Tamil Nadu: Smart city projects get green signal

Chennai: The board of directors of the Chennai Smart City and the top brass of Chennai corporation on Tuesday gave their approval to several civic and infrastructure projects mooted under the prestigious smart city project. “Several dream projects in Chennai like integrated parking management, high tech surveillance camera scheme and the cycle sharing scheme have been cleared by the board and the proposal will now reach the state high power committee comprising finance and municipal administration departments”, corporation commissioner D. Karthikeyan told Deccan Chronicle. After several studies and revisions the smart city proposals have cleared the first stage and now the proposals will turn into the projects as per the guidelines issued by the union ministry of urban development, the official said.

All the projects cleared on Tuesday will ease congestion and enhanced security in Chennai. The long-pending cycle sharing project will also benefit the cycle lovers and reduce congestion. High-tech monitoring using online systems and real-time traffic and parking management will be executed in coordination with the city traffic police, the commissioner added.

According to Raj Cherubal, chief executive officer, Chennai Smart City Limited, the board has cleared a bunch of projects and all these projects will give smart solutions in congested areas like T Nagar, Vadapalani and Broadway.  Identification of experts and planning had also commenced, he said. According to city corporation sources several ideas and recommendations from members of the public had also reached the civic body and of one of the prominent suggestion is the development of IT corridor under the smart city project. Residents of north Chennai had also demanded improvement in drains and widening of roads in areas like Royapuram, Perambur and R K Nagar.