24x7 electricity and water supply, sound sanitation, solid waste management, health and education system should not be meant for the BTCD alone because these are the rights of every citizen, irrespective of location. Bhubaneswar will only become smart if there is equal growth across its length and breadth; skewed development will only create a dangerous imbalance failing the very promise of the Smart City initiative.
The “power-point” bureaucracy has won the first round but the real test lies in its ability to transform itself into an able and efficient implementer, ensuring fast-paced, time-bound and holistic execution of the plans. The biggest challenge, however, would be posed by the citizenry which is characterised by a sheer lack of civic sense and scant respect for law.
Making the “unsmart people” smart should be an equal task as development of smart infrastructure.