eGov September 2019 Jodhpur

TAJ HARI MAHAL JODHPUR, RAJASTHAN 27TH SEPTEMBER 2019

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The Sun City’s Tryst with Innovative Urban Development Located in the extreme west of India, in the state of Rajasthan, Jodhpur is indeed a city full of wonders. Not just is the blue panorama from the top of the city a sight to behold, but the Sun City has also progressed with time and imbibed the urban transformation.

Jodhpur has not only maintained its stature as a tourism hub, but has also carved a niche space in terms of education, research, and healthcare. The city is home to multiple institutes of national importance and eminence such as Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), National Law University (NLU) among others.

To assess Jodhpur’s tryst with urban transformation, Jodhpur Development Authority in association with Elets Technomedia is organising National Urban Development Summit, Jodhpur on September 27, 2019, with the vision to promote urban development initiatives in Jodhpur and to exchange the best practices from other parts of the country.

This special issue of eGov magazine is dedicated to the urban development initiatives in Rajasthan with special focus on Jodhpur. The cover story narrates the several innovations and initiatives taken by the city vis-à-vis the state to make it more liveable and resilient and further develop the tourism aspect.

This edition of eGov magazine also carries a host of interviews of policymakers from Rajasthan such as Ghanshyam Ojha, Mayor, Jodhpur Municipal Corporation; Meghraj Singh Ratnoo, Commissioner, Jodhpur Development Authority, Prafulla Kumar, Commissioner of Police, Jodhpur and Gaurav Agrawal, Commissioner, Ajmer Development Authority. We also bring to you the special articles by policymakers with a focus on waste management and transport sector of Rajasthan.

It deals with in-depth detail of various projects being implemented in any part of the country, worth inspiring others in providing solutions.

From a national perspective, this magazine carries exclusive interviews of Vivek Aggarwal, Joint Secretary (Crops & IT) and CEO-PM Kisan, Amrit Abhijat, Joint Secretary and Mission Director, Housing for All, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) and Rajiv Ranjan Mishra, Director General, National Mission for Clean Ganga. To bring the state perspective, we also bring the interview of Santosh Kumar Sharma, Commissioner, Kanpur Municipal Corporation & CEO, Kanpur Smart City Limited. Last but not the least, Dr Suyash Goyal, CEO, Goyal Hospital & Research Centre has shared an overall perspective of the healthcare sector of the state.

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I hope the bouquet of interviews and articles in this issue of eGov will keep our esteemed readers updated on the progress made in the fields of governance and innovations in Rajasthan.

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CONTENTS

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Jodhpur Embracing Innovations towards Ensuring Urban and Tourism Development

16 MEGHRAJ SINGH

18 GHANSHYAM

24 GAURAV

28 DR SUYASH

Joint Secretary and Mission Director, Housin for All, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) Government of India

30 VIVEK AGGARWAL

Commissioner Jodhpur Development Authority

Mayor, Jodhpur Municipal Corporation

Commissioner Ajmer Development Authority

CEO, Goyal Hospital & Research Centre

Joint Secretary (Crops & IT) and CEO-PM Kisan

FEATURES

12 AMRIT ABHIJAT

RATNOO

20 Suresh Kumar Ola

Commissioner, Jodhpur Municipal Corporation

OJHA

AGRAWAL

GOYAL

34 PRAFULLA KUMAR

38 RAJIV RANJAN MISHRA

41 SANTOSH KUMAR SHARMA

Commissioner of Police, Jodhpur

Director General National Mission for Clean Ganga

Commissioner, Kanpur Municipal Corporation and CEO, Kanpur Smart City Limited

36 Shuchi Sharma

Secretary, Higher & Technical Education, Government of Rajasthan

COVER STORY

Jodhpur Embracing Innovations towards Ensuring Urban and Tourism Development Jodhpur, the second-largest city of Rajasthan has borne a rich historic legacy and now leveraging the modern amenities to experience urban transformation. The city, which is one of the famous tourist destinations in India, is also innovating towards the existing and untapped resources to evolve further. Popularly known as Sun City, Jodhpur, over the years is undergoing multiple facets of changes towards being a resilient and sustainable city; write Kartik Sharma and Sreetama Datta of Elets News Network (ENN).

J

odhpur, the second-largest city of Rajasthan bears a rich historic legacy and exudes an aroma of royalty. For any city, the manifestation of development lies in progressing towards development whilst maintaining its heritage.

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The second metropolitan city of the state, Jodhpur is progressing towards a rapid, yet gradual urban transformation.

The civic bodies of the city, Jodhpur Development Authority (JoDA) and Jodhpur Municipal Corporation are on the move to make the city more liveable and resilient not just for the

citizens, but for the tourists as well.

The primary focus areas for the civic bodies are in the aspects of infrastructure, commercial projects, residential design & construction, and unauthorised colonies. Talking about the role of Jodhpur Development Authority, vis-Ă -vis other development authorities of the country, Meghraj Singh Ratnoo, Commissioner, Jodhpur Development Authority says, “development authorities have a major role to play as they conceptualise and implement various infrastructure, commercial projects, residential design & construction, and slums development. Further, implementation of master plans, eco-friendly schemes, and transport systems are some other functions which are executed by the development authorities.â€?

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What makes Jodhpur different from other cities The walled city of Jodhpur has a distinguishing feature, which has earned it the nickname of Blue City. Majority of the houses are painted blue to resist the massive heat. The city is also popularly known as the Sun City owing to its exposure to the sun.

It is indeed a challenge for the civic bodies to give a facelift to a historic city without compromising the original virtues. However, the city authorities are aiming to bring a holistic development towards building a smart and resilient urban ecosystem.

WASTE MANAGEMENT – A MOVE TOWARDS CLEANER AND GREENER JODHPUR The vision of Jodhpur Municipal Corporation is ‘Swachh Jodhpur, Swasth Jodhpur, Harit Jodhpur’ or Clean Jodhpur, Healthy Jodhpur and Green Jodhpur. The vision of healthy Jodhpur can be realised if the other two aspects, clean and green Jodhpur are achieved.

Talking about the plan to progress towards a cleaner and greener Jodhpur, Ghanshyam Ojha, Mayor, Jodhpur Municipal Corporation says, “The Municipal Corporation of Jodhpur has made the programme for the cleanliness of the city by providing extra labour, vehicle, dumpers, loader, dustbins, etc.

With the help of this approach, indeed the city of Jodhpur will be clean.”

Suresh Kumar Ola, Commissioner, Jodhpur Municipal Corporation (JMC), “At present, three Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs) are functional in Jodhpur, namely Salawas 50 MLD STP Phase I, Salawas 50 MLD STP Phase II, and Nandri 20 MLD STP.” He also adds, “Both 50 MLD STP Phase I & Phase II are located in Salawas, in

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“The walled city of Jodhpur has a distinguishing feature, which has earned it the nickname of Blue City. Majority of the houses are painted blue to resist the massive heat. The city is also popularly known as the Sun City owing to its exposure to the sun.” same campus which is 20 kilo meters from the city and 20 MLD STP is located in Nandri which is 22 kilo meters from the city.”

Adding to the waste management measures taken by JMC, Ojha says, “Jodhpur Municipal Corporation is enabling door to door garbage collection, and separate system of collecting garbage to fertilizer at hotels, restaurants, hospital and multi-storied

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Water Management – Making Every Drop Count Being a water-scarce state, Rajasthan is putting an extra foot forward towards conserving, recycling and reusing water. According to Ajitabh Sharma, Secretary to Chief Minister and Chairman, Rajasthan Renewable Energy Corporation Ltd, the state is developing construction projects like big dams for water storage. Apart from that, there are several schemes in the pipeline for water management and drinking water scheme.

COVER STORY

What are the focus areas of Jodhpur’s urban architects? Let’s find out.

buildings. Separate equipments are installed at the spots.”

Talking about the state’s vision on the water management policies and prospects, Sharma states, “To ensure efficient water usage, we have to educate people more. For that, we have to come out with water harvesting structures. We have to think about rainwater harvesting structures in rural as well as urban areas. These are some ways through which we are trying to deal with the problem of water scarcity.

Ensuring Safety and Security for Citizens and Tourists Alike In a bid to provide safety net across the residents of Jodhpur, as well as the

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COVER STORY

tourists, Jodhpur Police is taking multiple actions such as Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS), Hotspot Analysis, Cyber Cell and Tourist Police among others.

According to Prafulla Kumar, Commissioner of Police, Jodhpur, CCTNS has been implemented by Jodhpur Police and it allows all the police stations to access crucial criminal records and information. Through the data analysis, it becomes easier for Police force across the state to map crime and criminals.

uploaded online and everything would be visible to the concerned applicant.

This would bring the highest levels of transparency and accountability,” says Agrawal.

Sharing the significance of implementing technology in the regular functioning of JoDA, Ratnoo, the present Commissioner says, “IT and eGovernance can be leveraged to make the entire operations in JoDA more transparent and smooth.

I strongly believe that we at JoDA must embrace advanced technologies to make

The other plans in the pipeline include setting up of Cybercrime Cell and Tourist Police Station in Jaipur. “We have roped in Hotel Associations and Guide Associations as well. We are planning to launch an information card as well which will be a handy tool for visitors to contact the necessary departments and places in the city. We are making efforts to outreach the people visiting the Sun City with increased visibility,” says Kumar.

