Urban Update April 2018 by Urban Update

ISSN 2349-6266 RNI No DELENG/2014/57384

Setting The Agenda For Tomorrowâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Cities

UrbanUpdate Volume IV, Issue XII

APRIL 2018

How soon can our

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ISSN 2349-6266 RNI No DELENG/2014/57384

Setting The Agenda For Tomorrow’s Cities

UrbanUpdate

Akash Mandyal Reporter

Volume IV, Issue XII

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Volume IV - Issue XII Printed and published by Ranjit Chavan on behalf of All India Institute of Local Self-Government. Printed at Artz & Printz, 208, DSIDC Shed, Okhla Industrial Area Phase-I New Delhi-110020 Published at Sardar Patel Bhavan, 22-23, Institutional Area D-Block Pankha Road, Janakpuri, Delhi-110058 Note: Subscriptions are only invited from municipal corporations, government bodies, academic & research institutions, etc. working in the domain of urban development. We only charge courier and handling charges. We may fully wave-off the charges for municipalities and academic institutions upon receiving such request. Despite careful selection of sources, no responsibility can be taken for accuracy of the contents. The magazine assumes no liability or responsibility of any kind in connection with the information thereof. The views expressed in the articles are the personal opinions of the contributors and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the All India Institute of Local Self-Government. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part is strictly prohibited without written permission from the publisher.

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April 2018 | www.urbanupdate.in

EDITORIAL

World Health Day; Local bodies and healthy cities

orld Health Day observed under the auspices of the World Health Organization on April 7 every year is an opportunity to draw global attention to the subject of public health. The Day has been observed every year since 1948, for seventy long years now. The Theme for 2018 was ‘Universal Health Coverage: everyone, everywhere’. “Health is a human right. No one should get sick and die just because they are poor, or because they cannot access the health service they need,” said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on the eve of this year’s Day. Good health enables an individual, the family and the community to participate actively in the economy and derive benefits, and thus provide for oneself and the family a good quality of life. No one should be denied this opportunity. Healthcare in India is currently provided largely by the private sector with nearly 70 percent of the population dependent on it. Public healthcare has been marked by several shortcomings, mainly by the lack of adequate well-trained and motivated manpower. However things are set to change with the launch of ‘Ayushman Bharat’. Wishing people on the occasion of World Health Day Prime Minister Modi said,“…It is the quest for Health For All that inspired us to create Ayushman Bharat, the largest healthcare programme in the world.” The Scheme will cover about 10 crore families (about 50 crore individuals) providing coverage of upto Rs 5 lakh per family per year. Public health is an important part of the services provided by local bodies. In several large cities some public hospitals are run by the municipal body sometimes in partnership with private players.However, in cities there is a marked deficit of Primary Health Centres and this role is played by the larger hospitals increasing their workload.

This needs to be addressed. An important aspect of municipal healthcare service is its focus on subjects like immunization, vector borne disease control and communicable disease control. These are linked to other services such as water supply, sanitation, and waste management, all provided by the municipalities themselves. In addition to proper control of these services, disease prevention programmes call for significant amount of public awareness building and mass contact with local communities. These are best achieved by the local bodies as they are closest to the population and better aware of local circumstances. Therefore they are well equipped to address the disease prevention role of public healthcare and achieve superior out comes for long-term sustainable improvement in public health. We believe that municipal bodies should continue to strengthen their focus on such disease prevention and control measures more so since the private healthcare mechanism does not address the preventive side. We are sure that local bodies will have a prominent role to play as the Ayushman Bharat programme is rolled out. In this issue of Urban Update, we deal with the subject of municipal services. We have also covered the ‘Smart Urbanation’ event held in Hyderabad in March; and of course our regular columns. We hope that this issue too will contribute towards more livable cities and sustainable urbanization in India. We shall be happy to receive your feedback and suggestions.

Rajiv Agarwal Editor-In-Chief dg@aiilsg.org

www.urbanupdate.in | April 2018

Quotes

PIN POINT

BUZZ

Samrat Basak @SamratBasak01

Violations of environmental rights have a profound impact on a wide variety of human rights, including the rights to life, self-determination, food, water, health, sanitation, housing, cultural, civil and political rights

Every city has an opportunity to benefit from IoT technology. It’s not about size. It’s about leadership and having the vision

Rapid urbanisation without protecting the urban wetlands significantly reduces city’s risk resilience in relation to water availability & disaster management (draughts & floods) - a lesson to learn from the vanishing water bodies of Chennai

Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein UN High Commissioner, Human Rights

Austin Ashe General Manager of Intelligent Cities for Current powered by General Electric

Bhutani Group @GroupBhutani

We must look at human settlements of all sizes and think about how to improve the quality of life of those citizens living there. Many people migrate from rural areas seeking better opportunities in cities. If these people had adequate infrastructure and services in their communities, such as housing, good roads, education as well as economic opportunities, they might not leave their rural settings easily

We are increasingly equipped with better knowledge about the types of interventions that can reduce fatalities and serious injuries caused by traffic collisions. These deaths and their enormous social and financial tolls are not inevitable, yet we have seen little progress

Maimunah Mohd Sharif UN-Habitat Executive Director

Daniel Harris ODI researcher

April 2018 | www.urbanupdate.in

Regulatory reforms, steady demand generated through rapid urbanisation, rising household income and the emergence of affordable and nuclear housing are some of the key drivers of growth for the sector

Paul Dawson @PaulEDawson

Land degradation, biodiversity loss and climate change are three different faces of the same central challenge: the increasingly dangerous impact of our choices on the health of our natural environment

Jennifer Keesmaat @jen_keesmaat

If we truly want to reduce congestion, and if we truly care about becoming a more sustainable city, increasing housing choice + affordable housing near the places where people work should be at the top of our city-building agenda

Inside

Volume 4, Issue 12

Article

April 2018

Sole reliance on STPs canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t free our rivers from pollution We are making rivers dirty to an extent that they are starting to fight back, to throw back pollutants at us. Latest pollution monitoring reports suggest, even bathing in the River Ganga could be fatal with the concentration of Faecal Coliform (FC) shooting up to 13 times the permitted limits in many stations

Parking woes and public transport need pari passu efforts For a city of 1.70 crore population, Delhi is awfully short on the number of public transport vehicles DTC has just about 6,000 buses.

38 Cover Story

United Network of Circular Cities, Commitment to Circular Economy Circular Economy is a concept away from the traditional Linear Economy approach and challenges take-make-dispose model of production and consumption

21st Century Micro Cities of the New India

How soon can our municipalities fill the gaps?

Many of us have seen transformative changes in our cities during our lifetimes.On one hand from horse-drawn carts and squeaky trams to world-class metros and high-speed freeways. On the other from orderly, leisurely streets to complete incivility, chaos and lawlessness. Cities have been working overtime to meet the aspirations of the ever-growing stream of new migrants

LEADerspeak

Urban life is becoming challenging everyday. Every city is facing similar problems, be it air or water pollution, traffic and commuting, water scarcity, floods, unaffordable housing, etc. the gaps are increasing by the day and there are no simple solutions available. What is required is a long term vision.

Do municipalities have quality control mechanism? The adoption of new technologies in governance systems at all levelsis bringing positive impact; especially on municipal governance and city management.Advanced technological tools are strengthening citizengovernment dialogue, bringing transparency in the system and making local governments more accountable to the citizens. Indian cities are yet to harness the full potential of new technologies and media platforms, and for this, an extensive programme to train the existing municipal workforce is essential

VELO-CITY

RegularS

6 8 12

Pin Point Equi-City Newscan

15 44 46

City Images Book Review Urban Agenda

The City of Pearls Hyderabad One Shahanshah built Taj Mahal in memory of his wife, another named a city after his love. That is how Hyderabad was built and named. History has travelled hundreds of years since then and today itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s one of the foremost cosmopolitan cities of India. It attracts people from across the globe, some for jobs and some for pleasure

www.urbanupdate.in | April 2018

feature | Equi-City

Organising awareness campaign on public sanitation Equi-City Team moving forward with the objectives of the Project started formulating an Inclusive HR Policy for Nagpur Municipal Corporation mainly focusing on diversity and gender issues. The Inclusive Human Resource Policy will be one of the ways in Local Governance to overcome the problems of the people towards the Municipal authorities and also the problems faced by the people and Municipal authorities while communicating with each other Equi-City Team

oor sanitation in the city and the lack of hygienic practices affect the health as well as economics of the individual, community, city and the nation. Insanitary conditions and contaminated drinking water extracts a crippling toll on human health and the environment. In addition to the indignity suffered by those lacking sanitation facilities, they also suffer from diseases contracted through direct and indirect contact with pathogenic bacteria found in human excreta. Open defecation traps the family in a cycle of ill health, poverty and deprivation from basic hygienic ethics. The Nagpur Municipal Corporation is a body for local administration and therefore its principal focus area is about the concerns of the citizen or the population of the diverse nature. Hence, to address the needs of diverse nature of the people in the city the Nagpur Municipal Corporation should be diverse in nature. Equi-City Team moving forward with the objectives of the Project started formulating an Inclusive HR Policy for Nagpur Municipal Corporation mainly focusing on diversity and gender

April 2018 | www.urbanupdate.in

issues. The Inclusive Human Resource Policy will be one of the ways in Local Governance to overcome the problems of the people towards the Municipal authorities and also the problems faced by the people and municipal authorities while communicating with each other. The Equi-City Team also started developing the Equality Framework, which will directly benefit the Local Authority officials and its staff. Equality Framework develops more highly skilled workforce and better decisionmaking to create a stronger and more sustainable Local Authority and better

outcomes for its citizens. Sensitized officials create harmony in the workplace and produce an equitable work atmosphere for people from all backgrounds and communities, especially, women, differently abled, transgenders, etc. Officials are better able to respond to citizens from diverse backgrounds and engage them in participatory dialogue and solutions. Speedy grievance redressal mechanism helps create a harmonious and equitable environment. Due to diversity practices, empowered officials exercise their rights in ensuring merit based promotion and

equitable workplace. The project will develop tools for promoting equality and diversity. This is required as the frameworks for promoting equality and diversity are missing and need to be put in place before any diversity issues are discussed. This project will then focus on promoting equality and diversity within Local Authorities through the diversity committee with a view to boost socio-economic inclusion more broadly and sustainably, as well as promoting human rights based on the principles of equality and non-discrimination. This is enabled through the development and implementation of diversity policy, creation of sub-committees, diversity and equality framework and sensitisation workshops. With increasing pressure on urban local bodies to improve their performance in the provision of civic services, there is a great need to integrate modern management practices into public systems, drawing from the corporate sector. Improvements in water supply and sanitation play an important role in reducing high levels of morbidity and mortality rate that prevail in poor societies of the city. Use of safe drinking water, improved hygiene and good

sanitation practices have been proven to be essential for good health and the availability of water is a prerequisite for socio-economic development. There also exists a relationship between water, sanitation, health and development. Communication is an important part of development. A successful advocacy begins with the identification of groups that need to be influenced, trained, and working out the best way to spread awareness. After organising a number of awareness programs last year, EquiCity has found that the people in the sector are now convinced that IEC is a necessary ingredient of effective sanitation and hygiene programmes. They accept that most sanitationrelated problems must be tackled by the people in the villages and urban slums, who must be properly empowered and equipped to take actions themselves. Wide-ranging communication efforts have also contributed to this drive towards sanitation improvement and involve identifying, segmenting and targeting specific groups with particular strategies, messages and training. Municipal corporations and related govt. authorities must involve the community in planning and managing their own facilities and to make sanitation education effective.

Based on experience from earlier campaigns and programs following are some of the prominent points noted from the community: n Half the respondents believe that, being a traditional practice, it is very difficult to stop open defecation. n Others felt that it is better to stop open defecation for health and privacy reasons. When asked about the impact/effects of poor sanitation, over half cited that it caused poor health; while some felt that poor sanitation had an impact on the environment. n Majority of the respondents said that having a toilet inside the house is not good. n Some of the people feel it is expensive to build a toilet. Half the toilets built inside the house were not in use. Some of the toilets are being used for storing firewood and a few use it as a bathroom. The reasons for not using toilets are lack of water supply, no pits, etc. This clearly shows the importance of interpersonal communication and organising of awareness campaigns on regular basis so that people get familiar with sanitation and hygiene practices.

www.urbanupdate.in | April 2018

Article | Smart Urbanation Convention & Expo 2018

Smart Urbanation Convention & Expo 2018:

Meeting of Minds and Ideas The mindset is changing in India and growing urbanisation is being accepted as a reality. Various stakeholders meet frequently and discuss the issues and challenges confronting the cities. The perception needs to change both on the consumer side and that of the government and its agencies as well. Technological advancement has helped but human side is equally imporatant if the desired result has to be achieved

he two day Smart Urbanation conclave was held in Hyderabad on 22nd and 23rd of March. The event discussed various themes related to smart cities mission and issues concerning it. This was the fifth edition of Smart CitiesSummit, a process that began in 2014. The concept got a big boost when Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the run up to Lok Sabha elections in 2104 included it in the manifesto. Cities have become the growth engines for the overall growth of the country. Cities need to be empowered. There are bigger challenges like delivery of services that is suffering. There is too much pressure on the cities’ infrastructure and the capacity is inadequate. Innovative ways and means have to be found to meet these challenges and one cannot depend on the traditional methods used twenty or forty years ago. The demands of the generation have changed and the cities will have to change accordingly. These were the concerns raised by the panelists in various sessions.

