Practice Test 25

The Smart Cities Mission, launched in June 2015, is an innovative urban development initiative that aims to promote cities offering core infrastructure and a clean and sustainable environment to their citizens through the application of smart solutions and technologies to the planning, delivery, and management of urban services. Unlike conventional urban development programmes that fund infrastructure across an entire city, the Smart Cities Mission adopted the concept of area-based development, concentrating improvements in a selected area within each participating city to create model zones that demonstrate the potential of smart urban planning and act as replicable templates for wider citywide application. Each of the hundred Smart Cities selected through a competitive challenge process based on the quality of their Smart City Plans was provided central funding and technical assistance to implement projects across five thematic areas including the creation of integrated command and control centres, the improvement of water supply and sewage infrastructure, the installation of intelligent street lighting, the creation of pedestrian-friendly public spaces, and the deployment of digital citizen service platforms. The integrated command and control centres, established in most Smart Cities, aggregate data feeds from cameras, sensors, and utility management systems distributed across the city into a single operational picture that enables city officials to monitor conditions, respond to emergencies, manage traffic, coordinate utilities, and receive citizen complaints through a single platform, improving the speed and coherence of urban management. The AMRUT scheme, running parallel to the Smart Cities Mission, focuses on improving basic urban services in five hundred cities with populations above one lakh, funding projects in water supply, sewerage, urban transport, green spaces, and storm water drainage that are less glamorous than the smart city concept but critical to the basic quality of life of urban residents. The Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana Urban is addressing the massive shortage of affordable housing in cities by providing financial assistance for the construction of pucca houses for eligible urban poor families through four vertical modes including in-situ slum rehabilitation using land as a resource, credit-linked subsidy for purchase or construction by eligible beneficiaries, affordable housing in partnership with state governments and private developers, and beneficiary-led individual house construction or enhancement. The National Urban Transport Policy and the metro rail network expansion programme in cities including Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Pune, Ahmedabad, and Lucknow are gradually creating an alternative to private vehicle use in major cities, addressing the chronic traffic congestion and air pollution that have become defining characteristics of Indian metropolitan life.