‘Corpn implements learnings from SCM in other projects’
Radhakrishnan said cities need to learn from each other and implement the best practices in their regular projects.
GCC Commissioner J Radhakrishnan (Photo credit: Manivasagan N)
CHENNAI: The concept of the Union government’s Smart Cities Mission (SCM) is also being implemented in ‘regular projects’ that are executed by the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) through various other funding sources, Additional Chief Secretary J Radhakrishnan said.
He added that SCM has evoked a lot of enthusiasm among people, a reason why the participation was high.
Radhakrishnan said cities need to learn from each other and implement the best practices in their regular projects. “We’re not implementing SCM just as a programme that’s limited to the Rs 1,000-crore allocation the Union government has given. We’re also incorporating that concept into all the other projects we’re taking up through various (other) funding sources,” he explained.
Under SCM, the corporation has been doing a number of activities such as the creation of a command and control centre that leverages information from many departments and provides a comprehensive response-mechanism for the everyday challenges across the city. “This is an integrated view of all smart initiatives. Various smart elements are able to use the data and intelligence gathered from operations of other elements so that civic services are delivered a lot more efficiently and in an informed fashion,” said a senior official of the corporation.
The GCC Commissioner also pointed to the ‘health walk track’ – an 8-km track that’s part of the State government’s initiative to promote an active and healthy lifestyle among people. The track also has space for parking vehicles and civic amenities.
“We’re also constructing a very important green building, which has been awarded the highest rating by the Great Building Congress recently. We’re now trying to link the SCM concept to set up smart clinics and smart toilets in Chennai. These smart clinics will have digital records of patients visiting there,” he stated.
Talking about the development of the pedestrian plaza in Pondy Bazaar under SCM, Radhakrishnan said, “The area used to be congested but now it’s a business district where people are having all kinds of activities, including entertainment, due to which footfall in the market area has increased, ultimately benefitting the businesses as well.”