Technology Deployment by Civic Bodies Technology, especially in terms of IT and ICT are deployed in a big way across the civic bodies of Jodhpur, such as JoDA and JMC. Talking about the multiple technological innovations adopted by JoDA, Gaurav Agrawal, former Commissioner of JoDA says, “IT and e-governance are a very important part of governing things well, improving office management, and delivering better services to consumers.”

File Tracking System (FTS): Within this system, all the files submitted at JoDA (metadata part) are uploaded online on FTS and then the file movements are recorded into it. When a file moves from person A to person B, it is recorded in the system and a pendency report is generated.

Single Window Service Delivery System: Within this single window system, seven to eight kinds of services are offered.

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Within this, anybody who puts in an application eventually finds its way to a file. Besides, JoDA has seeded all the applications that are received on a single window on the FTS. So that the applicants get a single-window ID and through the website, and can track the entire movement of their application.

Going Paperless: JoDA is endeavouring to make the entire office paperless, by passing a regulation indicating entry or circulation of papers illegal inside the premises. “All our files would be

SEPTEMBER 2019

In a bid to provide safety net across the residents of Jodhpur, as well as the tourists, Jodhpur Police is taking multiple actions such as Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS), Hotspot Analysis, Cyber Cell and Tourist Police among others.

everyone’s life easier. We will surely keep looking for innovations which can streamline the functioning of JoDA.” Stating the technology initiatives implemented by JMC, the Mayor states, “To ease the services to the city of Jodhpur, Municipal Corporation has been providing online services like birth and death certificate, trade license, etc.

The Single window system is operated by Municipal Corporation of Jodhpur.”

He also adds, “All Municipal services like issue of lease deed, name transfer, sales permission, Land use charge, NOC for bank loan, complaints regarding road lights, sewerage cleanliness, dead animal encroachments, etc. are done online.”

Implementation of Integrated Traffic Management System (ITMS)

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To ease the traffic congestion of the city, the urban planners are aiming to utilise ITMS in a big way. As the priority for the city administrators is to ensure a smooth flow of traffic along with the safety of the drivers and pedestrians alike, deploying ITMS is one of the best solutions planned to ensure the same.

around nine-and-a-half kilometres in length.

the heritage and culture of Western Rajasthan.

Jojari Riverfront Development Project: Development work of Jojari riverfront from Banar to Salawas is in progress.

“As we know, there are local art, music and handicraft abundance in and around Jodhpur. This agreement will help us promote this and generate some jobs as well,” states Ratnoo.

Upcoming Projects of JoDA The JoDA has the following projects in the pipeline which are likely to be executed in the next five years.

Road Networks: An elevated road from Patwar circle to Akhaliya circle of about six-and-a-quarter kilometres long is on the pipeline. According to JoDA, tender for the preparation of Detailed Project Report (DPR) for this is under process.

Apart from this, there are several other road construction and strengthening projects undertaken by JoDA. Drain Construction: Construction of a drain and a 100 feet road from Saran Nagar to Banar bypass. This will be

Fortifying Sports Infrastructure: The popular sports stadiums of the city, Barkatullah Khan stadium and Gaushala stadium will get massive facelifts, as planned by JoDA.

Jodhpur – Upping the Game of Tourism The Blue City is topping the chart as a tourism paradise with attractions like Mehrangarh Fort, Umaid Bhawan, Umaid Garden, Fort Mandore, Kaylana Lake and Balsamad Lake to name a few. The abundance of historic flavour across the city with forts and palaces has attracted tourists across the world. Notably, multiple movies have been shot across the city including Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises.

In a bid to improve the tourist footfall in the Sun City, the Department of Tourism of Rajasthan Government has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the UNESCO to promote

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Like an ideal tourist destination, Jodhpur is not just basking in the historic glory but is constantly manoeuvring towards making the major attractions in and around the city more tourist-friendly.

COVER STORY

Sharing the current status of the ITMS, Commissioner of Police Prafulla Kumar says, “We have installed CCTV camera across the city. We are seeking the help of IIT Jodhpur for meaningful manipulation and analysis of CCTV data. ITMS, I would say, is a significant project. We are in the process of sending proposals to the Government to implement ITMS mechanisms in the city as well.”

Untapped regions of Jodhpur are being utilised to develop as tourist attractions and to ensure more footfalls. These include jogging and cycling tracks around the Kaylana lake, wax museum around Surpura Dam, park and musical fountain around Ganesh temple, Umaid Garden and building an amphitheatre in Ashok Udyan to name a few.

The city administrators, as well as the State Government, are optimistic that within the next five years, the number of tourist arrivals would reach almost double the numbers with these endeavours and the overall urban transformation.

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SPOTLIGHT: HOUSING FOR ALL

SPOTLIGHT: HOUSING FOR ALL

Housing for All aims to complete construction of houses under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) by 2022 A city cannot be treated as smart, unless its citizens are provided with decent pucca housing at affordable cost.

Presence of slums in a city is another area of concern to provide the city a clean image. PMAY (U) is dealing with such issues by providing pucca houses equipped with basic services to every eligible city dweller in both slum and non-slum areas, says Amrit Abhijat, Joint Secretary and Mission Director, Housing for All, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), Government of India, in this interview with Elets News Network (ENN).

Amrit Abhijat

Joint Secretary and Mission Director, Housing for All, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) Government of India

What is the role of Housing for All or Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna (PMAY U) in order to have a comprehensive development of Cities?

“By the time the Nation completes 75 years of its independence in 2022, there should not be any family without owning a house for his living” is the vision of Hon’ble Prime Minister Sh. Narendra Modi. A city, free from kutcha, semi pucca and temporary dwelling units with provision of adequate housing, is integral part of holistic development of city, as it depicts the façade of the city. A city cannot be treated as smart, unless its citizens are provided with decent pucca housing at affordable cost. Presence of slums in a

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city is another area of concern to provide the city a clean image. PMAY (U) is dealing with such issues by providing pucca houses equipped with basic services to every eligible city dweller in both slum and non-slum areas. Sh. Hardeep S Puri, Hon’ble Minister of State (I/C), Housing and Urban Affairs, has been guiding and supporting us in our pursuit of integrated Urban Transformation. Comprehensive

development of cities requires multifocal approach consisting of housing as well as basic infrastructures. A number of flagship schemes have been launched

by Government of India such as Smart Cities Mission, AMRUT, SBM, HRIDAY for integrated development of cities, recognising the contribution of cities in the GDP of the country. These schemes are mandated to provide basic infrastructures such as water supply,

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SPOTLIGHT: HOUSING FOR ALL

SPOTLIGHT: HOUSING FOR ALL

drainage, SWM, roads, public transport, electricity and application of technology in management of these infrastructures smartly. Under the leadership of Sh. Durga Shanker Mishra, Secretary, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, PMAY (U), while contributing towards betterment of the cities, is marching towards achieving the goal of “Housing for All” by 2022.

Give us an overview of the present status of the scheme, especially with respect to Haryana in general and Gurugram in specific.

PMAY (U) has witnessed remarkable achievement over last four years since its launch on June 25, 2015. A total of 85.17 lakh houses have been sanctioned by Government of India till now under all 4 verticals of the scheme, where 51 lakh have been grounded and 26.5 lakh houses are completed. As far as Haryana is concerned, a total of 2.64 lakh houses has been approved where share of AHP projects is highest with 1.8 lakh houses. A total of 38,346 houses are grounded and about 16,000 houses are already completed. A total of 23,715 houses have been approved for Gurugram and approximately 3,700 are completed.

What is the role of Public-Private Partnership in the scheme?

PMAY(U) House in Odisha

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PMAY(U) House in Uttar Pradesh

“A number of flagship schemes have been launched by Government of India such as Smart Cities Mission, AMRUT, SBM, HRIDAY for integrated development of cities, recognising the contribution of cities in the GDP of the country. These schemes are mandated to provide basic infrastructures.”

Availability of land is essential for the success of affordable housing sector in the country. In order to promote the affordable housing and unleash the potential of land available with the private sector, MoHUA has circulated eight PPP models under which, the private developer is allowed to construct houses on his own land and seek benefit of PMAY (U) under the banner ofaffordable housing and avail various exemptions and concessions.

Presently, a total of 257 projects have been approved under PPP model with 4.39 lakh houses in various States.

What are the latest technology deployments in your department? How are these contributing towards the execution of the project?

A technology Sub-Mission under PMAY (U) has been set up to facilitate adoption of modern, innovative and green technologies and building materials for faster and quality construction of houses. Building Material and Technology Promotion Council (BMTPC), an autonomous body under MoHUA is responsible for certifying and promotion of new construction technologies in the country. As of now, 16 new construction technologies have been certified by the agency and SoR has been released by CPWD. A Global Housing Technology Challenge- India (GHTC-India) was launched to identify and mainstream the best alternate construction technologies from across the globe for a paradigm

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SPOTLIGHT: HOUSING FOR ALL

shift and an enabling eco-system in the construction sector. The year 2019-20 was declared as “Construction Technology Year” by the Hon’ble Prime Minister. Subsequently, six Light House Projects at six locations in the country will be executed for demonstrating and delivering ready to live houses in a shorter time, with lower cost and with better quality in a sustainable manner.

