Pics: Spoorthi Ullal
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (MD)
Mangaluru, Sep 30: The district administration on Wednesday September 30 urged the citizens to participate in the Smart City challenge and give their suggestions for the proposal to be sent to the union government. The district officials lamented that despite several meetings and publicity, the people of Mangaluru have not responded enthusiastically enough.
Addressing a press meet at his office here, deputy commissioner A B Ibrahim said, "Mangaluru city is in the list of 100 cities to be developed into Smart Cities. It is the duty of every individual to give feedback to enable Mangaluru to be selected in the list of top 20 cities in the first phase of the Mission. We have held many meetings in this regard but the people are not coming forward to give their feedback."
"October 5 is the last date to send the vision statement and December 15 is the last date to submit the Smart City proposal to the union government. Citizens' participation is the main criterion and suggestions can be given at www.mygov.in. Some people have started to give feedback. We have received a total of 320 feedbacks out of which 109 are through email. We have put up hoardings in the city. We will circulate pamphlets to every house. We have also started sending bulk SMS so that the message reaches at least up to 3 lac people. The district administration has announced Rs 1 lac for the best vision statement. If we do not receive a suitable statement, we will divide the prize money and the best four statements will be given Rs 25,000 each," A B Ibrahim said.
"We are starting TV shows where discussions will be held from September 30 with the officials, a NGO representatives and representatives from various organisations. On Sunday October 4 at 5 pm, we will have a public interaction in the premises of Mini Soudha. From this we will be able to know the people's points of view. We are currently in the third place as far as citizens’ participation is concerned. In the Smart City concept, citizens’ participation is very important. We have tried our best to reach out to every individual but people are not showing much interest," he added.
Minister Ramanath Rai saidm, "The district administration’s aim is to bring Mangaluru city in the list of first 20 cities. An American agency named Bloomberg will finalize the list based on the specified criteria. In the first phase, 20 cities will be made into Smart Cities and we need to be in that list. The state government and the central government will pay Rs 100 crore each year for 5 years for the development of the city. People’s participation is an important criterion and we need to fulfil it. People think that Smart City means development of the roads, but it is not that type of a programme; it has a different angle."
Consultant Dilip Kumar said, "One of the main criteria for selection of Smart City is people’s involvement. We need to collect the feedback from the people and prepare a report based on it and send it to the government by December 15. The media can play a vital role in reaching out to the people. A Smart City uses digital, communication technologies or information to enhance quality and performance of urban services, to reduce costs and resource consumption, and to engage more effectively and actively with its citizens.
"Sectors that have been developing Smart City technology include government services, transport and traffic management, energy, health care, water and waste. Smart City applications are developed with the goal of improving the management of urban flows and allowing for real time responses to challenges. A Smart City may therefore be more prepared to respond to challenges than one with a simple ‘transactional’ relationship with its citizens,” Dilip Kumar added.
To send the feedback, one can mail it to smartcitymangaluru@gmail.com or go to mygov.in.
Karavali Utsav 2015 to be held from Deceber 23 to January 3 in city
Prior to the press meet to discuss the measures for the Smart City, district administration held a meeting to discuss about the upcoming annual Karavali Utsav.
"It has been decided to change the location of Karavali Utsav to a place near the petrol bunk in Padua, Kadri. The exact location will be revealed in the next meeting. The Utsav will be held at a cost of Rs 75 lacs. The government has not yet decided to provide grant and if the government gives grant then the cost can be increased," said the DC.
Speaking about the Beach Festival, the DC said that it would be held on January 3 for a day.
Pradeep Kumar Kalkura, Manohar Prasad, Roy Castelino, Mohammed Haneef, Kodijal Ibrahim, Mohammed Nazeer, Janaki S Bramahvar, Srividya and others were also present on this occasion.