Study of Surat CityOn the way to “Ideal Smart City”

Cheitali Shroff a , Dr. J.E.M.Macwan b

a Research Scholar, Department of Civil Engineering, Sardar Vallabhbhai National Institute of Techology, Surat, Gujarat, IndiabProfessor, Department of Civil Engineering, Sardar Vallabhbhai National Institute of Techology, Surat, Gujarat, India

ABSTRACT: The excessive urban growth due to migration leads to basic sustainable issues for the city survival. Hence the cities needs to be planned with “Smart city Concepts” for political and commercial visions for the urban future, responding to pressures and challenges presented by growing city populations, sustainability challenges and advances in digital technology. The existing developing cities can be evaluated as smart cities with different issues concerned as the Quality of life , Infrastructure, Governance, Technological advancement & communication systems with energy efficiency & environmental concerns with natural resources.

1. Introduction

These paper explains the basic factors of smart cities with evaluation of features of Surat city. These includes the study of present scenario of various features such as Economic development, Housing& Infrastructure for Quality of life, Transportation the back bone of city with Environment & energy efficiency concerns including technology advancement with managing government of the city. The city is facing challenges & issues with population growth at the same time it is managed & planned to make it more livable & sustainable in all respects hence can said to be on the way to Ideal smart city.

2. Smart City - A city can be defined as ‘smart’ when investments in human and social capital and traditional and modern (ICT) communication infrastructure fuel sustainable economic development and a high quality of life, with a wise management of natural resources, through participatory action and engagement.

Smart cities can be identified along six main factors.  These Factors are

Smart economy Innovation and Competitiveness

Smart living Quality of Life , Culture and Infrastructure

Smart mobility Transport

Smart environment Sustainability and Energy efficiency

Smart governance Empowerment and Participation

Smart people Creativity and High level of education qualification, awareness etc

A Smart City is also an environment-friendly city, created from a combination of concepts and technologies, including enhancement of energy efficiency, careful conservation of resources, and positive changes in the lifestyles of the residents.

3. Objectives

To understand the smart city concept.

To study & evaluate Surat city on the principles of smart city

4. Surat city profile

Surat is the economic capital city of the Gujarat State. It lies on pivotal center of Ahmadabad & Mumbai. The city is very well linked to other Metro cities through road, rail & air.it also has linkages of NH8 & NH 6. The city is known for the textiles and diamonds. It is located in the southern part of Gujarat State. Surat is 4th fastest growing cities in India. With a population of 48.43 Lakhs, Surat presents a high rate of growth of population.

The municipal limits in Surat have increased from 112.27sq.km to 326.52sq.km in the year 2006.The city has been experiencing rapid growth in population during the past four decades. The growth rates have been one of the highest in the country. Surat has experienced a rapid population increase in the census decade. The population growth of Surat city is shown in Table 1.

Table 1: Population Growth rate for Surat

Year Population(in Lakhs)

Population Growth(in Lakhs)

Rate%

1961 2.881971 4.72 63.751981 7.77 64.651991 14.99 93.002001 24.34 62.372011 44.62 83.32

(Source- Census of India 2011 & Surat CDP-2013revised)

The city is known for the textiles and diamonds. The city economy is characterized by large number of small and medium size unorganized industries. Surat is known for its textile manufacturing, trade, diamond cutting and polishing industries, intricate Zari works, chemical industries and the gas based industries at Hazira established by leading industry houses such as ONGC, Reliance, ESSAR, and Shell. The city economy is characterized by large number of small and medium size unorganized industries. Surat Region has four Industrial Parks, Five Special Economic Zones SEZ’s and 17 Industrial Estates.

5. Smart Surat: why & how?

Surat expects to continue to become a ‘Global City – Global Standards’. The city is planned with vision of making itself sustainable, dynamic & vibrant city with basic amenities Infrastructure necessary for better quality of urban life.

WHY?

The diamond city “SURAT” is declared as to become India’s first ‘eco city’ with concentration on three sectors water, energy & food.