These projects will act as a live laboratory for learning and replicating the best construction technology. These disruptive technologies will transform the housing construction practices by impacting the speed, scale and quality of houses. The Potential Future Technologies will be provided with Incubation and Acceleration support through Product Development, Networking Opportunities and Marketing Support following the principle of ‘Lab to Land’.

What are the challenges of the scheme?

1. Land: Availability of encumbrance free land for affordable housing projects in the cities is one of the major challenges under the scheme. There is scarcity of Government land within the city limits.

MoHUA has developed eight PPP models to unleash the potential of land available with private sector. Further, coverage of the scheme has also been extended to include planning/ Development areas to make more land available for affordable housing.

2. Slum Redevelopment: In-Situ Slum Redevelopment (ISSR) component of the Mission envisages redevelopment of slums using land as a resource. Such strategy could not get momentum due to issues regarding land. A multi-layered strategy is being developed by the Ministry to deal with slum redevelopment issue as per the size of the town.

3. Unforeseen Challenges- Natural calamities such as earthquakes, floods and cyclones have devastating impact not only on communities by destruction of infrastructure, displacements and homelessness, but also affects the pace

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SPOTLIGHT: HOUSING FOR ALL

PMAY(U) Project in Gujarat of the implementation of the mission.

As Ministry is committed to construct more than 1 crore houses under the Mission, what is the financing arrangement?

The current validated demand is 1.12 crore as per the demand assessment carried out by the States/UTs. Apart from the budgetary allocations, a National Urban Housing Fund (NUHF) has been created to mobilise Rs 60,000 crore as Extra-Budgetary Resources (EBR) to ensure smooth flow of resources to the projects where Rs 28,000 crore has already been drawn.

Is there any provision for recognising best performance of the State/UT in the Mission?

The role of States/UTs and other stakeholders needs appreciation and it’s all happening with their support and coordinated effort. The Mission has instituted PMAY (U) awards to recognise the best performance of the State/UTs and cities in implementation of the scheme in addition to the CLSS Award for recognising the contribution and performance of Banks/ PLIs. Six categories of award will be given which includes State, Municipal Corporation, Municipal Council, Nagar Panchayat, special awards and beneficiaries level awards. A separate mobile app has been

developed where beneficiary can upload selfie and testimonial from his/her smart phone. The best houses constructed by the beneficiaries in each State will be awarded.

What is the way forward with respect to the HFA mission in the coming years?

The focus of HFA mission in coming years is to ensure completion and delivery of all the houses as per the validated demand in States/UTs by the year 2022. Any additional demand based on eligibility in forthcoming years will also be considered in the scheme.

Secondly, there will be focused intervention in slums towards deslumming India. A detailed strategy is being worked out by the Mission to redevelop the slums in partnership with State governments, community and private developers.

With respect to promotion of construction technology, the Light House Projects will be executed and upscaling will be done. In order to mainstream these technologies, few courses on new technology are being launched in association of School of Planning and Architecture (SPA). The potential technologies will be given incubation and accelerator support through IITs to further develop these technologies and make them market ready.

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SPOTLIGHT: JODHPUR DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY

JoDA: Aiming towards Holistic Development of Sun City The Jodhpur Development Authority (JoDA) must embrace advanced technologies to make everyone’s life easier. Making most of the Information Technology in the best possible manner is of course, one of our top priorities, says Meghraj Singh Ratnoo, Commissioner, Jodhpur Development Authority in an exclusive interview with Harshal Desai and Mansi Singh of Elets News Network (ENN). In this interview, the recently appointed Commissioner also speaks about his vision for the Sun City on urban development while keeping the heritage intact.

Meghraj Singh Ratnoo Commissioner Jodhpur Development Authority

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SPOTLIGHT: JODHPUR DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY

At the outset, we congratulate you for the new posting. How do you envisage the new role as commissioner of Jodhpur Development Authority?

Which are other such IT and eGovernance initiatives you plan to carry in JoDA?

In Rajasthan, in fact, anywhere in the country, development authorities have a major role to play as they conceptualise and implement various infrastructure, commercial projects, residential design & construction, and slum development.

Further, implementation of master plans, eco-friendly schemes, and transport systems are some other functions which are executed by the development authorities. Interestingly, nowadays, housing is one more area where development authorities are focussing a lot.

Some of the initiatives like online File Tracking System (FTS) implemented by JoDA have earned the institution great accolades.

These are indeed great initiatives. If the file movement is on a computer system and available online, it becomes easy for all of us to track the files. Not just the file movement, but the applications submitted to JoDA are also uploaded on the system. It also helps us keep track of applications and their status.

IT and eGovernance can be leveraged to make the entire operations in JoDA more transparent and smooth. I strongly believe that we at JoDA must embrace advanced technologies to make everyone’s life easier. Making most of the Information Technology in the best possible manner is of course, one of our top priorities. We will surely keep looking for innovations which can streamline the functioning of JoDA.

How do you plan to address the traffic issues within the city?

As I have just joined here; I will need some time to evaluate the traffic situation in the city. What I can assure you is that traffic movement is an important element of any urban development setting, and we will take all possible measures to improve the same in the city. The top priority must be ensuring the safety and security of people driving vehicles. JoDA is already working on the elevated road and other road construction projects. With combined efforts from Municipal Corporations, Traffic Police and JoDA, we will surely improve the overall traffic woes in the city.

Jodhpur is also an international tourist destination. What will be your vision to make it comfortable for tourist across the world?

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Tourism is, of course, an important element. The Rajasthan Government is aiming for almost double the number of tourist arrivals in the next five years, and Jodhpur being one of the prominent places, will surely contribute to this accomplishment. JoDA is developing some beautification projects within the city.

Recently, a Memorandum of Understanding has been signed between the tourism department of Rajasthan Government and UNESCO. The agreement is to promote the heritage and culture of Western Rajasthan. Jodhpur is among the many cities, which are rich with culture and heritage and will be promoted as a new tourism circuit. The other cities are Barmer, Jaisalmer and Bikaner, which will be developed.

As we know, there are local art, music and handicraft abundance in and around Jodhpur. This agreement will help us promote this and generate some jobs as well.

What is your vision and what are the areas you will like to give priorities in next one year at JoDA? We will work on making JoDA operations transparent by using good governance practices. Construction of roads and footpaths and beautification of Jodhpur city will also be top on our priorities. Further, we will give due attention to land reforms and land distribution within our region.

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SEPTEMBER 2019

17

LEADER’S PERSPECTIVE

Jodhpur Municipal Corporation Aiming to Make the City Cleaner and Greener

Ghanshyam Ojha

Jodhpur is the only city in the state, which has taken up the task of cleanliness on its own level by coming up with the concept of Smart Colony-Smart Ward. The Jodhpur government is on a full-spree of making their city the first ever cleansed living city, alongside abolishing the use of plastics as well, says Ghanshyam Ojha, Mayor, Jodhpur Municipal Corporation, in an interview with Kartik Sharma of Elets News Network (ENN). He also talks about the e-governance initiatives taken by the Jodhpur Municipal Corporation.

Mayor, Jodhpur Municipal Corporation

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SEPTEMBER 2019

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LEADER’S PERSPECTIVE

As the first citizen of Jodhpur, what is your vision for the city?

Being the first citizen of Jodhpur, my vision is ‘Swachh Jodhpur, Swasth Jodhpur, Harit Jodhpur’. It is a slogan given by the Municipal Corporation and the Municipal Corporation is using this slogan for all correspondence.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi‘s vision of Swachh Bharat is going well in India. What are you doing towards the objective of cleanliness in the city of Jodhpur?

The Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi had launched the ‘Swachh Bharat Mission’ on August 15, 2015 from Red Fort, New Delhi. The Government of India has allotted separate budget to all local authorities to clean their respective areas. Jodhpur city is declared as Open Defecation Free (ODF). The Swachh Bharat Mission programme is appreciated by all in the world. The Municipal Corporation of Jodhpur has made the programme for cleanliness of the city by providing extra labour, vehicle, dumpers, loader, dust bins, etc. With the help of this approach, indeed the city of Jodhpur will be clean.

What are your ideas to develop Jodhpur as renowned tourist spot of global stature?

There are more possibilities to develop Jodhpur as tourist spot of Global Stature. Jodhpur is the second largest

city of Rajasthan. There are so many institutions of National and International level like All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Arid Forest Research Institute (AFRI), Central Arid Zone Research Institute (CAZRI), Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT), National Law University (NLU), Mugneeram Bangur Memorial (MBM) engineering college, medical college, etc. Tourist places like Mandore Garden and Umaid Garden are being developed by local authorities. Ghantaghar is one of the biggest tourist spots and Municipal Corporation of Jodhpur is working towards keeping the heritage looks of Ghantaghar intact. Other top tourist destinations in the city include Jodhpur Fort, Umaid Bhawan Palace, Jaswant Thada, Kaylana Jheel and Balsamad Lake.

What are your initiatives to give the citizens easy access to the services of Municipal Corporation of Jodhpur?

To ease the services to the city of Jodhpur, Municipal Corporation has been providing online services like birth and death certificate, trade license, etc. Single window system is operated by Municipal Corporation of Jodhpur.

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All Municipal services like issue of lease deed, name transfer, sales permission, land use charge, No Objection Certificate (NOC) for bank loan, complaints regarding road lights, sewerage cleanliness, dead animal encroachments, etc. are done online.

