Smart City Features That Are Already Around You

Can't wait to know what your city would look like once it becomes “smart”? While we are hoping to see our future cities to be equipped with state-of-art facilities, we might have failed to notice our cities already have several smart features.

Water ATMs

Almost 12 Indian states have already installed water ATMs in public places. This includes Bihar, Chhattisgarh, the National Capital Region, Gujarat, Haryana, Jammu & Kashmir, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. Several private enterprises have come up in the forefront to supply water ATMs to remote water-scarce areas.

Also read: Govt Announces 30 More Cities Under Smart City Mission

LED lights

In many states, streetlights have been replaced with LED lights to save electricity. Roads are also covered with CCTV cameras. In fact, CCTVs are being used to curb crime in residential colonies where houses remain unguarded for the most part of days.

Rooftop solar panels

While Chandigarh, Delhi, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh have made it mandatory for all government and private buildings to install solar panels, other states are also planning to replicate this model.

Pre-booked parking

Multi-level parking spaces are being built in different parts of the country where you could book a space using mobile apps. This is to fight congestion in crowded markets where parking is a serious concern. T Nagar in Chennai and Lajpat Nagar in New Delhi will soon have such parking spaces.

Digital libraries

Over 13 government schools in New Delhi now have digital libraries while other states are soon going to adopt this feature. Apart from this, 3D printing machinery is also being installed in several schools in the national capital to improve the quality of education in a government institution.

Also read: To Make Smart City Plans A Success, Get The Basics In Place

Mechanised waste management

While the New Delhi Municipal Corporation has launched an app using which people can find public restrooms near them, the government is setting up a system to do mechanised collection of garbage. The city will have zero-waste colonies in the coming time. This was one of the major targets of the smart city mission.

Smart toilets

Water sanitary pad vending machines and low-consumption flushes have been installed across 29 toilets in Delhi alone. Soon, 150 more toilets are going to be completed by September. While Haryana, Kerala, Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim and Uttarakhand have been declared open-defecation free, other states are soon going to join this list.  

Happiness areas

As a part of its smart-city initiatives, the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) has developed green 'happiness' areas across the city. These areas are designed to help people fight mental stress and physical fatigue. You could find these areas in Indo-African Friendship Rose Garden, Indo-BRICS Rose Garden, Indo ASEAN Garden and Charkha Park. Few more will be coming up at Yashwant Place, Nayay Marg and North Avenue and in the different localities of New Delhi area.