Thiruvananthapuram: The only legislator to turn up at a meeting in connection with the smart city proposal, O Rajagopal MLA, batted for two ideas. One, to develop a pilgrim centre connecting Sree Padmanabha Swamy Temple, Attukal Temple and Parasuraman Temple. Secondly, the introduction of water transport in Thiruvananthapuram. The other MLAs did not turn up as the assembly session was in progress, according to a Corporation official. MPs were also invited.
The meeting held at Government Guest House, Thycaud, was meant to generate ideas from prominent people. Some of the others in attendance were auteur Adoor Gopalakrishnan, former ISRO chairman G. Madavan Nair, Soorya Stage and Film Society Director Soorya Krishnamurthy and Airport MD James Varghese. Mayor V K Prasanth presented the project. The objective of such meetings is to generate as many ideas as possible towards the smart city proposal. Many had suggested that Thiruvananthpuram could be developed into a Heritage city.
Adoor put forward the idea of setting up a culture centre in the capital. Madhavan Nair emphasised the importance of planned development. Another idea that came up was to develop Thiruvananthapuram into an Ayurveda city. Ideas like developing Kazhakkoottam into an IT hub and introducing water transport in Parvathy Puthanar were discussed. Officials connected with the process say that many were still under the impression that a chosen idea would be implemented all over the city. “The people do not know that an area will be chosen, and the development using smart city funds will be restricted to that area,” he said. The smart city proposal needs to address critical issues faced by the people, and not just implement innovative ideas.
Got great ideas? Mail them now
Techies in the city are inviting ideas to support Thiruvananthapuram’s smart city competition. The ideas include apps meant to improve accessibility to the Corporation . To contribute, you can send your ideas to techies4smartcity@gmail.com or contact 9895374679. The id was created by Pratidhwani, an organisation of Technopark employees. “The people who contributed were not just techies. It has been just two days, and we have already started receiving a lot of calls from outsiders,” says Vineeth Chandran, Pratidhwani Executive Member.
Their Facebook page has also invited ideas from the public. One can also Whatsapp one’s ideas to the number. Among the ideas shared few were ‘techie-like’. Most were pan-city ideas. One of these was for an app through which you can register complaints related to the Corporation. Another idea was to make an app specifically to deal with streetlights that were out of order, in which complainants need to just post the number of the post where the lights are out of order.
Many people had suggested the idea of using Parvathy Puthanar. Most submitted generic ideas, under the impression that the entire city would be developed. However in the area-based development, one area needs to be earmarked. Light metro resurfaced in the suggestions. “Light metro does not touch Kazhakkoottam, as per the current plan. This surfaced in some of the suggestions,” says Vineeth.
