Mumbai : To be able to manage the environmental factors smartly is the key for the smart cities of tomorrow, Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu said here at the two-day conference on smart cities organised by Vijnan Bharati.
Prabhu, who was to address the valedictory function of the conference but could not make it due to other engagements, addressed the conference over a video conference. Defining the ‘smart’ factor of the smart cities, Prabhu said, “Smart means thinking right and to act in a manner that does not create problems for the future.”
Prbhu discussed the development of several cities in China in the 90s and touched upon several aspects of the development of smart cities from migrating population to availability of resources for developing
smart cities. He stressed on the need for an integrated approach towards the transport solutions. He spoke of creating a separate body to carry out the task.
“The government has planned to create 100 smart cities. These cities will require smart transportation facilities. For this the centre and state governments and local bodies should join hands to create an
integrated transport solutions body to plan seamless transport systems,” Prabhu said
“To protect the environment from carbon emissions, we will have to encourage public transport. But if the transportation system is planned independent of each other in isolation, then it will not give
the result that we aim at. Therefore we need an integrated plan to ensure create such transport infrastructure that will address the issue of environment protection,” Prabhu added.
He also touched upon the problem of solid waste management and availability of water. “There is a need to make all our cities self sufficient in water and opined that it can be achieved if we have
two-three different streams of water bringing different kind of water to our homes,” he said.
He also spoke of newer energy solutions in terms of generation, like more use of solar and wind energy, as well as the distribution like employing smart power grids like the one at Navi Mumbai that
considerably reduces transmission losses.
Prabhu also touched upon the need to preserve the green spaces and water bodies in the cities and being close to the nature, which he said would be the smartest of choices.
