The New Delhi Municipal Council’s (NDMC) ambitious ‘smart poles’ project is back on track. The plan, which envisages installation of LED lights, CCTV cameras and free Wi-Fi atop 18,500 street poles in the elite area, was delayed for over a year.
Private telecom major, Reliance Jio, had then challenged the purported Rs 220 crore contract being awarded to Indus Towers in March 2015. The High Court, later, also raised questions on ‘lack of specifications’ from NDMC on the kind of LEDs and CCTVs sought. The municipal body has now issued a fresh request for proposal (RFP) to seek a concessionaire to execute the project, complete with specification details.
A senior NDMC official said, “In view of NDMC being developed as a ‘Smart City,’ it is essential for us to get this project started quickly. The smart poles would be spread across Connaught Place; Khan Market, Sarojini Nagar Market, Bengali Market, Yashwant place, Gole Market; bus shelters; Metro stations; India Gate area; 10 major gardens like Lodhi garden, Nehru Park and Sanjay Park; key roads like KG Marg, Barakhambha Road, Janpath, BKS Marg, Sansad Marg and Shanti Path.”
Officials said three kinds of LEDs have been sought in the tender. First is a ‘Basic LED’ which can be switched on/off remotely. Second is a ‘Semi-advanced LED’ which can also be ‘dimmed’ remotely. “We should also be able to fluctuate it continuously to demarcate an area if police needs to reach it in the event of a crime,” officials said. Third, is an ‘Advanced LED’ which can gauge human and traffic movement as well besides giving out ‘wrong parking alerts.’ Free WiFi will be provided from atop the pole this will be to the tune of 50MB per day or 1GB per month at the rate of 1 mbps speed.
At least, 2,260 CCTV cameras have been sought which will be installed at major road crossings, hospitals, markets, schools etc. A command and control centre will also be built under this project. All the data from the ‘smart poles’ will be continuously monitored here. Besides, some other public services may also be provided from this Centre which is planned to be set up at the NDMC Headquarters, Palika Kendra, itself.
