Make in Odisha Conclave unveils future road map of smart, livable cities

Bhubaneswar: Make in Odisha Conclave 2018, one of the largest investment summits in India, unveiled Odisha as the new and modern global and domestic destination for the development of smart cities, tourism and sports destinations in the country.

The Conclave apart from focusing on various other areas of development promoted these three key areas of investment with an aim to place Odisha as next state-of-the-art destination not only for infrastructure development but also for recreational sports and tourism in the country for both domestic and international travellers.

The Conclave organized interesting and engaging sessions on Smart Cities, Tourism and Sports for industry leaders, businessmen, and entrepreneurs, among others to showcase what all Odisha has to offer in terms of investment. Addressing the session, G.Mathi Vathanan, Housing and Urban Development secretary said, “Our department has consistently strived to create sustainable development, our efforts have borne fruits and Bhubaneswar has emerged as the number one Smart City.”

He also mentioned that more smart facilities for citizens like Mo Bus have been rolled out recently.

The technical session moderated by Dr.Krishan Kumar, BDA  Vice Chairman and MD, Bhubaneswar Smart City Ltd, on ‘Building Smart Odisha’provided a platform to discuss several smart next-generation initiatives to accelerate the digital transformation of cities in Odisha, especially Bhubaneswar and Rourkela.

The focus was to envision cities in Odisha with a Smart Urban Mobility Plan ranging from Low Carbon Mobility Plan (LCMP) to reducing congestion by providing various technological interventions.

During the session, prominent experts like Dario Hidalgo, Director, Integrated Transport, WRIRoss Centre for Sustainable Cities spoke on shared mobility principles for a liveable city.

Dorai Narayanan, a sewage specialist from Malaysia spoke on water & sanitation and managing sewerage issues in a smart city.