Thiruvananthapuram: The city has taken one step forward in the smart cities competition, as the consulting agency which will help Thiruvananthapuram prepare its proposal for smart cities competition is to be finalised soon. The consultancy will be one of the 53 agencies empanelled by the Union government. At an interactive session with the media, mayor V. K. Prasanth said the proposals are under study and the handholding agency would be finalised by October 5. If selected, the Union government will provide Rs 500 crore under the project and the state government and the corporation will have to mobilise additional Rs 500 crore.
In the first phase of the smart cities competition, the only city selected from Kerala was Kochi. This time, Thiruvananthapuram got a second chance to compete as several capital cities got to be part of the smart cities project. The smart city proposal will have four modules. One module referred to as Retrofitting will focus on improving a 500-acre area, without making significant changes to existing infrastructure. Another called Redevelopment involves the complete makeover of a 50-acre area.
There is a module by the name Green Field Development in which 250 acres of land will be identified for new projects like housing. The last module called Pan-City development would be about finding smart solutions that support the whole city. Even before the consultancy finalised, ideas regarding smart cities will be sought from the public. Efforts will be made to conduct ward-level consultations, to understand the most pressing issues in each ward. There will also be discussions with various focus groups like people with disabilities, shelterless and migrant workers, to prepare a comprehensive plan. Also, ideas will be generated through essay writing, tagline writing and logo design competitions in schools.
