Visakhapatnam: Vizag will be taking the first step towards becoming a smart city soon. Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC), additional commissioner, M. Janaki, said that a team of American and Indian businessmen of US-India Business Council (USIBC) will be visiting Vizag in the coming month.
Janaki was the representative from Vizag in the recently concluded US-India Smart Cities conclave in New Delhi. Urban development minister, Venkaiah Naidu said that the guidelines as to what constitutes a “smart city” will be formulated before the start of 2016.
While Ajmer and Allahabad are also in the plan to be developed as smart cities by the USA, the USIBC preferred to visit Vizag first.
The visiting USIBC team will consist of businessmen heading private companies which are already into partnerships with municipal corporations in different cities.
Janaki said that once the team visits Vizag and a meeting is held, it will be decided which services by GVMC can be opened up for private players. Privatisation of solid waste management and water supply management are on the cards.
However a major issue that remains in the city is of poor segregation of waste which needs to be tackled first.
Smart City, as per the discussions that took place in the conclave, will be initiatives to make delivery of services by the municipality more efficient and transparent. It would also mean improvement of the city’s infrastructure like water supply, storm water drains and transport along with providing boost to tourism.
USIBC members pointed out in the conclave that a single window clearance of projects and ideas is required for smoother transition to a smart city.
This is as of now is not possible as like in other metro cities, Vizag does not have an office of a mayor. However, Janaki said that the issue will be solved once the proposed transformation of Visakhapatnam Urban Development Authority (Vuda) into Visakhapatnam Metropolitan Development Authority (VMDA) takes place, which will be headed by the Chief Minister, N. Chandrababu Naidu himself.
