Cities are on race to be included in ‘smart city mission’ recently launched by the central government. There are tough criteria set in the mission scheme; a new competitive challenge method has been adopted to select cities to sure cooperative federalism. The strategic components are city improvement (retrofitting), city renewal (redevelopment) and city extension (greenfield development) plus a pan-city initiative in which smart solutions are applied covering larger parts of the city.
The scoring process remains hard like existing service levels, institutional systems and capacities, self financing and past track record and reforms. This ambitious project will use more ICT based tools like website, mobile technology and other technological intervention in improving civic services, engage citizens from planning, implementing to monitoring, and making smart solution of pressing city challenges. There is enough scope for the urban local governments and they are empowered to make legislation and execute (74th Constitutional Amendment Act) better service delivery without waiting a centrally sponsored scheme and there are ample examples among Indian cities like Mumbai, Ahmadabad, Delhi and Chandigarh has done significant achievement in these area. It is an opportunity for all urban local governments in Odisha to ensure the criteria of the smart city mission not only to just fulfil the eligibility but really deliver services in a smart way.
Berhampur Municipal Corporation (BeMC) is struggling hard to be eligible for the scheme. It is difficult not only for BeMC but most of the cities in Odisha to reach the score in all most all criteria like the existing service level in basic citizen services set under smart city mission. In Berhampur most of the criteria are performing consistently poor like water it has shortage of 8MLD not able to metering the water supply, sanitation condition has been very poor it has not able to manage its 4589 TDP of waste generation every day and failed to set up the ‘solid waste management plant’. Only 6.3% of the households are connected with drains without sewage collection, transmission and treatment facility. Surprisingly only 39% of the households have access to toilets and open defecation is rampant (59.5%). 26270 households living in slums have poor housing and IHSDP (755DUs in last five years) and RAY unable to provide houses to the urban poor since 2010-11. Bad road conditions, poor traffic management and unreached transport system to all wards has clearly demonstrations mobility conditions in the city.
The city governance mechanism has also poor performance like the e-governance, e-grievance has failed to deliver services. BeMC website has not updated since its inception and no compensatory penalty system exists at all. Citizens are not consulted in planning, designing, budget making and monitoring city development programmes. On the other hand the own resource generation has persistently declining since 2010 to 2015 which clearly indicates its dependency burden on central and state government. There is no budget transparency and people are not consulted for priorities. The past performance record are very deteriorating poor utilisation of centrally sponsored grants (IHSDP and UIDSSMT), inefficient service delivery and no use of electronic method. No functioning of ward committee to scope citizen participation. There are hardly any use of ICT for service delivery, lodge complaint and citizen feedback and e-news letter published overnight on the occasion of getting eligible.
But still there are strong justifications for Berhampur to be included in smart city mission scheme because Berhampur is oldest municipality in Odisha (constituted 1867), a commercial, educational, cultural and tourist hub of south Odisha, potential place for industrial corridor (can be connected to Vizag-Chennai Industrial corridor), huge coastal area, rich of agriculture and rural artisan and government should come up to mitigate regional imbalance since decades.
Hence it has the potentially entitled to get the status of ‘smart city’ to develop as a industrial and commercial hub of Odisha. A workshop has been organised by Youth for Social Development, a NGO working on issues of governance and citizen participation, jointly with CAC and other civil society organisations here at Hotel Radha in Berhampur to present the strength and opportunities of Berhampur to be included under smart city.
Author, Researcher, Activist & Associate Editor- New Delhi.
Authored & Co-Authored several Books on History, Culture and Society for various Universities,
Associated with Odisha Development Forum as its President & working for the development of the Tribal dominated backward Districts of Odisha.
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