Urban Update July 2018

ISSN. 2349-6266 RNI No. DELENG/2014/57384

Setting The Agenda For Tomorrow’s Cities

UrbanUpdate Volume V, Issue III

July 2018

Cover story

Let There Be

Water

one on one

“States should share revenue with corporations to strengthen local governments”

India’s cities are on the frontline of the ‘worst water crisis in its history’. 21 Cities including Delhi and Bengaluru will run out of groundwater in the next two years. Do municipal bodies and other tiers of governments have a plan? A look within the deepening water crisis in Indian cities...

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Melbourne Most Livable City in the World

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July 2018 | www.urbanupdate.in

EDITORIAL

These challenges need urgent attention

A

vailability of adequate, safe water is a crucial determinant of quality of life. The situation in many parts of our country and indeed of the world has reached alarming proportions. Cape Town and Shimla are recent examples of the extreme stress caused by water scarcity. Relentless urbanization combined with climate change induced rainfall uncertainty, underinvestment, and a crippling lack of awareness among citizens have led to widespread and rapid deterioration of rivers, lakes and other water bodies. There is an alarming depletion of groundwater resources along with rising contamination.

Water usage in both, urban setting as well as in agriculture requires several measures to address the crisis. Widespread awareness building is necessary to secure appropriate behaviour and water usage by citizens. Alongside, several measures by local governments including full metering, pushing for water conservation, reuse and recycling, and technology incubation will all be required in full earnest.

NITI Aayog, in a recent report, has highlighted the extremely precarious situation stating that ‘By 2030, the country’s water demand is projected to be twice the available supply, implying severe water scarcity for hundreds of millions of people’.

In this issue of Urban Update we cover some aspects of this report and carry related views by authors on this crucial subject of water security.

Among other crucial issues for the world today is employment, job creation and securing livelihoods for millions especially the more vulnerable sections. In India, for example, the number of new job-seekers entering the job market every month is estimated at one million.

This number is expected to increase steadily for a long time until it peaks in 2050. Skilling, employability and employment are therefore among the biggest challenges for policymakers today.

July 15 is observed as World Youth Skills Day by the United Nations. A General Assembly Resolution in December 2014 enabled this. This initiative by the UN recognizes the vital role of skilling in the economy to enable all sections of society, especially the youth to meet their aspirations and enable them access complex and dynamic labour markets. This further supports the

move towards more just, equitable and inclusive societies as envisaged in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Skilling is an essential process of enabling the youth access gainful employment and a decent livelihood. But the challenges in India are substantial. Manufacturing, once the employer of large numbers, especially of ‘shop-floor’ workers has gradually transformed into a very sophisticated sector demanding higher level skills, knowledge and attitudes. Increasing use of robotics and advanced automation have reduced employment intensity of manufacturing.

The growing services sector in our country still retains high employment intensity. However, these sectors call for more than just core job skills. In the IT, banking and insurance sectors for example, language literacy is very important as the work calls for substantial intra-team and inter-team, as well as external communication and interface.

There is therefore need for ‘soft skills’. While employers usually hone new recruits’ core skills through training, they expect soft skills to be part of his/her tool-kit.

Our skilling efforts must address these needs.

Alongside the South Asian Cities Summit, AIILSG organized the International Skill Conclave in Delhi in May this year. The event drew encouraging participation and lively discussion and debates among the International and Indian delegates and witnessed valuable information sharing. We shall continue to focus on the subject along with our several ongoing efforts and initiatives.

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

www.urbanupdate.in | July 2018

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Quotes

Access to water is access to education, access to work, access-above all- to the kind of the future we want for our own families and all the members of our human family

We have to improve upon the planning and management of water resources. Our ministry and government are thinking about innovative ways for better management of water resources

Nitin Gadkari Minister for Shipping and Water Resources, GoI

Matt Doman Co-founder, Water.org

PIN POINT India and China share a similar context in terms of urban population and infrastructure challenges. In order to meet these challenges, China was among the first few countries to have successfully implemented the concept of smart cities

Infrastructure development will need investments of $4.5 trillion over the next decade and the cost of the money could be a challenge

Piyush Goyal Minister of Finance of India

Mohammad Saqib Secretary General, India-China Economic & Cultural Council

BUZZ

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Miriam Shearman

Ziya Tong

Jennifer Keesmaat

Asian Development Bank

@MiriamShearman

@ziyatong

@jen_keesmaat

@ADB_HQ

Ambassador, UK Mission Geneva

Board Director, WWF-Canada

CEO, Creative Housing Society

Global population is set to reach 8.6bil in 2030, making family planning increasingly important as a human right & central to sustainable development, poverty reduction and women’s empowerment

Antarctica has lost 3 trillion tons of ice, Japan is underwater, India is going through the biggest water crisis in history but economists want business to continue as usual

It’s not in our genes, it’s not in our water… What we’ve shown the rest of the world is that if you build protected infrastructure, people will start riding their bikes

July 2018 | www.urbanupdate.in

To protect wildlife habitats, developing countries must increase the productivity of existing acreage by encouraging more sustainable farming practices

inside

Inside Volume 5, Issue 3

Articles

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July 2018

Putting waste to work for green and resilient cities Across much of Asia the monsoon rains have arrived. They bring cool relief as each drop of rain rejuvenates parched gardens, and dusty trees offering precious shade in our concrete mega cities. In many cities around the region, water is not absorbed due to heavily built-up urban areas

India needs big policy push for treat- ment & reuse of urban wastewater The challenge of plastic is proving stubborn Plastic pollution is a real challenge and scientists have alarmed the world about the threat imposed by the extensive use of plastics in real life items

INSIDE

42 Cover Story

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Velo-City

42

Melbourne most livable city in the world Australia – OZ as they say, is a perfect destination for travelers who seek to have an experience of varied nature, wildlife, culture and climate. The western coast of Australia offers a variety of beautiful beaches, rainforests, unique wildlife and entertainment parks in its coastal cities - Melbourne, Brisbane, Gold Coast, Cairns (famous for its Great Barrier Reef) and Sydney

Let there be water

India’s cities are on the frontline of the ‘worst water crisis in its history’. 21 Cities including Delhi and Bengaluru will run out of groundwater in the next two years. Do municipal bodies and other tiers of governments have a plan? A look within the deepening water crisis in Indian cities...

LEADerspeak

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Access to clean water means good health for all What is the most important thing for the survival of human beings?

The answer could be: oxygen, water or food! Indisputably, water is the second most important thing after oxygen for humans. Yet, water stress is affecting over 4 billion people worldwide and 2300 people die every day from water-related diseases globally. What can municipalities and communities do to ensure supply of safe water

one on one

38 RegularS

6 8 12

Pin Point Equi-City Newscan

15 44 46

City Images Book Review Urban Agenda

States should share revenue with corporations to strengthen local governments: Davesh The role of elected representatives in ULBs will decide the fate of the New Urban Agenda and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Abhishek Pandey, Editor of Urban Update, interviews Chandigarh Mayor Davesh Moudgil and speaks on various aspects of urban governance including the powers of mayors, the impact of 74th Constitutional Amendment Act (CAA) and the corrective reforms required to strengthen urban governance eco-system. Excerpts from the interview...

www.urbanupdate.in | July 2018

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feature Equi-City

City Development Forum brings people, local government closer Officials of Nagpur Municipal Corporation along with the members of City Development Forum discussed the strategies to handle natural disasters and formulated a framework of solutions Team Equi-City

O

ne of the main objectives of Equi-City Project is to engage stakeholders in finding collaborative solutions for the city through a common platform that is, City Development Forum.

Streamlining participatory forums like CDF is crucial as it provides a platform to citizens as well as stakeholders to become a part of governance structure of the city.

