ANNOUNCEMENTS
Urban challenges in Indian smart cities, including waste mismanagement, pollution, and congestion, necessitate innovative solutions. This study assesses a drone-based IoT-AI- blockchain framework for sustainable urban monitoring in six Indian smart cities—Naya Raipur, Pune, Bhubaneswar, Surat, Indore, and Visakhapatnam—using secondary data from 70 sources collected between February and May 2025 (Sharma & Gupta, 2025; MoHUA, 2025). Through thematic analysis, cost-benefit evaluation, and feasibility scoring, the framework achieves 90% sensor accuracy for waste and canal monitoring, 50% latency reduction via Fog Computing, and blockchain scalability of 1,000 transactions/day (Zhang et al., 2024). Economically, it saves ₹12.90 crore annually in waste and water management, with pilot costs of ₹8.3–16.6 crore offset by public-private partnerships (Kumar et al., 2023). Environmentally, it reduces emissions by 15% (24,500 tCO₂eq/year) and diverts 36,800 tons of waste annually, leveraging 50% renewable energy (TERI, 2024). Socially, blockchain transparency enhances citizen trust to 67–75%, supported by 1,200 monthly app-based reports (Kitsing, 2021). Aligned with SDGs 6, 7, 11, 12 and India’s ₹48,000 crore Smart Cities Mission, the framework offers scalable solutions, though limited by secondary data reliance (MoHUA, 2025). Recommendations include pilot deployments, digital literacy initiatives, and policy reforms to enhance scalability.
