The Smart City becoming a buzz world for last more than six years in Jammu & Kashmir like many other parts of the country has been unfortunately reduced to painting on the roads, hoardings at the main streets crossings and buntings at the official and non official public events. People talking about the implementation of the smart city projects have to look into the basic motives of the use of paintings, hoardings and buntings randomly at the official and non official public event within and outside Jammu & Kashmir. Nothing wrong in it if hoardings are put at the main street crossings in cities and towns with the permission of municipal bodies but putting hoardings, paintings and buntings on the outer walls of both the government and private buildings for commercial motives without permission of the municipal bodies is highly objectionable from the point of view of both civic governance and as well as environmental concerns. As far as the implementation of smart city project is concerned the people holding the charge of smart city projects within and outside Jammu & Kashmir should acknowledge the fact that Information and technologies have to be used for increasing the operational efficiency of the delivery of basic civic services which unfortunately are not as prompt and efficient as they should have been in Jammu & Kashmir. The cause of a bigger concern is that municipal bodies in Jammu & Kashmir are virtually raising the levels of noise pollution by using public address system for lifting the garbage from the households in early morning hours in the twin capital cities- Srinagar and Jammu and major towns of both Kashmir valley and as well as Jammu division. The municipal bodies have to share information regarding civic governance initiatives with the people of cities and towns just to improve the delivery of basic civic services without creating environmental and ecological imbalances of any kind in cities and towns. Sharing tweets on paintings and hoardings displayed in any city of the country with the top public functionaries like ministers of the central and state governments and tagging them is now used as a tool of appeasement of power wielding politicians by the bureaucrats holding the charge of key positions in the municipal bodies.
The municipal bodies, major business houses and the city residents are the three strongest pillars of civic governance and as such their collaboration holds key to the creation of any smart city and consequently the successful operation of basic civic facilities in any city or town within or outside Jammu & Kashmir.
Neither sharing tweets not tagging ministers with the tweets would improve the working of the basic civic facilities in cities and towns within or outsides Jammu & Kashmir. In fact the more focused areas of smarty city projects include a technology-based infrastructure, people friendly environmental initiatives, a high functioning public transportation system and utilization of all available resources for a better implementation of basic civic services. Above all smart technology is to be used effectively for improving waste management and sanitation facilities in cities and towns within or outside Jammu & Kashmir. In fact the municipal bodies, major business houses and the city residents are the three strongest pillars of civic governance and as such their collaboration holds key to the creation of any smart city and consequently the successful operation of basic civic facilities in any city or town within or outside Jammu & Kashmir.
