Raipur: A Smart City in the making

Gaurava Mishra
Chief Operating Officer
Raipur Smart City Ltd.

Keeping in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s flagship Smart Cities project, the Raipur Smart City Limited (RSCL) has been working towards making the city Smart in the impending times. RSCL has very wisely addressed the most vital aspect while making a Smart City – its citizens. Engaging the citizens who live and work in Raipur was considered an integral part while planning and implementing the various ongoing and upcoming projects. The concept of Mor Raipur (My Raipur) was initiated to give citizens a sense of belongingness towards the city.

Citizen Engagement is at the base for all of our projects, every individual has an important role to play in the development of the city,” says RSCL Managing Director Rajat Bansal.

RSCL has also initiated a lot of citizen engagement campaigns including

a) Think Raipur, an initiative aimed to encourage and invite ideas from people across the country to create India’s first people-powered smart city,

b) City Hygiene Awards, an event to honour citizens who helped in making the city clean, and

c) Toilet My Right, where the top hotels/ restaurants, marriage halls and dharmashalas in the city were roped in to allow non-customers and outsiders use restrooms when needed.

Some of the citizen focused projects (completed, ongoing, upcoming) which RSCL, in coordination with Raipur Municipal Corporation (RMC) has undertaken in the last one year:

Smart Road: With a motive to develop and strengthen the carriage way with uniform lane widths, development of pedestrian friendly pathways and cycle lanes wherever feasible, encouragement to non-motorised pathways, construction of utilities ducts/conduits for water, power and OFC, on-street parking, beautification and landscaping i/c greenery and carbon sinking, provision of smart street furniture, smart street poles with LED lights etc. The concept of Smart Road is changing the face of Raipur Smart City.

Intelligent Traffic Management System (ITMS), City Surveillance System, and Control Centre: It is one of the major steps towards making the city develop into Smart City under a fast track mode of the first phase of the Smart Cities Mission. The initiative encompasses real time monitoring of the various facets of management of Raipur Smart City i.e. citizen safety, security, traffic and city utilities, integrated command and control centre, provide and manage touch points from all concerned stakeholders during the lifecycle of various incidents resulting in continuous improvement analysis of city operations.

Underground Bin Solution: Underground bins would be installed in such a way that no person has to walk for more than 100 meters to dispose the waste. The sensors fitted in the underground dustbins will indicate the remaining capacity of the bin and indicate when it is full and needs to be emptied.

Smart Payment System: It includes the implementation of Open Loop based Smart Card project, City Mobile App, Mobile Wallet and Portal with an aim to offer citizens a common platform of payment facility which would enable them to pay for any services within the city. The system is envisaged to bring about an enormous ease to citizens by way of paying electronically using a smart card for all perceivable services including city transport, municipal services, entertainment and amusement activities, parking, bill payments, utility payments etc.

Smart Parking: The plan is broadly based on the use of advanced technologies to help motorists locate, reserve, and pay for parking. The project includes Smart Parking technology solutions, to provide information on the availability of parking slots in real time, monitoring of entry and exit, card based and other payment options, mobile app based parking guidance system.

Anand Samaj Library Renovation:  The 108 years old heritage building of the Anand Samaj library was renovated and given a modern touch through various facilities. The seating capacity was increased and more books were added in the reading section while preserving the old books in new almirhas. To accumulate more readers’, additional rooms were made along with a new parking space in the premises. Installation of Wi-Fi, initiation of e-library, CCTV cameras and air-conditioners in the library along with toilets and drinking water facilities were added in addition to the existing facilities.

Ghadi Chowk and Azad Chowk Beautification: Nagar Ghadi will be decked up with plantation and landscaping over an acre with sprinklers, thematic lighting, clock tower work, water body and fountain work, Mor Raipur curtain wall, structural design of folk culture whereas Azad Chowk will be decorated with plantation, pillar decoration and flood lighting.

Rajat Bansal
CEO & Managing Director, RSCL

“Citizen Engagement is at the base for all of our projects, every individual has an important role to play in the development of the city,”

Healthy Heart Track: Built in the premises of Sapre School, the Healthy Heart Track is used by the citizens of all age groups for a convenient running experience every day. The track is least detrimental to knees unlike the harsh and unforgiving surface of concrete.

Water ATMs: Water ATMs were installed at 10 different locations in Raipur to curb both water crisis and to provide pure drinking water to the public at an affordable price.

Public Bike Sharing: The prime reason behind this initiative is providing a low-cost, environmentally friendly mobility option to city residents through bicycle sharing for short-distance trips in different areas of the city.  This will surely result in reducing traffic congestion, noise and air pollution. Cycles are available in a closely spaced network of automated stations. Users can check out cycles at one station and return them to any other station in the network.

Bioremediation Telibandha Lake: Located on the GE Road, Telibandha Lake is one of the most attractive spot of Raipur. The project is purely focused upon the reinstating the natural ecosystem and making the water quality adequate to support life, with a clear and straightforward objective to remove all harmful aquatic weeds, increase the depth of the water body, significant reduction of nutrient elements which are harmful for aqua life to balance the ecology, and plantation of trees to reverse coastal erosion, natural air purification and CO2 absorption and restoring the soil ecology of the banks of the lake.

Renovation of Jawahar Market: Located in the heart of the city, the construction work of a multi utility building is in full swing at Jawahar Market area.

To conclude, this is just the inception towards a brighter tomorrow. The Smart City initiatives in Raipur is well planned ensuring it lives up to the citizen’s expectations. This requires concerted efforts between various stakeholders – various government departments, city leadership, government workforce and citizens being the key constituents. The actions of today will decide the shape that the Raipur Smart City takes tomorrow.