This year State may get two as Centre plans to develop only 20 cities Officially, the Centre has announced that Tamil Nadu, one of the most urbanised States in the country, will get 12 smart cities. That is all the 12 corporations in the State will get the Smart City tag. Although the Tamil Nadu government had shortlisted all the 12 corporations after the State-level challenge and sent the list to the Union Urban Development Ministry with a request that all be selected, the Centre had not given any assurance. Ending the wait, Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu on Thursday announced the Smart Cities list containing all the 12 corporations. This year, though, the Centre plans to develop only 20 cities. Therefore, the State may, at best, get two smart cities, say officials here. It may be an uphill task for Chennai, the oldest corporation in the country, as it was ranked in the middle at the State-level challenge, say officials. Tiruchi was ranked the top. Dindigul, a smaller and newer corporation, was ranked high. As one of the parameters was the completion of JnNURM work, Chennai lost valuable marks in the competition, officials point out. Chances of Chennai, though, are not entirely ruled out though. “If municipal officials think only in terms of water supply, drainage and sewerage, they will lose out in the competition,” says an official. The Centre has partnered with Bloomberg Philanthropies for the Smart Cities challenge. “They basically look at how a city has found a solution to the most pressing need of its people and turned it into an opportunity to improve lives,” an official of the Union Urban Development Ministry says. There are models available across the world. For instance, Copenhagen in Denmark has a large cycling population. Another city has incorporated solar power into the design of buildings itself. Taking a page from the Mayors Challenges, Bloomberg Philanthropies will work to connect municipal officials here as they design and develop their proposals, with special emphasis on engaging people, according to its homepage. “What they will be looking for is real smartness in governance to solve people’s problems in a unique way to find definitive results,” the Central government official emphasises. Corporation officials here, therefore, may have to refine proposals again to get smarter. It could be retrofitting model over 500 acres or redevelopment model covering 50 acres or a greener city in about 250 acres. It can be either of the three models or a mix of them. Additionally, there will be a pan-city feature envisaging application of smart solutions to the existing city-wide infrastructure. It has been included as all the city residents feel there is something in it for them also. Workshop for engineers In the meantime, the Municipal Administration and Water Supply Department has just concluded a two-day workshop for engineers in the corporations here on improving service delivery. Termed Service Level Improvement Project (SLIP), the engineers were asked to work on the methods to augment water supply, sewerage, drainage, mobility and greenery in their respective corporations. Officials from the Union Urban Development Ministry had provided the expert consultancy. Asked if any of the 12 corporations had developed a unique solution to address the peoples’ problem smartly, a senior official said the mindset of the civic officials till now has been on providing basic amenities like water supply. “Any city could come up as winner in the first round of competition to be selected as a Smart City this year,” he says. There will be a pan-city feature envisaging application of smart solutions to the existing city-wide infrastructure