All India Institute of Local Self-Government in partnership with Bhopal Municipal Corporation and Bhopal Smart City organised Urban Dialogues – Reimagining Bhopal on February 12, 2019. Urban Dialogues was focused on laying a roadmap for helping Bhopal city to build a better urban future. Objective of the conference was to bring out probable solutions for the urban issues that Bhopal city is facing
Urban Dialogues – Reimaging Bhopal is an initiative of All India Institute of Local Self-Government (AIILSG). The conference focused on future plans of the government of Madhya Pradesh to make Bhopal city smarter and initiatives taken by the authorities to improve basic services for the citizens. Jaivardhan Singh, Minister of Urban Development and Housing, was present as the chief guest at the occasion. The conference brought together Minister of Law and Public Relations, Municipal Commissioner, Additional CEO of Bhopal Smart City, Bhopal Citizen Forum officials, city experts, and other intelligentsia on a single platform to discuss and put forward their points of view on various topics such as Smart City Bhopal, Preservation of the natural environment of the lake city, Involvement of citizens in smart city initiatives, and solutions to various urban issues that Bhopal is facing.
Urban Dialogues – Reimagining Bhopal was divided into four sessions namely Inaugural Session, Session 1, Session 2, and Valedictory Session. Session 1 was themed as Bhopal Smart City and Session 2 threw light on aspects of infrastructure, mobility, and environment for building a sustainable Bhopal.
Rajiv Agarwal, Director General, AIILSG, in his welcome address talked about implementation of smart initiatives in the city which Bhopal has implemented in a very effective manner. Also, he discussed about the transformation of the city under Smart City Mission and Swachh Bharat Mission. Further, discussing about the role of AIILSG he mentioned about the functioning of the institute and various courses it offers. He talked about the capacity building program that AIILSG conducts for training various elected representatives and municipal officials to help improve the quality of civic services delivered to the citizens. Ravi Ranjan Guru, Deputy Director General of AIILSG made a presentation on the functioning of AIILSG. He talked about courses that AIILSG offers in fields of urban management, municipal administration, sanitation, municipal finance, and other areas of city administration. He detailed the various efforts that AIILSG is putting in for better development of cities in India, be it preparing mater plans for some of them, organising training programs for the city officials, conference like Urban Dialogues, and much more.
Abhilash Khandekar, a renowned senior journalist, talked about development of Bhopal city as a smart city. He opened his arguments saying that the development process of Bhopal is being done in a haphazard manner. Even after implementation of a few smart initiatives, the growth and development is not visible. Khandekar raised various concerns like presence of urban complex in the city which can be seen among the people of Old Bhopal and New Bhopal. He further emphasized on the need for preservation of the major attraction of Bhopal city which are its lakes. Conservation of green cover, water bodies and other natural environment present in and around the city should be the pivotal point while creating and finalizing the Master Plan of Bhopal city, he added. Khandekar also touched upon the aspect of public art in the city and said that there should be proper policies designed for such initiatives. There is need to raise awareness among the common citizens and also to add to the beauty of the city.
B Vijay Datta, Municipal Commissioner of Bhopal, was present as the special guest on the occasion. He began his address by talking about the achievements of Bhopal city as he mentioned – Bhopal was ranked as the second best smart city in the country also the city has been awarded for its advanced digital payment services. “We are trying to reach the no. 1 position”, he said. Discussing the theme, he said, “We need to develop the city while keeping alive its original history and we are all geared up for it.”
Jaivardhan Singh, the Chief Guest, in his address thanked AIILSG for organising Urban Dialogues and said that Bhopal is open to feedback for better development and implementation of the city plan. He mentioned that since the past 24 years, Bhopal has not reviewed its master plan, and “my objective is to create a new and more effective master plan within a time frame of one year”. He said that Bhopal is not only the capital city of Madhya Pradesh but is also a unique city in its own sense. Bhopal’s greenery and lakes are the city’s strength and it is our primary responsibility to preserve them. He assured that the master plan will be focused on preservation of Bhopal’s natural environment and will be designed while keeping in mind the next 10-15 years, as long term planning is needed for better sustainable development of the city. Moreover, development of the peripheral areas of the city will also be taken into consideration. Singh said that Bhopal lacks in urban mobility sector and therefore the administration is trying to add more buses to the BRTS fleet to improve the city’s mobility. There is also an attempt to introduce metro services. Other options like monorail are also being examined. One of the challenges that needs to be addressed is to bring in industries to Bhopal for better generation of revenue and employment opportunities, Singh said.
P C Sharma, Minster of Law (IC) and Public Relations, was invited as a special guest. In his address Sharma said that first of all there is a need to improve the services and its delivery to the citizens and then comes smart city development. Supporting Jaivardhan’s words Sharma added that we are open for feedback from institutions like AIILSG for better implementation of development plans. He said that Bhopal lack flyovers which is one of the reasons for traffic congestion in the city. To improve city’s mobility we need facilities like metro. Sharma also talked about training programs that AIILSG conducts and said that for our officials and elected representatives we can take feedback from the institute on their training and development. He further raised concerns on the state of educational institutions and other infrastructure that will be demolished for the redevelopment projects under the smart city plan for Bhopal.