Mindset is changing

Kumar Dhananjay Consulting Editor

April 2018 | www.urbanupdate.in

Pratap Padode, founder and director of Smart Cities Council of India says the mindset is changing fast today and people are willing to pay for the services provided they get quality and consistency in the services. He said “the old mindset sometimes becomes just

too challenging and actually a whole lot of public service projects don’t go forward because the perceptions are different both on the consumer side and the government side. So our whole plan is to actually power the smart cities. On the one hand that is the government side, show them the perspective of what has happened internationally, what has happened in smarter areas within the country. Our country has got all the smart possibilities except that they have all not converged in the single city. So that’s the reason why we do it for the government and for the private vendors”. The idea of holding such forum is to connect with the government officials and also when they raise certain questions there are others who demonstrate their exhibits from all the possibilities available in these times. That also makes the whole process believable. He added “we have taken move to bring things down to basic communities. So it’s a good beginning for all of us to realize that these kinds of smart solutions are available and they seem to be pretty much within reach. There is a financial modeling in place which can help you recover the expense of this activity, keep it operational, keep it going, that changes the mindset. You don’t have to put your hand into your pocket. There are companies putting it up for the citizens and benefiting them. They are giving you the credit and all

you have to do is to keep monitoring it and administeringso that the service and quality is good so these realizations will only help people have a little bit more belief in the subject”.

Moving beyond conferences and seminars

Things have certainly moved beyond conferences and concepts. Sharing of knowledge, experiences, key studies and even obstacles and probable solutions have become the key factor in the smart cities project. The question of multiplicities regarding authority was also discussed in the conference. There is the SPV, the municipal corporation, city development authority and other agencies who all have separate jurisdictions and at times it becomes a hurdle in executing a project like this. What is specially being recognized is the fact that problems in the running and development of a city have been identified and we must move in the right direction. Ashish Sable, Senior Vice President, SBI Capital Market Limited said “These are long term initiatives and have been created with a particular vision in the mind. If you talk about sustainable economic growth and better quality of living for the citizens, development has to happen at the city level.

Today we see that there is an entire paradigm shift from what is required of cities by the citizens. When the citizens are becoming smarter, cities too have to become smart. It’s not about the requirements of the citizens but also for the corporations and other bodies to be responsive to the requirements of the citizens. The diagnosis has to be done and it has been done. Now we need to move forward and scale it up”.

The slow pace and visibility factor

It is being recognized that the work on smart cities project is slow. There are quite a few challenges to convert this idea into reality and manifestation of this concept on the ground. Writer and the author of the book ‘Shape Up for Smart Cities’, Surya Jeedigunta admits there are a lot of challenges ahead. He says “the first challenge is capacity building. The skill sets of city managers who are supervising these projects need to be upgraded. There are a lot of technological changes taking place; there is a need of greater leadership, need of collaboration among different stakeholders. All this coordination, collaboration and upskilling have to be done. We need to take it to a new level by bring-

ing in new technologies and making people aware of availability of electric vehicles, smart buildings and town planning”. Finance is another big concern for the people associated with this project. Jeedigunta says government grants cannot be an everlasting solution. He says “Typically cities get grants from the government and they use it for the expenses they incur. For projects, finances are not available easily. I have mooted the idea of alternate ways of funding. If the city has the potential to grow but is starved of funds you raise money, expecting that in future because of the growth you will have an increase in tax revenue. It will pay you back”. Most people who attend a conference like this, come for networking. Secondly to understand the new technologies that are available. So the advantage is that you meet people working in different areas and learn from their experiences and knowledge. You get to explore the possibilities of collaborations. These kinds of conferences can help but it will be expecting too much if we think these will set things in motion. This could be just the first step. You need to build on the relationships that you have made at such venues, take it forward;continuity and follow up is must.

www.urbanupdate.in | April 2018

BRIEFS

Women self-help groups to manage 50 per cent of parking lots The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is planning to reserve the management of 75 per cent of parking lots for women self-help groups and educated unemployed youth. Earlier, BMC had reserved tenders for these two groups thrice, but neither responded. According to a BMC traffic department senior official, Mumbai has 92 pay-and-park lots with a total capacity of 11,271 vehicles. Under the proposed policy 50 per cent of the total parking spaces will be reserved for women selfhelp groups and 25 per cent for registered educated unemployed institutions and 3 per cent will be reserved for disabled people.

KSPR installed toilets in bus

The Karnataka State Reserve Police (KSPR) installed toilets in bus for women in police. The toilet, fabricated in Coimbatore, was installed at a cost of 1.5 lakh, and KSRP said they were planning to extend this to other vehicles. The 12-sq ft toilet has been installed at the back of the bus, and comes with a 300-litre water tank, chemical-flush for sludge tank and two sewage collection tanks that can be emptied into nearby manholes during times when the KSRP or the State’s reserve police are deputed for long. By fabricating it, the police have saved over 4.5 lakh per toilet as compared to the ready-made models.

April 2018 | www.urbanupdate.in

NEWSCAN

Chennai first Indian city to join C40 cities

CHENNAI: On March 28 Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami signed an agreement with C40 Cities, declaring the state’s commitment to phasing in zeroemission public transport vehicles and become the first Indian city to join the C40 cities initiative to electrify its bus transportation system. C40 Cities is a collection of 90 of the world’s greatest metropolises that are seeking to limit greenhouse gas emissions from goods and services. More than 25 cities across the world are now part of the C40 Bus Declaration Act, a 2015 initiative from C40 cities to combat climate change. C40 will also help Chennai prepare a road map to achieve 100 per cent electri-

fication of its public bus transportation system by providing it with resources to aid in decision making, technology and to plan the way forward. Earlier, State transport minister M R Vijaya baskarvisted an e-bus fair organized by automobile manufactures at New Delhi and explored the possibilities of feasibly procuring and operating them. Manufacturers worked on two models and state has expressed an interest in a model in which battery gets recharged itself after every 30km to 35km for three– five minutes and second model will be equipped with battery-swapping technology. Officials said that first type of model will suit their need and they can add 200 buses to the MTC fleet.

Okhla Waste plant finds no takers for compost NEW DELHI: SDMC Chief Engineer Umesh Sachdeva during a discussion on ‘Managing Delhi’s Solid Waste’ under the Delhi Matters series said, “Despite earning Rs 25 lakh as carbon credits from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in 2013, Okhla waste plant which produces close to 40 metric tonnes of compost per day has no takers for the compost it produces. He also said, “The compost we produce hardly has any takers. Farmers feel that since the compost has been made from garbage, it will not add

value to their fields. A change in mindset is required. The plant was set up in 2008 and has a capacity of 200 metric tonnes.” According to experts around 50 per cent of the total waste generated in Delhi can be composted and turned in to fertiliser. Around 10000 metric tonnes of garbage is produced by Delhi per day. Out of 9,000 metric tons of compost generated per month by Pune Municipal Corporation only 2,000 tones is used and the rest remains in the depots and same thing happens in Goa as well.

ISSN 2349-6266 RNI No DELENG/2014/57384

Setting The Agenda For Tomorrow’s Cities

UrbanUpdate Volume III, Issue III

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ISSN 2349-6266 RNI No DELENG/2014/57384

Setting The Agenda For Tomorrow’s Cities

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The new age of urban governance Governing growing cities in a country like India is a matter of serious concern. Efficient urban governance and ‘healthy’ municipalities will be the key to the sustenance of our evolving and existing urban spaces

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ISSN 2349-6266 RNI No DELENG/2014/57384

Setting The Agenda For Tomorrow’s Cities

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Survival of the fittest

To revoluTIonIse cITy managemenT

Ministry of Urban Development to announce the 20 winners of Smart City Challenge in January 2016

Internet of Things supported technological solutions are leveraging ubiquitous connectivity among complex sets of distinct sensors, citizens, and apps to smoothen functioning of city systems

competitiveness drives innovation: Supriyo

DAWN Of

An interview with Babul Supriyo, Union Minister of State for Urban Development

ASPIRATIONS

aIIlsg, eu launch ‘equi-city’ Project The project aims at ensuring equitable delivery of municipal services in Nagpur

The project is funded by the European Union.

The project is implemented by the AIILSG.

The project is funded by the European Union.

2015 was a landmark year for cities all over the world and paved a concrete path for a bright urban transition. How India crafts its urban development vision this year will profoundly impact the future of our cities

The project is implemented by the AIILSG.

The project is funded by the European Union.

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BRIEFS

KSPR installed toilets in bus

April 2018 | www.urbanupdate.in

NEWSCAN

Chennai first Indian city to join C40 cities

CITY IMAGES

Indira gandhi International Airport

most Sustainable & Green Airport Delhi International Airport won the Wings India Award for ‘Most Sustainable and Green Airport’, and a silver medal for its sustainable waste management initiatives in the Airports Council International’s Asia-Pacific Green Airports Recognition 2018. The two green awards have come immediately following the Delhi Airport being declared by Airports Council International as the world’s number one airport in the highest category of more than 40 million passengers per year. Delhi Airport has undertaken various green initiatives such as carbon neutrality, green building programme, energy and water management, renewable energy programme and effective waste management.

www.urbanupdate.in | April 2018

BRIEFS

Kozhikode budget 201819 focuses on Health and Welfare projects Kozhikode Corporation budget 2018-19 received major attention in Health and Welfare projects. Deputy Mayor and Finance Standing committee chairperson MeeraDarshak highlighted the Corporation’s plan to set up health complexes in the city where Ayurveda, Homoeopathy and modern medicine will be available under one roof in addition to a library cum park for the elderly. An amount of Rs 28 lakh is given for the development of basic infrastructure at all urban health centres, Rs 50 lakhs to expand the palliative care facilities in the city, Rs 30 lakh for the rehabilitation of destitute women and Rs 40 lakh for the third phase of Jeevanam.

MMRDA launched 25 hybrid electric buses

A fleet of 25 hybrid AC buses have been launched in collaboration with Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) in Mumbai. The bus services were started March 19, from Borivali, Mulund, Thane and Kharghar to BKC. The main aim, behind the launch of these buses, is to reduce pollution. Hybrid buses will run on dual power – diesel and electric and have comfortable seats with safety features for the passengers, including CCTV cameras, free WiFi, USB connection and LED display. The seats are equipped with integrated charging points and headrest.

April 2018 | www.urbanupdate.in

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Action plans on urban infra unveiled ANDHRA PRADESH: The Andhra Pradesh government is all set to fill the widening gaps in infrastructure, by adopting a focused approach, and to meet the challenges posed by a fast-expanding urban geography and demography. The government has drawn up a two-pronged action plan to build up the requisite urban infrastructure and fulfil the citizens’ needs, with the first phase expected to be completed in the next two years. “The prime focus is to meet the National Service-Level Benchmarks (SLBs) by improving the key service-level indicators for delivering the desired outcome to the public. We have carried out a detailed exercise in terms of the sector, indicator and urban local body to identify the existing infrastructure, the total requirements and the gaps that need to be filled to meet the national SLBs,” Minister for Municipal Administration and Urban Development P Narayana said. The government has shortlisted the major sectors for implementing the plans on priority, like sewerage management, roads, storm water drainage, drinking water supply, urban greenery, urban housing, solid waste management and smart LED street lights. It is estimated that a sum of Rs 1.02 lakh crore would be required to accomplish the mission over the next few years. In the first phase, the Critical Infrastruc-

ture Investment Plan would be implemented which will cover all the 110 ULBs in the state, at a cost of Rs 10,742 crore. Narayana said that the newly-developed areas in ULBs will be provided critical infrastructure like piped drinking water supply, sewerage lines and roads. The state government would borrow funds from banks like World Bank, Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and Asian Development Bank and from various schemes like AMRUT, Smart Cities Mission, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes sub-plans. The government aims to complete Critical Infrastructure Investment Plan in the next two years, under which, 9.95 lakh households will be provided drinking water connections while 13,132km of storm water drains will be constructed and about 5,482km length of cement concrete roads will be laid.

Universities to promote sustainable finance London:A new global alliance has been launched to help scale-up the green finance sector. 18 major universities, including Cambridge, Oxford, Yale and Stanford, have joined the Global Research Alliance for Sustainable Finance and Investment (GRASFI). Although the Alliance was founded in 2017, it has waited until now to become a public entity with aims to promote sustainable finance on a global level. It hopes that with the backing of some of the world’s most prestigious academic institutions, sustainable finance can become a major force. The University of California, Berkeley, Imperial College London, University of Zurich, the Frankfurt School of Finance, and the London School of Economics and Political Science are also members. Ben Caldecott, who co-chairs the group, and is the Director of the Oxford Sustainable Finance Programme said, “Each of these universities is working on sustainable finance and investment research questions in various ways and this is incredibly exciting. The opportunity is clearly in making all of these individual efforts greater than the sum of their parts.”

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New Initiative Calls for Urgent Action on Water and Security On World Water Day, the Water, Peace and Security Initiative (WPSI), was launched to provide expert guidance on the link between water and security, identify potential “hotspot areas” to prevent the next water-driven security crisis, and provide support to impacted countries. The Water, Peace and Security Initiative will address the complex relationship between water, migration and conflict BRASILIA: Nearly two billion people currently live in severely water-scarce areas, according a new UN report. And millions are impacted as a result of water insecurity – through loss of income, food shortages and conflicts over scarce resources. With climate change driving droughts, increased destruction of ecosystems, and exploding population growth, the situation is only expected to worsen. As water stress can heighten social disruption, intensify conflicts and spark migration, there is an urgent need to better understand the relationship between water and security, and be able to act in a timely and effective way to prevent situations from worsening. Europe is still reeling from a migration crisis that has sent over a million refugees to the continent. Some of these refugees were driven from their homes in part by an often-ignored threat: water scarcity. As droughts plague major cities from Cape Town to Tehran, the world is left wondering where and when the next water scarcity event will threaten economies and livelihoods. “WPSI was created as a direct response growing water crises. The project concept was developed in 2017 by Deltares, the Hague Centre for Strategic Studies (HCSS), IHE-Delft and World Resources Institute (WRI), with support from the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs. A growing partnership, WPSI has expanded in recent months to include Wetlands International and Oregon State University.

