Thiruvananthapuram: Thiruvananthapuram Corporation has decided to submit a letter to smart city project management consultant IPE Global Private Limited demanding explanation on the absence of the team leader from its functioning.
As the next smart city technical meeting is about to happen, there is a shadow of anxiety over a few things. They have reportedly prepared the feasibility report of only 5 projects and not 12 projects which were shortlisted as the fast-track projects. As they submit it on Tuesday, they have missed their August 5 deadline of feasibility report.
The reason is attributed to the absence of senior officials in the project management consultant team. The lower level officials at the PMC have been working hard, but the seniors have been here only for a handful of days.
Mayor V.K. Prasanth said, "In the technical committee meeting, we will point out how the team lead has been absent. We will demand an explanation from the consultant. We have decided to submit a formal letter on Tuesday's meeting."
The Thiruvananthap-uram project, which got chosen only in the third round of the smart cities competition, cannot afford any delay or lull. Officials are also afraid that they will lose several working days during Onam. By August 30, the PMC had promised to submit a complete report of all 12 projects. The special purpose vehicle Smart Thiruvananthapuram Private Limited as well as the Corporation will push for this.
One of the first five projects, the website for smart city, is now being designed by a vendor chosen through a requ-est for proposal proce-ss. The website will make the smart city process transparent as it has features like real time project tracking and live interaction, which every citizen can access. It is expected to be alive by August end.
The smart bus stops, toilets, solar roof tops and water kiosks are the other four projects, the feasibility of which has been studied. The central government has disbursed '16 crores in June and in principle approval for '32 crores was given in August.