What is the Corporation doing towards health and public safety in Jodhpur?

Towards health and public safety, the Municipal Corporation has begun providing sanitary napkin vending machines to girls’ schools, fogging in all the Municipal wards, door to door garbage collection, and separate system of collecting garbage to fertilizer at hotels, restaurants, hospitals and multi-storied buildings.

Separate equipments are installed at the spots.

What is your message for the people of Jodhpur?

It is my humble request to the citizens of Jodhpur to cooperate with the Municipal Corporation to keep the city clean by not throwing the garbage here and there. Garbage should be given to the door to door collecting taxi or dumped at a scheduled place. It is also requested to banish the use of plastics.

Pay the due tax on time for development of city. Also, plant more and more trees to keep the pollution control in check.

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SEPTEMBER 2019

19

SPOTLIGHT: WASTE MANAGEMENT

Marching towards Cleaner Jodhpur with Effective Waste Management 20

SEPTEMBER 2019

Sewage treatment is one of the key indicators of urban development. Jodhpur, popularly known as the Sun City, is taking various initiatives for sewage treatment. Suresh Kumar Ola, Commissioner, Jodhpur Municipal Corporation, writes for Elets News Network (ENN) on the sewage treatment processes deployed at Jodhpur.

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SPOTLIGHT: WASTE MANAGEMENT

J

In order to balance the environment, there is horticulture surrounding both the plants which also maintain aesthetical aspect. Students of AIIMS, IIT, engineering colleges, medical colleges, nursing colleges, etc. frequently visit STP for their practical training.

odhpur is the second largest city of Rajasthan and also known as the Sun City. The total population of Jodhpur city is 13 lakh whereas 80 percent of its area is covered under sewerage system.

At present, three Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs) are functional in Jodhpur, namely Salawas 50 MLD STP Phase I, Salawas 50 MLD STP Phase II, and Nandri 20 MLD STP.

Jodhpur is divided in three zones namely Pal zone, Jhalamand zone and Punjla zone.

Both 50 MLD STP Phase I & Phase II are located in Salawas, in same campus which is 20 kilo meters from the city and 20 MLD STP is located in Nandri which is 22 kilo meters from the city.

Salawas Phase I 50 MLD STP was sanctioned under RUIDP package no- UIDSSMT/JOD/W/01- Lot 2). It was constructed by Jodhpur Development Authority and completed in September 2012 and then handed over to Municipal Corporation Jodhpur for operation and maintenance. The total project cost including five years operation and maintenance is Rs 34.41 crore.

Salawas Phase II 50 MLD STP was sanctioned under the Chief Minister’s budget announcement year 2012-13.

The Plant was constructed by Municipal Corporation Jodhpur and became functional from July 2018.

Operation and maintenance of this plant is being carried out by Municipal Corporation Jodhpur through private vendor. Total project cost including 15 years operation and maintenance is Rs 40.41 crore.

Both sewage treatment plants are designed for an average flow of 50 Million Liter per Day (MLD) and peak flow of 112.5 MLD and are based on Activated Sludge Process (ASP) technique. Both plants have water treatment and sludge treatment units.

The type of water treatment units are

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Suresh Kumar Ola

Commissioner, Jodhpur Municipal Corporation

Fine and Coarse Mechanical Screen, Grit Chamber, Primary Clarifier, Aeration Tank, and Secondary Clarifier.

And the types of Sludge Treatment Units (sludge generated during sewage treatment process) are Primary and Secondary Thickener, Digesters, and Centrifuge.

Pal zone and Jhalamand zone sewer reaches to Salawas STP’s combine inlet chamber through 1600 mm box channel. Presently, the total flow at combine chamber of both plants is 6570 MLD. The treated water from the STP is used for agricultural purpose and rest (if any) is discharged in to Jojari river. This discharge point is two kilometers from the plant. Plant design is based on Central Public Health and Environmental Engineering Organisation (CPHEEO) manual and the Government of India rules.

Water Treatment Plant Units: Inlet Chamber: Receiving chamber where sewage form the Pal and

Raw and Treated Sewage Designed Parameters are: Parameters

Raw Sewage

Treated Sewage

BOD (Biochemical Oxygen Demand)

300 ppm

20 ppm

Suspended Solid

700 ppm

200 ppm

COD (Chemical Oxygen Demand)

600 ppm

30 ppm

pH

7.2 – 7.9

7.2 – 7.9

Presently, both plants are achieving parameters of treated water as per design norms.

Treated sewage is being reused for agriculture purpose and generating revenue of Rs 40 lakh per annum for Municipal Corporation Jodhpur and sludge generated during treatment process is being used as manure.

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Jhalamand zone collect.

Leading Channel: Divert total flow to each STP from Inlet Chamber.

Carse Sreen: Mechanical and Manual Coarse Screen.

Remove Floating matters: This works on timer, level sense and manual operation.

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SPOTLIGHT: WASTE MANAGEMENT

Fine screen: Mechanical Fine Screen remove floating matter up to 6 mm.

This works on timer, level sense and manual operation.

Grit Chamber: There are four Grit Chambers. This unit removes inorganic grit particles. This unit removes up to 10 percent SS. Parshall flume: This unit measures sewage flow and show value in field display unit and this data automatically recorded in SCADA. Primary Clarifier: As many as two primary clarifiers are there. Sewage from the parshall flume enters from primary clarifier. This unit removes organic impurities of sewage by settling process and BOD up to 35 percent. Oil and grease are also removed in this unit.

measure treated waste water flow.

In each treatment unit, impurities removed are collected at tank bottom which is collected and treated separately.

Aeration Tank: A total of two aeration tanks are there. This is the main treatment process called ASP Activated Sludge process. This unit removes remaining impurities of sewage by Aerobic Biological Oxidation Process. In this process sewage is mixed with aerobic bacteria contained in return sludge and required oxygen is provided by diffuser fed by air blowers. DO meter is installed in each aeration tank to find dissolved oxygen in tank. DO readings is connected with SCADA system which gives command to Air Blowers to increase or decrease air quantity in Aeration Tank to maintain required DO level.

Primary Thickener: Sludge collected at bottom of Primary Clarifier is collected in Primary Sludge Sump and sent to Primary Thickener through pumps installed in Primary Pump House. Pump on and off and sludge withdrawal can be controlled

by SCADA through sludge density meter and Level Switch installed in sludge line and sludge sump. In Primary Thickener Unit continuously moving scraper thickens sludge and its consistency becomes up to seven percent.

Secondary Clarifier: As many as two.

This treated sewage from Aeration tank is allowed to settle in secondary clarifier. Effluent of this unit has BOD less than 20 ppm, COD < 100 ppm & TSS < 30 ppm. This treated water is collected in treated sump from where it is being used for agricultural purpose and remaining (if any) joins river Jojari.

Parshall flume and flow measuring unit is provided after secondary clarifier to

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SEPTEMBER 2019

Sludge Treatment Units

Secondary Sludge Thickener: Sludge at the bottom of Secondary Clarifier is collected in RAS unit from where it is sent to Secondary Thickener by Submersible Excess Pumps. This unit works on same principal as Primary Thickener and its sludge consistency becomes up to four percent.

Digesters: This thickened sludge from both thickeners is collected in Thickened Sludge Sump and as per its density measured by sludge density meter; it is feed to digester by pumps.

In sump level, switch is provided to control pump on and off by SCADA and to give alarm when sump is full or

empty. Sludge Digester is air tight structure. In digester, sludge is digested by anaerobic oxidation process in absence of oxygen. In this unit sludge is digested to become stable. To further thicken this sludge it is sent to Centrifuge Building. Sludge consistency of digested sludge becomes up to eight percent.

Centrifuge: Centrifuge Unit convert digested sludge in thick sludge cake, this sludge is used as manure.

Consistency of this sludge is 22 percent.

RAS - Return Activated Sludge: Sludge collected in Secondary Clarifier is collected in RAS unit. Some part of this sludge is returned back to Aeration Tank to provide bacteria in tank and remaining sludge is sent to Secondary Thickener.

Supernatant collected in each sludge treatment unit is sent to Primary clarifier for further treatment.

Whole plant is SCADA connected. All instruments and machinery installed at field can be operated by SCADA manually as well as in auto mode and their data is recorded in SCADA. PMCC, MCC panel SCADA Room: To operate plant in auto mode or from control room PMCC, MCC panels and SCADA are installed.

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POLICYMAKERâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S PERSPECTIVE

e-Governance and Tourism:

The two-way approach for Jodhpurâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Development

A lot of projects have been planned for the city, both from an infrastructural point of view, as well as from a tourism point of view.

We plan to provide basic amenities like affordable housing, open spaces and parks to the city, says Gaurav Agrawal, Commissioner, Ajmer Development Authority, in an exclusive interview with Kartik Sharma and Mansi Singh of Elets News Network (ENN).

(Agrawal was serving as the Commissioner of Jodhpur Development Authority when this interview was conducted.)

Gaurav Agrawal

Commissioner Ajmer Development Authority

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SEPTEMBER 2019

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POLICYMAKER’S PERSPECTIVE

regulation that will make entry or circulation of papers illegal in our office. All our files would be uploaded online and everything would be visible to the concerned applicant. This would bring the highest levels of transparency and accountability.