Utilizing the already functioning CDF, the Nagpur Municipal Corporation organised a CDF Meeting on June 2, 2018 to discuss the Disaster Management Plan for Nagpur City.

Feedback and suggestions from various stakeholders and CDF Members were taken into account. The action helped Nagpur Municipal Corporation to mobilise resources in a participatory manner using an innovative City Development Forum comprising prominent key stakeholders. In the meeting the course of action for the upcoming monsoon season was discussed to prevent any disaster.

As Nagpur City continues to experience a wide variety of natural and human induced disasters. These are adversely impacting the heritage of the city as well. These disasters include earthquakes, floods and drainage management, fires, and wildfires. To distinguish the categories of disaster it may be differentiated into

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July 2018 | www.urbanupdate.in

these categories: Water and Climate related disasters, Geological Disasters, Chemical, industrial and nuclear related disasters, Accident related disasters, Biological related disasters.

Highlights of CDF meeting on Disaster Management plan for Nagpur city

Dr Sonawane suggested that citizen engagement forum should be utilised for understanding the expectations

of the citizens from NMC during a disaster. He also focused on the collaboration of various NGO’s and Civil Society Organisations for disaster mitigation and risk reduction. He also approached the NCDC Director, GS Saini for providing training to the volunteers regarding disaster management.

Saini suggested that the vulnerability assessment and hazard analysis of Nagpur city should be conducted and

after that draft Disaster Management Plan should be prepared and must be shared on a public platform or forum for further scrutiny on the same. He also suggested that hospitals must reserve some beds for emergency situations during a disaster and this must be included in SOP of Disaster.

The Director of Green Vigil Foundation, Kaustav Chatterjee suggested that training of Disaster Management should be given to NCC students, home guards and certificates should also be provided for the same.

VNIT Professor, Sameer Deshkar mentioned that his institution will help in policy making for vulnerability assessment and disaster management.

He will also help in making vulnerability assessment map. Girish Gandhi, CDF Convener, suggested the penalization of commercial property owners who don’t follow proper building regulations.

He also suggested that a short term and long term disaster management plan must be in place with involvement of local corporators who represent public participation.

The Additional Commissioner Shantanu Goel proposed that citizen

coordination is needed in case of disaster. Also, we need to prioritize the type of emergency situations in case of multiple incidents. Citizen should be made aware of basic mitigation measures. He also suggested that citizen forums like RWA’s and NGO’s should inform to the NMC about risk hotspots because of ongoing metro and road construction activities.

A survey will be done for reducing malfunctioning of electrical poles, transformers during monsoons. He also suggested proper coordination between District Disaster Management Cell (DDMC), PWD, Garden Department and Estate Department.

He concluded the meeting with stressing focus on information dissemination of Disaster Management through media, newspapers, radio, SMS and Wall Painting.

Approach discussed for Disaster Management Plan

♦♦ Disaster Management involves planning what to do before, during and after a disaster or emergency occurs. Through further understanding these hazards, and assessing a structure’s behaviour

to them, we can better prepare for disasters. ♦♦ A risk-informed, performancebased approach exists offering opportunities to better understand objectives, identify credible hazards and develop alternatives that allow stakeholders (owners, government, etc.) to make riskinformed decisions as to how best protect heritage and meet disaster mitigation objectives.

This approach provides tremendous value including

♦♦ Preserving our heritage ♦♦ Embrace local heritage, resources, and methodologies ♦♦ Limit damage and aesthetic impact ♦♦ Cost-effective solutions ♦♦ Maintain functionality of sites ♦♦ Enhance life safety ♦♦ Planning for disasters in advance significantly reduces damage to tangible and intangible heritage, including historic sites, structures and their collections. ♦♦ Services and Deliverables ♦♦ Establish Objectives ♦♦ Hazard Assessments ♦♦ Risk Assessments ♦♦ Disaster Prevention Planning ♦♦ Disaster Mitigation Planning ♦♦ Emergency Access Assessments ♦♦ Emergency Egress Assessments ♦♦ Emergency Drills ♦♦ Emergency Response Equipment Planning ♦♦ Disaster Preparedness Planning ♦♦ Disaster Response Planning ♦♦ Disaster Recovery Planning ♦♦ Capacity Building

Deliverables after implementation of Disaster Management Plan ♦♦ Hazard and Risk Assessments ♦♦ Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Plans ♦♦ Disaster Preparedness Plans ♦♦ Disaster Response Plans ♦♦ Disaster Recovery Plans ♦♦ Emergency Evacuation Plans ♦♦ Emergency Access Plans ♦♦ Emergency Management Plans ♦♦ Training Programs

www.urbanupdate.in | July 2018

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NEWSCAN

India sets pace in global race to beat plastic pollution by 2022 Among the highlights from the national celebrations of World Environment Day was Prime Minister Modi’s commitment to join UN Environment’s Clean Seas campaign NEW DELHI: India went big in their commitment to Beat Plastic Pollution, with an announcement to eliminate all single-use plastic in the country by 2022. This unprecedented ambitious move against disposable plastic will drastically stem the flow of plastics from 1.3 billion people and business in the fastest growing economy in the world. Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed World Environment Day as the start of a global movement to defeat single-use plastics, highlighting India’s rapid economic development can be done in a way that is sustainable and green. “It is the duty of each one of us, to ensure that the quest for material prosperity does not compromise our environment,” Modi said.

“The choices that we make today, will define our collective future. The choices may not be easy. But through awareness, technology, and a genuine global partnership, I am sure we can make the right choices. Let us all join together to beat plastic pollution and make this planet a better place to live.”

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July 2018 | www.urbanupdate.in

Solidifying India’s leadership of global sustainability, Dr Harsh Vardhan, Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change pledged to “achieve the India of our dreams,” announcing that single-use plastics would be banned in all Indian states by 2022. “This has been the biggest, most resonant World Environment Day ever, thanks to the leadership of our global host India,” Erik Solheim, Head of UN Environment, said. “India has made a phenomenal commitment and displayed clear, decisive and global environmental leadership. This will inspire the world and ignite real change.” The announcement was a powerful finale after weeks of activities around the country, seeing millions of Indians – policymakers, celebrities, business Moghuls and small entrepreneurs, innovators, environmentalist, and activists – come together to collectively take action on plastic pollution.

Among the highlights from the national celebrations was Prime Minister Modi’s commitment to

join UN Environment’s Clean Seas campaign, which seeks to turn the tide on marine litter. India has 7,500 km of coastline – the 7th longest in Asia. As part of this commitment, the government will establish a national and regional marine litter action campaign as well as a program to measure the total marine plastic footprint in India’s coastal waters.

Other notable steps towards a pollution-free India included a partnership between UN Environment and the Indian Board of Control for Cricket to ‘green cricket’ across the country, and a pledge to make 100 national monuments litter-free. The country further showcased innovative solutions to environmental challenges.

The western state of Maharashtra introduced an urban e-mobility program to scale back emissions.

Meanwhile, the state of Andhra Pradesh in India’s southeast launched a scaleout plan to transition six million farms from conventional synthetic chemical agriculture to Zero-Budget Natural Farming. As part of the official ceremony in Delhi, the Indian government, in collaboration with UN Environment also launched a joint World Environment Day Report: “Single-use Plastics: A roadmap for Sustainability”.

Presenting case studies from more than 60 countries, the report analyzes the complex relationships in our plastics economy and offers an approach to rethink how the world produces, uses and manages single-use plastics.

After months of preparations and thousands of events, the culmination of commitments and action have made this World Environment Day the most successful to date, setting the bar for governments, public and private sector, and individuals around the world to step up and Beat Plastic Pollution, once and for all.

NEWSCAN

Maharashtra Plastic Ban

Environmentalists welcome move, plastic industry disapproves Maharashtra plastic ban on single use of plastic items came in strict enforcement from June 23 and a large number of vendors, manufacturers and users have been fined ever since MUMBAI: With the world’s focus on plastic pollution this year, Maharashtra’s initiative to combat plastic pollution has brought India into the limelight.