The initiative is centred on four essential pillars for action:

Understand:

Much is still unknown about the links between water and security. WPSI will study water and security pathways, and create a global online tool to identify potential “hotspot areas.” WPSI will also develop rapid assessments to verify and further research threats, and identify possible interventions.

Mobilize:

Many decision-makers are still unaware of the links between water and security, and the management tools needed to address this problem. WPSI will con-

duct outreach to global audiences (diplomats, defense and development experts), as well as national governments of developing countries where we identify threats.

Learn:

WPSI will provide training and capacity-building to help developing countries cope with current and future crises, and avert potential destabilizing conflict.

Dialogue:

WPSI will convene water dialogues among key stakeholders at both international and sub-national levels, to try to diffuse tensions and pave the way for solutions.

www.urbanupdate.in | April 2018

BRIEFS

Redevelopment &Upgradation of Okhla Bird Sanctuary Laying the Foundation Stone for Redevelopment and Upgradation of Okhla Bird Sanctuary to mark the International Day of Forest at Noida, Dr Harsh Vardhan said that upon completion of the ambitious project, the Bird Sanctuary will become a place worth visiting for the entire country. Dr Mahesh Sharma, Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change said that Noida is scripting a new history. Our relationship with environment is one of cooperation and intimacy. He stated that the redevelopment and upgradation of Okhla Bird Sanctuary will include a Watch Tower of international standards, a re-laid Cycle Track for tourists, and CCTV Network for improved security; and Electric vehicles for mobility. Being well-connected with DMRC through Okhla Bird Sanctuary station, many schools in NCR can now participate in Nature camps.

SDMC to genrate power from garbage The South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) is all set to generate power from garbage with its new upcoming ‘waste to energy’ plant which will establish on 50 acres of land at Tehkhand area in South east Delhi. The plant will handle 1200 tonnes of waste and along with that it will also set up a biogas plant at three dairies and two cow shelters with ambitious plan of generating electricity from cow dung. Various locations have been proposed to set up biogas plant which includes Nangli Dairy, Goyala Dairy and Kakrola Dairy and at two cow shelters -Manav Gau Sadan Rewla Gaushala and Ghuman Hera Gramin Gaushala.

April 2018 | www.urbanupdate.in

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UNEP announces India as a host of World Environment Day 2018

NEW DELHI: India has been announced as this year’s hosts of World Environment Day on 5th June. The global celebrations will be used to raise awareness of plastic waste and find ways to reduce the prevalence of single-use plastics. The news was made by UN Environment and India’s Environment Ministry in New Delhi. Dr Harsh Vardhan, India’s Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change said, “India is excited to host the World Environment Day this year. Indian philosophy and lifestyle has long been rooted in the concept of co-existence with nature. We are committed to making Planet Earth a cleaner and greener place”. World Environment Day was established by the UN in 1972 to raise environmental awareness and action. Last year’s day, led by Canada, had the theme of ‘connecting people to nature’. As part of its duties as hosts, India will organise and lead initiatives around the country on plastic waste and clean-up. This will include activities in public spaces, national reserves, beaches and forests to help drive national interest in the issue. Erik Solheim, Head of UN Environment said at the announcement that India will be a “great global host. The country has demonstrated tremendous

global leadership on climate change and the need to shift to a low carbon economy, and India will now help galvanize greater action on plastics pollution” “It’s a global emergency affecting every aspect of our lives. It’s in the water we drink and the food we eat. It’s destroying our beaches and oceans. India will now be leading the push to save our oceans and planet”, he added. UN Environment states that India has the highest recycling rates in the world, and is well-placed to help accelerate changes to solve plastic pollution. It’s estimated that 500 billion plastic bags are used every year around the world, and that 50 percent of the plastic we use is single-use. World Environment Day is a UN Environment-led global event, the single largest celebration of our environment each year, which takes place on June 5 and is celebrated by thousands of communities worldwide. Since it began in 1972, it has grown to become a global platform for public outreach that is widely celebrated across the globe. Most of all, World Environment is a day of everyone around the world to take ownership of their environment, and to actively engage in the protection of our earth.

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Maharashtra’s plastic ban to make 3 lakh people jobless MUMBAI: Maharashtra government has declared a ban on plastic which will make 3, 00,000 people unemployed. After declaring a ban on plastic, industry officials are requesting for a solution from the government. Urging to the government for solution to save the industry, Vice President, Maharashtra Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Lalit Gandhi said, “the plastic ban has become a big hindrance in our production, packaging and supply schedules of grains, bakery and clothing industries. In the absence of basic packaging material many units are on the verge of closure. It will make around 3, 00, 000 people jobless.” He also said that we met and petitioned the environment minister, Ram Das Kadamand sought waiver on packaging material till alternatives are identified and made available. We have urged the Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis to treat food grains and all food items including fruits and vegetables at par with milk and extend the repository (50 paisa per bag) scheme on them. Failure to act immediately will cause untold misery to all. This

may not yield commensurate gains to the environment as envisioned by the plastic ban notification, Gandhi said. “The Bombay High Court has directed the Maharashtra government to file its reply by April 9 and hopefully will rule on our petition seeking a stay on this ban on April 11,” Maharashtra Plastic Manufacturers Association vice president Ravi Jasnani said. “In Mumbai alone over 6,80,000 readymade garments pieces for exports are stuck on account of non-availability of transparent plastic bags for packing,” Clothing Manufacturers Association of India chairman Rajesh Masand said.

Ahmedabad wastes 39 crore litres of water AHMEDABAD: Despite being a water scarce state, Ahmedabad people do not value precious water. A recent study conducted by Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) reveals the amount of water Amdavadi consumes per day. The study suggests that the consumer were supposed to use 143 to 171 litres a day but the numbers are 260-280 litres a day. This puts huge pressure on groundwater resources. About 65 per cent of the need for water is being met through bore wells rather than municipal water supply. An official from AMC said, “In fact, in the lower income areas like slums, which live amid posh localities in Satellite and

Thaltej, the average consumption is 160 litres per individual per day and they are also less dependent on bore well source. We waste water in long showers, in washbasins while shaving and brushing teeth, we are using RO water for hair wash, carwash, and in our toilets we refuse to install a flush system.” Suresh Patel, an estate developer said that we have installed number of water metres in recently constructed 105 apartments. He also said, “We have installed water meters for each apartment and we have separate valves installed on supply lines emanating from the overhead tanks in case locked homes have water leakages issues.”

BRIEFS

VMC’s project brings down PM10 levels from 102 µg/m3 to 83 µg/m3 After successfully implementing various green initiatives in Vijayawada, Krishna district administration has started a massive plantation drive to improve air quality across the district in next 10 months. Under ‘Green Krishna’ project, Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC) has also introduced road sweeping machines and compactors. The project has immensely contributed to bring down the PM10(particulate matter) levels from 102 µg/m3 to 83 µg/m3. Other initiatives like using of sprinklers while sweeping the roads and making a tarpaulin cover mandatory for the heavy vehicles that are used in construction sites to carry sand, soil or debris have made it easy to reduce the PM levels in air. The district collector B Lakshmikantam said that that they are confident to achieve the target of Green Krishna within next 10 months with people’s participation.

Koti subway turns into cesspool Koti subway, Hyderabad, allotted to book sellers has turned into a cesspool. Due to its poor maintenance, the subway has turned in to a dirty place which no one wants to visit. A bookseller said, “There were 45 stalls but now just a handful remain as people do not want to come here as the place is dirty. After we were shifted here from the footpath, we have lost customers.” He also said that there is no proper system for drainage here, even very light shower of rain is enough to turn it in to cesspool. Drainage water seeps in and there is no electricity; as a result people have shunned the place.

www.urbanupdate.in | April 2018

BRIEFS

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PMC- CARE 2 to deliver faster services

Beaches to be disabled-friendly

To deliver faster public services, the Pune Municipal Corporation is launching three online initiatives in which they will inculcate advandce technology to ease the work. In an initiative, PMC- CARE 2 which is an upgraded version of existing PMC CARE portal is ready to deliver public service and address grievances of the citizen. The portal will help to set up individual log in IDs by providing vital documents like birth & death certificates and zone maps will also be available on the portal. PMC commissioner Kunal Kumar said, “Since launch of PMC CARE, the administration has received over 80,000 complaints, out of which 97% have been addressed. The advanced version will be more easy and communicative.” PMC is also planning to launch Google map location service (GIS) and e-learning project to deliver learning tutorials in about 100 PMC-run schools by June 2018.

KOZHIKODE: The District Tourism Promotion Council (DTPC) is all set to welcome people with special needs by introducing facilities that would ensure smooth transport and sightseeing. DTPC is planning to convert tourist spots into disabled friendly zones by building wheelchair-friendly entrances, toilet facilities etc. Leaders of organizations of the differently-abled have sought wheelchair-friendly entrances on the South beach, Kozhikode beach, Vellayil beach and Butt Road beach. The first entrance will be on Kozhikode beach. The parking spaces with easy entry and exit, and parking slots for the vehicles driven by the differently-abled will also be there. The secretary of district tourism promotion council (DTPC), Benoy Venugopal said that toilet facility for disabled people will also come up at these destinations and slippery-free tiles and handrails will be installed at all tourist spots. Currently, Kozhikode Beach has only steps and no ramps for people with special needs to enter the beach. Relatives and volunteer groups who bring bedridden patients, or persons with visual im-

Smart cards to pay for civic amenities in Chennai For the ease of residents, the Greater Chennai Corporation will launch smart cards by the end of this year which will allow residents to pay property taxes, electricity bills and metro water charges. This card will function alike CMRL cards and also can be used for non-governmental transactions. The senior official from revenue department said, “It will be like a debit card which allows direct payments for civic services. Currently, the corporation accepts only cash, demand drafts and cheques for payment of property tax and profession tax. The card could help transform the way Chennai pays its civic charges.”

20 April 2018 | www.urbanupdate.in

pairment and physical disability, to the beach are also finding it difficult in the absence of accessible ramps and toilets for disabled persons. Earlier similar project, Barrier-free Kozhikode, was started by the Social Justice Department but failed to take off because of the shortage of funds. The tourism department hopes that the disabled-friendly ambience at tourism spots will also attract foreign tourists. Kerala welcomes around 1.3 crore domestic tourists and 10.7 lakh international tourists every year, out of which 10% belongs to the differently-abled category.

Colour-coded zonal map to check NOC requirement NEW DELHI: To as certain the requirement of no-objection certificates (NOCs) for a particular property, the municipal corporations came up with a new idea to use colour-coded zonal map. “The map is developed in collaboration with the Geo-Spatial Delhi Limited (GSDL), under the larger ambit of ease of doing business and will be used by three municipal corporation,” SDMC official said. The map will help people to see from whom they will need to obtain NOC before starting construction work at a site. SDMC has tied up with various government departments such as National Monuments Authority, Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), Airports Authority of India (AAI), Delhi Urban Art Commission (DUAC), Delhi Jal Board, Delhi Fire Service, Chief In-

spector of Factories and Heritage Conservation Committee. “The map is quick and reliable, a person need to enter his property address on the zonal map and a window will appear which will show the number of agencies from which permission is required, presence indicated with separate colours in the area. It will vary depending on the height and distance of their property from these agencies’ projects,” official added. Common Application Form (CAF) have been provided on website, which will help the applicant to get NOCs as well as building plan, in 30 days. In case any agency or department fails to provide the NOC within stipulated time, it will become considered as deemed NOC by the concerned municipal agency’s system, said the official.

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UN commits to achieving gender equality and the empowerment of rural women New York: The UN’s largest annual gathering on gender equality and women’s rights concluded in New York with the strong commitment by UN Member States to achieving gender equality and the empowerment of rural women and girls. Coming on the heels of unprecedented global activism and public outcry to end gender injustice and discrimination worldwide, the 62nd session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) reached a robust agreement highlighting the urgency of empowering and supporting those who need it most and have, for too long, been left behind. Today, 1.6 billion people still live in poverty, and nearly 80 per cent of the extreme poor live in rural areas. Many of them are rural women. They continue to be economically and socially disadvantaged for instance, they have less access to economic resources and opportunities, quality education, health care, land, agricultural inputs and resources, infrastructure and technology, justice and social protection. The outcome of the two-week meeting, known as the Agreed Conclusions adopted by Member States, puts forth concrete measures to lift rural women and girls out of poverty and to ensure their rights, well-being and resilience. These include ensuring their adequate living standards with equal access to land and productive assets, ending poverty, enhancing their food security and nutrition, decent work, infrastructure and technology, education and health, including their sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights, and ending all forms of violence and harmful practices. The Executive Director of UN Women, which serves as the CSW Secretariat, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, said, “The Commission’s agreement on measures to bring substantive equality to women and girls in rural areas is a

Food security and nutrition, land, water, food, work, and a life free of violence and without poverty highlighted as main issues to tackle

vital step forward. In the Commission’s two weeks of dialogue we have heard clearly from the women and girls themselves what they want from the rights to own property, to the need for quality infrastructure, to the rights to make decisions about their own bodies and lives. Effective action to bring the changes they need will take the continued engagement of all partners, from governments to civil society. Rural women themselves must be able to speak up and be heard in all consultations, and youth delegations must be included at all levels. These agreements are made in the meeting rooms of New York but must take effect in the lives of women and girls we are here to serve.”