Which are the upcoming projects of JoDA and how are you strategising for them?

“IT and e-governance are a very important part of governing things well, improving office management, and delivering better services to consumers. We have undertaken quite a few projects for improving our e-governance.”

How you are leveraging IT and implementing e-governance in the urban development of Jodhpur?

IT and e-governance are a very important part of governing things well, improving office management, and delivering better services to consumers. We have undertaken quite a few projects for improving our e-governance.

First, we started with a File Tracking System (FTS). We put all the metadata part of the files online on FTS and then we record all the file movements into it. When a file moves from person A to person B, it is recorded in the system and a pendency report is generated. Now anybody on the planet can see the pending status of files at Jodhpur Development Authority (JoDA) and details of the person handling the files through their mobile phones.

That creates a sort of accountability and transparency.

Second, we had this single window where we offer seven to eight kinds of services. Within this, anybody who puts in an application eventually finds its way to a file. Besides, we

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A lot of projects have been planned for the city, both from an infrastructural point of view, as well as from a tourism point of view. We plan to provide basic amenities like affordable housing, open spaces and parks to the city.

Three of the projects have been announced by our Chief Minister in his State Budget speech. First is the elevated road from Patwar circle to Akhaliya circle which is about six and a quarter kilo metres long. It will ease traffic in the already congested city.

The second project is construction of a drain and a 100 feet road from Saran Nagar to Banar bypass. This will be around nine-and-a-half kilo metres in length. The area is facing waterlogging issues, a lot of which is rain-water.

have now seeded all the applications that are received on a single window on the FTS. So that the applicants get a single-window ID and through our website, they can track the entire movement of their application. That saves a lot of time and money for them, and it pushes the system.

Also, we are going to make our entire office paperless by passing a

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The third big project is Jojari riverfront development project. It is not a perennial river but an outlet for all the wastewater in the city. We are going to treat that water and make it bath-able.

Then we have another drain coming up, it’s in the pipeline, it’s called Bhairav-Nala. It will start from around east Pal and will go into the Jojari River.

Other than that, we have taken up

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SEPTEMBER 2019

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POLICYMAKER’S PERSPECTIVE

road reconstruction work in the city in a major way, in the city municipal limits area, as well as other major roads. There is a long list. There would be a lot more, I may be missing on some.

What is the vision of JoDA to develop high tech urban infrastructure like convention centres, etc in Jodhpur?

We have planned a convention centre in Vivek Vihar area. It was supposed to be built in Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode but unfortunately, we did not receive much response after floating the tenders. We are in the process of re-structuring and rationalising the project, after which we will re-float it. We are hopeful with the increased flight connectivity, that it will be a success this time.

What are your plans towards sports infrastructure development?

Our focus is to give a facelift and upgrade the Barkatullah Khan stadium.

We are building a mini cricket ground at the Gaushala stadium, which has a very good sporting infrastructure. We have already built a gymnasium there. Besides, we are renovating a swimming pool and re-building the badminton court. Other than that, in Ambedkar stadium also, we have sports development works lined up.

Earlier in Barkatulla Khan Stadium, rates were very high, because of which it was not used much by the Jodhpur citizens. Now, we have rationalised the rates and reduced them by around 50 percent. A stadium is not supposed to be kept under lock and key, but should be used.

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SEPTEMBER 2019

“In terms of tourist friendliness, we are going to develop some additional tourist points. It is likely that with the increased number of tourist destinations, they will prolong their stay and ultimately it will benefit tourism in the city.”

What are you doing to make Jodhpur more citizen or tourist friendly?

In terms of tourist friendliness, we are going to develop some additional tourist points. Around the Kaylana Lake, we will build a jogging and cycling track, so that the tourist footfall increases there.

Another beautiful place here is Surpura Dam. Until now it was unutilised. We are going to build a wax museum there, which will be the first of its kind in Jodhpur.

Another major tourist attraction now is the Ganesh Mandir where we have spent Rs 7.5 crore. We have built a beautiful park there with a musical fountain, thereby uplifting the entire infrastructure.

Another major work is Umaid Udyan. Work has started there for the complete uplifting of the park.

It is in the centre of the city. We are going to plant around 400 different species of plant and trees there.

JoDA is also working on building an amphitheatre in Ashok Udyan.

Phase-II will be taken up pretty soon and after that, we hope to have some nice dramatics and plays, events over there. All of these things will increase the tourist footfall here. It is likely that with the increased number of tourist destinations, they will prolong their stay and ultimately it will benefit tourism in the city.

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SEPTEMBER 2019

27

SPOTLIGHT: HEALTHCARE

Dr Suyash Goyal

CEO, Goyal Hospital & Research Centre

LAYING a New Healthcare Benchmark in Jodhpur The Health Department of Rajasthan has taken a lead in improving the quality of healthcare delivery across the state. It is observed that the health sector of Rajasthan is getting transformed and Government of Rajasthan is taking initiatives to provide the best of healthcare infrastructure to its citizens. The scenario is such that a handful of private players have joined hands with government to walk them hand-in-hand in easing the problems of their localities so that the patients need not visit any other state for treatment. In this exclusive interview with Kartik Sharma of Elets News Network (ENN), Dr Suyash Goyal, CEO, Goyal Hospital & Research Centre shares how the hospital was a harbinger of latest medical facilities to the city and his vision for the healthcare sector.

You have taken a lot of initiatives in the urban healthcare sector.

Please share the vision of Goyal Hospital.

Our hospital was established in the year 1989. Goyal Hospital has always had a

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SEPTEMBER 2019

reputation of being the first new provider of a latest technique or procedure or the latest department in western Rajasthan. Jodhpur is the biggest city, situated in western Rajasthan and we have been the first pioneer since its inception. We had

established the first ICU, dialysis machine, knee replacement machine, bypass surgery, angioplasty, etc. at Jodhpur. Our hospital was the first to re-implant a hand and foot in the entire Rajasthan. We have been upgrading our services every now and then.

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SPOTLIGHT: HEALTHCARE

Kindly elaborate upon the Hand and Foot re-implanting provision which you have made prevalent in Jodhpur.

There are many unfortunate people who lose their hands or feet or other body parts in accidents. Earlier, there was no way to save them or give them a normal life. The only way was to amputate the affected body part, which had to be disposed later. Now, with the progress of medical science and technology, it is possible to replace the amputated body part and attach it again to the body from where it was severed earlier. With this, the person can function normally again.

How did you get the idea to provide such unconventional medical services to the people of Jodhpur?

I met Dr Sushil Nahar of Sparsh, Bangalore, a few years back when he gave me a presentation about such

medical services. He gave me the idea that we can start these services in Jodhpur. I was extremely fascinated by the idea but I could not think it was possible untill I experienced the first case myself. It is simply unbelievable how the patients undergoing this surgery are now driving, riding bikes, playing foot ball etc. We are doing the surgeries at a minimal cost. For us, money can never be compared to the existence of human lives and therefore

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many has never been a matter of concern for us as the happiness which we seek at the end of such surgeries, and their happy families is what is priceless.

Your father is a veteran in this industry, and you are a young blood in this profession. How do you tend to utilise your new-age thoughts into initiating more such developmental processes?

Healthcare is my passion. After competing MBBS, I completed my management studies. My goal is to keep upgrading such services and strive to get the latest technologies in medical and healthcare spheres. After the advent of AIIMS in Jodhpur, people have bestowed more faith in Jodhpur healthcare. This is our real passion. If the patient is ready to have faith in us then we just have to deliver results.

What are your plans to spread the best of the medical services

to the poorer strata of the society?

Goyal hospital has been known to be continuously upgrading its new services. Also, there are many social schemes being run by the government whom we are very proudly associated with, and have been the leader of those schemes in our area. We are doing heart surgeries, brain surgeries, cancer surgeries and all these are being

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performed under government schemes and are free of cost to the patients belonging to the lower rung of the economic strata.

How do you welcome the Ayushman Bharat Mahatma Gandhi scheme?

Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s been a revolutionary step for healthcare of Rajasthan and I thank the government for continuously upgrading it and benefitting more and more people out of it.

What according to you are the major healthcare challenges?

With coming in of AIIMS in Jodhpur, it has created a new benchmark for us and so we always try to match their standard. They have brought cancer and radio therapies to Jodhpur and have managed to take the healthcare standards to a new level. Our continuous endeavour is to match up to their standard and replicate the services for the people of Jodhpur. While at one

side this is a challenge, on the other side it is an opportunity for us to improve.

What is your message for the people of Jodhpur in terms of healthcare opportunities?

Government is looking after the healthcare sector in a big way. The people need to have faith in the system.

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POLICYMAKER PERSPECTIVE

AI, ML and IoT are Deployed in Agriculture to Optimise Crop Yield

Vivek Aggarwal

Joint Secretary (Crops & IT) and CEO-PM Kisan

30

SEPTEMBER 2019

India is predominantly an agrarian economy, with 70 percent of the population dependent on farming and other allied activities. However, there is no single, unique database of about 14 crore farmers in the country, says Vivek Aggarwal, Joint Secretary (Crops & IT) and CEO-PM Kisan, in an exclusive interview with Sreetama Datta Roy and Sanghamitra Mohanty of Elets News Network (ENN).