Maharashtra government has enforced a state-wide ban on a wide range of single-use plastic items and thermocol from June 23.

The government had issued the notification in March this year regarding the ban on single-use plastic items and gave the notice period of three months to the manufacturers, distributors, and consumers to find alternatives to plastic usage. Under the notification banned items includes plastic bag of any shape and size, plastic containers, bowls, dishes, cups, cutlery used for packaging food in hotels, restaurants and parties, ziplock pouches, garbage bin liners, and pouches used to store liquids. Apart from this single use articles made up of thermocol and plastic, and their use for decoration is also completely banned.

The fine has also been decided for violators which is Rs 5000 and

Rs 10000 for the first and second time offenders. If someone is found violating the law for the third time, he will be fined Rs 25000 and may also face three months imprisonment Items exempted from ban are: food-grade PET bottles with buy-back mechanism printed on body; milk products; plastic packaging for medicines; compostable plastic bags used for horticulture and solid waste; manufacture of plastic for export in SEZ’s; food-grade virgin plastic bags

No thermocol for Ganpati pandal decorations MUMBAI: Keeping their word and aim to make Maharashtra plastic free, the Bombay High Court has already passed an order for this year’s celebration of Ganesh Chaturthi will be plastic and theromocol free. No thermocol material will be allowed across Maharashtra for decoration of Ganpati Pandal.

The Bombay High Court’s order is a return of the association of thermocol manufacturers seeking relaxation on plastic ban in the state.

Considering thermocol as an environmental hazard, the Bombay High Court said that it is a non-biodegradable material and it harms environment.

As it is used in a huge quantity during Ganpati Puja and later on it makes its way to the city’s water supply and health of people. Not only people but also it is of great harm to aquatic life.

not less than 50 microns used for milk packets with buyback price of 50 paise; pre-package products; biodegradable garbage bin bags.

For implementation of this law the Maharashtra Government has authorized Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) and local administration and at various tourist destinations Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation and Tourism Police has been authorized to maintain the law. To supervise the implementation of the ban, the government has also formed the special committee comprising ministry officials, plastic manufacturers and environmental experts.

Having different opinions on the plastic ban, the environmentalists welcomed the ban but the plastic industry frowned and some stakeholders are of opinion that lakhs of people will be jobless and plastic industry is starting at a loss of Rs 15,000 crore. But considering this decision for the wellbeing of people government said, “Today’s pain is Tomorrow’s gain.”

www.urbanupdate.in | July 2018

11

BRIEFS

No registration of diesel vehicles in Bengaluru from 2019: Transport Department

The transport department of Bengaluru has decided to put a restriction on registration of new vehicles from 2019. The step will be taken if there is no parking facility in Bengaluru as proposed earlier. “The steps are taken as traffic congestion has become a major problem in the city and many households own more than one car which are parked in public spaces” said DC Thammanna. The proposed ban restricts registration of diesel vehicles and will allow the owner to register new vehicles if they have the required parking spaces.

The department is encouraging use of public transport and will soon introduce 80 new electric buses in the city.

Companies in Noida to conserve native ponds The Gautam Budh Nagar administration held a meeting chaired by ADM (establishment) Kumar Vineet with 64 companies in the district, asking them to spot, adopt and conserve native ponds as part of their corporate social responsibility. The meeting was held to create a proper plan for conservation and replenishing the water sources in the district as Gautam Budh Nagar comes under critical zone in terms of water. Out of 64 companies, some have been asked to identify ponds and water sources that need to be filled with water and others are advised to create rainwater harvesting systems in schools.

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July 2018 | www.urbanupdate.in

NEWSCAN

Dahod district of Gujarat tops NITI Aayog’s aspirational districts list NEW DELHI: Aspirational Districts were ranked on improved performance over the months of April and May 2018, on the basis of self-reported data. The NITI Aayog launched the first Delta ranking (incremental progress) for the Aspirational Districts, based on self-reported data of districts between March 31, 2018 to May 31, 2018, across five developmental areas of Health and Nutrition, Education, Agriculture and Water Resources, Financial Inclusion and Skill Development, and Basic Infrastructure. The ranking indicators stood on the basis of three basic Infrastruture- Household Electricity Connections, Household Toilets and Rural Drinking Water.

Amitabh Kant, CEO, NITI Aayog, highlighted the keen interest displayed by the districts to provide real-time data points by filling up the Champions of Change Dashboard.

“The purpose of this ranking is to spur a sense of competition among the dynamic teams in the districts. Since these

districts face many challenges including legacy, unexploited or weak resource base, deficit of manpower at different levels due to difficult living conditions etc, the ranking is also a tool to identify sectors and indicator specific challenges so that Team India, which is driving this programme, can take immediate corrective measures”, said Amitabh Kant, releasing the first delta ranking of the Aspirational Districts.

Asifabad district of Telangana, which was ranked 100 in Baseline ranking released in March this year, has made significant improvements in past two months and stood at 15 in Delta ranking.

Dahod district of Gujarat improved 19.8 points to rank first in the Delta ranking (was Ranked 17 in Baseline ranking).

West Sikkim district in Sikkim stood second with 18.9 points, a huge improvement from being in the 30th position in Baseline ranking. This Delta ranking takes a step further and looks into specific aspects of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Bio-toilets in all trains by March 2019 SECUNDERABAD: Indian Railways will be equipped with bio-toilets by March 2019. For the maintenance purpose, the railway will train their staff and teach them the new technology. “We have been pondering upon the introduction of bio-toilets in Indian Railways for so long and now by next year, this will become reality. Work has already been started,” said Ravindra Gupta, member of rolling stock, Railway Board, New Delhi.

During the 17th carriage maintenance group meet of railways, Gupta talked about various aspects of Indian Railways and issues related to bio-toilets like foul smell, choking and flushing. He stressed the need for proper ventilation in coaches which will add comfort to the journey.

Presently 3158 coaches of South Central Railways (SCR) are equipped with biotoilets and rest 1442 will get bio-toilets in next nine months. To modernize Indian railways, he emphasized on mechanized coach cleaning and quick watering plants.

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BRIEFS

Bengaluru metro pillars to get vertical gardens

Jayanagar Metro pillars between National College and RV Road stations will soon get vertical gardens.Bengaluru metro rail corporation limited took an initiative to utilize space, a total of 161 pillars will be used for advertising purpose while remaining 34 will get converted into vertical gardens. It will make the surrounding clean, green and attractive. BMRCL on Wednesday invited firms to advertise on pillars and also to develop and maintain vertical garden along the stretch.BMRCL officials said vertical gardens on the pillars will develop the city’s brand value.

Ghaziabad becomes first district to launch e-challan Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh became the first district where the integrated e-challan system has been implemented. The director general of UP police OP Singh has inaugurated the e-challan system on 26, June at Hapur, Chungi intersection.

Through the new system, the driver’s full information will be received by entering the vehicle number. A complete record of the list of penalties imposed on the violators will be recorded by the handheld machines.

The driver will be able to pay the penalty by cash or card on the spot, and soon net banking facility will also be added in the system.

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July 2018 | www.urbanupdate.in

NEWSCAN

Bridging the gap between climate data and resilience planning BHOPAL: The World Resources Institute (WRI) India in partnership with the Madhya Pradesh State Knowledge Management Centre on Climate Change, Environmental Planning and Coordination Organisation (SKMCCC, EPCO) hosted a workshop on improving planning for climate adaptation and resilience using a data-driven approach.

