Visakhapatnam: In what could be a game-changer with regard to the infrastructure of the city, the much-touted Vizag Smart City projects will begin in 2017. The Greater Visakhapatnam Smart City Corporation Limited (GVSCCL) has recently issued a request for proposal, inviting the agencies to take up the projects. The Project Management Consultant, AECOM, has already prepared the draft proposals for various projects. The Smart City proposals being prepared by the GVMC with an estimated cost of Rs 1,600 crore primarily focused on the IT component, e-governance and physical and social infrastructure. These include pollution sensors, efficient urban mobility, disaster management, public bike sharing, beachfront beautification, smart traffic signals, modernisation of schools, E-rickshaws, 24x7 water and electricity supply, etc.
GVMC commissioner M. Hari Narayanan informed that they will ground various works, as part of the Vizag Smart City project in 2017. “We issued an RFP for the Command and Control Centre. DPRs of some projects are in vetting stage,” Mr. Narayanan added. The ambitious ‘Command and Control Centre’ (CCC) will be the first step towards revitalising Vizag into a Smart city.
Expected to shape the future technologies of Vizag city, the giant video wall at the CCC will stream videos and collected data from the surveillance cameras, sensors, GPS systems and others installed across the city. Besides offering disaster solutions, the CCC will inform the citizens beforehand about the impending disasters and help the administration carry out competent services in emergencies.
In other times, the Centre will double up as a Smart e-governance centre by offering various services. These include environmental data, CCTV surveillance, beach safety, traffic surveillance and red light violation detection system, Smart waste management system, revenue management, water supply system, intelligent transport system, public internet access, grievance redressal,
The other projects such as ‘complete streets’, ‘innovative use of open spaces’, ‘solar panel-enabled street lighting’, recycled water supply, etc. are also expected to usher in a new era of development in the history of Vizag city.
