Coimbatore Smart City Limited, the special purpose vehicle that executes projects in city under the Central Government scheme, is likely to induct Deputy Commissioner of Police, Traffic, Coimbatore City. A decision in this regard has been taken and has been conveyed to the State Government. Once its permission is taken, the board will place it for approval at the next meeting, which is likely in March, and then induct the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Traffic. The incumbent Mr. Sujith Kumar is likely to be the first police office on the board. The other members of the board are Commissioner for Municipal Administration G. Prakash, who is the chairman, Coimbatore Corporation Commissioner K. Vijayakarthikeyan, who is the Managing Director, Deputy Commissioner, Coimbatore Corporation, P. Gandhimathi, a member, Superintending Engineer, Coimbatore, Corporation, a Government of India representative and Additional Secretary, Finance Department, Government of Tamil Nadu. Sources say that the board also has a proposal to invite City Police Commissioner as a special representative. The board has taken the decision keeping in mind the projects it has undertaken under the Smart Cities initiative such as bicycling track along tanks, bicycle sharing system, paid parking on city roads, command and control centre and smart boards. For a good number of the aforementioned projects, the inputs and expertise of the City Police are necessary and therefore the board has decided to induct police personnel. And, this is not something new in cities selected under the Smart Cities Mission. A few other cities have inducted police personnel into their boards. Process is on to induct two independent directors soon. The office of the Commissioner of Municipal Administration is vetting the files submitted and a decision is likely sooner than later. Meanwhile, the Coimbatore Smart City Limited is likely to float tenders for executing the ‘quick-win’ component of the lake development project.
