Srinagar / Nov, 27 : Srinagar Smart City Limited along with GovConnect Organized the 5th National Smart Cities Conclave on Smart Sustainable & Safe Cities on, a day-long Virtual Conclave.
The Conclave saw participation of more than 30 Smart Cities from across the country covering the
length and breadth and had around 40 plus speakers from across the Sector be it Smart Cities CEOs,
Commissioners, Nodal Officers, Consultants, Subject Matter Experts and Industry Representatives.
And around 400 + people attended the Conclave to hear the best minds from across the country.
The Inaugural Session saw representation from key officials of Jammu & Kashmir Fahimul-Haq, co-founder GovConnect, welcomed the CEO, Srinagar Smart City Limited. Introductory Address and Context Setting by Athar Aamir Khan (IAS), Commissioner, Srinagar Municipal Corporation / CEO, Srinagar Smart City Limited where he mentioned the basic idea behind this is Idea Sharing and Cross Learning what worked for some cities what didn’t work for them, experience sharing learning from each other that was the major objective of this conclave he also emphasized on Sustainability of Cities and what needs to be done “Smart Cities should work for the
people” .
Addressing the conclave P K Pole (IAS), Divisional Commissioner Kashmir and Chairman Srinagar Smart City Limited, Jammu & Kashmir said that during the Covid 19 everything has moved towards Online mode and Smart Cities too now is the era of New Normal the cities across the country are doing a lot and we will learn a lot from each other and help each other in a big way.
In his address to the conclave Dheeraj Gupta , Principal Secretary -Housing & Urban Development
Department and Mission Director Smart Cities of Jammu & Kashmir said that cities are central to our lives both social and economical, adding therein that the role of cities is being increasingly important as our population of the world is becoming increasingly urban . Observing that it is important that our cities are not just surviving but thriving but they have adequate infrastructure, safe and sustainable, he said they need to be showcase of our civilizational progress.
In his address to the conclave Keshav Varma , Chairman, Advisory Board of Smart Cities, Jammu & Kashmir and Chairman, Sabarmati Riverfront Development Corporation Limited, Ahmedabad said that cities have to be engines of economic growth, a great city expresses the genius of its people,
J&K Chief Secretary Arun Kumar Mehta , in his keynote address said that cities of J&K should generate their own resources and should be financially sustainable, adding therein that ” we should organize camps to invite people to provide inputs. Transparency should be built in”. Stressing that technology should be used effectively, the J&K Chief Secretary said “cities should focus on GDP, Sustainability, Recycling, Mobility, Aspiration, Responsiveness, Transparency, Technology and Training Urban Renewal”
In his address to the conclave Junaid Azim Mattu, Mayor of Srinagar, Srinagar Municipal Corporation said that heritage city does not mean we don’t have industrial requirements economical requirement environmental requirements Urbanization is an opportunity for Srinagar rather than a challenge because it’s a driver of economic growth We envision the enhancement of social life even in late evenings in Srinagar so that it becomes a vibrant place.
Several others also spoke on various key topics such as Investing in Culture & Creativity for Sustainable Urban Development. In this Panel Saleem Beg, Convener, INTACH JK Chapter was in Conversation with Padmabhushan Rajeev Sethi, Advisor to Srinagar Smart City, Art & Culture and the Panel was moderated by Athar Aamir Khan Commissioner – Srinagar Municipal Corporation & CEO – Srinagar Smart City Limited.Effective Governance & Government Service Deliveries through Digital Transformation was a Fireside Chat between Amit Sharma (JKAS), Administrative Secretary, Information Technology Department & Chief Executive Officer, JaKeGA and Mayank Chaturvedi, Country Head – Public Sector, Hewlett Packard Enterprise India Private Limited.