Session 1 – Bhopal
Smart City
The first technical session focused on the development of Bhopal into a smart city. The session was chaired by Nirmala Buch, Former Chief Secretary of Madhya Pradesh. The session witnessed the participation of Ramji Awasthi, Additional CEO Smart City,
Ramji Awasthi in his address talked about the various achievements of Bhopal Smart City. He detailed smart initiatives implemented in and around the city for its development. Awasthi defined the concept of ‘smart city’ as a city wherein all the basic amenities and civic services provided to the citizens are ICT integrated. While development of any city is a gradual process and takes time to reach its goal, efforts are being put in to make the infrastructure compatible
Pashim Tewari came in support of smart city concept and said
Harish Bhavnani, the last speaker of the session began his address stating that in 2011 Bhopal was ranked as the third greenest city in India. He moved on towards smart development of Bhopal and said that Bhopal Citizens’ Forum was not allowed to opine on the city’s development plan. Criticising smart city initiative, Bhavnani said that we are building a city within a city but not focusing on smart development. While talking about the bike sharing initiative taken under smart city he said that this is not a successful plan as the terrain of the city is not appropriate for cycling. Bhopal is a city built on hillocks and cycling cannot be an effective solution for improvement of the city’s mobility. Bike sharing could be used for last mile connectivity viz. from residence to bus stops and vice versa, but in that
Session 2 – Infrastructure, Mobility, and Environment for building a Sustainable Bhopal
The session was chaired by Anthony de Sa, Former Chief Secretary of Madhya Pradesh. The session involved inputs from Ravindra Saxena, IFS (Retd.), Former Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, MP, Dr Prakash Seth, Former Secretary at MPPCB, and Dr Arun Paliwal, Joint Secretary Finance, UADD. Anthony in his address said that Smart City plan has both positive and negative reviews from the people and balance should be created. He further said that mobility and infrastructure are to be seen as a part and parcel of one whole package. Ravindra Saxena put forward his concerns regarding
Madhya Pradesh Municipal Corporation Act 1956 has not been reviewed since
Saxena put forward a few suggestions such as – There is a need to bring in legal provision that trees should not be cut rather transplanted; Reclamation of solid waste dumping sites are needed for better waste management; Sewage ditch needs to be built in a series so that sewage flows in them and will not enter the water body, also the ditches need to be reclaimed in an orderly fashion to prevent the outflow of sewage;
Dr Prakash Seth mentioned
Pesticides and fertilizers used for agriculture are flowing into the river and illegal colonization on the banks affect the lake on a large scale.
Anthony de Sa supporting Dr Seth’s point of view said, “The CEPT report is not any such inquiry that needs to be kept hidden, it should be open for
public debate.”
Dr Arun Paliwal, Joint Director Finance, UADD put forward his views on the development projects going on in Madhya Pradesh. He said currently we have projects worth `8100
Cities Mission.
We have envisaged projects worth 21000
PPP can resolve the three limitations of the government which is
Valedictory Session
The session was chaired by Rajiv Agarwal, Director General, AIILSG. The session was graced by the presence of Rajyavardhan Singh, MLA, Badnawar, who delivered his point of views on the development of Bhopal. Singh said that when we talk about ‘reimagining’ we need to have a plan and a clear vision of a city we intend to build. There is a need to conduct
Ashok Wankhede, Managing Editor, Urban Update and senior journalist, highlighting the significance of Urban Dialogues said, we try to bring forward the points from various organisations that government and citizens might not know, similarly points from
Ramji Awasthi, joined the conference again to answer the questions and concerns raised. He said there is a whole lot of difference in a normal city and a smart city. When we talk about
Intelligent Traffic Monitoring System (ITMS) is not only implemented to generate challans but we look forward to a behavioural change among the people to prevent further traffic violations. ITMS will make people aware that they are being monitored so they have to abide
Ravi Ranjan Guru, Deputy Director General, AIILSG came forward to summarise the conference. He laid down all the key outcomes of the conference & concluded the session.
Key outcomes of Urban Dialogues Bhopal Declaration
- Lakes, greenery, hillocks are the most important aspects of Bhopal city and must be preserved while implementing projects and initiatives to make Bhopal a smart city. The ecology of the city should not be compromised.
- Master Plan of Bhopal
need to be made and released early. Jaivardhan Singh has announced during Urban Dialogues-Reimagining Bhopal that the new Master Plan of the city will see the light of the day within one year. - Bhopal needs to focus on issues like lake conservation, cleanliness of water bodies, proper sewage network, and most of all on the city’s efficient mobility.
- Bus Rapid Transport System (BRTS) and Bike Sharing System projects should be revisited and planned according to
city’s terrain, demography and citizens’ convenience. - Bhopal has witnessed a makeover under the Smart Cities Mission. Developments like dedicated cycle tracks, pedestrian walkways, traffic monitoring system, water quality monitoring system, smart poles, and much more have already been implemented in the city. Artificial Intelligence is being used for
effective implementation of various projects and facilities. - Citizens also have a responsibility to engage in the development process and contribute their bit to make the city a better place to live.
Temperature in and around Bhopal city is rising. Conservation of wetland and their catchment areas, vegetation and other natural resources is very important to ensurepreservation ofcity’s ecosystem.- Integration of basic civic services such as solid waste management, cleaning of roads, drinking water, adequate sewage network and management of public spaces is required in the new and old Bhopal alike.
- CEPT Report on the upper lake of Bhopal should be released for citizen consultation.
- Involvement of citizens in smart city plan must be strengthened. There should be regular dialogues with citizens and their suggestions should be taken into consideration while making and implementing plans. Urban development of Bhopal should fulfil the aspirations of the citizens.
- Creating a platform to have robust community participation is the need of the hour. It should enable all stakeholders such as public representatives, educational institutions, prominent citizen voices, and industry players.
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Public Private Partnership (PPP) has various models. These models can be discussed to address the financial issues for introducing new projects and programs. Mutual trust in PPP projects is necessary for the success of projects.