Mangaluru: Nispana, in association with the Mangalore City Corporation, held the 2nd edition of Sustainable Smart Cities in India. The two-day conference concluded at the TMA Pai International Convention Centre here, on November 17.
The concluding day’s highlights were a presentation by Gideon Schmerling of Tel Aviv-Yafo Municipality who spoke about Personalised Interaction with Residents while Mahesh Waghdhare from Studio POD enlightened the gathering on Contextualizing Global Ideas for Indian Cities. During the conference, Dharmaraj from IDF Mangalore was by far the most active participant at the conference, constantly engaging the speakers and panelists with a wide array of questions which helped the audience to address their concerns.
Dilip Kumar of IIDC Limited presented “Financing Smart Cities” which drew a great applause from all participants. Panel discussions on “Finance and Regulations for Smart Cities” and “ICT Solutions for pan-city proposal” saw huge participation from senior officials, stakeholders and students.
Thereafter, the valedictory function took place, attended by state Health and Family Welfare minister U T Khader. Speaking on the occasion, Khader expressed happiness over the fact that Mangaluru had made it in the smart city list and hoped that it would also make it into the top 20 cities. Appreciating the active participation of Dharmaraj, Khader said, “Even before the Smart City Mission was introduced, Dharmaraj has been actively involved in visualising on ways to make Mangaluru a better and efficient city. Mangaluru has the potential to be a smart city but only if the potential is put to use. For the smart city to be hundred percent successful, the participation of the people should be hundred percent.”
Appreciating the suggestions of all speakers and directing at the guest speakers from abroad, Khader said that all suggestions would be taken into account. “But there is a lot of difference in our countries and the way in which things work here. Your country runs on rules and revenue, but India runs on humanity and concern. You cannot break the law and rules. We can break rules and laws, but not tradition and customs. Our country runs on humanity and cultures, and keeping this in mind, it is our duty to instill in people, the impulse to follow the law and rules that are laid out. While designing the proposals for smart city, we need to keep in mind that for all of this to work, the mindset of the people also needs to change. A smart city demands smart people,” he concluded.
Over 400 participants witnessed path breaking presentations by various experts, concluding that Mangaluru has all the required ingredients to get the smart city tag. Arvind Shanker compered the two-day programme and also delivered the vote of thanks.
Our Country Runs on Culture and Tradition – UT Khader
Does that mean the minister thinks other countries do not have culture and tradition?