The discussion was moderated by Ashu Agrawal, CEO, India Advisor, Asia Tech Journal
Panel Discussion I was on Building Smart, Resilient, Safe& Sustainable Cities of Future
through better Urban Planning and Infrastructure. The Moderator for the session was Anuj Malhotra, General Manager – Planning & Urban Development, Srinagar Smart City Limited and the Session Speakers were Debashis Sen Chairman – New Town Kolkata Development Authority. Dr Garima Mittal (IAS), Chief Executive Officer, Faridabad Smart City Limited, Dr Sanjay Kolte (IAS), Chief Executive Officer, Pune Smart City Development Corporation, Dr Apurva Sharma (DANICS), Deputy Collector (HQ)/SDM and Chief Town Planner, Daman. Charmie Parekh (DANICS), Chief Executive Officer, Silvassa Smart City Limited Navin Rai, Planner Cum Nodal Officer & Member (BoD – NSCL), Namchi Smart City Limited. Nikhil Bagalkotkar, APAC Technical Head, AEC Business, Autodesk, Paromita Roy, Senior Architect (Director), Delhi Development Authority & Joint General Manager (UD) Indian Railways Station Development Corporation.
There was a special talk by Astik Kumar Pandey (IAS), Commissioner – Aurangabad Municipal Corporation & Chief Executive Officer – Smart City Aurangabad. Panel Discussion II was on Smart Cities & Safe Cities – The Digital Transformation Impact. The Moderator for the session was Aditya Sharma, Associate Director Advisory, Pricewater house Coopers Private Limited and the speakers were Sarita Chauhan , Commissioner/Secretary, Labour and Employment Department, Athar Aamir Khan , Commissioner, Srinagar Municipal Corporation / CEO, Srinagar Smart City Limited, Jayati Singh (IAS), Chief Executive Officer, Gwalior Smart City Development Corporation Limited, Anshul Gupta (IAS), Commissioner, Ujjain Municipal Corporation and CEO, Ujjain Smart City Limited Thiru T Christuraj (IAS), Commissioner, Salem Municipal Corporation,
Sameer Unhale, Joint Commissioner, Directorate of Municipal Administration, Government of Maharashtra Nidhi Pandey, CTO – Industry Verticals, Hewlett Packard Enterprise,Bhavin Shah, Regional Manager, Western Digital, Vivek Ogra, and Partner – Leader Transport Consulting, Ernst & Young.
There was a Special Presentation on Urban Digital Twins for Smart Cities by Dr Aniruddha Roy, Sr
Vice President & CTO, Genesys International Corporation. Panel Discussion III was on Smart City Components – The Core Infrastructure Elements with Smart Utilities, facilities & Governance. The session was moderated by Iftikhar Kakroo, Chief Engineer, Srinagar Smart City Limited and
the speakers were
● Shalini Agrawal (IAS), Commissioner, Vadodara Municipal Corporation
● Mukesh Kumar (IAS), Commissioner, Ranchi Municipal Corporation
● Sanyam Agarwal (IAS), Commissioner, Pathankot Municipal Corporation
● Gaurang Rathi, (IAS), Commissioner, Aligarh Municipal Corporation
● Devendra Kumar (IAS), Commissioner, Ajmer Municipal Corporation
● Dr Bashir Ahmad Bhat (IRS), Vice Chairman, Lakes Conservation & Management Authority,
Srinagar
● Yogesh Kumar, Nodal Officer – Smart Metering, Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation
Limited
● Om Hemrajani, Principal, Genesys International Corporation Ltd.
● Latha Raman, President & Urban Storm Water Management and Sanitation Expert, CDD
Society
Panel Discussion IV was on Intelligent, Safe & Equitable Urban Mobility.The Panel was Moderated by Shri Vivek Ogra, Partner – Leader Transport Consulting, Ernst & Young and the speakers for the Panel were:
● Ankita Kar (IRAS), Managing Director – Mass Rapid Transit Corporation, Jammu &
Kashmir
● Chetan Nandani, Chief Executive Officer, Rajkot Smart City Development Limited
● Raj Cherubal, Chief Executive Officer, Chennai Smart City Limited
● Nilkantha Poman, Joint Chief Executive Officer, Pimpri Chinchwad Smart City Limited
● Dr Rohit Bansal, Advisor, Agra Smart City Limited
● Nilesh R, Senior Urban Designer, NIUA
The event vte of thanks was given by Anuj Malhotra, General Manager – Planning & Urban
Development, Srinagar Smart City Limited. The event saw a fruitful day with lots of cross learning among practitioners, administrators and experts and some great exchange of ideas.
