The newly sworn-in Minister of Town Planning and Water Resources, Sri Lanka, Rauf Hakeem said, Sri Lanka’s capital hill of Kandy will be developed as the first ‘Smart City’ in the island.
The Minister was speaking at a discussion held in Katugastota and noted that India under a plan of the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is all set to construct 100 smart cities.
There is no single definition for a smart city. However, its purpose is to drive economic growth and improve the quality of life of people by enabling infrastructure development using Information Technology (IT).
The core infrastructure elements in a smart city would include adequate water supply, uninterrupted electric supply, proper sanitation, including solid waste management, efficient public transport, affordable housing, good governance, health and education, sustainable environment and safety and security of citizens.
Hakeem also highlighted that Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe has granted his approval to start Kandy North Water Supply Project. He further added, “The government has already allotted Rs 3 billion to carry out three major water supply projects in Kandy.”