At the workshop, WRI India presented the Partnership for Resilience and Preparedness (PREP) platform, prepdata.org, a map-based, open-data online platform that allows users to access and visualize climatic, physical, and socioeconomic data for climate adaptation and resilience planning that has been developed and piloted in Madhya Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

“Madhya Pradesh is fully committed to doing what it takes to mitigate the risks of climate change,” said Anupam Rajan (IAS), Principal Secretary, Environment, Govt. of Madhya Pradesh and DG, EPCO, speaking at the event.

“We are grateful that WRI India has chosen us as one of the pilot states for this initiative,” he added. The results of WRI India’s engagement with Madhya Pradesh was presented, along with an overview of the portal and how to effectively use the datasets and dashboards. The goal in launching PREPdata is to encourage

adaptation practitioners, data developers and innovators, private and public decision-makers as well as resilience policy experts to use the platform to analyse vulnerability and better plan for climate change.

“India is our first real application of the PREPdata platform,” said Lauretta Burke from WRI’s Climate Resilience Practice.

“In the two pilot states, we aim to build data content, to help mainstream state climate action plans, and to give sectoral agencies better access to data and vulnerability assessment reports”.

NamrataGinoya from WRI India demonstrated the use of dashboards using the example of wheat production in Madhya Pradesh. The dashboard pulled together various related datasets to show cultivation area, yield, and production overlaid with annual rainfall data which would help practitioners in the agricultural sector look at water as an input in wheat production.

“The dashboard will help us not only in disseminating climate information but also in developing quality projects.

We coordinate with various other departments like agriculture, water resources and others and this platform will be an important addition to our work at EPCO”, concluded Lokendra Thakkar, Coordinator, SKMCCC, EPCO.

Western Expressway set to open in August GURGAON: The western peripheral expressway is likely to open in August for the commuters, which will connect Kundli with Palwal via Manesar was announced on Thursday by Deputy Commissioner Vinay Pratap Singh. There are also plans for developing five new cities along the expressway. In 2003, the Supreme Court initiated the project to construct Peripheral Expressways around Delhi, with the objective of decongesting the capital by diverting the traffic. Singh also said that 200 low floor buses will be deployed on 11 routes in Gurgaon from August.

city images

‘Positano’ of mumbai

A campaign was launched with an aim to change the slums gloominess and dirt into a colorful and vibrant residence, an NGO Chal Rang De with help of volunteers had turned the slum

village of Asalpha, near Ghatkopar into a wonderful masterpiece of art.

Sustainable roofing was installed onto the homes with a blanket of color that shows the outside world just how

beautiful the inside is, the walls were painted with vibrant colors which looks astonishing and is an eye turner.

The project has turned the urban slums into a masterpiece.

www.urbanupdate.in | July 2018

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BRIEFS

Telangana Govt bans plastic in all municipal bodies The government banned plastic cups, glasses, bottles and other items in all municipal bodies across Telangana. The municipal administration and urban development (MA&UD) department issued a government order, for all urban local bodies (ULBs) to put a ban on the use of plastic items in their offices. Arvind Kumar, Principal Secretary, MA&UD, pointed out that minister KT Rama Rao, MA&UD has already stopped using plastic bottled water in his office and switched to steel tumblers in a statement issued by him.

Wi-Fi in Bengaluru metro

Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (BMRCL) is planning to provide Wi-Fi connectivity in both metro stations and trains if profits enlarge. Commuters can utilize Wi-Fi service at Metro stations and trains soon as Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) is likely to call tender for Wi-Fi services in two or three months. Once six-car metro is launched, ridership will also increase and corporation will get higher profits then BMRCL will apply tender for the purpose.

It will take up to two or three months, said UA Vasanth Rao, BMRCL spokesperson.

Higher profits revenues mean the BMRCL can award a contract to top bidder for good quality services.

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July 2018 | www.urbanupdate.in

NEWSCAN

Skywalk to connect New Delhi railway station and two metro lines NEW DELHI: The new skywalk which is going to be built soon will be of great ease to commuters who use Delhi Metro to reach New Delhi Railway Station. This initiative is a part of Northern Railways plan which will connect New Delhi Railway Station directly to the Yellow line and the Airport Express line.

“New Delhi Railway Station is the most important railway station of the country and reflects the image and pride of Indian Railways as people from all parts of the country as well as foreign tourists visit this station. It handles more than four lakh passengers per day,” a Northern Railway spokesperson said.

“Ajmeri Gate side of NDLS is the convergence hub of Airport Metro, Yellow Line, and DTC bus stop and therefore, the preferred entry for passengers. The skywalk will be duly equipped with escalators and stairs” he added. In collaboration with DMRC, the work is expected to be completed in next six months.

In an initiative to eliminate congestion and traffic, Northern Railways has come up with another plan which will allow

passengers to take direct entry straight to the railway station through Bhavbhuti Marg. Presently the road is narrow which results in traffic jams but once the plan will be implemented, passengers can get to railway station easily. The entire area will be redeveloped with efficient drainage, high-quality concrete roads with multiple lanes, landscaping, fountains, state of the art LED sign boards, with separate lanes and parking for autos, taxis, and buses.

R N Singh, Divisional Railway Manager, Delhi said that the skywalk will eliminate cross movement of passengers from the metro station to NDLS and vice-versa.

He further added that the new wideapproach road from Bhavbhuti Marg will ease the congestion in circulating area.

China to have 300 forest cities by 2025 BEIJING: China will build 300 forest cities by 2025 to improve environmental condition of urban areas. The forest authority of China has said China’s future urban construction planning includes adding more greenery to the cities, with 300 state level forest cities to be built as a part of countries ecosystem by 2025.

In recent year China has also promoted the development of forest cities to improve the environmental condition of urban areas, and the development of forest cities are expected to help reduce average air temperature, improve local biodiversity, improve air quality and generation of new wildlife etc.

Under the plan, areas including cities along the Yangtze River, the Beijing-TianjinHebei province cluster and border regions connecting countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative will be top priorities. Since 2004 more than 200 cities in 18 provinces and municipalities have been involved in the forest city development plan and a total of 138 cities have attained State Level forest city status.

NEWSCAN

WHO launches global action plan on physical activity LISBON: WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus joined Prime Minister António Costa of Portugal to launch the new “WHO Global action plan on physical activity and health 2018-2030: More active people for a healthier world.”

To support national efforts to implement the plan, WHO is launching an advocacy campaign to promote physical activity, Let’s Be Active: Everyone, Everywhere, Everyday. This new drive, launched at the Portuguese Football Association’s iconic Cidade do Futebol (City of Football), aims to encourage governments and city authorities to make it easier for people to be more physically active, and healthier.

“Being active is critical for health. But in our modern world, this is becoming more and more of a challenge, largely because our cities and communities aren’t designed in the right ways,” said Dr Tedros. “We need leaders at all levels to help people to take the healthier step.

This works best at city level, where most responsibility lies for creating healthier

spaces.” Worldwide, one in five adults, and four out of five adolescents (1117 years), do not do enough physical activity. Girls, women, older adults, poorer people, people with disabilities and chronic diseases, marginalized populations, and indigenous people have fewer opportunities to be active.

The action plan shows how countries can reduce physical inactivity in adults and adolescents by 15 per cent by 2030.

It recommends a set of 20 policy areas, which combined, aim to create more active societies through improving the environments and opportunities for people of all ages and abilities to do more walking, cycling, sport, active recreation, dance and play.

Empowered Committee to sort out the issues faced by home buyers in Noida NOIDA: The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs has set up an Empowered Committee to sort out the issues faced by home buyers in Noida, Greater Noida, and Yamuna Expressway areas. On June 25, the committee had its first meeting chaired by MoHUA Secretary Durga Shanker Mishra and focused on various issues faced by home buyers.

The committee comprises representatives of the Uttar Pradesh government, NBCC, CEO NOIDA (New Okhla Industrial Development Authority), and banks. In another tweet, the Union Minister said, “The committee will reach out to the home buyers with a view to resolving their problems at the earliest.”

