Bhubaneswar, Nov. 6: The citizens are making it clear that a good and modern public transport system is key to a smart city.
The voting trend in the ongoing citizen connect exercise, which was launched both online and offline on November 1 to elicit people's view on urban mobility, shows growing preference to adopt and replicate the public transport system that exists in the Colombian capital of Bogota. Those taking part in the exercise have 12 best urban practises to choose from.
Other than the model existing in Bogota, the practice to have a car-free day or zone has received a large number of ayes from the participants. This model is being successfully practised closer home at Gurgaon.
The municipal corporation has roped in student volunteers of Xavier Institute of Management Bhubaneswar (XIMB) to carry out the exercise offline.
At several designated spots across the city, the student volunteers can be found explaining to the citizens some of the best urban mobility systems practised across the globe.
After telling them about the pros and cons of every choice, the volunteers leave it to the survey participants to tick their preference. So far, nearly 5,000 people have taken part in the offline process, which along with the online voting, will continue till November 8.
An XIMB student volunteer Swadhin Das carrying out the survey at Unit II market building said: "First, the people are explained at length about the positive aspects of all the 12 best practices and then they are told to choose one system they feel the future smart city of Bhubaneswar must have. People are also requested to express their choices online.''
"We are submitting the forms at the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) office and they are being scanned and stored for future reference. The choices will also be computed to find out what the citizens want most in a smart Bhubaneswar," he added.
While taking part in the offline exercise, Arpita Mohanty, a student of Basic Science College, said: "The city must adopt positive practices to reduce the pollution level. By opting to ride the cycle once a week and having regular car-free days in different zones, one can make the city cleaner and healthier."
Green World Trust activist Nrupesh Nayak, who had launched a campaign in 2014 to stop the use of vehicles on the last Sunday of every month, said: "The time has come to take a decision to this effect and make the city smarter ecologically and environmentally. Less vehicles will mean less of harmful emissions and cleaner air."
Ashrujit Mohanty, an entrepreneur and regular participant in the expeditions organised by We All Ride Bicycle, said: "The city should have more cycle tracks."
Speaking to The Telegraph on the trend emerging from the citizen connect initiative, mayor Ananta Narayan Jena said: "As part of the smart city programme, we want to have a 100km-long road network with cycle tracks and walkways."
Brand ambassador
The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation today roped in sprinter Anuradha Biswal as the brand ambassador for the citizen connect initiative. Biswal becomes the second celebrity to get associated with the campaign after actor Archita Sahu was declared the face of the smart city initiative yesterday.
Biswal requested the people to adopt a healthy lifestyle and make better use of city parks and the recently installed open-air gyms.
Lab initiative
The Smart City Lab, an interactive initiative to make people aware of the project, was launched today at the Centurion University of Technology and Management, Trident Academy of Technology and SAI International School, Infosys campus and College of Engineering and Technology, Ghatikia.
"At these institutes we interacted with students and introduced them to the concept of smart city lab and also requested them to spread the message,'' said deputy municipal commissioner (projects and public relations) Srimanta Mishra.