CSW is the single largest forum for UN Member States, civil society organizations and other international actors to build consensus and commitment on policy actions on this issue. They include: Adoption of reforms to eliminate discriminatory laws and norms for women to have equal access to economic and productive resources, including land and natural resources, property and inheritance rights. Step up progress towards strong educational environments at all levels including closing gender gaps in secondary and tertiary education in rural areas. Provision of quality social services, and care services, to reduce the disproportionate share of unpaid care and domestic work of rural women and girls.

www.urbanupdate.in | April 2018

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CAG report indicts MCD; finds fault with its expenditure The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has flagged irregularities in the financial administration of Delhi, including untracked funds worth crores. NEW DELHI: A report submitted by Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) at the Delhi assembly, revealed some astonishing facts. According to CAG report, lack of scientific methods in road construction led to unnecessary expenditures in projects. Report stated that to strengthen roads in Okhla Industrial Area Phase I and II, roads were constructed by cement at an extra cost of Rs 1.36 crore instead of constructing by bitumen. Accident-prone roads were constructed at DeraBhati since trees were not removed. In the CAG report, it was found that the contractor was asked to transfer a new vehicle of at least 1800 CC — along with fuel, maintenance, driver, etc — to the South Corporation after completion of the project. “This was not justified as it amounts to buying a car through the contractor to avoid the approval of the competent authority.”

Some lapses the CAG pointed to include: n

ccording to CAG report, the A construction of an overbridge at Bijwasan lead to an extra payment of Rs 8.33 crore to the contractor because of structural changes made at last stage. “It indicates that technical sanctions were not based on adequate data,” the report said. No justification or approval of the competent authority was found

22 April 2018 | www.urbanupdate.in

for items, worth Rs 2.38 crore, like designer wall tiles, a vehicle for MCD staff etc, during construction of the grade separator at Pankha Road. No entry was made in the register regarding two computers worth Rs 1.2 lakh which were obtained as extra items from the contractor. “South DMC did not explain why the entries of these were not made in stock register,” the report said. For the improvement of Tigri road from MB road to Durga Vihar, the South Delhi Municipal Corporation awarded construction work in December, using ready mix concrete at a cost of Rs 29.96 crore. Due to delayed work, constructor had to pay interest. As of October 2017, an amount of Rs 1.07 crore was lying unrecovered.

n The East Corporation awarded construction work of storm water drain and footpath along railway overbridge on Shahdara-Saharanpur Railway line in January 2010 at a cost of Rs 6.44 crore. While the work was in progress, it awarded another contract for strengthening it for Rs 4.09 crore in February 2012 at a cost of Rs 3.38 crore, the report stated. “Necessity of strengthening of a road just after its construction is questionable, which resulted in unwarranted expenditure of Rs 3.38 crore,” report said. In reply to raised questions over nonmaintenance of records and history sheet of roads, the South and North Corporation spokespersons said they are waiting for the report to arrive after which they will ask the departments concerned to explain the lapses.

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Need to Empower ULBs for Sustainable Process of Urban Transformation HYDERABAD: Hardeep Puri, Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs emphasised on the need for strengthening Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) for bringing equality, liveability and democratic governance to the process of urban transformation. He was speaking at the “Swarajya to Surajya”: 1st National Consultation on Strengthening of Local Self Government which was inaugurated by Hon’ble Vice President of India Venkaiah Naidu in Hyderabad. Union Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, Dy. Chief Minister of Telangana Shri M.Mahmood Ali were also present at the event jointly organised by the Indian Institute of Public Administration and the Swarna Bharat Trust, Shamsabad. Puri said that the Govt under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has embraced the challenge of rapid urbanisation as a positive engine of growth. Since ULBs are at heart of delivery of goods and services to people, it is imperative to strengthen them by greater decentralisation and empower them by meaningful devolution of the 3Fs i.e. funds, functions and functionaries. Puri said that while political decentralisation has progressed satisfactorily, administrative and fiscal decentralization has taken place at a snail’s pace. The state governments were expected

to devolve functional autonomy, administrative support and financial resources to the local bodies, but success on this front has been unsatisfactory. Puri emphasised that a radical change is needed if cities are to provide a socio-economic environment that will be inclusive, contribute to better quality of life, and sustain rapid growth. To achieve this following steps are necessary which include: Local governments should have functional autonomy, they should have financial autonomy and should aim to be financially viable. Parastatals should not be allowed to undermine the authority of ULBs and need to establish a dedicated and a specialised trianed cadre to serve and cater to the complex needs of urban local body governance. Puri said that participatory democracy, transparency and accountability are the key pillars for new urban governance where formal participation procedures should be complemented by collaborative partnerships which go beyond consultation of policies/interventions, recognizing ward committees and area sabhas as active “partners” He emphasised that innovative and effective participation tools should be adopted to foster meaningful engagement bringing equality, liveability and democratic governance to the process of urban transformation.

India is most vulnerable to climate change: HSBC

LONDON: HSBC issued a report on countries facing vulnerability to the physical impacts of climate change in which India is ranked on top, followed by Pakistan, the Philippines and Bangladesh. Finland, Sweden, Norway, Estonia and New Zealand are least vulnerable to climate change risk. HSBC bank took survey in 67 developed countries on the basis of vulnerability to the physical impacts of climate change, exposure to energy transition risks, sensitivity to extreme weather events and ability to respond to climate change. The selected 67 nations represent 80% of global population and 94% of global GDP. HSBC averaged the scores in each area for the countries in order to reach the overall ranking. Some countries were highly vulnerable in some areas but less so in others. According to report, unirrigated lands would be highly damaged by rising temperature and decline in rainfall, in India. It can also cut agricultural incomes of farmers. Countries which are at high risk of storms and floods are Pakistan, Bangladesh and Philippines, out of which Pakistan is least well equipped to face Climate change. South and Southeast Asian countries accounted for half of the 10 most vulnerable countries. Oman, Sri Lanka, Colombia, Mexico, Kenya and South Africa are also in this group.

www.urbanupdate.in | April 2018

COVER STORY | Plastic Ban

How soon can our

municipalities fill the gaps? Many of us have seen transformative changes in our cities during our lifetimes. On one hand from horse-drawn carts and squeaky trams to world-class metros and high-speed freeways. On the other from orderly, leisurely streets to complete incivility, chaos and lawlessness. Cities have been working overtime to meet the aspirations of the ever-growing stream of new migrants. Yet gaps remain. And we are left wondering why life in the city seems so difficult. When will it get betterâ&#x20AC;Ś

24 April 2018 | www.urbanupdate.in

T V Vijaykumar Sr Advisor, AIILSG

The state of Maharashtra manufactures 1.2 crore PET bottles every day reported a leading daily recently. News related to plastic waste has been making the headlines every other day ever since the state government banned a wide range of one-time-use plastic items including carry bags, plates, spoons and packaging. The ban came into force from the last week of March. The ban is recognition of the huge impact of such waste on the environment and the waste handling mechanism of local bodies. PET bottles are just one category of stubborn waste which add hugely to the waste management infrastructure local bodies have to set up. Plastic throwaway cutlery and Expanded Polystyrene (Thermocol) are others and these have been banned too. While allowing some kinds of PET including milk pouches, the government has mandated strict

measures to ensure these are recycled. Waste management is clearly among the municipal services which provide major headaches to city administrators not only in some cities, states or countries, but everywhere. The bulk of the effort is always directed at ‘managing’ the problem, often with the search for new technologies and efforts to encourage recycle and repurpose. But the impact we have seen, is clearly insufficient. There needs to be constant effort including regulation to ensure that ‘generation’ of waste is curtailed and minimized. The plastic ban in Maharashtra is an effort in this direction and has thus found support from all quarters including some of those adversely impacted.

www.urbanupdate.in | April 2018

COVER STORY | Plastic Ban

Waste management is a very visible and impactful area of municipal services struggling to keep pace with cities’ requirements. With rapid and relentless urbanization over several decades, the demands of the city populations have grown exponentially. Pressures have been created not only by the growing numbers of urban dwellers but also due to the rapidly changing (some even say irresponsible or unsustainable) lifestyle choices of citizens. The result is a large and often growing gap between the demands for services and their provision by municipal bodies.

Other gaps

While waste management is very visible, manifested in the heaps of garbage in many cases and media headlines, other services too are affected. Urban mobility is one. There is very rapid growth in the number of two-wheelers on our roads. Preliminary estimates put the sales during 2017-18 at over 20 million units. That’s a mindboggling 54,000 plus each day. Such growth is adding greatly to congestion, air-pollution and issues of road safety. It indicates the inability of public transport services to provide efficient, effective and affordable mobility options for citizens. The issue however, is a complex one. Pricing dynamics make the use of a two-wheeler far more affordable than public transport buses for example, on a per kilometer basis. Add to it the door-to-door connectivity and zero wait-time offered by personal transport and the choice seems clear. And this, while many public transport bus services are faced with huge operational losses. Any attempt to raise fares is met with declining ridership. Therefore solutions could include large doses of regulatory (steeper parking fees and limiting access to some roads for private vehicles) measures along with differentiated/targeted services (airconditioned buses could discourage car use) with more focus on last-mile connectivity. Quality public healthcare and education is clearly not accessed by large sections of the populations. Even the less-privileged are turning to private

26 April 2018 | www.urbanupdate.in

There is very rapid growth in the number of two-wheelers on our roads. Preliminary estimates put the sales during 2017-18 at over 20 million. That’s a mindboggling 54,000 plus each day. Such growth is adding greatly to congestion, air-pollution and issues of road safety. It indicates the inability of public transport services to provide efficient, effective and affordable mobility options for citizens facilities even in the face of prohibitive costs. Public facilities in these areas are perceived to be laid back, inefficient, delayed and of poor quality. Access is another handicap. These facilities need to be located closer to residents’ homes. Several national, state and local level measures have ensured that children are continuing to enroll in public-run schools. But are they learning much? Parents of even weaker sections are enrolling their kids in private schools. By some estimates, nearly half of urban

children and a fifth of rural ones attend private primary schools. Local body presence in primary education is marginal at the national level. In 2015-16 these accounted for just 8.5 percent of enrollments although they account for 15.04 percent of schools. Local bodies in some states did better though (AP 43.15%, Gujarat 48.21% and Telangana 31.71% of enrolments). Between 200708and 2015-16, enrolment in classes I to V in public schools actually fell by 23m while the number in private ones rose by more than 14m (www.udise.in). Some local leaders are making efforts to prop up municipal schools and encouraging citizens to use these. These are welcome efforts.

Measuring the gaps

In order to institutionalize the measurement and thereby the management of urban services, the Ministry of Urban Development had several years ago developed the Service Level Benchmarking (SLB) mechanism. Under this mechanism, four areas of municipal services namely, Water supply, Sewerage, Solid waste management, and Storm water drains are considered and the ULBs performance on a total of 28 indicators under these four heads is measured. The handbook published by the ministry

lays down the suggested frequency of measurement against these indicators, the frequency of reporting, jurisdiction and other guidelines.

Technology to aid better services

Policymakers see great opportunity for leveraging information technology tools for betterment of municipal performance in general and service delivery to citizens in particular. MeitY articulates its vision for technology in municipal administration as follows: The Municipalities MMP aims to leverage ICT for sustained improvement in efficiency and effectiveness of delivery of municipal service to citizens.

The key objectives of the MMP are:

1. To provide single window services to citizens on anytime, anywhere basis 2. To increase the efficiency and productivity of Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) 3. To develop a single, integrated view of ULB information system across all ULBs in the State 4. To provide timely and reliable management information relating to municipal administration for effective decision-making

Most municipal bodies have already implemented the accessing of bills and payment of property taxes online. This happens with great ease. Many also have mobile based apps for citizens to report problems in the city like leaking water pipes or damaged roads. But there are many more areas some are working on to use technology in order to improve governance with transparency and accountability. 5. To adopt a standards-based approach to enable integration with other related applications This MMP is one with significant citizen interaction, given that municipalities provide a large number of basic services for millions of citizen living in urban centres across the Nation.(www. meity.gov.in) Most municipal bodies have already implemented the accessing of bills and payment of property taxes online. This happens with great ease. Many also have mobile based apps for citizens to report problems in the city like leaking water pipes or damaged roads. But there are many more areas some are working on to use technology in order to improve governance with transparency and accountability. Citizen engagement, grant of building permissions and parking and toll management are just a few examples where municipalities could deliver significantly improved services using technology. Several examples of tech driven services in these areas exist, both nationally and internationally which could enable easy implementation.

Citizens and the city

It is high time that while expecting municipal administrations to improve livability of cites, citizens participate more actively in the process. Efforts in crucial areas such as waste management, water conservation and road infrastructure do

net yield desired outcomes because of sub-optimal citizen behavior. The way public assets like bus shelters, electric junction boxes and road furniture are defaced with posters and notices is just one example to show that many citizens do not care about the city and its services. High quality speed-breakers and ‘no parking’ signs are very often ripped out so as not to ‘inconvenience’ some. This needs to change.