BRIEFS

DDA approves amendments in the master plan 2021 Delhi Development Authority (DDA) on June 19 approved amendments in the master plan 2021 for local shopping complexes.

Under this amendments liquor shops, bars, discos, pubs and clubs will not be permitted in residential premises and will allow all shops cum residential complexes to have uniform floor area ratio (FAR).A DDA official said, another amendment will allow traders to use upper floors of shopping centers for commercial purposes after paying the required charges. As per the proposed changes, local bodies have to provide parking spaces for every local shopping complex. In case there is no parking facility in the vicinity, the market will be declared a pedestrian street. The proposed changes also suggest development of parking facilities and other basic amenities from the fund collected through conversion and parking charges.

Lodhi Garden gets a ‘hi-tech’ nursery to control pollution A ‘high-tech’ nursery – which enables the maintenance of a controlled atmosphere, with high humidity and a low temperature of 20-26 degree Celsius was inaugurated by L-G Anil Baijal at Lodhi Garden in the heart of the city. Delhi has been reeling under severe dust pollution.

NDMC Chairman Naresh Kumar said that the purpose to open new hi-tech nurseries is to reduce dependency on other cities to get high-quality seedling at appropriate time for optimum results. The civic body has developed three such hi-tech nurseries in its area with the objective to regulate availability of high-quality first-generation hybrid seedlings, and hi-end plants, by overcoming natural weather conditions he added.

www.urbanupdate.in | July 2018

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BRIEFS

PWD to build 7 FootOverbridges in Delhi As a footfall survey revealed that about 1,894 pedestrians cross the road during the day and the traffic density for a period of 12 hours was 84,407 vehicles, the Delhi government’s Public Works Department has approved construction of seven foot overbridges in different parts of the national capital for pedestrians to cross roads without any hassle. The decision was taken at a recent meeting of the PWD’s Foot over Bridges (FOB) committee, chaired by Principal Secretary Manoj Kumar Parida. Seven foot overbridges will be built by the department for the convenience of pedestrians to cross roads at RTR Marg, Nelson Mandela Marg, ISBT in Sarai Kale Khan, Inner Ring Road-Mahatma Gandhi Marg (Shakurpur village), Tamil Sangam Marg, Harswaroop Colony and Maya Puri.

AMC to set up vigilance wing to control corruption Agra Municipal Corporation (AMC) administration will soon set up a vigilance wing to control corruption in the civic body. This wing will check irregularities in the civic body and collect the data of employees about their unethical behaviour in its different departments. The wing will also look after discipline in its corporation. Mayor Naveen Jain will soon file the proposal with the state government.

The main aim is to put a tab on corruption in the civic body and secure public interest.

Vigilance officers will look into all complaints regarding malpractices, look for evidence in cases and submit a factfinding report. These reports will be acted on in time and errant officials will be pulled up”, he added in his statement.

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July 2018 | www.urbanupdate.in

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PM inaugurates BahadurgarhMundka metro line in Delhi NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Bahadurgarh-Mundka Metro Line via video conference. Congratulating the people of Haryana and Delhi on the commencement of this new section of the Delhi Metro, he said he was happy to see Bahadurgarh connected with the Delhi Metro.

This is the third place in Haryana, after Gurugram and Faridabad to be connected like this.

The Prime Minister spoke of how the Metro in Delhi has positively impacted the lives of citizens. Noting that Bahadurgarh is witnessing tremendous economic growth, the Prime Minister said that there are several educational centers there, and students from there even travel to Delhi. The Metro will make this more convenient, he added.

Narendra Modi said that there is a direct link between connectivity and development.

He said the Metro will mean more employment opportunities for the people in the area. He added that the Union Government has brought out a policy relating to Metros, to bring uniformity and standardization in metro rail networks across the country. He said the objective is to build convenient, comfortable and affordable urban transport systems in our cities. The Prime Minister said that the process of making Metro systems is also linked to cooperative federalism. Wherever Metros are being built in India, the Centre and the respective State Governments are working together, he added.

China imposes ‘special emissions’ limits on firms in 80 cities SHANGHAI: China could impose “special emissions restrictions” on industrial firms in as many as 80 cities, extending the programme from the current 28, an environment ministry spokesman said.

China said in January that it would force industrial firms in 28 northern Chinese cities to meet tough new emissions curbs in a bid to cut smog in the heavily polluted Beijing-TianjinHebei region. Enterprises in the thermal power, steel, petrochemical, chemical, non-ferrous metals and cement sectors will be forced to comply with as many as 25 new emissions standards by October, with coking coal producers given another year to make the required adjustments.

But some have expressed concern that the tougher emissions restrictions

would undermine efforts to create a level playing field, raising production costs and making it harder to compete with rivals in other regions. “As China increases curbs on emissions, I believe the measures will be expanded to more regions,” said Tian Weiyong, head of environmental inspections at the Ministry of Ecology and Environment.

“But we might start with tighter emission standards in the 80 cities,” he said.

China’s new three-year smog action plan will cover the major coal-producing regions of Shanxi and Shaanxi as well as the major manufacturing regions of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei and the Yangtze River delta. Inspectors will target smallscale, “scattered” coal users in Shanxi and Shaanxi, two major coal-producing regions, Tian said.

NEWSCAN

Mumbai sinking, Delhi stinking.

Governments doing nothing, says SC The apex court also fined 10 states and two UTs for not filing affidaits on their policies for solid waste management despite earlier directions from the Supreme Court NEW DELHI: Delhi is getting buried under mounds of garbage and Mumbai is sinking under water, but the government is doing nothing, an anguished Supreme Court said recently. It slapped fines on 10 states and two UTs for not filing affidavits on their policies for solid waste management strategy.

Expressing its helplessness over the situation, the top court lamented that when the courts intervene, the judges are attacked for judicial activism, and said what can be done when government of the day does not do anything or acts in an irresponsible manner. A Bench of Justices MB Lokur and Deepak Gupta referred to the recent SC order on the powers of the Delhi government and the L-G and asked them to inform who was responsible for clearing of the three “mountains of garbage” (landfill sites) at Okhla, Bhalswa and Ghazipur in Delhi. The Bench was annoyed after it was informed that around 13 states and several UTs have not yet formulated their policy for solid waste management strategy. The top court slapped a fine of Rs 1 lakh each on Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, West Bengal, Kerala, Karnataka, Meghalaya, Punjab, Lakshadweep and Puducherry for not filing the affidavit despite earlier directions.

The Bench also slapped a fine of Rs 2 lakh each on “remaining defaulting states/UTs” whose lawyers were also not present in the court room during the hearing, without naming these

A view of a submerged DTC Bus at the Minto Bridge in New Delhi after a few hours of rain

states. “One final opportunity is given to these states/UTs... failing which we may have to call the Chief Secretary of the states/UTs concerned,” it said, posting the matter for further hearing on August 7.

“Every second day, we are attacked for judicial activism. Every now and then there is a statement that courts are resorting to judicial activism or encroaching upon the powers of the executive or the legislature. What should we do when nobody is working,” it said. It observed that due to the loads of garbage in Delhi, people were getting infected by dengue, malaria and chikungunya. In 2015, the SC had on its own taken cognisance of death of a seven-year-old boy due to dengue.

He was allegedly denied treatment by five private hospitals and his distraught parents subsequently committed suicide.

Delhi High Court raps state govt, municipalities

The bench of Acting Chief Justice Geeta Mittal and Judge C. Hari Shankar of Delhi High Court said that it is ‘shocking’ that this is happening year after year. During the recent rains in Delhi, the bench was referring to the news of traffic of Delhi due to the

problem of water logging on the roads.

The bench said, “It is a matter of shocking every year. Why is this happening year after year? The administration is not solving this problem at a large level, and every time it gives knee-jerk reactions to it.”