• SMC has received award for best E-governance services.• Water supply system of Surat has been awarded with 1st National Urban Water Award ‐2008 from

Ministry of Urban Development (MOUD) for initiatives “Water Quality Monitoring system” and “Operation & Maintenance practices” in water supply.

• Water supply system of Surat Municipal Corporation had been awarded with 2nd National Urban Water Award‐2009 for “ Technical Innovation in Energy conservation Activities in Waste Water Treatment” and “Operation & Maintenance practices” in water supply.

• The City is having the first Urban Local Self Government to have its  Information Technology Policy and Plan.

• The City is been planned with energy efficient infrastructure for water supply & sewerage treatment plant reducing co2 emissions .

• The new solar power plant at roof top of Science Centre is expected to generate about 1.14 lakh kilowatts solar power per annum worth Rs 17.03 lakh .

HOW?

The surat city developments fulfills the major factors& functions of smart City.The city is witnessing rapid urbanisation,but still it stands to manage the pressure & facilitate the better quality of life to citizens. 5.1 Smart Economy

Surat has all the necessary natural resources, labor and government backing, which are self sufficient for the purpose of investing. Its world-class infrastructure and small scale industries, has really made Surat one of the most preferred destinations for investing.

Surat has the highest GDP growth rates in India at 11.5 per cent as of 2008. Surat hosts over 6 lakh power looms and provides over 12 lakh jobs in textile industry. 2.5 Crore Meter of fabric per day is produced in Surat. Surat is truly an industrial city with over 50% of workforce engaged in manufacturing activity. The problem of unemployment is almost non‐existent.

The South Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industries estimates that the revenue contribution from Surat City to the national government is about Rs. 30 billion in the form of Sales Tax. Surat City has been very flourishing in attracting a sizeable amount of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in different sectors like oil, energy, and petroleum. Surat has all the necessary natural resources, labor and government backing, which are self sufficient for the purpose of investing. Its world-class infrastructure and small scale industries, has really made Surat one of the most preferred destinations for investing.

5.2 Smart Living (Housing & Infrastructure)

Smart Living includes various aspects of quality of life as culture, health, safety, houses & access to basic amenities etc. A) Housing - The nature of city is dominantly residential which is near about 57% of the total urbanized area.

Role of public sector - As Surat City dominated by migrant population and a higher concentration of lower Income households, SMC concentrates on Slum rehabilitation, Slum Up gradation and redevelopment under SMC Housing Policy and Jn NURM sub‐mission for Basic Services for Urban Poor (BSUP). The authorities has target to build 50,000 homes for EWS in different parts of city. Nearly 15,000 slum dwellers, living on the banks of the creeks are to be relocated under “slum free city” campaign .

Role of private sector – Real estate sector has witnessed a 100 per cent growth in the past two years, due to vertical development, business opportunities and influx of people from other places. With growing awareness of citizen’s the Builder’s / Developers of Surat City are upcoming with green , environment oriented residential townships, multi facilitated luxurious high rises with innovative materials & latest technology as per the demand of different classes & masses of populations. Due to mass transport infrastructure and planned town planning schemes , people are ready to go to faraway places to live.

B) Infrastructure

The city with rapid urban sprawl succefully managed to satisfy the rising demands in short periods with up gradation of infrastructure to world class level &advanced technology .

Water Supply – The water supply system is been reformed & adopted with ISO certification with advanced technology of SCADA, Water Quality monitoring & leakage mapping with energy saving techniques. Present average daily per capita water supply is about 145 lpcd. 79 % of total population served. Supply Frequency Av. 3 Hrs. Daily Monitoring and recording is done at 3 levels.

Sewerage Network - Serve a 85% of population through 26 main sewerage , pumping stations . Integration with Sewage gas based power generation for energy efficiency &Conventional Activated Sludge Process technology has been adopted.

Solid waste management- innovative techniques of converting waste in to fuel & compost is been adopted through door to door garbage collection &Transfer it to land fill site .

Health care- the city has hospitals with 5-150 bed capacity .the facilities are up to the mark. The health awareness & campaigns has brought down the birth& death rates.

