Is India ready for smart cities?

If wishes were horses, beggars would ride. If we can get things done by merely dreaming about it then India would have been a developed country long ago. But the thing with smart cities and bullet trains in India is that it is an overly hyped concept of political parties with no ground reality just to fulfil their political mileage at the time of elections.

But the question of Is India ready for smart cities? It is the most important question asked at the time of elevating environmental problems and having 13 out of 25 most polluted cities in the world in India. Rather it is the need of the hour for the government to look into the concept of smart cities with pugnacious attitude and with a sense of clairvoyance for the development of future generations. It is a stark reality that India’s population will grow two folds till 2050. The only way to combat all of these problems is to take the concept of smart cities seriously.

But the thing is that we cannot merely pluck the future of smart cities just out of a crystal ball. The government needs to take the leaf out from other countries like UAE, Israel and take help from them to achieve the desired goal in minimum possible time.

The government also needs to work on other major problems abreast which will further strengthen the foundation of smart cities. These are to provide opportunities to the middle class and help to uplift them as they play a major role in structured urban complexes. Further, the government needs to work on the grass-root level for creating employment, removing poverty and to bring as much FDI as possible. 

Until the government does not work on these issues, the future of smart cities is a far cry. So, it is the right time for the government to stop the self-congratulatory frog in the well attitude that has held us long back and start working on the marshall plan of smart cities. The only thing is to uplift the society and increase the purchasing power of the population and the smart cities will follow. Yes, it’s true the task is not a hunky-dory but other countries in the world have done this and it's the time for India to bring the dream of smart cities to reality because it will be needed for survival sooner or later.