The court said that waterlogging can be the reason for spreading diseases. The bench said, “The control of authorities on the monsoon is inaccessible, but the problem of waterfalls is certainly under their control.” The court said it was “incomprehensible” why no action plan has been drawn up till date and no steps taken to address this “recurring problem which completely throws the life of people in Delhi into disarray”.

While pulling up the authorities, the High Court made a reference to the incident of a bus getting stuck on the water-logged road under Minto Bridge near Connaught Place in the capital.

The High Court directed Delhi Chief Secretary to convene a meeting with the senior officials of the government, PWD, Center, the three MCD and Delhi Jal Board on this issue and decide what steps have been taken so far to stop the waterfalls. The Delhi Jal Board has been told separately to give complete details regarding the drains and file a report in 10 days.

www.urbanupdate.in | July 2018

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NEWSCAN

Montreal Congress pushes for effective implementation of global committments The Montreal Commitment and Strategic Vision, adopted by the cities through their representatives, orients their path towards urban transformation and sets a course for delivering on the global sustainable development agenda Montreal (Canada): More than 1000 delegates form the urban spectrum gathered in Montreal for the ICLEI World Congress to discuss their successes and stories of failure in order to achieve the goals of sustainable development.

This has to happen with initiatives and partnerships and also projects world wide for low carbon emissions.

This is supposedly with a new vision which aligns with the global frameworks. It is critical to have global consensus around sustainable development so that political will, systems and resources are oriented in the same direction quoted the vision

20 July 2018 | www.urbanupdate.in

document. The SDGs are a universal and collective vision, with SDG 11 as the central lever to attain all other goals. The Paris Climate Agreement is the prerequisite to safeguard all SDGs and pioneer the transformation towards a new model of a climatesafe human civilization. The New Urban Agenda is a compendium of good practices and policies for urban development, including the right-tothe-city, multilevel governance and urban planning.

The roadmap for the delivery of these goals and aspirations was also discussed. The vision defines low emission, nature-based, circular, resilient and equitable development with five interconnected pathways towards sustainability, supported by policy approaches on governance, innovation and finance.

The action plan is for partnership with the local and regional governments across the spectrum to accelerate and leap frog sustainable, integrated urban and territorial development, as a means to support and complement national contributions and global sustainability goals. The highlights have been to

promote an action plan for 100 per cent renewable energy. Develop urban low emission, climate resilient, mobility friendly development strategies and monitor their implementation. Lead the transition to a green economy through leading sustainable public procurement networks. Connect climate action to urban development and engage local and regional governments in making Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) fit for the Paris Agreement.

Support island communities at the front line of climate challenges and address land-based ocean pollution. Lead the implementation of global biodiversity targets at the city and regional level.

Hell is a city much like London -A populous and a smoky city; There are all sorts of people undone, And there is little or no fun done; Small justice shown, and still less pity.

This narrative of cities depicted by none less than PB Shelly the famous poet two centuries ago still holds good for a large number of cities in the world. The point however is to change this narrative.

The cities are growing and so is the number of people living in them. By 2030 more than 60 per cent of the people will live in the cities. These are considered to be the engines of growth, however the cities are also responsible for 75 per cent of energy consumption and 65 per cent of carbon emissions.

Hence the cities have a greater role to play in order to control the emission of carbon gases. But can the cities discharge what they are supposed to do? Are the cities sovereign from their federal government to work tangent to them? We know they are not and cannot decide their futures delinked from their federal and provincial counterparts. But that does not mean that the cities cannot build alternatives of people’s development which is also low on carbon emissions.

NEWSCAN

AIILSG, UNICEF, Leher release Study on Child Protection

MUMBAI: AIILSG’s International Centre of EQUI-T, in collaboration with UNICEF, Collector-Mumbai Suburban District and Department of Women and Child Welfare organised a consultation on ‘Promoting Safe and Child Friendly Cities from Evidence to Action: Mumbai Suburban’ at AIILSGAndheri. A total of 83 participants representing the entire array of stakeholders associated with child rights participated in the Consultation.

Released on the occasion was the report of an important study by AIILSG’s ICEQUI-T supported by Leher & UNCEF titled: “District Needs Assessment and District Child Protection Planning” Mumbai Suburban District, Maharashtra. This report is a pioneering effort in the context of the urban disadvantaged children vis-a-vis the Integrated Child Protection Scheme of Government of India. This is the first study of its kind in Maharashtra and the first in urbanIndia context.

Around 120 million Indian children (below the age of 18) living in urban areas lack adequate housing and safe settlement, are exposed to crime, disaster risks, garbage, sexual harassment, discrimination and poor environmental sanitation which affects their development, growth,

and safety. Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) also envisage providing safe environment to children. Thus ensuring that cities are safe and childfriendly is central to the achievement of this goal (SDG11). The Child Protection District Need Assessment Study (DNA) conducted across 30 habitations in Mumbai Suburban District highlighted the daily struggles faced by children.

The findings of the study will feed into a District Child Protection Plan (DCPP) for the district of Suburban Mumbai.

The study recommends the creation of cross-sectoral partnerships to address infrastructural and service deficits at the community level, ramping up the reach of the child protection system and articulating strategies both long and short-term measures for children protection and safety.

Seema Vyas, Member Secretary, Maharashtra State Commission for the Protection of Child Rights; Rajiv Agarwal- Director General, AIILSG, Rajeshwari Chandrasekhar, Chief, UNICEF Mumbai Field Office, Dr Jairaj Phatak, Visiting Professor, AIILSG & Dr Mukesh Kanaskar, Deputy Director General, AIILSG released the report.

Also released on the occasion was another study report: “Promoting Safe Communities: Mapping with Children in Mumbai”. This UNICEF

supported study was undertaken by Action for Children’s Environments (ACE), Committed Communities Development Trust (CCDT), Pratham Mumbai Education Initiative (PMEI), Youth for Unity and Voluntary Action (YUVA). Rahul More, Deputy Divisional Commissioner, Department of Women and Child Development, Konkan Division, Government of Maharashtra & Santosh Shinde, Member, Maharashtra State Commission for Protection of Child Rights, along with others provided valuable advice for taking the process further with concrete actions and policy advocacy.

AIILSG’s Director General Rajiv Agarwal expressed that the report was an important forward step in the field of Integrated Child Protection Services.

He emphasized AIILSG’s institutional sensitivity & commitment towards the cause. Dr Mukesh Kanaskar, Dy. Director General- AIILSG, elucidated the related field-actions-innovations of AIILSG. He also highlighted that for AIILSG the research is just the first step towards designing concrete actions based on findings from the report.

Seema Vyas chaired the inaugural session and expressed that the Commission is committed to Promoting Safe and Child Friendly Cities. It is striving to attain it through innovative interventions as well through partnerships with various stakeholders.

Rajeshwari Chandrasekhar, Chief, UNICEF Mumbai Field Office elucidated UNICEF’s role in promoting safe and child-friendly cities by influencing urban planning and budgeting, ensuring safe, clean and resilient urban environment and strengthening evidence, advocacy and partnerships. Building evidence and knowledge are critical and this consultation was a significant step in that direction.

www.urbanupdate.in | July 2018

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NEWSCAN

Ghaziabad becomes first district to launch e-challan Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh became the first district where the integrated e-challan system has been implemented to check violation of road rules and collect penalties on the spot, in the state. The director general of UP police OP Singh has inaugurated the e-challan system on 26, June at Hapur, Chungi intersection.

DGP OP Singh said the system implemented in Ghaziabad will be followed in other districts of the state. Through the new system, the driver’s full information will be received by entering the vehicle number.

A complete record of the list of penalties imposed on the violators will be recorded by the handheld machines. The driver will be able to pay the penalty by cash or card on the spot, and soon net banking facility will also be added in the system.

