Imagine driving into Pondy Bazaar in T Nagar but unlike in the present day.
Pedestrianised T. Nagar will have lesser parking concerns
Chennai: Imagine driving into Pondy Bazaar in T Nagar but unlike in the present day, car parking is effortless due to on-street parking management system. Imagine 24/7 internet connectivity for free because T Nagar is a WiFi zone. Imagine e-rickshaws, solar-powered buildings, digital billboards and much more. No, this is not utopia. This is what the Chennai Corporation has in store for T Nagar — the chosen destination for a smart city, details of which were accessed by DC.
The Rs 1,366 crore smart city package, readied by the local body with assistance from Jones Lang Lasalle (JLL) and Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP), includes two pan city solutions worth Rs 518 crore and around 10 retrofitting ideas worth Rs 848 crore. “Pan city solutions will be implemented for the city while retrofitting solutions will be T Nagar initially with the idea being to replicate it across city over a period of time,” said A. Shankar, head — urban solutions, strategic consulting, JLL.
One of the key problems in T. Nagar is congestion. With high rise buildings everywhere contributing to shrinking road space, finding a parking spot in T. Nagar turns out to be a nightmare and which severely cripples vehicle movement as well. The local body has suggested reviving its multi-level parking solutions to offer more parking space but it is the inclusion of on-street parking management system that has caught the eye.
When operational, on-street management will see dynamic pricing being introduced. Officials believe that the primary notion is to make people use more of public transport to travel into T. Nagar. To this effect, introduction of cycle sharing policy and e-rickshaws can also help reduce pollution levels in the area. “More localities in T. Nagar will be made into pedestrian only zones over a period of time,” said an official.
Besides, the pan city solution to introduce intelligent traffic management system may finally reduce the strain on traffic police personnel as all signals in the city will be automated and remotely controlled. “A city surveillance system that we have proposed will also increase safety of pedestrians, especially women,” an official noted. Streetlights too would be automated and monitored from a control centre with the key being that there needn’t even be an operator or controller to switch on or off the LED lights. The lights would have sunlight detection mechanism that will automatically turn it off when there is enough natural light. With an expansive outlay, city officials believe that this would be enough for Chennai to be one of the 20 cities selected to receive Rs 200 crore sanction from the Central Government in the first phase.
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( Source : deccan chronicle )
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