Smart tag soon for Eluru

Rajahmundry: Eluru, the rapidly developing town with a population of over three lakh, will be developed as a Smart City soon. Civic authorities have started the exercise and the development of infrastructure and other amenities is being taken up by Siemens India. Eluru’s master plan was prepared way back in 1974 and officials are updating it to not only suit the needs for the present but also meet future requirements. The new master plan will be developed with the aid of Geographical Information System.

Some of the major components to develop Eluru as a smart city include: Development of sewerage including laying of underground drainage system and setting up sewage treatment plants, storm water drains to avoid inundation during heavy rainfall or due to floods in the canals and drains and solid waste management. Energy conservation by promoting generation of solar power and helping people to use switch to solar power to reduce the tariff burden is among the components. Also, the transport network will be streamlined to facilitate free flow of vehicular traffic and avoid fatal road accidents. Security is a major component.

Civic officials said that the existing detailed project reports are being analysed and requisite changes are being made to upgrade Eluru to a Smart City. Efforts are on to bring down the loss of power during transmission and distribution by setting up more number of power transformers and also to streamline the network of power lines, they said. CM Chandrababu Naidu has several times said that he is very fond of West Godavari district where the party won a landslide victory, leaving no seat for the Opposition.

Though Eluru was not included in the first list for smart cities, it was included subsequently in the list. Eluru municipal commissioner Y. Sai Srikanth said, “We are working on various projects to develop the town as a smart city and we expect the works are to be completed in a year.”