Team from Port Blair Smart City visits BSCL to have smart ‘SPV coaching’

Bhubaneswar: A delegation from the special purpose vehicle (SPV) of Port Blair Smart City arrived at the Number One Smart City on Thursday to have some smart tips under the ‘SPV to SPV Coaching Partnership’ proposed by the Ministry of Urban Development.

The team will stay in the Temple City for two days to receive hands-on knowledge on the technical aspects of the SPV functioning and to fast-track their implementation plans as the island city has also got some impactful projects identified by its Smart City Proposal.

The Port Blair Smart City’s Technical Sub-Committee of its SPV, Port Blair Smart Projects Ltd (PBSPL), comprises architect Jaya Kumar from Port Blair Municipal Council (PBMC) and nodal officer of the delegation, A. Subramanian Superintending Engineer from Public Works Department Andaman and Nicobar Islands and AK Pal, executive engineer, from PBMC.

Nodal officer Jaya Kumar said, “The visit by the Port Blair Technical Sub-Committee of the SPV is to interact with Bhubaneswar Smart City Limited (BSCL) to understand the technical procedure in selecting the programme management consultants (PGMCs) to design and implement Smart City projects in Port Blair city.”

It can be mentioned here that the Smart City Proposal of PBSPL is of Rs 770 crore even though the city’s population is little more than 1.4 lakh.

PBSPL has got many similar projects like 24X7 water and power supply, smart energy metering, development of open space and recreational facilities like parks, neighbourhood markets, Urban Chaupal to make people have friendly lifestyle and neighbourhood as many in the cities are becoming isolated with more and more use of e-gadgets and changing lifestyle, solar energy harvesting, multi-level car parking in its area-based development (ABD) plan.

In the Pan-City plan, implementation of a digital door numbering address system and setting up of a Metropolitan Area Network connecting all government departments and the Common Service Centres for delivering ITES services.

Representatives of BSCL including General Manager Operations Bijay Kumar Swain, GM Technology and Projects Santosh Kumar Mishra, GM Engineering Simanchal Maharana and senior consultants briefed the Port Blair delegation regarding various projects undertaken by BSCL and also answered the queries of the visiting team on how to address the latter’s requirements.

BSCL team also made a detailed presentation of the Smart City projects (ABD and Pan-City) and their progress so far and what is in store for the future.

It can be mentioned here that the Ministry of Urban Development had advised exploring possibilities of utilising the services of SPVs of other Smart Cities by the new Smart Cities.

This ‘SPV to SPV Coaching’ will help new cities to learn from their successful peers and avail their expertise for the faster implementation of the Smart City Proposals.