Reforms Architecture

Municipal governance reform is another plank on which rests the ability of the local bodies to meet the aspirations of the ever-growing urban populations by catering to their demand for services. During the last few years, substantial progress has been made in the early stage reforms. Almost all the states, for example, have set up state finance commissions and municipal cadres, large numbers of cities have secured credit rating and about 100 cities have stepped up user fee collection beyond 90 percent. Further reform measures are being rolled out. Here the central Urban Development Ministry has laid down what the states need to achieve while leaving states to innovate and work out how to achieve these. The first set of new reforms looks at finance and service delivery. Audited accounts which show an increasing trend in revenue, recovering over 70 percent of revenue expenditure and publishing service coverage levels for water and solid waste are among the targeted areas. Further measures seek to deepen the reform process by nudging the municipalities to raise finances through issue of municipal bonds, professionalizing the municipal cadres, putting in place a transparent land-titling law, strengthening decentralization and shoring up own revenue receipts. As we move rapidly to greater levels of urbanization, cities are likely to encounter new challenges including those that will make greater demands on municipal administrations all over. There is all-round realization of this and several efforts are underway to support and enable the municipal bodies to rise to the challenges.

www.urbanupdate.in | April 2018

Leaderspeak | Cities for All

Ranjit S Chavan President, AIILSG

Do municipalities have quality control mechanism? The adoption of new technologies in governance systems at all levelsis bringing positive impact; especially on municipal governance and city management.Advanced technological tools are strengthening citizen-government dialogue, bringing transparency in the system and making local governments more accountable to the citizens. Indian cities are yet to harness the full potential of new technologies and media platforms, and for this, an extensive programme to train the existing municipal workforce is essential

unicipal Corporations are the biggest ‘service provider’ of essential services in cities. The corporations deliver a large number of services that affect people’s lives in many ways. Thousands of people are moving to Indian cities every month and they are adding pressure on existing city systems. The modus operandi of cities have become extraneous because of increasing variety and scale of demands from citizens. Thanks to technological advancements, many processes have become automated and quality monitoring mechanisms have become smoother than ever in many global cities which have adopted

28 April 2018 | www.urbanupdate.in

new technological tools. Indian cities are facing double trouble. The foremost problem is that they have not yet implemented the advanced technologies in their systems. And, second, the municipalities those have adopted the new technological tools are not able to utilize them because of non-availability of skilled municipal workforce. Both issues need to be addressed by the central government, technology providers, and training organisations like AIILSG that has been training municipal workforce for last many decades.

Enhance ‘virtual’ interface between citizens and municipalities

All tiers of governments in

India are making serious efforts to strengthen e-governance systems for ensuring better quality of services and effective monitoring of grievance redressing. With more people using mobiles and computers, it has become the most cost-effective way to interact with citizens and have real time updates of services rendered by civic authorities. Barring a few major municipal authorities in the country, a majority of them have not updated their city management systems in sync with changing trends in technology. Smart Cities Mission of Government of India has a provision of embedding technologically advanced tools in the system for smooth operation of city operations. There are multiple ben-

efits of using new media and technologies. New technologies and social media have transformed the way government and the citizens interact. They are ensuring active participation of citizens in public affairs, close collaboration between public services and between government and citizens. Citizens are now able to report problems and request services from local governments through social media, website and mobile applications. New internet-based inventions are redefining the power of a citizen in the 21stcentury.Thanks to this

digital transformation, decision-making is increasingly becoming more collaborative; even the government budget is more transparent and their data open for the outside world for utilising for public good. The new generation has been amazingly brilliant at using new networks and technologies to organize protests that were able to effectively implement agendas, roll back legislations, and even overthrow authoritarian governments in different parts of the world. Why the same technology can’t be used for collaboration and other meaningful discussions at a large scale.

Indian cities are Power of People facing double trouble People have become pessimist about any drastic that they have not transformation in the system yet implemented from politics. Many people have given up on governthe advanced ments and a majority of technologies in people think nothing will change in our cities. The cortheir systems. poration will work in an oldAnd, second, the fashioned style where people to wait for days to get a municipalities those had certificate. This was the syshave adopted the tem in the times when municipal corporations did not new technological have sufficient staff or were tools are not able to rooted in corruption but has made things utilize them because technology easier for the common man. of non-availability People can get their essential online and can of skilled municipal certificates also track the status of their workforce complaints on their comput-

ers or mobiles. This has not happened in every city of the country. But, this is a beginning. Many cities across the globe are engaging their citizens in solving the problems of their cities by opening up data for them. Technology is making it possible by engaging citizens. Politics in cities may remain the same but the governance is changing. Fundamentally, technology is reframing the functioning of government in a way that can actually scale by strengthening civil society. And there’s a generation that’s grown up on the Internet, and they know that it’s not that hard to do things together, we just have to build the systems the right way. Many cities in India have also started using technology for providing efficient services to their citizens. Pune, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Mumbai and many big cities have their web and app presence but some other small cities are still struggling to streamline their online activities and mechanisms. The training of existing workforce and exposure to better options of managing urban operations is essential for every city. And, this can be done by including some new training modules in existing training calendar of the municipal corporations and urban development departments of various states.

www.urbanupdate.in | April 2018

numerographs | River WorldPollution Migration

Rivers dying a slow death

Yamuna River Depletion Water depletion: 60% Dry season drought risk: Low-Medium Monsoon flood risk: High Tree cover loss: 11% (1985-2005)

Major cities using water New Delhi (pop: 19 million) Agra (pop: 1 million) Allahabad (pop: 1 million) Mathura (pop: 349,336)

Rivers are the core of sustainable development and one of the most important renewable natural resources for supporting life. Rivers, and the range of services they provide, underpin poverty reduction, economic growth and environmental sustainability. From food and energy security to human and environmental health, rivers contribute to improvements in social well-being and inclusive growth, affecting the livelihoods of billions and yet we are not saving them. Our main water resource, rivers, are depleting day-by-day and becoming seasonal

How This Affects You? ♦♦ Estimates say 65% of our water needs are met by rivers. ♦♦ 2 out of 3 major Indian cities already deal with daily water shortage. Many urban residents pay ten times the normal amount for a can of water. ♦♦ We consume water not just to drink or for domestic purposes. 80% of water is used to grow our food. ♦♦ Flood, drought and rivers turning seasonal are increasingly leading to crop failure across the country. ♦♦ Climate Change is expected to cause worse floods and droughts within the next 25-50 years. During the monsoon, rivers will flood. ♦♦ n The rest of the year, drought will follow. These trends are already beginning.

30 28 April 2018 | www.urbanupdate.in

KRISHNA River Depletion Water depletion: 61% Dry season drought risk: Medium Monsoon flood risk: High Total tree cover loss: 97% Seasonal variability of water levels: High

Major cities using water Chennai (pop: 7 million) Hyderabad (pop: 6.8 million) Vijayawada (pop: 1 million)

Down fall of

Brahmaputra River Depletion

GANGA River Depletion Water depletion: 44% Dry season drought risk: Low Monsoon flood risk: Extremely high Total tree cover loss: 78% Seasonal variability of water levels: High

Major cities using water New Delhi (pop: 11 million) Kolkata (pop: 4.5 million) Varanasi (pop: 1.2 million) Allahabad (pop: 1.1 million)

Dry season drought risk: Low to Medium Monsoon flood risk: Extremely high Total tree cover loss: 78% Seasonal variability of water levels: High

Major cities using water Guwahati (pop:957,352) Siliguri (pop:705,600) Dibrugarh (pop:154,019) Shillong (pop:143,229) Tezpur (pop:102,505)

25%

of India is turning into desert

27% billion litres extracted every day from the Yamuna

GODAVARI River Depletion Water depletion: 20% Dry season drought risk: Medium Monsoon flood risk: High Total tree cover loss: 88% Seasonal variability of water levels: Extremely high

Major cities using water Hyderabad (pop: 6.8 million) Nashik (pop: 1.5 million) Aurangabad (pop: 1.2 million)

CAUVERY River Depletion Water depletion: 39% Dry season drought risk: Low to medium Monsoon flood risk: High Total tree cover loss: 87% Seasonal variability of water levels: Medium

40% of its flow has been lost by Cauvery river

70% of Delhi's water supplies are met by River Yamuna

Major cities using water Chennai (pop: 7 million) Bengaluru (pop: 8.4 million)

indian rivers

SOURCE: http://isha.sadhguru.org/ rally-for-rivers/our-dying-rivers/ http://unesdoc.unesco.org/ images/0023/002318/231823E.pdf

www.urbanupdate.in | April 2018

31 29

Article | River Pollution

Sole reliance on STPs can’t free our rivers from pollution We are making rivers dirty to an extent that they are starting to fight back, to throw back pollutants at us. Latest pollution monitoring reports suggest, even bathing in the River Ganga could be fatal with the concentration of Faecal Coliform (FC) shooting up to 13 times the permitted limits in many stations

Ranjan K Panda Convenor, Combat Climate Change Network, India

We Indians have considered our rivers to be holy entities, Ganga being the holiest. However, the way we have treated our rivers, especially in our urban limits, gives a complete opposite picture from these conventional perceptions. We are making them dirty to an extent that they are starting to fight back, to throw back pollutants at us. Take for example the Ganga. Latest pollution monitoring reports suggest, even bathing in the river could be fatal with the concentration of Faecal Coliform (FC) shooting up to 13 times the permitted limits in many stations. We have already written in this column in Urban Update that pollution of our rivers has been growing by the years, and our cities are the major culprits for that. In fact, a comparison of two reports of the Central Pollution Control Board (CBCB) has confirmed that number of polluted stretches of our rivers has doubled in just five years. While in 2008, a total of 150 river stretches were

32 April 2018 | www.urbanupdate.in

polluted, that increased to 302 by 2012. The latest report of 2017 by the Central Water Commission (CWC) that analyses water quality data from 222 of the 429 stations it monitors across major river basins of the country, found that water quality at 67 locations is beyond the permissible limit. Out of 67 sites, 14 sites fall in category I that means the river there is severely polluted. 12 sites fall under Category II, meaning the rivers are facing substantial pollution at those stations. This report does not cover Ganga and its tributaries, Brahmaputra and Barak basins. In Indus basin, CWC says, it does not have adequate water quality monitoring stations to be able to conclude anything substantial.

Ganga: major focus, huge lapses

A recent report for the Ganga, as quoted in the Hindustan Times, gives a much scary picture. This report, that claims to have obtained current statistics from Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), informs that “in Uttar Pradesh, 50% of the 16 stations for which latest FC data is available for 2018, did not meet desired standards. For Bihar, 88% of the stations did not meet standards”. This despite the fact that the current government’s major focus has shifted – from all other rivers of the country - to the holiest river of India. In one of its latest audits, the Comptroller and Auditor General(CAG) of India, found that there has been seriousunderspending

on the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG). The government in 2015 had committed an amount of 3 billion USD for a five-year project to clean the 2525 kilometre long river. An amount of 1.05 billion USD was earmarked for cleaning the Ganga between April 2015 and March 2017. However, the government could only spend about 260 million of this during this two-year period. Plans to treat sewer generated from cities have been one of the major interventions to check pollution of our rivers. However, the pace of projects aimed at this has been very slow. Data available on this are also not reliable at the moment. The Minister of Water for State said to the Lok Sabha in March 2017 that under the NamamiGange programme 145 Sewerage Treatment Projects (STPs) had been sanctioned at an estimated cost of 10,730 Crore rupees. Out of these 72 projects are sanctioned for creation of 932.84 million litres per day(MLD) new STP and rehabilitation of 1091.00 MLD of STP and laying/rehabilitation of 4031.41 km sewernetwork for abatement of pollution in River Ganga and Yamuna. Only 13 projects had been completed till then which has created 198.13 MLD STP capacity (153.1 MLD for River Ganga and 45 MLD for Yamuna River) and laid1147.75 km of sewerage network. Then, the Minister informed, under Ganga Action Plan (GAP-I) and GAP-II, 1098.31 MLD sewage treatment capacity has beencreated. 261 projects were approved at an estimated cost of 462.04

Crore rupees. GAP-I was completed in 2000 at a total expenditure of 455.73 Crore rupees. All schemes under GAPI have been completed, according to him. Under GAP-II, 314projects were approved at an estimated cost of 591.05 Crore rupees. Total fund released by Government of India was 522.11 Crore rupees. The data given above do not give a complete picture of the progress in creating sewerage treatment capacity and their actual operation. However, the very slow progress of the STPs is evident. While 1098.31 MLD capacity has been built under GAP I & II, the same under NamamiGangehas been 153.1 MLD for the Ganga as against a target of 2023.48 MLD. As of February 2018, as per a report of the Delhi based Centre for Science and Environment, “the target was to process around 2769.38 million litre waste per day. However, only 299.13 million litres waste has been processed per day. Bihar, Jharkhand and Delhi score a nil on this front. Of the 4,762 km of sewer network targeted, not even half has been achieved so far”. A report of the National Mission for Clean Ganga says that out of the 28 projects sanctioned for UP, not even a single project launched after 2014 was near completion. The CAG report referred above in this article finds, “As per the target dates, award for the work of all the Sewage Treatment Plants was to be completed by September 2016. National Mission for Clean Ganga is yet to finalise and approve Detailed Project Reports for projects totalling 1,397 MLD capacity as of August 2017.”

STPs not the panacea

The STPs are not only taking time but the way these are being built also needs to be discussed. These are centralised treatment plants and involve a lot of construction activities. Most of our cities along Ganga as well as on other rivers are having areas which are difficult to lay sewer lines, install pumping stations and build other infrastructure. Our major reliance on STPs therefore would not help us much in ending all the pollution woes of our rivers.

