Prime Minister Narendra Modi has launched Smart City projects in Northeast India’s five cities including Gangtok and Namchi in Sikkim; Pasighat and Itanagar in Arunachal Pradesh; and Agartala in Tripura.
The Prime Minister on Thursday digitally launched Integrated Command and Control Centres (ICCCs), which use technology to integrate services like police, transport, water, power, transport, sanitation, and public safety utilities.
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The ICCCs will enable real-time collaboration between departments through digitised methods and technology to ensure that they work in tandem.
The projects that have already been executed include Integrated Water Supply, LED streetlights and footpaths in Namchi and Rain Water Harvesting in Gangtok. The Sikkim capital has also taken up multi-level car parking and related features to solve the issue of traffic congestion.
Agartala has taken up a project to tackle the flood situation in the city. While Itanagar has taken up projects on road, traffic, and transport management system, work is on in Pasighat on projects like housing, energy management, and business development.
Speaking on the occasion, the Prime Minister said, “There are over 500 projects with a total worth of nearly 15,000 crore rupees in the 10 Smart Cities in the North East. Work orders have already been issued for 59 of these projects.”
The other five cities in northeast India under the Smart City Project are: Guwahati in Assam; Aizawl in Mizoram; Kohima in Nagaland; Imphal in Manipur; and Shillong in Meghalaya.
As on March 1, 2019, the Integrated Command and Control centres became functional in as many as 15 smart cities across India and the work is in progress in 50 cities. It is expected that the first Command and Control centre of northeast India will be completed by October 2019.
According to the Prime Minister, the urban centres of northeast India have the potential to emerge as growth hubs for the entire region owing to the presence of a skilled human resource pool. He also mentioned that the implementation of the ICCCs is gathering momentum across India.