Is India ready to get smart about its Cities

The facts are chilling. According to a 2014 study by the World Health Organisation, Delhi is the world's most polluted city, with the highest concentration of particulate matter less than 2.5 microns, which cause respiratory disorders and related health issues that can lead to death. If that isn't bad enough, consider this rather dubious piece of statistics: 13 of the 25 most polluted cities in the world are in India.A large portion of this pollution comes from vehicular traffic. In this context, it has become imperative to think of smart - and green - transport solutions within the larger goal of building 100 smart cities and making our existing cities smart.Several solutions have been suggested. Most popular one is the suggestion to encourage citizens to use public transport, thus, reducing the need for ever increasing numbers of private cars, which, in turn, can lead to a reduction in pollution levels. If even senior and wealthy people in New York and London can use trains and other forms of public transport, why can't Indians, goes this line of argument.This line of reasoning does not take into account Indian cultural sensibilities, said two senior executives of two large consultancy firms who requested that their identities not be disclosed as their firms are advising the government on the issue.“In India, car ownership is still considered a sign of status and many people are loath to use public transport for this reason. From a cultural standpoint, it will be difficult to wean people away from private vehicles,” said one of the executives.“Then, traffic rules are followed more in their breach in India. Indisciplined driving, haphazard parking, inadequate parking spaces, poor road design, encroachments of road paces and lax or non-existent implementation of traffic rules lead to frequent jams and slow traffic movement. This increases vehicular pollution several folds. Smart transportation solutions in India should begin by addressing these basic issues. These can then go hand in hand with more high tech solutions that are being tried out in other parts of the world,” said the second executive.The ongoing experiment in Gurgaon to declare one day every week a “car free day” is a good example of how publicprivate partnerships can provide a low-cost alternative to the far more expensive and long-term smart solutions that are being considered. Under this initiative, the local administration, with the active support of large and small employers in the local area, encourage people to pool cars or ride bicycles to work. Participation is entirely voluntary but the pilot scheme has drawn a good response and initial studies show a significant fall in pollution levels on the days when this scheme operates.The paradigm change in the thinking has been revolutionary: the focus is shifting from moving vehicles to moving people. Traditional solutions, such as building broader, bigger roadways and flyovers may actually be contributing to the problem by making it easier for people to drive from point A to point B. This is not to say that such infrastructure should not be built. They must. But they must also simultaneously be accompanied by other innovative initiatives.But here again, the lack of infrastructure poses a problem. Many young executives would happily cycle to work and play if the government built dedicated cycle tracks. Currently, it is downright dangerous to weave in and out of the chaotic traffic flow on a cycle in every Indian city. People are also deterred from walking short distances - as many people do in London, New York, Tokyo and elsewhere - due to the absence, or encroachment, of footpaths. If only these sidewalks were better designed and maintained - and kept free of encroachments - many people could be encouraged to walk rather than travel by car. But these are the cheap and relatively easy, albeit practical, solutions. A longer-term sustainable solution would call for some fundamental changes in the way we view transportation. In a recent report on smart and sustainable cities, the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industries (Ficci) has listed the following government initiatives in this regard:

• A Rs 25,000 crore (about $4 billion) plan to encourage the manufacture of electric and hybrid vehicles A target of having six million such vehicles on Indian roads by 2020
• Encouraging private and public sector companies to set up battery charging stations for electric vehicles in all cities above a particular size and along all national highways
• Setting up new and expanding existing metro rail networks in major urban centres Obviously, tax breaks and other incentives will have to be provided for companies to manufacture products that enable and facilitate sustainable transportation solutions and for individuals to switch over to these products that may initially be more expensive and less efficient than competing “nongreen” or “less green” vehicles.