Huge Gap: Cities catch up very slow Maharashtra

10 692 00

Gujarat

08 1362 232

Rajasthan

03 46 00

Chhattisgarh

09 177 00

Karnataka

04 1146 00 Jharkhand

03 329 00

Kerala

01 04 00

Tamil Nadu

08 311 64

Telengana

03 25 00

Andhra Pradesh

02 18 00

Madhya Pradesh

12 285 02

Odisha

04 82 00 Number of Pollution Hotspots studied Sewer Treatment capacity needed (MLD) Sewer Treatment capacity existing (MLD)

Going by the latest report of CWC on water quality hotspots in rivers other than Ganga, Indus and Brahmaputra basins, one could get a glimpse of how slow the progress is on building STPs. The 67 severely polluted spots the CWC has marked fall in 12 states and the cities need STP capacity to treat 4477 MLD of sewer generated. However, the existing capacity available in these stations is only for treating 298 MLD. That’s a mere 6.7 per cent! The following table shows state wise pollution hotspots identified by CWC, and the gap that exists in their capacity to treat sewer. Then, there is no information that could tell us for sure that all these STPs are fully operational. Our own studies in Mahanadi basin say that statistics such as this could be highly misleading. The CWC admits it does not have information on other facilities being built by Pollution Control Boards and industrial houses.

Finding an inclusive solution is needed

Efficiency of the centralised STPs has also been in question. In 2009, the CPCB had estimated that 38,000 million litres per day (mld) of wastewa-

ter was being generated in the urban centres having population more than 50,000 in India (housing more than 70% of urban population). This had jumped to almost 57,000 mld by the year 2015. That’s a jump of almost 50 per cent! The CPCB had in 2009 estimated that capacity developed for treating wastewater in these categories of cities was only for 11,000 mld. Even government officials and ministers have admitted in public speeches that the treatment facility of 29 per cent is overestimated. Comparing Census statistics and other statistics also makes it clear. Several estimates put the current treatment somewhere around 15 to 20 per cent of the total waste generated, or even less. India has to find out newer and decentralised ways of managing its urban waste if it seriously wants to abate pollution of the rivers. Waste segregation, technological innovations for decentralised waste recycling and ecological approaches to recycle and reuse of water in initiatives like ‘constructed wetlands’ are some of the ways forward. We need to debate more on this subject and find ways with complete participation of all stakeholders.

www.urbanupdate.in | April 2018

Article | Public Transport

Parking woes and public transport need pari passu efforts

For a city of 1.70 crore population, Delhi is awfully short on the number of public transport vehicles – Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) has just about 6,000 buses. Nivedita Khandekar Independent Journalist

here goes around a joke about a businessman leaving his high-end car with a bank as collateral when he steps out of Mumbai. Returning from the airport, he picks up his car, easily pays the loan and accumulated interest for a week. The stunned bank manager asks the reason why did he need a loan at all? “As I could not afford the parking fees for a week!” replies the businessman. What he implied was that bank loan

34 April 2018 | www.urbanupdate.in

was cheaper than parking charges in Mumbai. If only it was true. Not just in Mumbai, but other metros and almost all cities across India have witnessed abysmally low parking charges. Clubbed with that, complete absence of reliable public transport in many cities, including shamefully the National Capital Territory of Delhi. For a city of 1.70 crore population, Delhi is awfully short on the number of public transport vehicles – Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) has just about 6,000 buses. No wonder, the working class, the business class and even the labour class do not have any option but to bring out their own vehicles – cars, two-wheelers and cycles. Delhi currently has more than 150

cars per 1,000 of its residents. (The number is higher in case of twowheelers) and this number is expected to cross 370-380 cars per 1000 people in the next 8-10 years. The only reason this is happening is Delhi never really discouraged car ownership. On the one hand, it was the lack of reliable public transport and on the other, it is the easily available parking at relatively cheap rates (compared to other metros across the world). There is simply no deterrent for a Delhi resident for not taking out his/her car to go to an already congested area for shopping or business meeting – as parking rates are not restrictive enough, neither at market places nor in the residential areas. An October 2015 study by Centre for

Table: Number of registered motor vehicles in Delhi (As on March 31) Type of the Vehicle

2013-14

2014-15

2015-16

2016-17

Cars and Jeeps 2629343 2790566 2986579 3152710 Motor Cycles andScooters 5297697 5681265 6104070 6707891 Auto Rickshaws 91840 81633 198137 174000 Taxis 78686 79606 91073 148434 Buses* 40947 32540 43723 38265 Goods Vehicles etc. 154654 161821 281159 231767 E-Rickshaws -- -- -- 29690 Total

8293167

8827431

9704741

10482757

*Ambulance & other passenger vehicles included. (Source: Transport Department, Govt. of N.C.T. of Delhi/Delhi Statistical Handbook 2017)

Science and Environment (CSE) had shown how in a typical south Delhi residential neighbourhood, Alaknanda, the road carried three times more traffic than its original capacity and actual onstreet parking is 3.15 times more than the legal parking area. The 2006 National Urban Transport Policy (NUTP) – which is too old, much outdated and needs an immediate update – did argue for considering the externalities associated with car ownership and, also, mentioned the need for how urban policy, including transport, will have to ensure this in view of the crumbling urban infrastructure. Congestion taxes are in the pipeline is an oft repeated headline in newspapers. But market forces and car lobbies throw weight to not let this happen. High time Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and other cities impose strict congestion charges, increase parking charges in the heart of the city immediately and also discourage ownership of more than one private vehicle, especially four-wheelers.

Numbers tell the story

Take for instance, the case of National Capital Territory of Delhi. The Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) has been around for many decades. Since the last 15 years and more, the Delhi Metro has consistently expanded its network. And then there are the increased number of autorickshaws and taxi/cabs available for a common commuter. A look at the table below that showcases the number of vehicles in Delhi categorized type wise points to

the existing problem, if anybody cares to study it. Over the years, the number of four-wheelers has increased, steadily, no doubt. But, compared to that the number of two-wheelers is huge and increasing exponentially. For 2016-17, the number of four-wheelers stood at 31,52,710 while that of two-wheelers stood at 67,07,891. And these are vehicles registered in Delhi. There is no guesstimate about the number of four-wheelers and two-wheelers that ply on Delhi roads, from the surrounding NCR towns and also, from other states of India as the owner shifts to Delhi to work. If provided with good options, all these two-wheeler drivers would easily shift to a reliable public transport. As on today, these two-wheeler drivers are those who have no better options. Imagine the plight of a two-wheeler rider exposed to extreme May or June heat or for that matter, the fog and extreme cold in January or February! If reliable public transport with last mile connectivity is available, more than half of these would easily abandon their twowheelers. In case of four-wheeler drivers, especially going by Delhi statistics and the tendencies witnessed here, even when there is an option of good public transport, barely half of them will forsake their car as it is seen more as a status symbol. But whatever number is ready to, the onus lies on the government and the policy makers to ensure that they get a comfortable travel in buses sans any rowdy co-commuters. Benefits of increased public transport:

The only solution I see is exponential increase in good simple yet sturdy, quality buses, forget AC buses or lowfloor buses. I consider healthy public transport as a metaphor, for a healthy society, healthy nation. Especially for claustrophobic urban disasters such as Mumbai or Delhi, a throbbing public transport means a confident society that can travel safely in buses, at any time, any place – indicator that law and order is in place. But the benefits go much beyond that. Persons will be physically more active. The fact that citizens choose to opt for public transport means we have a healthy society ready to walk, ready to breathe in open air (it will be an additional responsibility of the government / policy makers to ensure clean air) and are keeping healthy. If you see the statistics involved, buses, because of the obvious speed regulations put while in cities, are less involved in accidents compared to private vehicles. Which means, an effective public transport will also decrease the number of accidents and fatalities. Ultimately it all boils down to looking at larger public cause and not allow a bunch of private car owners to misuse public facilities at low cost. Instead, coopt them for a better common future with robust public transport. (Nivedita Khandekar is an independent journalist. She writes on environmental and developmental issues. She can be reached at nivedita_him@rediffmail.com or follow her on twitter @nivedita_Him)

www.urbanupdate.in | April 2018

artcle | Circular Economy

United Network of Circular Cities: Cities Commitment to Circular Economy Circular Economy is a concept away from the traditional Linear Economy approach and challenges take-make-dispose model of production and consumption. The philosophy of circular economy is re-defining growth, aims for positive society wide benefits and decoupling of products from finite resources and designing waste out of the system

Kamlesh Kumar Pathak Circular Economy Expert

ircular Economy recognizes the importance of the resource efficiency in economy at all scale â&#x20AC;&#x201C; for large and small businesses, for organizations and individuals, globally and locally. Transitioning to a circular economy does not only amount to adjustments aimed at reducing the negative impacts of the linear economy. Rather, it represents a systemic shift that builds long-term resilience, generates business and economic opportunities, and provides environmental and societal benefits. Integration and implementation of Resource Efficiency framework in Global Economy and Trade Processes will be key mechanism to achieve goals of green growth and sustainable future. The internationally agreed Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), have been adopted by 193 nations with a goal to end poverty, protecting the planet and ensuring prosperity for all requires strong national framework for sustainable consumption and production that is integrated into national and sectoral

36 April 2018 | www.urbanupdate.in

plans, sustainable business practices and consumer behaviour, together with adherence to international norms on the management of hazardous chemicals and wastes. The commitment of more than 150 C0untries and World Leaders are directly reflected in SDG Goal 12: Ensure Responsible Consumption and Production Patterns, which calls for fundamental change in production pattern and consumption behavior with shift in circular economy from linear economy. Eight other goals (2, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 14 and 15) also promote action on resource efficiency and circular economy. The New Urban Agenda (NUA), adopted by 167 nations sets a new commitment for Urban Leaders and World Nations to plan, manage and live in cities by implementing sustainable and green growth practices. The third commitment of NUA i.e. from para 63-80 commits for strengthening the sustainable management of the resources, including land, water, energy, materials, forest and food. Para no. 69 specifies the maintenance of ecological and social function of land, including coastal areas that support cities and human settlements. Circular Economy relies on systemwide innovation and aims to â&#x20AC;&#x153;redefine products and services to design waste out, while minimizing negative impacts. Underpinned by a transition to renewable energy sources, the circular model builds economic, natural and

social capitalâ&#x20AC;? (Ellen MacArthur Foundation). As more than 80% of global GDP is generated in cities, which therefore means cities are in unique position as living lab to test for circular economy models. The network of national and sub-national governments, private and public sectors, businesses, communities, social enterprise and financial institutions can transform cities into a Living Innovation Lab for addressing the complex challenges of linear economic models.According to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, a circular city embeds the principles of a circular economy across all of its functions, establishing an urban system that is regenerative and restorative by design. In such a city, the idea of waste is eliminated, with assets kept at their highest levels of utility at all times and the use of digital technologies a vital process enabler. A circular city aims to generate prosperity and economic resilience for itself and its citizens, while decoupling value creation from the consumption of finite resources.

Rationale for Circular Economy:

The accelerated industrialization of economies around the world has influenced the shaping of cities and has resulted in rapid urbanization. The industrial and trade economy, with push for economic growth to sustain demands of exponentially growing population with increased consumptive capacity

has resulted in high levels of material use to meet the need for infrastructure growth. UN estimates that the world population is forecasted to rise to 66% by 2050, which is much higher than the increase during the period of 19002015. This vicious cycle of unregulated and poorly conceptualized industrialization, continual urbanization and irresponsible consumer behavior has put much stress on natural resources and has resulted in inefficient economic structure where cities and urban centers have owned the share of burden. In the coming decades, cities will be increasingly important as even greater rates of urbanization are expected, and significant infrastructure investments and developments will be made. Cities could be uniquely positioned to drive a global transition towards the circular economy, with their high concentration of resources, capital, data, and talent over a small geographic territory, and could greatly benefit from the out-

comes of such a transition.

Indiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Position in Circular Economy

India is at a crucial position as an emerging nation. With an upcoming and fast economic growth, the resources are small in terms of quantity. India by 2020 will be the 3rd largest consumer with a 13% world share (extraction of primary resources increased by 420% from 1971-2010). Circular Economy is ingrained within the Indian Society, which has proved to be economically viable to the poorer sections of the society but as the middle class is growing (rise in average income), the thriving population will be swayed into global markets that have one-way model of growth, creating linear economy lock-in. Hence the country needs to adopt a comprehensive strategy to lower the impacts on economy, environment and all access to resources. Being a part of G7 nations (Resource

Efficiency Alliance) and G20 nations (Resource Efficiency Dialogues), India has been trying to develop a sustainable and efficient use of resources. Up till last three years initiatives by business, governments and other organizations were only exemplified at the end of the value chain. In view of commitments of the Government of India towards UNSDGs and Paris Climate Agreement, NITI Aayog formulated a strategy to mainstream resource efficiency in the economic development of the framework.The Indian Resource Panel (InRP) was established by MoEFCC which will help in implementing the European UnionResource Efficiency Initiative (EUREI). The InRP will enhance resource efficiency (RE) and promote secondary raw materials (SRM) through a frame work; Indian Resource Efficiency Program (IREP) as a guide for policymakers.This makes India the first country to have a legislative framework for the agenda which will also provide recommendation to the Government of India and Bureau on Resource Efficiency (BRE), an example towards its fulfillment of commitments. All India Institute of Local Self-Government has been working with the Local Governments and hand holding them towards sustainable planning, governance and skill development of the communities. The United Network of Circular Cities will demand creation of an ecosystem and partnership for businesses, communities and individual citizens collaborating with public and private sectors, to promote and deploy solution and economic resources for green growth and resource efficient economy. The Network will collaborate to consistently apply circular business models in concepts of life-cycle thinking, cradle to cradle design, shared value approach, extended producersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; responsibility and application of urban metabolism and industrial symbiosis. AIILSG will mobilize individuals, private sectors, national and sub-national governments and civil society towards more livable and sustainable future for cities.

www.urbanupdate.in | April 2018

Article | Migrants

Life on the streets of Delhi Searching for an identity in wonderland

What do you do living on the streets of Delhi eating out of a langar outside a gurudwara? One is still forced to fish out for an identity by the government. This is an everyday struggle for more than seventy percent of the informal workforce living in Delhi. It’s a question of sustaining himself everyday, fighting with government dictats for every service

Tikender Singh Former Deputy Mayor, Shimla

38 April 2018 | www.urbanupdate.in

ai Singh is the name of the person who is a cobbler and runs a small kiosk outside the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) colony in Ashram. He sits on the pavement and during the night covers his shelter with a tarpaulin as this space also happens to be his home. Jai Singh is a migrant worker from Rajasthan. When asked how he sustains himself, where does he cook his food, and which place he uses to answer nature’s call, he said “Bala Sahib Gurudwara” adjacent to his place. Perhaps, Jai Singh is fortunate enough to work and stay close to a Gurudwara, but for more than 70 per cent of the informal workforce living in Delhi this is an everyday struggle which is getting all the more challenging. The challenge of housing continuously haunts the working population in Delhi. They cannot rent a space as it is very costly hence are forced to stay in shanty colonies and slums which have developed and swelled over a period of time. This is also attributed to the faulty policy of housing as practiced by the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) which built houses predominantly for the middle classes and forgot public housing. According to the Delhi Government’s own estimates only 23.7 per cent of the city’s population lives in designated planned colonies. The rest live either in completely illegal colonies or settlements that were never authorised for development and hence never planned. The absence of planning thus leads

to not just violation of building codes that include space requirements for road and other gird access but also that these settlements are not integrated to the city’s bulk infrastructure delivery system. Such settlements have been classified and have the following percentage of population residing in them. ♦♦ Jhuggi Jhopri Clusters (JJC): - 14.8% ♦♦ Slum designated areas: -19.1 % ♦♦ Unauthorised colonies:- 5.3 % ♦♦ Resettlement colonies:- 12.7 % ♦♦ Regularised unauthorised colonies:12.7 % ♦♦ Rural villages:- 5.3 % ♦♦ Urban villages:- 6.4% ♦♦ Planned colonies:- 23.7% This categorisation is also accepted in the Master Plan of Delhi 2021 where it speaks about the unplanned areas of Delhi. This form of classification does not just reflect the physical presence of human beings vis-à-vis space; it also signifies the differentiated citizenship developed according to these spaces. It is a form of a system by which the state assigns different levels of services to different categories of citizens based on their tenurial status. Why is spatial exclusion so wide in a city like Delhi which is also a centre of National governance? GautamBhan from the Indian Institute of Human Settlements has stated that spatial exclusion in Delhi in not a product of failed planning but of planning itself. According to him the practice begins at the highest level of state development

The city has grown with closure and privilege language of the state. Exclusion is quite inherent in the policy planning. Various reports of the DDA speak about its efforts to ‘protect’ the city from unplanned settlements through a vigorous programme of fencing the vacant pockets so that the lands are saved from encroachments.

and is driven by the city’s most powerful agency the DDA. The DDA has the full responsibility for land management and development, including public housing. Successive Master Plans for Delhi issued in 1962, 1990 and 2007 prepared by the DDA have both systematically undersupplied the amount of land notified for urban development and undersupplied the estimated required stock of low cost public housing. Not only has the DDA fallen behind in delivering the number of planned housing units, but also the stock of built housing is skewed dramatically in favour of higher income groups. In the period of 2004-13 only 10 per cent of the houses were designated for the economically weaker sections. In the absence of public housing there is this huge informal sector that gets developed which does not just construct houses but also brings in new housing space for the poor. The DDA’s failure to develop land and housing has been met by the massive construction of ‘unauthorised’ settlements outside

the limits of the plans and occupation of underdeveloped land within the city. To quote from the Delhi project report this form of policy has led to three important manifestations which are starkly witnessed in and around the city. Jai Singh also is one of those who are forced to work on the pavement and use a Gurudwara for their basic necessities. ♦♦ There is a clear class bias in the housing provided by the DDA. It was proactive in providing housing for the higher income groups. But for the poorer sections who apparently constitute a majority in the city there has been a failure. ♦♦ The city has grown with closure and privilege language of the state. Exclusion is quite inherent in the policy planning. Various reports of the DDA speak about its efforts to ‘protect’ the city from unplanned settlements through a vigorous programme of fencing the vacant pockets so that the lands are saved from encroachments. ♦♦ The overall pattern of investment has favoured the upper middleclass infrastructure over land development and housing for the poor. One can easily find the widening of the roads, construction of flyovers, etc. for the big guzzlers to run at faster speed but the space of the pedestrians and the cyclists has been squeezed. The latter mode of transport is the primary mode for the informal working class in the city. Roti, KapdaaurMakaan (food, clothing and housing) was the slogan of the 70s given by the Congress. A similar slogan was coined by the Pakistan’s Peoples party in Pakistan. Both the parties (Congress & PPP) were able to ride these slogans as the need was felt immensely by their population. Not just that, a Hindi Bollywood movie was also produced by Manoj Kumar in 1974 under the same title which became a super hit. However, after four decades of such sloganeering, the challenges of housing remain high and people like Jai Singh continue to live under the tarpaulin shelter on the pavement.

www.urbanupdate.in | April 2018

Article | Micro Cities

21st Century Micro Cities of the New India Urban life is becoming challenging everyday. Every city is facing similar problems, be it air or water pollution, traffic and commuting, water scarcity, floods, unaffordable housing, etc. the gaps are increasing by the day and there are no simple solutions available. What is required is a long term vision.

Srikanth Peddibhotla Founder, HappiCities

Urban life in Indian cities has become bad to worse. Indian Mega Cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bangalore & Hyderabad are plagued with similar mega problems related to Air & Water Pollution, Traffic & Commuting times, Water Scarcity & Management, Monsoon floods, un-affordable housing and food, crime, etc. In spite of the urban development we experienced in the last decade, the gap between the West and us has only increased multi-fold. Every major Indian city grapples with formidable traffic jams in both peak and non-peak hours. There is no sign of relief from traffic or pollution in spite of huge investments on building roads, flyovers, underpasses and public transport infrastructure like Metro rail. The number of private vehicles in Delhi crossed 10 million in 2017. 7 million private vehicles ply on roads in Bangalore in spite of having Metro and public bus services. The average traffic speed across Indian cities is between 8-20 kilometers per hour. Commute time of more than an hour by private or public transport has become the new norm in these big cities. Public trans-

40 April 2018 | www.urbanupdate.in

port has not yet proven to be a viable and cost effective solution to reduce traffic and commute time in any mega city in India. This is mainly due to lack of last mile connectivity, holistic multimodal transport, inefficient town planning and pedestrian killing roads and traffic. It is estimated that Delhi incurs a loss of 60 thousand crore rupees per year due to traffic congestion. The loss on Indian roads is not only financial but also affects our productivity, health, safety and personal and social lives. Official data by government shows that more than 150,000 people lost their lives in road accidents in 2016, which is a staggering 17 deaths per hour and

nobody is held responsible or accountable. Apathy, irresponsibility and negligence of municipalities costs both lives and money. Additionally, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s very stressful to drive in this crazy chaotic traffic with non-stop ear piercing cacophony of honks, unruly driving, dust, pollution and pothole filled roads. We are not doing great in terms of water either. Every big city in modern India like Hyderabad and Bangalore has water problems in most areas. The water supply within municipality limits in cities is irregular and not available in all suburban areas. The Water tanker mafia monetize this scarcity, and exploit this opportunity in summers. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 21st century and even today we canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t ever dare

to drink water straight from the kitchen taps. Let’s not even get started about the garbage disposal problems we face in these mega cities. Recent example is Bangalore where it wanted to dump its garbage near a village. Big cities like Delhi for example that generates approximately 10,000 tons of waste every day have no concrete environment friendly plans to manage it. Plastics and other non-degradable waste make their way into the landfills and causes irreversible pollution of the land and environment. We have a big responsibility towards protecting the environment but have failed miserably specifically in these big cities. Oh and how can we forget the great floods of Mumbai. The financial capital of India submerged in knee-deep waters! How can that happen? Unbelievable! It only took the blessings of Rain Gods to bring the financial capital of our country to a complete halt. Water can never be or ever should be a threat to humankind. It is supposed to nourish and nurture life not destroy it. Yet, on that day, we became slaves of water, because of our own wrongdoings. Monsoon flooding is also common in other

cities like Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad. Well, let us accept it. Nobody can plan for the exponential growth that our cities have seen in the last couple of decades. This problem is not unique to any one city. Bangalore, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Delhi, Pune, Chennai... it’s the same story everywhere. Every major Metro city in India has clogged drains, water scarcity, erratic power supply in summers, pollution and hour long traffic jams. The city governments try hard to control the situation, but obviously, it is all just patchwork. A fly-over here and an under-bridge there won’t fix these problems that are deep rooted. To give an analogy, there is no solution to a badly designed and written software. A time comes, when no amount of patches can fix the design and implementation flaws. That’s when we have to take a tough call to re-design a new software from scratch. All the mega cities of modern India have reached that stage because of the gross design and execution flaws at such a massive scale at all levels. Just look around. Everything around us has changed in the last couple of decades.

The standard of certain aspects of our lives has improved dramatically like the way you communicate with people, the way social & political causes are fought on Twitter and Facebook, the ease woth which you book tickets, transfer money, make payments, call a taxi, healthcare, education, etc. Then look at our urban chaos. That is still a problem unsolved. Why? Recently, we have seen a rising trend of private & public greenfield cities in India, like Lavasa and Palava City in Maharashtra, GIFT city and Dholera smart city in Gujarat, Wave City near Ghaziabad, Naya Raipur in Chhattisgarh, Sri City in Andhra Pradesh & Amaravati - the new capital city of Andhra Pradesh. We think it’s time India openheartedly embraces the idea of private greenfield cities, as one of our primary urban living spaces in the New India. I strongly believe that instead of building Mega Cities we should build thousands of fixed sized, limited population Micro-Cities distributed throughout the state and the country, which are interconnected with high-speed rail or road networks so that every village has at least one or two of them in the radius of 10–30 sq kms. Any engineer or anyone with little common sense knows that one can only design and build a machine, system or technology to serve a limited capacity. If a machine operates beyond its capacity, it breaks. The main parameter that affects the efficient operation of a city is population. If the population increases beyond the capacity of the City, it is bound to break. Indian Mega Cities have crossed that tipping point several years ago. Our major urban economies today are knowledge & service based industries that don’t require setup of mega factories and are best suited for Micro Cities model of urbanization. The advantages of such an urbanization strategy are multi-fold and benefits both the urban and rural residents. To summarize, by building a cluster of connected, fixed sized and limited capacity Micro Cities instead of Mega Cities, we can improve the life of both urban and rural residents. Kill two birds with one stone.

www.urbanupdate.in | April 2018

VELO-CITY | Hyderabad

The City of Pearls Hyderabad One Shahanshah built Taj Mahal in memory of his wife, another named a city after his love. That is how Hyderabad was built and named. History has travelled hundreds of years since then and today it’s one of the foremost cosmopolitan cities of India. It attracts people from across the globe, some for jobs and some for pleasure. This city cannot leave its past but will continue to attract the new generation for which it keeps many more promises for tomorrow Kumar Dhananjay | Consulting Editor

yderabad is a growing city and carries a sort of duality. It’s a city steeped in history but at the same time modernizing rapidly. Walking down the crowded by lanes of the city you find that the old world charm still exists. The posh areas of the city have made way for international brands, malls and chains that make you feel at home. It doesn’t matter which part of the globe you are travelling from to the city. It still offers the travellers and residents alike a lot to see, smell and taste in the old city, while the modern areas of the city offer one the comfort one is used to in these times.

Story behind the name

Hyderabad, now famous as Cyberabad, was named by Muhammad Quli after his wife. The son of a Muslim king, he fell in love with a Hindu village dancer Rani Baghmati. She later converted to Islam and married him and was renamed Begum Haidar Mahal; thus the city was named Hyderabad. Interesting tale of what love can inspire people to do. One built the Taj Mahal for his dead wife and another named a city after her.

City deeply rooted in history

The city was established in 1591 by Muhammad QuliQutb Shah and remained under the rule of the dynasty for nearly a century before Mughals captured it. In 1724, Asaf Jah 1 created his own dynasty, known as Nizams of Hyderabad.

42 April 2018 | www.urbanupdate.in

It remained a princely state under British rule. It became a part of Indian Union in 1948 and became capital city of Andhra Pradesh after the States Reorganization Act of 1956. Even today while criss-crossing the city one finds that the relics of QutbShahi and the rule of Nizamare still visible. The iconic Charminar, commissioned by Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah still symbolizes the city. Golconda Fort is another major landmark that defines the place. Various dynasties, especially

QutbShahis and Nizams established Hyderabad as a cultural hub. It attracted a large number of artists, intellectuals and historians not only from India but from across the world. It emerged as the foremost centre of cultural activities in India. Historically, Hyderabad was known as a pearl and diamond trading centre and even today it continues to be known as ‘City of Pearls.

