The New Town Kolkata Development Authority (NKDA) is replacing bamboo fences from roadsides and medians in New Town with designer steel fences in sync with the green smart city look.

The authorities also plan to install radio frequency identification (RFID) readers on the steel fences to track waste carrying vehicles are collecting waste at the scheduled time.

Officials told the media that the bamboo fences get easily damaged and uprooted with heavy rains and storms. Many times pedestrians even have to walk over bamboo fences to cross the streets.

Earlier, the traffic police requested the authorities to replace bamboo fences with steel fences. The first permanent steel fence was set up near Eco Space, and then the authorities decided to roll out the plan in other areas.

Officials said that the bamboo fences off the main arterial road and median dividers would be removed in a phased manner with designer steel fencing. After installing the steel fences, it will tag RFID readers with the steel fences and waste carrying vehicles.

The RFID will detect the vehicle and send an alert message to the control room to check the waster carrying vehicles are collecting waste from the waste bin and other places in the township on time.

Earlier, the authorities planned to set up Internet-of-Things (IoT)-enabled smart fencing on the 170 km stretch from Mahisbathan box bridge to Biswa Bangla gate.

The authorities are also working on the smart dustbin monitoring system. It plans to have 50 selected dustbins, each of 240 litres, to ensure 24 hours real-time monitoring. The smart dustbins will have level sensing technology to send an alert once the optimum level of waste is reached.

Image Source