The city is undergoing a process by which the livability index will be measured through a matrix. The index will measure how a smart city actually helps the citizen
This exercise is done in India in 116 major cities, which includes all the smart cities and the cities with a population of a million plus and all the capital cities of India.
“Livability index is the true way to measure the support and the facilities being provided to a citizen under a smart city as there will be many syndicates involved. This will also ensure that whatever investment has been done by the government, the citizen should get the true value of it. This will help us raise the standards and quality of life of the citizens. Also there will be a true accountability of public funds,” said Mr Swayandipta Pal Choudhuri, managing director and CEO of the IPSCDL.
The matrix will be done under certain standards and that’s how the index will come up. There are a total of 79 parameters and the questionnaire has a list of 520 questions which is being circulated in all the 23 line and service provider departments of Goa. The last date to complete the survey is April 16, 2018 and in Goa the pace of its work is under control. A recent workshop was also done to make the departments aware of the seriousness of this survey.
These 79 parameters have been sub-categorised into 15 main areas, which are the part of the analyzing the matrix. It is broadly divided into governance, identity and culture, education, health, safety and security, economy and employment, housing inclusiveness, public open spaces, mixed land use and compactness, power supply, transport and mobility, assured water supply, waste water management, solid waste management, reduced pollution are these categories.
The data will be fed in the index to see whether the services provided are useful or not.
With so much of a modernity pushed in, the concern is whether the heritage of the city has been preserved or protected. “The development that we are doing today, are in conformity with the standards which the city of Panjim has set for itself in the past 175 years. We have also ensured that the state of the art city management hub which is coming up in Panjim strictly adheres to the standards set by the heritage and conservation committee of Goa,” added the MD and CEO of IPSCDL.
IPSCDL, with the approval of the government, is now at a stage of forming a committee where a number of renowned historians, academia connected with heritage and culture would be roped in and every project undertaken by IPSCDL will be cleared by the committee. The committee will also help by highlighting the historical importance of that place which undergoes restoration or refurbishing.
If this falls into place, the quintessential question that weighs in most of us, ‘Do we have a life in our city”, will not just be answered, but measured, with the added bonus of knowing how to make it better or should we say smarter.
