Mission Smart City should not be seen by States as means for simply extracting money from Union

Smartness lies more in managing available resources and infrastructure efficiently
Some smartness can be generated even without spending extra money, why should not JSCL do that ?
Unbiased & regular feedbacks from civic society too could be meaningful contributions to SCV

DAYA SAGAR

LG J&K UT Manoj Sinha has recently very pointedly opined some thing like that for “smartness” both the infrastructure and the ‘administration’/ those handling the facilities created through capital investments as well as through regular / needed recurring costs must work efficiently. Ofcourse Manoj Sinha has also said that ‘residents’ too need to show some smartness by way of supporting efforts of the Jammu Samrt City Vehicle- JSCV. Unbiased & regular feedbacks too could be meaningful contributions.
Surely some smartness could also be cultivated by making the public / private institutions deliver so as to make the life & activities of a citizen cost effective /easy/ safe/ secure but that does not reflect adequately to be there in the immediate focus of those who hold the reins of ‘vehicle’ Jammu Smart City “vehicle”.. Even the basic day to day requirements do not appear to be adequately there on the first list which could otherwise add to smartness without any extravagant undue cost inputs.
Often it has been reported that in cities like Jammu / Srinagar disputes happen between the Safaikaramcharis and local people which is mostly due to the fact that the supervisory staff does not attend to quarries of citizens and citizens have to talk to Safaikaramcharis who are under paid / some may be under economic stresses/ some may complain of even over work load. In Jammu city one can so commonly see solid waste dumped /scattered in open at places. Even where there are garbage bins position is not that good. The solid dry waste that is swept from the roads/ lanes is mostly heaped there itself ,which either spreads again or some is pushed in drains before it is carried by garbage load carriers.
The Safaikaramcharis are mostly casual employees or not paid adequately in terms of the job they perform and complain of not being properly looked after by government / local body administrations. No doubt the Safaikaramcharis work in most unfair environment, work under unhygienic conditions and surely need be adequately paid atleast like regular class IV employee along with reasonable health care allowance as well. Smart City Vehicle should take first note of such issues.
Lots of stray dogs could be seen in Jammu city which too add to ugliness. Not only that most of the local residents who keep pets like dogs do not have registration of their pets and so often they take their dogs out for easing on the roads/in front of doors of other residents since there is practically no check on them.
The monkey nuisance has spread over the city even in areas like Rehari, New Plots , etc in addition to Kachhi Chawani, Panjtirathi areas but the MCJ/ Wildlife agencies do not effectively respond to complaints. Ladies and children are living under fear of attack from such stray/ wild animals.
Jammu city has shortage of public parking lots , no doubt that is also due to lack of space but whatever public parking are available (including parking owned by JDA) the commuters complain that their vehicles are not safely secured there, the staff there does not wear any uniform or identity badges, the parking charges are not adequately displayed and some where even for one hour Rs.30 are charged when the rates displayed there are much less ( the display boards if are old must be replaced). The contractor is representative of JMC or JDA or JSCL and hence responsibility is of the ” owners” & not the contractor.
Hardly any three wheeler taxi runs by meter @ government approved rates . So often there are disputes. What do the enforcement agencies do ? In case the government approved rates are genuinely less than the authorities must revise the rates and in case the rates then appear more public will contest with government and there will be no quarrels with drivers.
In case the taxi services are available at fair charges many people may not use their private cars for short distances in city and that may reduce traffic on city roads by 25 to 30% there by also reducing requirement of public parking lots. Imagine what impression the visitors carry about Jammu Smart City when they get no fair public transport and a local taxi driver demands even Rs.60 for a distance of even less than 2 Km. The visitors to Jammu City / tourist/ pilgrims often complain of unfair costs of public transport as well as unregulated local taxi services.
The people driving two wheelers talking on mobile phones is so common a sight. Not only that many people are still seen without helmet on two wheelers. Such drivers do not risk only their own self but put others also in risk in case they meet an accident. Traffic police men are often seen standing in Chowks but do not check such offenders unless they conduct a special checking drive/Naka. Such offenders should be regularly checked and not on particular days only.
Other menace of which Jammu City suffers from is no enforcement of Motor Vehicle Department ( MVD) rules as regards lights on the vehicle since majority of vehicles not only do not use dipper at night but are fitted with dazzling / blinding lights which are banned under MV rules which makes driving difficult & risking for other drivers, particularly senior citizens. Even the two wheelers are using such banned lights which too create problems for others. MVD should remove such lights at the time of passing. SSP Traffic should also take serious not of this and Challan the defaulters / remove such lights by checking during night hours.
The working / regulation of traffic lights too needs regular review. Ofcourse the CCTV cameras should be more used for traffic regulation which should be must in a smart city.
One hardly finds any private / mini bus driver wearing uniform and safety belt. People often complain that Mini busses could be seen plying leaving clouds of smoke but a private car owner driving even less than one year old car is often seen stopped for pollution certificate check.
Jammu Smart City Ltd can add some smartness by attending and following up the ‘missing links’ quoted here even without making some extra cost inputs, why not make use of such inputs on first go..
(The author is Sr Journalist, social activist and analyst J&K affairs [email protected]).