Getting to Solapur, which lies almost midway between Pune and Hyderabad along NH65, is easy. There’s not a bump on the recently refurbished four-lane highway, and the 250-km journey, which can be accomplished in less than four hours, is a driver’s delight.

The blunt truth, however is that today there is little to lure one into planning a trip. The once-flourishing textile hub is in a state of decline. The weather varies from warm to hot to hotter still, and water shortage is chronic: municipal water –– 130 litres per capita per day, on paper –– is currently being supplied only once in five days.

On civic infrastructure, too, Solapur recounts a story that’s altogether too predictable in the Indian context. Consider this: less than 40 per cent of the roads are surfaced, leading to suspended particulate matter levels in some busy junctions that are twice, even thrice, the acceptable limits. Sewage and industrial waste is largely dumped into nallah s, which leads an all-pervasive stench to hang in the air; only two-thirds of the 400-ton waste generated daily is collected, and much of it is dumped at designated disposal sites. And that’s just the beginning of a long list of ailments.

Solapur’s amar kahani But to focus merely on Solapur’s civic amenities –– or the lack thereof –– seems unfair. Among the redeeming features of the city is Kotnis House ( pictured below, at right ), the home of Dwarkanath Kotnis, the local doctor whose service in China in 1938, as a 28-year-old, has forged a strong bond with that country. Part of a five-member squad that responded to Jawaharlal Nehru’s call to Indian doctors to provide medical care to Chinese troops injured in the Second World War, Kotnis stayed on in China to render exemplary service before he died there in 1942, barely 32.

The charming, latticed two-storeyed, wooden house is immaculately maintained as a museum, and displays, among other personal belongings, handwritten letters from Kotnis in China –– in English to his father and friends, in Marathi to his mother. Even a letter from Chairman Mao lauding Kotnis’ work is displayed.

In the same Gaothan area, which has been identified for retrofits under the Smart City Project, stands Indra Bhuvan ( pictured above ), an anachronism of sorts against the nondescript landscape.

Cross-cultural influences The ornate, 100-plus-year-old former residence of Appasaheb Varad, an erstwhile prominent citizen of Solapur, is indicative of the cross-cultural influences arising from the city’s location on the tri-junction of Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. It now houses the offices of the Solapur Municipal Corporation.

The city’s demographic profile, too, reflects this multi-cultural ethos, and Telugu, Marathi and Kannada can all be heard on the streets. In fact, it was Padmashali weavers from Andhra who years ago laid the foundation for the handloom textile industry, which has now largely made way for power looms. Units producing towels and the signature jacquard bedcovers now notch a collective annual turnover of nearly ₹1,000 crore, and provide employment to nearly 10 per cent of the population. The beedi industry employs many more, including a large percentage of women.

Given the multiple civic disorders that afflict the city, the smart city mission –– for which the ratings-and-research-analytics company Crisil was employed and paid ₹1.47 crore as fee –– cannot but bring welcome resuscitation.

Appropriately, improving the water and sewage disposal systems tops the agenda for the pan-city initiatives. “The key to improving water supply is a ‘water-swapping’ arrangement with NTPC,” says Municipal Commissioner Vijay Kalam. This envisages supplying 75 million litres per day of water recovered from sewage treatment to NTPC’s upcoming thermal power project near Solapur. “In return, we will get the same volume of raw water.”

While there is no dearth of available land, the chosen model for area-based development was retrofitting of the central, densest part of the city. “We did not go for greenfield development as it would have benefited only a select few,” Kalam argues.

In addition to the standard bootstrapping of civic infrastructure, the plan provides for solar-panelled cover for the stands at the currently dysfunctional cricket stadium, solar street lights, a sound-and-light show at the decrepit Bhuikot Fort and enabling ‘night markets’.

Upbeat on the street The plans, prepared with citizens’ participation (over 2,000 students volunteered for the door-to-door engagement), have enthused local folks. “ Lai sudharna whail (there will be a lot of improvement),” beams Anna Jadhav, a small-time trader who is optimistic that the city will take the fast track to development as a smart city.

Echoing much the same sentiment, Govind Bura, the owner of Rajashree Textiles, a manufacturer of towels and bedcovers in the MIDC area, however, makes another point.

“The smart city initiative should begin at the grassroots level,” he says. “We should start with cleanliness… people should feel guilty about littering their surroundings. The municipality should, on its part, provide containers for waste disposal. Only then will we see a difference.”

That’s a sentiment it’s hard to disagree with.

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