5.3 Smart Mobility (Transportation)

Surat is very well connected by rail, road & air. It is also connected through seaports. The existing airport caters to domestic needs only. The city transportation is predominantly road based. However there is absence of public transportation system currently and city is proposed to have BRTS of 120km stretch with first phase of 30 km in near future.The road network of Surat is primarily radial with all the regional roads leading out.Surat has a network of 1599.0 kms .The entire city is served by Inner ring road & is proposed to have outer ring road of 6 lanes. Due to efficient road network system one can cover the Surat City from one end to other with in period of 45 min. to one hour.

5.4 Smart environment City is having a master plan for water and waste water disposal with a strong environmental safety, energy & efficiency. The Authorities are growing to plant more than 2 lac trees in different part of city.

Energy efficiency measures

SMC has taken considerable measures & innovations for energy efficiency in different infrastructural services to take care of environment.

• Energy conservation in streetlight- Street lights with fluorescent luminaries having conventional FL lamp & copper wound ballasts consuming 50 W/ luminaries are replaced with hilumen fluorescent lamp & electronic ballast of 25w giving same output. Energy Saving Resulted : Rs. 35 Lacs per annum.

• Liquid waste to energy - Surat city is the first in India to install power plant based on bio-gas based generated from liquid sewage waste. It has 4 such plants where total energy generated is 10.229 million KWH/ Annum. Total savings in Cost Rs. 49.5 millions/ Annum

Reduction in Emission of CO2 by 9,990 MT/ annum Expected Carbon Credit: 50,000 CER/ annum Expected Revenue from CDM benefits: Rs. 30.00 millions/ annum

• Solid waste to energy- Utilization of waste for power generation not only generates clean energy but dispose the waste, which otherwise contributes to environmental pollution.  SMC collects about 1,100 MT of municipal solid waste daily. Waste to Energy: From 600 MT municipal solid waste along with 120 MT & Secondary sludge from STP with expected Power Generation: 24 MWe

Expected Net energy generation: 106 Million KWH/ annum

5.5 Smart governance (Land management & E-governance)

Surat Municipal Corporation is a local self-government acting as the principal facilitator and provider of various services.

A) Land Management Gujarat state practices method of land acquisition by land pooling & readjusting the same for the development in an organized and desired manner under the Gujarat town Planning Urban development Act (GTPUDA).These Method is Known as Town Planning Scheme & it involves Public Participation at all stages of Proposal & development. These are popularly known as “land acquisition without tears”. Hence the urban

areas of Surat city is been planned with Town Planning Schemes of minimum 100 hectors. These allows to plan at micro level with land reservations for various public purpose activities, satisfying the need of that area. Total 125 T.P.Scheme for the area of 17019.21hactors have been planned till now.

B) E-governance Surat city is having E-governance project through 16 city civic centers with an in-house Management Information Systems (M.I.S.) that given an instant and as-is report on all activities of City Civic Center on Municipal Commissioner desktop.

Its aim is to speed-up processing, eliminate bureaucracy, bring transparency, and accountability. The services offered are online Property Tax Collection, Birth & Death Certificates, Shops & Establishment registration, 24 hour online Complain Registration, etc. It has provided single roof solution to all municipal services.

5.6 Smart People

The Surat City is having better educational facilities with International schools from primary to higher Colleges of all disciplines . NIT’s & Universities are running advanced research courses. The Science center& International convention center allows people to exchange ideas through exhibitions & connect it globally.

Conclusion

The Surat City is witnessing rapid urbanisation since last 4 decades, with these growing populations the city has managed & fulfills all necessary amenities, basic infrastructure facilities, with technological advancement minimizing the expenses, with energy efficiency, improving the environment & quality of life of people with good governance system. The city is 2nd most populous city of Gujarat as it envisages the better quality of life, better environment, education, employment, enhancement to individuals as well as to the society in all aspects. Hence it can be said to be on the way to “Ideal Smart City” which may set benchmarks for other Indian cities.

References

Hafedh Chourabi, Shawn Walker, Taewoo Nam ( 2012 ) “Understanding Smart Cities: An Integrative Framework” 45th Hawaii International Conference

Surat Municipal Corporation, City Development Plan (Revised), 2008-2013, Surat, Gujarat, India.