Kochi, the Queen of Arabian Sea, is the state's commercial hub and one of the sought-after tourist destinations in India. People from different parts of the country reside here, making it a melting pot of various cultures.
It has now found a place in the Govt. of India's Smart Cities Challenge list that includes 98 cities from across the country.
As per the government’s guidelines, various surveys have been done among the citizens, by the authorities to know people's concerns about their city and suggestions to make the city ‘smart’.
Surveys are over; now, everybody is keen to know whether Kochi would find a place in the elite 20 cities list. Is Kochi smart enough? What do Kochiites think about their city? We take a look.
As district collector Rajamanickam mentioned in his Facebook post that went viral, we need to concentrate on infrastructure rather than things like logo and tagline for the proposed smart city and most people agree with this view.
“Kochi can become smart if everybody work together,” they say. The Kochi Corporation has created a facebook community ‘Smart City Citizen Forum’ to know people's suggestion to make the city better. Transportation, waste management, waste water management, walkability and cycle tracks, health, safety and security, sanitation, open spaces, economy and employment generation, intelligent government service, IT Connectivity, citizen participation, and education are the ten top priorities surfaced from the discussion.
Corporation conducted both direct and indirect surveys to generate suggestions. The facebook community was one tool. “There were many proposals from people, but major concerns were transportation and waste management. Some even suggested that corporation should limit private vehicles on road,” says the admin of the community. Some have told that there should be strict enforcement of law against rash drivers within the city limit.
According to Gobi, who commented in the community, like other metro cities, Kochi City should have underground cables, which will save unnecessary labour, maintenance & money. Sanjith points to the need of economic stability for a smart city. “Economy and employment should be given priorities. Other than IT sector none other sectors have got a good hand here,” he says.
Another commentator wants the authority to have a serious look on the living condition in Kochi. “Now, Kochi is in the tourist map. So, we need to emphasize on cleanliness of the city and make it a mosquito free place. Footpaths must be maintained beautifully. Going smart also means becoming technologically advanced,” he opines.
In Sujith Varghese's opinion, Kochi is not smart and needs to improve its water ways. “It is good that we have Kochi Metro; but, we need to focus on the waterways too. Kochi is known for it. Developing waterways not beautify the city, but reduce the amount of pollution too,” he says. “Besides, we need to create more open spaces in the city. There should be walkways in easily accessible locations. It will improve our social life,” he adds.
“Kochi has the potential to become a smart city, unfortunately, we are not exploiting it,” says Sethuraj. “Corporation announces projects, but not all get realized. They said they will work to make nightlife active in Kochi. Nothing happened so far. Timely implementation of projects is necessary to make Kochi Smart,” he says.
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