Shillong finally selected as 100th smart city

The capital city of Meghalaya, Shillong has been finally selected as the 100th smart city under smart city mission. The Union Ministry of Housing and Urban affairs evaluated the proposal submitted by the state government and selected the city as the 100th city to receive funding under the Center’s flagship Smart City Mission. Till now 99 cities have been selected in four rounds of competition, and with the announcement of Shillong city selection as the smart city 100 cities have been completed under smart city mission.

22 July 2018 | www.urbanupdate.in

India celebrates World Bicycle Day 2018

NEW DELHI/BANGALORE: In April, the United Nations General Assembly declared June 3 as World Bicycle Day, acknowledging the “uniqueness, longevity, and versatility” of the bicycle.

For a long time now, the bicycle has been recognised as a sustainable mode of transportation that is simple, affordable, reliable, clean, and enhances urban mobility and access. The Assembly welcomed communities around the world to organise bicycle rides and other such events to promote physical and mental health and well-being and develop a culture of cycling in society. Several Indian cities participated in the celebrations in different ways. Here are some highlights from New Delhi and Bangalore. Over 10,000 cyclists came out to the streets of New Delhi to celebrate World Bicycling Day. The city also chose this day to launch its bike sharing system in the core city area, which was inaugurated by Venkaiah Naidu, Vice President of India, Dr Harsh Vardhan, Minister for Environment,

Forests, and Climate Change, and Meenakshi Lekhi, MP, New Delhi. Also present were the chairman of New Delhi Municipal Council, Naresh Kumar, Next Bike’s Sebastian Schlebusch, and former Miss World, Manushi Chhillar.

In Bangalore, the recently elected Bicycle Mayor for the city, Sathya Sankaran, led a 10 km ride with a hundred cyclists, while celebrations took place in different parts of the city. In Sanjay Nagar, in North Bangalore, hundreds of people attended Cycle Day where streets were closed off to traffic to allow people to reclaim the streets for walking and cycling.

“Citizen engagement is a critical part of the process,” says Sathya, “Smart solutions and technology for last mile connectivity will drive demand, but infrastructure to support this has to happen in parallel.”

Moving forward, under the leadership of the Bicycle Mayor, Bangalore hopes to bring together various initiatives in the city under the Council for Change umbrella.

NDMC to start doorstep collection of e-waste, pay for it too NEW DELHI: In order to dispose electronic waste in an environmental friendly manner, the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) has come up with an initiative in which they will start the door to door collection of electronic waste that fall under NDMC’s jurisdiction and will pay for it too. According to civic body, the project will be implemented at ground level in the next two months, as tendering process for the project has already been started. “The person or company selected for the job will be responsible for e-waste collection from NDMC’s offices, schools, hospitals as well as residential areas,” said a senior NDMC official.

NEWSCAN

Rural Livelihood Transformation

First Rural Dialogue at IIT-Guwahati The first ‘Rural dialogues’ was organized at the IIT Guwahati on July 6 & 7.

The event was jointly organised by All India Institute of Local SelfGovernment (AIILSG) in association with Centre for Rural Technology IIT Guwahati and Innovior Guwahati: The first ‘Rural dialogues’ brought together leading policy makers, technocrats, village level entrepreneurs, financial institutions, district administration, village panchayats and renowned experts who shared their experiences and good practices over two days on issues related to innovation in rural areas and provide awareness on various potential solutions.

The chief guest of the program was Dr R Chidambaram, renowned nuclear scientist and former principal advisor to the Government of India. He along with Professor Gautam Biswas, Director, IIT Guwahati, Pashim Tiwari, Technical Director, AIILSG, Dr Tushar Rane, Chief of Field Office, UNICEF, inaugurated the forum. Introductory address was given by Prof Sashindra Kr Kakoty, head, centre for Rural Technology, IIT Guwahati.

The forum provided a platform to discuss how innovations can help rural areas and identify the best possible methods for the rural communities.

It will also showcase cutting-edge technology, latest innovations, useful and replicable ideas and actions on various aspects of rural development.

The tone of the two day summit was set by Dr Chidambaram who in his address lucidly outlined the challenges faced by the rural areas and its population and how to bring about the changes in their lives and possible solutions confronting them.

Prof Gautam Biswas, Director, IIT Guwahati delivering the welcome address during the inaugural session

He stressed that concept of equity must be applied to bring about the change we are seeking in the lives of rural citizens.

He said that ‘the principal of equity— gender equity, inter generational equity, removal of poverty, hunger etc should be considered as only preliminary Social Developmental Goals (SDGs), which need to evolve as the economies of developing countries progress. For India, the technology needs range from nuclear and space to rural’.

He further said that ‘because India is so large and so diverse and because change is occurring at such a rapid pace, it is impossible to talk about a single innovation policy for India. Conditions vary widely among technologies. For example, India is on par with global leaders in some technologies and is in a position to leapfrog and bring technological revolution’.

The forum discussed how education , entrepreneurship, physical and social infrastructure can play an important role in developing rural areas. In order to achieve this, it was felt that that there is a need to have a set of multi sectoral activities including the improvement of agriculture, promotion of rural industries, creation of requisite

infrastructure and social overheads, as well as establishment of appropriate decentralized structures in order to allow mass participation.

Pashism Tiwari, Technical Director, AIILSG, argued that we need to augment the strength that is already there in the rural areas. He said ‘its important to look at how we can strengthen rural areas. AIILSG has worked in hinterlands of the country.

We are not giving them anything. They have their own strength. They just need opportunity, resource and knowledge.

They will solve their problems. We just need to create a local eco-system’.

AIILSG has been striving to impart the three most important factors that is opportunity , resource and knowledge to the local populace and create an eco-system that will lead to more innovation in the hinterlands.

After two days of deliberations it was felt that we need to come out of thinking mode and get into action mode. There is a mismatch between processing units and experts.

Experts do not want to come down and units do not want to step up.

We can not expect change without changing ourselves.

www.urbanupdate.in | July 2018

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COVER STORY Water Crisis

Let There Be Water India’s cities are on the frontline of the ‘worst water crisis in its history’. 21 Cities including Delhi and Bengaluru will run out of groundwater in the next two years. Many cities in India have witnessed desperate measures of water management such as stationing of armed guards at water reservoirs to prevent theft of water and sending ‘water trains’ to affected areas. The only way to address the problem is to optimise utilization of water resources, promote water conservation and stop polluting water bodies. Do municipal bodies and other tiers of governments have a plan? A look within the deepening water crisis in Indian cities...

24 July 2018 | www.urbanupdate.in

Abhishek Pandey | Editor

I

ndia is in the public eye since it announced its plan to build 100 Smart Cities. The idea of smart cities is not uniform world over. In the context of India, the government is transforming the selected thriving cities and improving the way basic services like water supply, electricity, sanitation services are provided to their citizens. It has ‘area-based development’ projects and ‘pan-city development’ projects and it is interesting to note that providing 24x7 water supply to their citizens is on the agenda of almost every city under pan-city projects. It is not strange because the quality of water supply in Indian cities has remained poor despite several projects and programs initiated in the past. The recently launched report of NITI Aayog ‘Composite Water Management Index-2018’ highlights the severity of the water crisis. In the face of such crisis, water management in India requires major overhauling and urban planners need to build water-wise cities before smart cities.

Any kind of development is very much dependent on the availability of water; whether it is the day-to-day lives of citizens, industrial operations or commercial activities. All our plans

will fall flat if we do not have enough water to support our urban operations.

The report says, as many as 21 cities of the country including Delhi, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad and Jaipur will run out of groundwater in the next two years because’critical groundwater resources–which account for 40 per cent of our water supply– are depleting at unsustainable rates’.

