The launch of the Smart Cities Mission in 2015 was aimed at revolutionary digital transformation of Indian cities. The journey of this mission has progressed with multiple digital innovations, with smart cities attempting to create a holistic digital infrastructure. Multiple operations in these cities are governed by this robust infrastructure and its key component of centralised monitoring and management systems. These systems, including integrated command and control centres (ICCCs), city operation centres (COCs), intelligent traffic management systems (ITMSs), adaptive traffic control systems (ATCSs) and tools for smart waste management have been successfully adopted by various smart cities. Under these systems, several information and communications technologies (ICTs) have been connected for coordinated output and effective monitoring. Intelligent centralised platforms integrating these ICT components have been catalytic in the transition from a reactive to proactive and eventually, predictive approach. They are useful in making well-rounded decisions for city functions such as street lighting and surveillance, traffic management and solid waste management, among others.
Support of ICCCs and COCs
An efficient integration of ICT solutions such as smart poles, meters, public address systems, etc., in smart city projects has been possible with ICCCs. Under the mission, all 100 smart cities have been enabled with ICCCs at a cumulative cost of Rs 117.75 billion. These centres have become the backbone for coordinating most of the smart city operations among various stakeholders. They store surveillance data as well as provide real-time information, which is used for predictive analytics and subsequently, better decision-making. Their integration with data security technologies also helps in avoiding unauthorised data access and cybersecurity breaches.
One such ICCC has been recently inaugurated under the Thiruvananthapuram Smart City project on March 5, 2024. At a cost of Rs 940 million and 858.45 sq. m area, it features a video wall room, a helpdesk, a war room, work areas and meeting rooms. Besides, a mobile application called “One City” launched alongside and linked to the ICCC will provide real-time information on the availability of parking lots in the city. The ICCC will help track the compliance of Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) buses with a time schedule through global positioning system (GPS). Around 500 KSRTC buses are plying in the city through GPS at present. Further, it would monitor smart meters of the Kerala Water Authority installed in two out of 100 wards.
Similarly, a COC is being set up by Nippon Electric Company Corporation India Private Limited for the Tirupati Smart City project. It would facilitate real-time data collection and analysis related to safety, security, healthcare, environment and other aspects of the city. It would also allow two-way communication to tackle associated hurdles.
Smart waste management
Technological upgradation is the revamped approach being adopted by smart cities’ authorities for waste management. Solid and liquid waste generated in the cities is collected, transported, treated and monitored more cohesively, with the help of new digital platforms. Some of the new software and tools being deployed for this include geographic information system (GIS), radio frequency identification (RFID), machine-to-machine (M2M) communication and GPS. For instance, in January 2024, Nagpur Smart and Sustainable City Development Corporation Limited (NSSCDCL) used GIS to map the sewer network of 3,216 km length in 38 divisions of Nagpur. The work, costing Rs 50 million and carried out by Micronet Solutions, also included the identification of sewer pipelines with a diameter ranging from 100 mm to 900 mm. Furthermore, NSSCDCL will use GIS sewer mapping to help the Nagpur Municipal Corporation in integrating its storm water and water network. It will also aid the Public Health and Engineering Department in tackling issues related to sewer blockage.
In a similar stride, the solid waste collection system has been upgraded with the installation of sensors on garbage bins. These smart bins help in identifying overflowing or empty bins, with a real-time and remote sensing mechanism. In line with this, more than 900 volume sensors-enabled dustbins have been installed under the Varanasi smart city project. In fact, semi-underground waste collection bins with ultrasonic weight sensors have also been set up in the city by the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC). With the help of sensors, these bins provide alerts to VMC when they are full. This initiative has helped the urban local body in saving operational costs through the optimisation of waste collection routes. The feature of route optimisation is further explored and implemented in other smart cities with GPS-enabled vehicles. One such example is the pune smart City, which has geotagged around 7,300 garbage collection points and 400 vehicles in the city. Around 1,600 metric tonnes of garbage per day is collected by these automated vehicles. Moreover, ICCCs help in coordinating communications and tracking the movements of these vehicles through RFID. Around 435 RFID-enabled and 200 GPS-enabled waste collection vehicles have been deployed in Bhopal and the Varanasi smart city, respectively. These ensure smart solid waste management with the help of centralised monitoring at their ICCCs.
Road safety with ITMS and ATCS
As an advanced digital platform, ITMS is equipped to provide innovative services for different modes of transport and traffic management in smart cities. It uses a traffic-responsive strategy based on real-time data and monitors and controls traffic signals, including signalised pedestrian crossings. It allows commuters to remain more informed about the transport networks and use them more safely and smartly. Similarly, ATCS captures traffic-related input from non-intrusive vehicle detection sensors and communicates it to the central server. It also receives real-time instructions to mitigate traffic woes.
In a recent development, the Ghaziabad Municipal Corporation has proposed the installation of 1,455 high-tech cameras under its smart city project. The cameras will be set up at a cost of Rs 699 million at 43 busy road intersections and roundabouts. They would be integrated with ITMS and allow red-light violation detection, automatic number plate readers (ANPRs) linked to FASTag at 16 locations, no-helmet detection and triple-riding detection. Further, ANPR cameras will capture information on over speeding vehicles and traffic violations and directly issue challans. Collectively, ITMS will be effective in optimising traffic and ensuring road safety. In another development, 53 crossings have been enabled with ITMS for streamlining traffic and catching traffic violators under the Lucknow smart city project.
In sum
As smart cities move closer to their completion deadline, a wave of new-age technologies is being welcomed. They are exploring the potential of artificial intelligence (AI)-driven and big data-based operations. In this direction, the Lucknow smart city has installed around 1,000 AI-enabled cameras for advanced surveillance in the city. These cameras with face recognition technology have been installed at important locations. They would also be integrated with the National Automated Fingerprint Identification System and the recorded data would be stored in a server room in the Lalbagh area. Around 238 ITMS surveillance cameras, along with pan-tilt-zoom and fixed cameras, will also help the police in investigating various incidents.
Similarly, the emerging technology of digital twins is also gaining traction in public-private collaborations. One such recent move is the development of a digital twin of a heritage building in the Hyderabad smart city by Hexagon. A suite of advanced software and hardware such as 3D scanning, geospatial mapping and reality capture were deployed to generate 10.7 billion data points. Several high-tech devices such as Leica BLK2FLY, an autonomous flying drone equipped with a LiDAR scanner, along with the BLK2GO and RTC 360 were also used. Additionally, this technology is being explored by Thiruvananthapuram Smart City Limited for mapping its physical assets including residential and commercial buildings. The digital twin technology will be used to model the essential information related to property tax submissions and address issues associated with tax collection in Thiruvananthapuram.
Shubhangi Goswami