Aggarwal also assesses the challenge areas of the Agriculture sector of India and how technology is playing a key role in the departmentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s function and future plans.

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POLICYMAKER PERSPECTIVE

Please share an overview of the Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers Welfare.

The Department of Agriculture, Cooperation & Farmers Welfare (DAC&FW) is one of the two constituent Departments of the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, the other one being the Department of Agricultural Research and Education (DARE). This Department is headed by Agriculture & Farmers Welfare Minister and is assisted by two Ministers of State. The Secretary (AC&FW) is the administrative head of the Department. The DAC&FW has 28 divisions and has five attached offices and 21 subordinate offices which are spread across the country for coordination with state level agencies and implementation of Central Sector Schemes in their respective fields.

Further, one Public Sector Undertaking, nine autonomous bodies, 10 national-level cooperative organisations and two authorities are functioning under administrative control of Department.

What are some of the recent schemes undertaken by the department in order to promote farmer welfare?

On February 24, 2019, Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM KISAN) was launched to provide Rs 6000 in three equal installments of Rs 2000 every four months to Small and Marginal Farmers (SMFs) with combined holding of up to two hectares of land, with an objective to augment the income of small and marginal farmers. The ambit of the scheme has now been expanded to cover all farmers in the country irrespective of the size of their land holdings, subject to all other exclusions.

This Department has also soft

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“The Department under Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana, through various agencies, has carried out many pilot studies for optimisation of Crop Cutting Experiments, in which Artificial Intelligence is used for optimisation and yield estimation.” launched Pradhan Mantri Maan Dhan Yojana, a voluntary and contributory pension scheme, with entry age of 18 to 40 years, for providing a minimum fix pension of Rs 3,000 to the eligible small and marginal farmers, subject to certain exclusion clauses, on attaining the age of 60 years.

Technologies like Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning,

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Cloud Computing, Blockchain, etc. have become an intrinsic part of the governance, especially with Digital India scheme of the Government of India. What are the technologies being deployed in the Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers Welfare?

The Committee on Doubling Farmers’ Income (DFI) in its report appreciated the role of Digital Technology, which can play a transformational role in modernising and organising how rural India performs its agricultural activities. The possible components for modern management of agriculture are: i) Remote Sensing; ii) Geographical Information System; iii) Data Analytics; iv) Artificial Intelligence (AI) & Machine Learning (ML) and v) Internet of Things (IoT).

To start with, for incorporating recommendations made by the DFI Committee about use of AI & ML, Big Data Analysis, IoT etc. in agriculture, the Department is contemplating to amend National e-Governance Plan in Agriculture for release of funds to the states only for the projects involving

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POLICYMAKER PERSPECTIVE

use of technologies mentioned above.

Further, this Department has been pro-active in using the space technology in agricultural sector. The Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers Welfare established a Centre, called Mahalanobis National Crop Forecast Centre, in 2012, for operationalisation of the space technology developed in the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), for crop production forecasting.

The Department has another centre called Soil and Land Use Survey of India which uses satellite data for soil resources mapping. Currently, the Department is using space technology for its various programmes and areas such as Forecasting Agricultural Output using Space, Agrometeorology and Land-based Observations (FASAL) project, Coordinated programme on Horticulture Assessment and Management using geo informatics (CHAMAN) project, National Agricultural Drought Assessment and Monitoring System (NADAMS), Rice-Fallow Area Mapping and intensification, geo tagging of infrastructure and assets created under Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana, and Crop Insurance.

This Department under Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana, through various agencies, has carried out many pilot studies for optimisation of Crop Cutting Experiments, in which AI is used for optimisation and yield estimation.

How are the technologies being utilised to ensure factors like optimum crop cultivation, weather management, irrigation etc.?

The major technology interventions in the Department include: (i) Development of Kisan Suvidha

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mobile application to facilitate dissemination of information to farmers on the critical agricultural matters including weather forecasts and alerts. (ii) Development of Pusa Krishi Mobile App for dissemination of information about the latest technologies developed by the Indian Agricultural. Details of 185 technologies are available on Pusa Krishi Mobile App. (iii) Development of mKisan Portal (www.mkisan.gov.in) for sending advisories on various crop related matter to the registered farmers through SMS. (iv) Use of space technology for various programmes/ areas such as Forecasting Agricultural Output using Space, Agro-meteorology and Land-based Observations project, Coordinated programme on Horticulture Assessment and Management using geoinformatics project, National Agricultural Drought Assessment and Monitoring System, RiceFallow Area Mapping and

intensification, geo tagging of infrastructure and assets created under Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana and Crop Insurance. (v) Implementation of Agricultural Marketing Infrastructure, subscheme of Integrated Scheme of Agricultural Marketing, in order to improve/create scientific storage capacity for storing farm produce, processed farm produce and to reduce post-harvest storage loss. (vi) Introduction of Soil Health Card Scheme to assist State Governments in providing Soil Health Cards to provide information to the farmers on nutrient status of their soil along with recommendations on appropriate dosage of nutrients to be applied for improving crop productivity and soil fertility. (vii) Implementation of Per Drop More Crop component of Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana, which mainly focuses on water use efficiently at farm level through precision and micro irrigation technologies viz., Drip and

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POLICYMAKER PERSPECTIVE

Sprinkler irrigation. Micro irrigation technology not only helps in water saving but also in reducing fertilizer usage, labour expenses, and other inputs costs besides sustaining soil health. (viii) Using machine learning process along with different computer algorithms for crop classification and area estimation.

What is your take on the PublicPrivate Partnerships in the Department? Please mention the private organisations with whom the Department has collaborated.

In the context of Indian agriculture, the Public-Private Partnership can be fruitful in areas such as seed production, farm implements and machinery, value-addition and post-harvest processing in cereals, pulses, oilseeds, fruits and vegetables, product testing and evaluation. The private sector seems to have an edge in factoring clients into design of technologies and diffusion processes.

The Department has engaged some private companies in preparation of Proof of Concept and the Pilot projects. Some private companies have also been engaged for managing web portals of the Department.

What are some of the areas of challenge and how do you plan to mitigate those ?

The Department is working on development of Centralised Farmer Database with land records as the basic data. India is predominantly an agrarian economy, with 70 percent of the population dependent on farming and other allied activities. However, there is no single, unique database of about 14 crore farmers in the country.

Around 60 percent to 70 percent of the data is being repeatedly recollected under various schemes of the Government. However, the same

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â&#x20AC;&#x153;We are preparing Proof of Concepts by creating a unique data by matching LG code of a district, land record of a selected district and data of a data under a scheme run by the Department. Once POC is prepared, further course of action will be taken in the matter.â&#x20AC;? data collected from any two sources do not match most of the times.

The challenges in developing this Database include: i) Lack of uniformity in digitisation of land records in the states ii) Lack of common revenue codes iii) Different format of meta data,

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which is different for statesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; specific databases as different information is captured as per the revenue system of State iv) Non-implementation of local Government Directory Codes for all villages and other units in the hierarchy. Location hierarchy is different in different states; etc.

We are preparing Proof of Concepts (POC) by creating a unique data by matching LG code of a district, land record of a selected district and data of a data under a scheme run by the Department. Once POC is prepared, further course of action will be taken in the matter.

What are some of the initiatives you have in the pipeline for the upcoming years?

The Department is working on the creation of Centralised Farmers Database based on revenue land record; developing a Farm Based Weather and Crop Advisory Service for sending tailor made agro and weather advisories to the farmer; and development of Agristack as a public digital platform on the platform of farmer database for ready and almost access to famers and private players.

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SPOTLIGHT: JODHPUR POLICE

Jodhpur Police:

Deploying IT and Social Media to Manage Crime

Prafulla Kumar

Commissioner of Police, Jodhpur

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Police Department is implementing Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS), which allows all the police stations to access crucial criminal records and information. With this, we are taking a big leap in the field of IT, says Prafulla Kumar, Commissioner of Police, Jodhpur in an exclusive interview with Kartik Sharma and Harshal Desai of Elets News Network (ENN). Kumar also talks about the IT deployments and social media engagements done by the Jodhpur Police, along with the future plans of successfully implementing ITMS, Cyber Crime Cell and Tourist Police Station at Jodhpur.

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How is the Jodhpur Police making the most of Information Technology?

Analysis, which can give you enough knowledge to stop crimes before they might happen.

How effectively is your department involved in citizen engagement?

We are planning to use Information Technology (IT) in a major way.

Currently, it is in its initial stage here in Jodhpur. We are generating a lot of data from various sources. However, the integration and meaningful utilisation of the data is something which needs to be worked upon.

Cybercrime in India grew by a massive 457 percent in the last five years. What are the initiatives being undertaken by you in Jodhpur?

Social Media Platforms are helping us in reaching out to the people of Jodhpur. At this moment, we are sharing basic information on social media platforms, but very soon, we are planning to make our social media platform interactive and run campaigns for women safety, tourist safety, and cyber crimes. We shall be roping in some agencies which would help us in customising and generating content for our platforms to attract citizensâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; attention to various issues.

One good initiative which has been implemented is Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS), which allows all the police stations to access crucial criminal records and information. With this, we are taking a big leap in the field of IT. However, we need to integrate old data in the system. Once this is done, multiple reporting processes shall become redundant. Further, once data integration is completed, it will also help us in analysing and mapping the data, which may help us further deal with crimes and criminals.

