Government of India launched the Smart Cities Mission to enable the holistic development of Indian cities. This initiative under the Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD) aims to drive economic growth and improve the quality of life of people by enabling local development and harnessing technology as a means to create smart outcomes for citizens. According to MoUD, the core elements of a Smart City include: adequate water and electricity supply, suitable sanitation and solid waste management, efficient public transportation, affordable housing, robust IT connectivity and digitalization, e-governance with citizen participation, sustainable environment, and safety and security of citizens with health and education for all. These objectives are proposed to be attained through a judicious mix of retrofitting, redevelopment and Greenfield development.

With the above mentioned objective city of Dehradun has been analyzed in detail to find the issues, strengths and potential of various locations, with respect to Smart city features. Consultations with various departments, para-statal agencies and public have been done to choose the most favorable site. Various proposals of government departments and their schemes have been studied and its integration in terms of development and financial support have also been carried out.

For the proposed ABD, detailed citizen consultation and consent is being carried out. The inputs from citizens will be reflected the vision and overall proposal. The identified ABD site during round 1 is strategically located on fast developing Chakrata Road, Shimla By-pass Road over a land parcel of 350 acres. This site will be transformed into a TOD based development making it hub for Higher and Technical Education, Knowledge Hub, Hospitality Hub, Special Agro Produce Zone, etc. The idea is to de-congest the existing city as well as monetize the potential of strategic land, thus providing socio-economic development with best in class facilities. The proposed project envisages a total investment of over 4000 crores and the tentative benefits generated from the project to the tune of over 1500 crores over a time span of 5-7 years, are planned to be invested in all the identified four zones of the existing city of Dehradun. The identified area happens to water recharge area, so the project proposal essentially includes use of technologies to ensure that water retention in the area is maintained to the current level.

The goals of improving governance and tourism in the city will be met through better information availability, smarter services and one stop shops at the city level. This is currently planned through a mobile platform which is envisioned as a single point of contact for citizens and business. Several services for citizens will be provisioned through mobile, which has high penetration and businesses will find it easy to avail licenses, seek permits and approvals. This city app will also provide platform for local manufacturers of forest products, textiles and food industry to market their products and sell them beyond Dehradun adding to city exports. This mobile application will group all data input from the convergence with existing areas & services of Dehradun, like water supply, power, e-governance, transportation and new level of application is being planned under this initiative.

Kindly, share your views, suggestions or feedback for Smart City Dehradun till 18th March, 2016.

Dehradun Smart City Proposal

Observations from Panel of Experts of MoUD, GoI

Kindly fill the questionnaire and send scanned copy on doonsmartcity@gmail.com