Bengaluru to have IoT enabled roads

BENGALURU: As part of the Smart Cities Mission (SCM), the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMC) is aiming to develop at least 7 kms of roads as ‘Smart SURE’ roads. ‘Smart SURE’ is a term coined by the civic corporation to refer to streets that will have IoT enabled solutions for citizens.

The high streets in the vicinity of Vidhana Soudha including MG Road, Brigade Road and Commercial Street will be covered under this plan. These roads will have 50 smart card-enabled public bicycle sharing points, 30 e-rickshaw stands, 35 e-toilets, water ATMs, 420 sensor-based smart dustbins and 50 designated vending kiosks -all of which will be connected to 1,250 smart telecom towers that will double as street light poles. The plan is a part of a Rs. 2,090 crore plan to make Bengaluru a smart city. The city’s core area comprising the historic Pete and Cantonment with old markets and commercial hubs of MG Road, Brigade Road, Chickpet, Avenue Road and Commercial Street under Area Based Development (ABD) will get Rs. 1,166 crore in the Smart City Project. This share is one of the largest to be ever given to a single group of localities.

According to an official involved with the Smart City project, Smart SURE roads are essentially Tender SURE roads with a touch of technology. About 51.6 km of roads in the core area will be redeveloped as per Tender SURE guidelines. “Smart telecom towers will control IoT based solutions such as smart parking and smart dustbins. For example, we are going in for smart street lighting, whose illumination will be controlled by the towers,” he said.