Mix of past and present

Hyderabad is still known for its pearls

and biryanis and now even for the IT revolution. Once it was the proud owner of Kohinoor diamond, the Darya-iNoor, the Orloff, the Pitt, and the great table of the Nizam which are now parts of various museums across the world. But one can still see the place where it all began. The city is well connected by rail, road and air networks. Language is absolutely not a problem as people converse in Hindi and English both. While in the city you must visit some of these places which are a visual treat - Golconda Fort, the tombs of Qutb Shah, the tomb of Begum Haidar Mahal and the Salar Jung Museum where you still finds books written in eleventh century. From the museum one can take a slightly longer walk to the famous Charminar. Climb up the stairs and you can see the ever crowded market below. Mecca Masjid, one of India’s largest mosques is located very close to Charminar. It can accommodate up to ten thousand people. If you have a penchant for shop-

ping, the nearby Chudi market with its brilliant coloured glass bangles is a must visit. Like any other city today, Hyderabad is fast modernizing. Aptly called Cyberabad, it now boasts of a ‘Hi tech city’, which houses possibly every global IT giant company. While Hyderabad has been going through a transition ever since the carving of Telangana as a separate state, the urban infrastructure is still in doldrums. The ongoing construction of the metro railway network has been one of the reasons for the dismantling of infrastructure at a lot of places in the city. Sunayan Bhattacharjee, a Hyderabadbased journalist and media academic, said, “The city’s arterial roads need a serious makeover and the traffic can really turn bad during the rush hours. On the positive side though, it is still a comparatively safer city for women and the crime rate is much less compared to some of the other sprawling metropolises of the country. At this point in

time, the city is experiencing a major urbanization of its outskirts although real estate investments in the city have gone down significantly”. However, there is a feeling that the situation will improve sooner than later and Hyderabad will again emerge as a lucrative business centre, one of the reasons being its wonderful climate and the other being its strategic positioning within the economically important Deccan Plateau.

The famous biryani

A visit to Hyderabad is incomplete if you don’t taste biryanis. If you are nonvegetarian Hyderabad is a place to visit. Savour the rice dishes with kababs, haleem or Nahari sheep trotters and end the meal with the royal ShahiTukra. For vegetarians the fare is not half as exciting. Even the street food in the city is really to die for. Pratima Karanth, a teacher says “take the case of its gastronomy, which Hyderabadis pride themselves on. Weekends would typically see people flocking to the new age pubs and breweries. These very same people who would not miss their fix of Biryani from Shah Ghouse or Paradise, at least once a week”. She says “I have lived in Hyderabad long enough now to call myself a Hyderabadi. Needless to say, the journey has been an interesting one, where I’ve seen the city go through changes in every aspect of its being. But what makes this city unique is its ability to change at many levels while still being rooted in its cultural past. Yes the newer quartiers of Gachibowli, Hi-tech City, etc have the more cosmopolitan, yippy, NRI crowd, but even here you cannot but smile at the occasional smatterings of Hyderabadi Urdu, one ends up involuntarily picking up”. The city has a lot to offer and it’s a place of opportunities. It has created a strong entrepreneur culture. A new eco system has been created. There is great value that the city attaches in retaining its heritage as well and there is no chance that it is going to give up on that. Hyderabad is a city with a glorious majestic history and the promise of many tomorrows.

www.urbanupdate.in | April 2018

BOOK REVIEW | GOOD READS

Abhilash Khandekar | Sr Journalist

et me make a small confession here. I am a lazy reader. I have never ever read such a bulky-yet thoroughly interesting book-in my life. The question of reviewing it thus did not arise before. Reading for pleasure is one thing and reading for reviewing a book is different. I have been reviewing books for many years now for different publications but this single book is the mother of all earlier books that I introduced to my readers from time to time. This one huge volume has been with me for some time and I had flipped through it but never picked up courage to thoroughly read for a review. However, the recent political upheavals forced me to pen this piece and re-read most of the book’s 900-odd pages rather hurriedly. Politics is a topic which many educated people love to read about and an equal number, or perhaps more number of people hate to read and discuss it. But we must admit, the advent of Modi brand of politics has changed the scenario completely in India. There are many more followers of politics than ever before. Social media has added to this number beyond anyone’s expectations. But I repeat, this is indeed an ‘unreadable’ book for an ordinary book lover, as also for a lay follower of politics living in urban India. The book deals in great depth about societal changes, cultural changes, technological advances, and of political science while focussing on the shifts in states politics or in other words, regional politics, and the way it’s played out locally. The wellresearched lengthy chapters may cause fatigue to an ordinary reader! Having said that, I would like to

44 April 2018 | www.urbanupdate.in

Scholarly peep into state politics ! straight away recommend this book to anyone having even customary interest in politics, economics and history of contemporary urban India. They would learn a lot. The editors have done a good job of bringing together a galaxy authors to write about each state of India and two Union territories (Pondicherry and Delhi). So there are 29 states and two UTs covered in the book - covering past political trends and present situations. The preface takes note of BJP’s historic win in general elections of May 2014 and predicts the party may get majority in Rajya Sabha, which it eventually secured with better performances in state elections of Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Haryana, UP and so on. The central idea here is that while many scholars tried to take a different path of researching and writing about state politics, other than those with national focus, most of the such scholarly endeavours were limited to a few states or states governed by common ideology, such as, for example, the Left-ruled states. This is the first comprehensive effort of dealing with all the states, the editors claim. Himanshu Roy was Fellow at Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, Delhi while MP Singh was a political science professor at Delhi University and APS Chouhan, the third editor, is the HoD of Political Science Dept. at Gwalior’s Jiwaji University in MP. Naturally, most of the writers chosen to contribute on different states are top academicians in one or the other university or a research institute of India. The book’s slant of writings is naturally academic in content, which is expected. When seasoned journalists and acclaimed authors (other than pure academicians) write on politics

they bring in a distinct flavour which is missing in this book yet it’s a hugely praiseworthy and painstaking effort, I must say. What is very significant is the fact that smaller states of N-E such as Arunachal, Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Tripura, Mizoram, Manipur and Sikkim have been dealt with equal measure in this book. Justice has been done to the seven sisters by mainstreaming them with other states, including Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat or UP, to name just a few of the 22 remaining states from the plains. Each state has its own beautiful past and a dynamic present. Modi government often argues that rest of India does not care much about N-E region. So when you read about Sikkim you get to know how true it is.... it was ruled by a Bhotia ruler for 333 years on the Lamaist theocratic pat-

tern. The state which was merged with Indian Union after much controversies after full 28 years of independence. The local population is dominated by Nepalese people. The caste and social complexities are way different than other neighbouring tiny states. The author (AC Sinha, is a scholar on Nepalis) introduces the state and its intricacies very well. The state has only two seats in the Lok Sabha yet political movements have been taking place since 1947. According to the author, 7 December 1947 saw the first and “unprecedented” meeting at a football ground in Gangtok. My decision to review this book is timed with many recent politico-electoral outcomes. Tripura, Meghalaya and Nagaland sprung politically significant results in early 2018, helping BJP make surprisingly deep inroads in the Assembly elections. Then a few days later, the ageing Chandra Babu Naidu jolted the NDA alliance by withdrawing from the coalition in Delhi on the issue of special treatment to his newly formed Andhra Pradesh. These developments clearly show that state politics and regional forces are important and the equations formed there from time to time besides the local social and cultural issues, can no longer be brushed under the car-

Book State Politics in India Author Roy, Singh & Chouhan Publisher Primus Books Pages 920 Price Rs 575/- (Paperback) Recommendation Buy for your library

Good

Reads

pet even as we all focus our attention on what is happening in Delhi. States politics, regional aspirations, history, economic conditions are all important. This book reiterates all this in great details. Andhra Pradesh was the first state to have been formed under the linguistic formula in 1956. Three regions of Telangana, Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema, with the two latter named regions as part of Madras Presidency and Telangana was under the princely state of Hyderabad. So they had very different backgrounds yet they were formed as one state Telugu state by Justice Fazal Ali Commission. After about six decades Telangana and AP stood divided in 2014, as was predicted by Justice Ali then. The commission was of the opinion that merging a backward Telangana with advanced Andhra “may lead to discord and demand for separation”. This is what exactly happened, though after many agitations, loss of property and life over the decades, writes K Srinivasulu, the Hyderabad professor. The other interesting state which must get a mention, though politics of all states cannot be explained here , is Uttar Pradesh which had recently provided a small setback to saffron chief minister Yogi Adityanath whose BJP lost a long-held parliamentary seat of Gorakhpur. The author of UP chapter, Vinny Jain (Agra), starts with Akhilesh Yadav coming to power in 2012 as the youngest CM of the once-largest state of the country, always struggling to find answers to its complex caste politics. It delves into choppy political history of the mega state, bifurcated in 2000 to create Uttarakhand. Thanks to Yadav family squabbles that came into the open and later the delayed decision by Congress of stitching up an alliance with the Samajwadi Party, the BJP stormed home with a robust win in 2017. UP is one state which has sent a big number of prime ministers representing different political ideologies.Charan Singh, Chandra Shekhar, VP Singh, AB Vajpayee and Narendra Modi clearly stand out, among them. That Nehru-Gandhi family successively sent three generations of PMs is quite

striking a fact that is associated with this unique state, close to the national capital. Well, before I move on to the last state of Madhya Pradesh, being situated in central India and going in for elections later this year (2018), I must mention briefly of a chapter : “Missionaries, Marxists and the Model State” which focuses on Kerala model of politics. The state was first to elect a non-Congress government even when Pandit Nehru was alive and his charisma had not faded. It was an age, as the author Burton Cleetus (JNU) tells us, “in which Marxian ideas and forms of state systems had emerged in the midst of global political contexts and therefore of conflicting interests and positions.” The victory of leftist ideology in an Indian state had attracted global intellectuals and political pundits to watch how Marxism was going to raise further hopes of an alternate political philosophy in a nation that had been liberated just about a decade ago by the capitalists controlled from London. With West Bengal and Tripura fallen, the only red flag that is unfurling high is in this coastal state, and once again a focal point of global politicians. Madhya Pradesh, by contrast, had been a placid state. Much less industrialised and a BIMARU state. But it has its own specialities. In relatively recent times when neighbouring UP was dominated by caste politics of BSP (it also formed government), the party could not make much of a dent into MP with large tracts of land adjoining each other at the time Digvijay Singh was heading Congress Government in Bhopal. Author duo APS Chouhan and Niraj Jha highlight the social issue of hunger giving data that proves MP much below African countries of Ethiopia and Chad in nutritional levels. Well after 15 years of enjoying continuous powers, the BJP has completely failed to bring about solid systematic corrections in this sector even as poor kids continue to die in big numbers. The GDP has also been low and corruption, rampant. This historic shift has not been captured in the book fully as it hit the market just a few years after BJP’s massive mandate.

www.urbanupdate.in | April 2018

URBAN AGENDA | Municipal Services

Municipal services at your doorstep

very morning we wake up to daily chores and the struggle begins. We vote, we elect our municipal councilors, mayors and ward commissioners yet the basic services are not met. Who is to be blamed? We still long for water connections, sewage facilities, a road that we can walk on. Why is it that nothing changes no matter who we vote for and elect? The citizens look for services they pay for but are rarely met. A recent poll shows that 56 percent citizens want weekly market to be better organized. 97 percent want waste segregation and door to door waste collection to be a priority. They want their councilors to have implementation capabilities and be honest. At the same time they feel that landfills are not an option and waste disposal should be improved. Almost fifty percent feels that municipal services have deteriorated in the last five years. These results are startling. Clearly municipal corporations are operating in a far-away land, completely detached from the reality. Authorities make tall claims. In January Madhya Pradesh claimed that it had become the first state in the country to achieve hundred percent door to door garbage collection. It was declared by none less than Maya Singh, Urban Housing and Development Minister. The government also claimed that solid waste management at landfill sites and processing is an ongoing process in partnership with private ventures. One can only take the MP governmentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s claim with a pinch of salt as the survey is still under process. The skepticism about MP governmentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s claim is warranted but there have been some success stories.

46 April 2018 | www.urbanupdate.in

Take for example the city of Indore. The commercial hub of the state, it was like any other North Indian city and people had stopped visiting once popular hangouts. But it turned itself around and became the number one city in the SwachhSurvekshan done in 2017 by the Ministry. The cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s road to success was a hard and long one. In 2015-16, the city leadership decided to remove the dustbins. It certainly raised a few eyebrows. On a pilot basis two wards were chosen. It was extended slowly to other wards in the city. In the process door to door collection of garbage was institutionalized. Residents who would otherwise collect the garbage in a plastic bag and throw it in public dustbins would wait for municipal workers to come and collect the garbage. Active citizen cooperation and support is also a vital input in our quest for more livable cities. Success in vital services sometimes eludes us due to inadequate citizen participation. Waste segregation is a crucial part of waste management. But in many cities, the results on segregation are sub-optimal. Water conservation is another area where citizen cooperation is essential for superior outcomes. But often citizens do not care to follow simple watersaving tips. Littering in public spaces is common too. This too must change. What is a welcome change is that new start-ups are making life easier for common citizens. The new apps can help you with the traffic information. If you are in a new city you can find your way through the city with the help of various apps available. Start-ups are making a mark. But certainly they cannot replace the municipal services. We need a robust system that will make the residents of a particular city comfortable and enjoy the services at their door step.

Ashok Wankhade Managing Editor bhau1008@gmail.com

AIILSG has a footprint across the value chain in urban transformation. Our areas of functioning involve creating and appraising DPRs, monitoring & evaluation and capacity building under Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) The institute is active in

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