In Jaipur, we had done a very simple exercise - Hotspot Analysis - where we mapped property offences on the map with thier latitude and longitude along with time, and also recorded the nature of crime or offence. This analysis helped us understand the criminal trends scientifically. We are now planning to do similar exercise in Jodhpur as well.

This is called Spatiotemporal Data

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We are trying to set up a Cyber Cell, and we have already started a basic facility. Some of our men have been trained for the job and deployed. We are making efforts to develop a team which will help local police stations in forming strategies and provide technology to fight cyber crimes. We have a small unit at this moment, but in near future, we will surely have a bigger team in Jodhpur.

Jodhpur, being a global tourist destination, calls for more safety and security measures towards the people visiting the Sun City.

What are your views on this?

Please elaborate.

We have proposed a Tourist Police Station in Jodhpur. We have roped in Hotel Associations and Guide Associations as well. We are planning to launch an information card as well which will be a handy tool for visitors to contact necessary departments and places in the city. We are making efforts to outreach the people visiting the Sun City with increased visibility.

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With the help of some media houses, we had run campaign to engage citizens of Jodhpur where they would ask questions and we would answer; it helped us ensure a positive connect between police and citizens.

Any plans to implement Integrated Traffic Management System (ITMS) in Jodhpur.

We have installed CCTV camera across the city. We are seeking the help of IIT Jodhpur for meaningful manipulation and analysis of CCTV data. ITMS, I would say, is a significant project. We are in the process of sending proposals to Government to implement ITMS mechanisms in the city as well.

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SPOTLIGHT: TRANSPORT

Shuchi Sharma delivering Keynote address at the Elets National Publc Transport Summit 2019

Efficient Transportation Key Enabler in Seamless Designing of City Space 36

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With the growing private-vehicle ownership in India, causing major congestion problems in cities, there are many plans to revamp the bus systems and metro networks, speaks Shuchi Sharma, Secretary, Higher & Technical Education, Government of Rajasthan, at the Elets National Public Transport Summit Pune. (Sharma was then serving as the Managing Director, Rajasthan State Road Transport Corporation.)

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SPOTLIGHT: TRANSPORT

with a change of ruling political party is what I feel to be the biggest challenge in today’s time.”

I

ndia, one of the fastest growing economies in the world, is achieving a growth rate of 7.5 percent per annum. With a growing population too, the country is working hard to transform itself over the next few decades. Even with the current size of the urban population, Indian cities are facing a multitude of issues such as severe congestion; deteriorating air quality; increasing road accidents; and an exploding growth in the number of private vehicles. Analysing the role of transport sector in the age of rapid urbanisation, Shuchi Sharma observed, “With the urban population projected to more than double in the next generation, improving public transportation is high on the agenda at the moment.”

Areas of Challenge According to Sharma, public transport needs political will and strong action plan to improve its existing stature.

“While heading the RSRTC, I was faced with the biggest challenges on all fronts; from financial, to human resource funds, to supply of parts and government policies and an overall insensitive mindset towards public transport.”

Talking about the challenges, she opined, “The biggest challenge is finance. We should never measure efficiency of public transport organisations by its profit. Public transport should be treated like an infrastructure because it is facilitating the economy and livelihood. People are earning their livelihood through this lifeline.”

Sharing her experience of heading RSRTC, Sharma said, “While heading the RSRTC, I was faced with big challenges on all fronts; from financial to human resource funds, to supply of parts and government policies and an overall insensitive mindset towards public transport. For me, these were the biggest challenges to run our organisation.”

She also added, “Political uncertainty,

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Stating the striking contrast between the reality and perspective of managing public transport sector, she stated, “Dealing with public transport does need a long term perspective that has a vision, planning and proper execution. But, somehow realities are different.

There is a fundamental disagreement or contradiction when our commands change, as to who should run the public transport.”

Need to Bridge the Gap Leveraging IT can bridge the existing challenges. Pointing this out, she said. “The key point is to smartly allocate resources by utilising technology. Here, ICT helps. As the Integrated Traffic Management System generates lots of data, we need to utilise the data. By analysing these data, we can understand which routes are giving more profits and how to manage the finance.”

She added, “Digital payment is another rising area of opportunity in this sector. Use of ICT in our services for scheduling routes, tracking passengers and even the Human Resources of RSRTC, in terms of leave management.”

The Road Ahead “India currently has been long committed on clean energy generation. The federal government too, has been reducing emissions from the transportation sector.

Besides, in order to improve the efficiency of the organisation, the focus is on IT intervention, which in turn will provide seamless transport to the passengers, thus helping institutions to work in an efficient manner,” Sharma concluded.

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SPOTLIGHT: NAMAMI GANGE

Namami Gange Focuses on Augmenting River Water Quantity and Quality The Namami Gange Programme of NMCG is an integrated umbrella initiative of River Ganga Conservation & Rejuvenation along with maintaining biodiversity, green cover & Larger ecosystem of not only the Ganga main stem but also its tributaries, says Rajiv Ranjan Mishra, Director General, National Mission for Clean Ganga in an interview with Ritika Srivastava, Elets News Network (ENN).

Rajiv Ranjan Mishra

Director General National Mission for Clean Ganga

“By planting sapling near the banks of the river can generate better rain, more water. The focus should be on improving the water quantity in the river which is popularised by the name of Aviral Ganga.”

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Shed some light on the Namami Gange project.

Namami Gange is an integrated Ganga Conservation Programme that comprehensively addresses pollution issues in Ganga main stem as well as its tributaries. Taking an ecosystem approach, the programme also approaches biodiversity and flora conservation and augmentation, ensuring sustainable wateruses and finally overall protection of the Ganga basin and its constituents. This is not a mission limited to Ganga but extends to its tributaries as well. So it may be Yamuna, Gomti or river Damodar, etc.

Ganga cleaning has been a long-drawn

process. It all started off with Action Plans and plans for other tributaries like Gomti Action Plan, Yamuna Action plan and for each river there is a plan.

For each plan, there are phases like Ganga Action Plan-1, Ganga Action Plan-2 and for Yamuna River there used to be Yamuna Action Plan-1, Plan-2.

We brought all of them together under one umbrella mission because earlier we used to have fragmented thinking.

Therefore, to grapple with all these problems collectively, the ‘Namami Gange’ programme integrating all the constituents was launched with systemic approach.

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SPOTLIGHT: NAMAMI GANGE

completed. The major projects are located in Haridwar and Rishikesh.

We look at industrial pollution, sewage pollution and also pollution from chemical fertilizers through agricultural run-off in to the river. Sustainable agriculture has also, therefore, been incorporated in the ‘Namami Gange’ mission.

The two STPs, which are under construction, will also be completed by this year. One is located at Jagjeetpur with 68 MLD capacity and the other one is at Sarai of 14 MLD capacity. The STP at Sarai is complete and is under trial runs. The Jagjeetpur STP would be completed by August 2019.

Afforestation, which has a huge potential in augmenting rainfall and can lead to a cleaner and greener environment, is the call of the day. The focus should be on augmenting the water quantity in the river, which is popularised by the name of ‘Aviral Dhara’.

In the states of Uttrakhand and Jharkhand, complete infrastructure is ready. These projects are going to be maintained for 15 years. Same situation is in Kanpur, Patna, Prayagraj and many other cities.

The next target is improving the mass connectivity and ownership of the rivers through river-front development, modernising of the ghats with better amenities and thus making rivers a public space for city use. There is a plenty of aquatic life within the river, which needs to be conserved to maintain quality of water. Science-based and event-based methods, as developed by a consortium of seven IITs, are being employed which are intended to reverse the loss of aquatic life in the river.

“We have started focusing more on the tributaries of the river. Now we have got around 37 projects on tributaries, Kaali and Gomti projects are also there.

Kaali is one of the dirtiest rivers and we have commenced work on it.”

What are some of the recent initiatives taken by NMCG in cleaning the river Ganga and how are those being executed?

The overall approach of this mission lies in cleaning all the tributaries of Ganga.

We have taken a slew of initiatives to curb pollution in Ganga. The primary source of pollution being sewage, we evaluated our shortfalls in the earlier approaches. The major reason why previous mission remained incomplete was due to the lack of finances and continuity in funding.

But as of now, we have got funding of Rs 20,000 crore for the mission for five years. The funding structure is such that it is non-lapsable; it stays with the NMCG, which helps in prospective planning.

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We looked at all the towns surrounding Ganga and looked at the sewage profile and scrutinised the quantity of sewage generation and how much is uncovered for the treatment. Almost all the projects in Uttarakhand are at an advanced stage of progress and are likely to be completed by the end of this year. 19 out of 30 projects have already been

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The take-over operation of all the STPs includes maintaining and operating them for 15 years to ensure that untreated sewage from treatment plans does not flow in to the river Ganga. That has been completely diverted. We have started improving the capacity utilisation of STPs because many of them were functioning at low capacity of onethird of the installed capacity. These are some of the initiatives which are even implemented in Prayagraj.

These are some of the initiatives which led to the completion of projects on time and also by maintaining the quality of projects for 15 years. In Patna also, a similar strategy was adopted. The state does not have much sewerage capacity along with Ganga stem. We have got projects for all 18 towns in Bihar. With our projects, we are already increasing it by almost 10 times from 64 MLD to 620 MLD. So complete sewerage and STP infrastructure being created in Namami Gange, and three STPs will be created in Patna.

