India will create online database for all cities by 2024: HUA Officials

India will have an online database of all cities by 2024 on infrastructure, education and health facilities among others as it aims to create a "culture of data" to address urban challenges of the country, an official said on Monday.

There will be an 'Open Database' that can be accessed by everybody free of cost and an 'Exchange of Database' under which agencies might charge for commercial use of data, as per a plan by the Union Housing and Urban Affairs (HUA) Ministry.

The database, which will include data on infrastructure, traffic, education, health, sanitation, safety and population, will be created on a single platform in a phased manner, the ministry said.

In the first phase, a database for 100 cities under the Centre's flagship 'Smart City Mission' will be created by March 2020, while in the second phase, 500 cities will be brought under the project by 2022.

HUA Joint Secretary and Director of the Smart City Mission Kunal Kumar said 100 "data officers" are being trained and they will be responsible for better coordination between government agencies and providing information on the single platform.

"We will have a database of over 4,000 cities by 2024. We are building a database of these cities. Data storage will be available at one place," he said.

For instance, a person looking for a property in a particular area can utilise the online data to see what civic amenities are available nearby.

People can use data on the 'Open Database' platform for their needs accordingly, Kumar said.

Streets which are in crime prone areas can also be identified through the platform, as per officials.

Under the project, the government has planned to set up an online 'Swachh Kashi' platform for the people of Varanasi. On this platform, people can post photos of dirty and clean areas, which will be scored automatically by the software.

Similarly, an online platform has been created in Pune and people can get details about which streets are safe to use, another official said.