Our other initiative is on bio-diversity sector, wherein we are focusing on bio-diversity colonisation, along with the wildlife rejuvenation.

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SPOTLIGHT: NAMAMI GANGE

able to complete all the sets of requirements needed for initiating this mission.

The other big challenge that lies in front of us is in making people realise that their contribution can lead to the withdrawal of pollutants and make it a pollutant-free river.

In order to treat the industrial pollution in Kanpur, we are starting the construction of common effluent treatment plant. Another initiative has been monitoring and enforcement on the industries. We are involving third party agencies and institutes like IITs, NITs, etc.

How is NMCG working towards making the areas, through which river Ganga flows, attractive for tourists?

Ganga, the holy river, changes its shape and beauty whenever it passes through different cities. Even the name by which river Ganga is known among the people changes across the states like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar or West Bengal. We are working on reviving the fresh water quality because it works as an attractive constituent for mesmerising tourists.

Facilitating better amenities like clean ghats and pure drinking water have led to increase inflow tourists summing up a pleasant experience. We have launched a floating museum on the Ganga in Varanasi. The two advantages of creating this museum, apart from attracting tourists, lie in educating them about the holy river of India and on generating a sense of responsibility among them to keep it clean.

A similar strategy was planned while organising the Kumbh Mela and one can

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observe it did wonders in attracting tourists and was celebrated with much enthusiasm and joy. For creative promotions of Kumbh Mela we partnered with different agencies for painting the ghats and cities and this creativity fascinated a quite large proportion of tourists as compared to the previous years. This thinking of ours also struck a spark in Patna and one can see it how beautifully the painters crafted their art on the antiquated buildings and now they look like renovated forts and has enhanced the national glory.

In Patna, people can walk around the river-front which has been developed under this project. Our organisation has even done some painting over there and has created audio-visual centres. In addition to all these, we have a beautiful Ganga anthem which is played along with Ganga aarti.

What are the major challenges faced by you while planning and executing these initiatives?

Owing to the magnitude of the project, the gravity of the challenges is also large.

Mapping of all the villages and towns around Ganga and in understanding what sort of work is required and expanding the forest area are major challenges for us. Through the help of various reputed institutions we were

Supposedly, if today a sewage treatment plant (STP) is created, then for another 15 years it would be the job of local bodies to ensure that it functions properly. NMCG would be supporting financially O&M also for 15 years. The role of local people living along the banks of Ganga River is greater because they visit the ghats for recreation, cremation, performing other rituals.

They owe a big responsibility on their shoulders to keep it clean during this period of time. Transforming everybody in to a Ganga-lover was one of our major targets. We have achieved a considerable success in this direction.

Another challenge for us was to keep the river healthy in the middle of the urbanisation. Our history tells us that all cities develop on the banks of a river.

But cities turned into megacities which somewhere led the rivers to disappear.

Yamuna River in Delhi is one such example.

Augmentation and conservation of drinking water is another challenge.

When Ganga reaches Haridwar, around 70 to 80 percent of its water is used for the agriculture purposes only.

Since this constitutes a major chunk, we need to convey to the farmers to use water efficiently. Our water-use efficiency is not even 40 percent and if we could increase it by even 10-20 percent, it will lead to lower withdrawal from the river and a large volume of water so saved will help in enhanced flow in the river, realising the objective of â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Aviral Dharaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; to a large extent - ultimately curbing pollution-load in the river.

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POLICYMAKER PERSPECTIVE

Santosh Kumar Sharma

Commissioner, Kanpur Municipal Corporation and CEO, Kanpur Smart City Limited

Give us an overview on the progress of Kanpur Smart City.

Kanpur Smart City: Deploying ITMS and ICCC to Curb Traffic Congestion The people of Kanpur do get the feeling that their city is becoming smarter. Hopefully, within a year or two, face of the entire city will be changed. Every aspect of life has been improved and will continue to improve, says Santosh Kumar Sharma, Commissioner, Kanpur Municipal Corporation and CEO, Kanpur Smart City Limited in an exclusive interview with Elets News Network (ENN). He talks about various challenges faced in developing the Kanpur Smart City and how the administration is working towards mitigating them.

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Kanpur is one of the most populated cities in Uttar Pradesh. The numerous problems that we face have become challenges under the Smart City Mission. We have taken some progressive steps in solid waste management but we have to implement a pan city solution for the solid waste problem. We have recently done some good work in the ABD area in this regard.

We have a very comprehensive plan regarding Integrated Command & Control Centre (ICCC). We have already integrated nine major utilities with our ICCC. I think, the people of Kanpur do get the feeling that their city is becoming smarter. Hopefully, within a year or two, face of the entire city will be changed. Every aspect of life has been improved and will continue to improve.

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What are the plans in pipeline for the Kanpur Smart City Mission and their timelines?

Our first priority is not to let any garbage touch the ground. Presently you may see heaps of garbage beside some roads of Kanpur but in the coming years, all the garbage will be transported through closed vessel compactors and no garbage will be visible on the ground.

We are installing CCTVs to get the entire city under surveillance so that anyone who lives in, or comes to Kanpur, feels safe.

Traffic poses a major challenge and we are aiming for a revolutionary change in this field. By working on Intelligent Transport Management System (ITMS) under ICCC, we are trying to bring a major part of Kanpur under an e-challan system which will lead to less physical interventions and more technological interventions.

With an aim to improve the infrastructure of Kanpur, we have undertaken some smart road projects for making smart pathways and cycle tracks. Also, amenities like street furniture are being installed for pedestrians. For example, there is a market in Kanpur called Naveen market. We have completely changed the face of this market. Now it is a pedestrian market. Earlier there were huge lines of cars present in and around the market and walking in the

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area became very difficult. To resolve this problem, we created a multi level car parking nearby. This resulted in a lot of space being created for the pedestrians. Now it has become a selfie point in the heart of our city.

These are some of the projects we have undertaken and it is our expectation that within two to three years, everything will be streamlined and people will get all the benefits on the ground.

Since water is one of our precious natural resources, how is it being managed and are there any conservation activities that have been taken up?

Kanpur is situated on the banks of river Ganges. We have water treatment plants to get surface water from the river. We discourage digging of tube wells or extracting underground water. We try to be fully dependent on surface water sources.

We have also undertaken projects for rain water harvesting under smart city mission. We have Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs) working 24x7 and now there is a very big thermal power plant coming up in Panki. We are working on an agreement so that treated water from STPs goes to that plant.

We are also working on waste water drains. We want only treated water to go into the drains so that we can

create more pedestrian paths along the drains. Presently it stinks and nobody wants to go there. We are working with IITs to solve this problem.

Have you taken up any initiatives on the e-mobility front, like electric vehicles?

The State Government has provided about a hundred e-buses for the city.

Also, Kanpur has been selected for a metro rail-line. The Detailed Project Report (DPR) and the tender process have been completed already. Phase-1 for the metro is going to start soon.

Also, when we are purchasing new vehicles, we are going for CNG-based ones, not diesel ones. As you know, Kanpur is presently being counted as one of the most polluted cities, not only in India but across the globe. We are working hard to change its reputation for the better.

Have you taken any initiatives towards using renewable energy like solar energy?

We have a mandate to lessen the energy demand of our grid by up-to 10 percent. It is one of the very important goals of our smart city mission. We are working with New & Renewable Energy Development Agency (NEDA) to install solar energy powered lights across the city. We have recently installed intelligent solar LED lights in many of our lanes and parks.

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EVENT CALENDAR 2019-20 EVENT NAME

PLACE

MONTH

URBAN / SMART CITY / IT / INNOVATION / ENERGY/AGRICULTURE Transport Summit

Lucknow

November 2019

Power Summit

Jaipur

November 2019

Public Transport Summit

Jaipur

November 2019

Urban Innovation Summit, Punjab

Chandigarh

November 2019

3rd National Power Summit

Bengaluru

November 2019

Smart and Digital City Summit

Pune

December 2019

National eGovernance Summit, Haryana

Chandugarh

December 2019

Technology Innovation Summit

Jaipur

December 2019

Agro Logistics Summit

Mumbai

December 2019

Public Procurement Summit

Delhi

December 2019

Agro Summit, Madhya Pradesh

Bhopal

December 2019

2nd Agro Marketing Innovation Summit

Mumbai

January 2020

Affordable Housing Summit

Mumbai

January 2020

ENVIRONMENT 2nd Environment Summit, Almora

Almora

22-23 November 2019

TECHNOLOGY / BFSI 3rd BFSI Cloud & Security Summit

Mumbai

28 November 2019

HEALTH 6th Healthcare Innovation Summit

Delhi

December 2019

EDUCATION Higher Education & Human Resource Conclave

Jaipur

1-2 November 2019

15th World Education Summit

Mumbai

21-22 November 2019

16th World Education Summit

Muscat, Oman

December 2019

Skill Development Summit

Jaipur

December 2019

17th World Education Summit

Hyderabad

February 2020

North East Education Fest

Kohima, Nagaland

February 2020

4th Education Conclave

Delhi

March 2020

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RNI No - UPENG/2008/25234 / UP/GBD - 71/2018/2020

Posting Date: 10 & 15