By 2030, the nation will have access to half the water it needs. It further says, when water is available, it is likely to be contaminated (up to 70 per cent of our water supply), resulting in nearly 200,000 deaths each year.

Amitabh Kant, CEO of NITI Aayog, says in the report, “It’s a matter of concern that 600 million people in India face high to extreme water stress in the country. About three-fourth of the households in the country do not have drinking water at their premise.

With nearly 70 per cent of water being contaminated, India is placed at 120th amongst 122 countries in the water quality index. It’s a fact that water is a State subject and its optimal utilization and management lies predominantly within the domain of the States. This index is an attempt to budge States and UTs towards efficient and optimal utilization of water and recycling thereof with a sense of urgency.”

The Index comprises nine themes (each having an attached weight)— source augmentation and restoration of water bodies (5) source augmentationgroundwater (15), major and medium irrigation (15), watershed development (10), participatory irrigation management (10), on-farm water use (10), rural water supply (10) and urban water supply and sanitation (10), and policy and governance (15). Since India did not have adequate information on the status of different areas of water management, this report will surely help in getting adequate data for our policymakers to focus on the areas which need attention.

Governments and planners need to find ways to augment the available water resources by using advanced technologies such as desalination of sea water, wastewater recycling, promoting

The rationing of water is still applicable in the city of Cape Town. The limit for domestic usage was set to 50 litres per day per person in February this year. Even the bathrooms in hotels, malls and other public places switched-off their taps and started using waterless hand sanitizers. The message above a water tap reads: “Be Wise, Hand Sanitise. Due to water restrictions, this tap has been switched off. Please make use of waterless hand sanitizer.” This is just one of many examples of restriction on use of water. People are experiencing a new relationship with water

rainwater harvesting, and building an efficient stormwater drainage system in cities.

The Big Problem

Water covers almost 70 per cent surface of the Earth but drinking water is not as plentiful as we may think. Just 3 per cent of it is fresh or say drinkable.

Water scarcity already affects four out of every 10 people in the world. The situation is worsening in almost every country.According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, excluding countries that it does not have data for, less than five percent of the world’s population is living in a country that has more water today than it did 20 years ago. Everyone else is living in a country that has less water today. And nearly one out of three are living in a country that is facing a water crisis.

When United Nations came up with the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), one of the sub-goals Goal 6 talks about drinking water

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quality saying – “By 2030, improve water quality by reducing pollution, eliminating dumping and minimising release of hazardous chemicals and materials, halving the proportion of untreated wastewater and substantially increasing recycling and safe reuse globally.” The world is realising that the water crisis is coming in their way and governments and people need to address it jointly.

In India, the problem is going to get worse in the business-as-usual scenario. As per the report of National Commission for Integrated Water Resource Development of Ministry of Water Resources (MoWR), the water requirement by 2050 in high use

scenario is likely to be a milder 1,180 Billion Cubic Metre (BCM), whereas the present-day availability is 695 BCM. The total availability of water possible in country is still lower than this projected demand at 1,137 BCM. Many countries, especially waterstressed countries around the world, have invented pioneering methods for optimal use and conservation of water resources. Last year in March when Cape Town faced the droughtlike situation and had left with just four months of usable water for its residents,it was an alarm for all cities around the world. A similar situation happened in Shimla this summer where people had to wait for hours in

queues for a bucket of water. People in these cities did not go about the daily routine as usual. Many of them restricted bathing, watering plants, washing clothes, and even making tea.

The rationing of water is still applicable in the city of Cape Town. The limit for domestic usage was set to 50 litres per day per person in February this year.

Even the bathrooms in hotels, malls and other public places switched-off their taps and started using waterless hand sanitizers. The message above a water tap reads: “Be Wise, Hand Sanitise. Due to water restrictions, this tap has been switched off. Please make use of waterless hand sanitizer.”

This is just one of many examples of

What Government has to say Joyce George, Member of Parliament from Idukki, Kerala raised the following questions in the Parliament to know what is government doing to address the water scarcity in the country: will the Minister of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation be pleased to state: (a) whether the Government is considering the water scarcity issue as the silent crisis of the country and if so, the details thereof; (b) whether any differences amongst the States have been observed on the issue and if so, the details thereof; (c) whether the Government has any concrete mechanism to address the issue; and (d) if so, the details thereof?

Answer by the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation

(a) The total water availability of India received through precipitation is about 4000 Billion Cubic Meter (BCM) per annum. After evaporation, 1869 BCM water is available as natural runoff.

Due to geological and other factors, the utilizable water availability is limited to 1137 BCM per annum comprising 690 BCM of surface water and 447 BCM of replenishable ground water.

Total requirement of the country for different uses for high demand scenario for the years 2010 and 2025 has been assessed as 710 BCM and 843 BCM respectively.

Further, the country’s total water demand has been estimated as 1180 BCM in the year 2050, outstripping the total availability of 1137 BCM.

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The average annual water availability of any region or country is largely dependent upon hydro-meteorological and geological factors and is generally constant. However, water availability per person is dependent on population of the country and for India; water availability per capita is reducing progressively due to increase in population. The average annual per capita water availability in the years 2001 and 2011 was assessed as 1820 cubic meters and 1545 cubic meters respectively which may reduce further to 1340 and 1140 in the years 2025 and 2050 respectively.

Annual per-capita water availability of less than 1700 cubic meters is considered as water stressed condition, whereas annual per-capita water availability below 1000 cubic meters is considered as a water scarcity condition. Due to high temporal and

spatial variation of precipitation, the water availability of many region of the country is much below the national average and can be considered as water stressed / water scarce. (b) to (d) Inter-State River Water Disputes among various States have been observed for sharing of water from inter-State rivers. The Government has enacted Inter-State River Water Disputes (ISRWD) Act, 1956 for adjudication of disputes relating to sharing of water of inter-State rivers and river valley thereof. When any request under the said Act is received from any State Government in respect of a water dispute on the inter-State rivers and the Central Government is of the opinion that the water dispute cannot be settled by negotiations, the Central Government constitutes a Water Dispute Tribunal for the adjudication of the water dispute.

As per the report of National Commission for Integrated Water Resource Development of Ministry of Water Resources (MoWR), the water requirement by 2050 in high use scenario is likely to be a milder 1,180 Billion Cubic Metre (BCM), whereas the present-day availability is 695 BCM. The total availability of water possible in the country is still lower than this projected demand at 1,137 BCM

restriction on the use of water. People are experiencing a new relationship with water.

Look beyond borders

What is happening in these waterstressed cities is going to happen in other cities of the world too if urban governments and citizens do not correct the situation collectively. There are a couple of initiatives which can be taken immediately to stop wastage of water. The first one is making people aware that the water crisis is looming large and this is not happening just in some parts of the world. South African and Australian cities had told their citizens through electronic billboards about the available water withthe city when they faceda drought-like situation in the past.

One can find hundreds of examples of potable water being wasted or misused in every city, small town or village of India. In my recent trip to a small town in Western Uttar Pradesh— Barsana, I had found that most of the municipal water supply pipelines had no taps and water was going down the drain after people were done filling their buckets and tanks. Such brazen misuse of water is dangerous. People who still have adequate water supply are taking it for granted and thinking

that water will remain available to them forever. Such attitude towards water will seriously jeopardise livesof our coming generations.

The report by NITI Aayog also highlights that the states with abundant water resources don’t focus on taking initiatives to conserve water. For example, Meghalaya occupied the last rank in FY 15-16 and FY 16-17, FY 17-18.

The reason is: as a water abundant state receiving one of the highest annual rainfall amounts in the world, the need for water management has never been sharply felt in Meghalaya. To avoid any such situation in the future, water management needs to be strengthened in water-rich states too.

Municipal corporations, councils and village panchayats, which are the closest governments to the people, need to talk to citizens. They need to tell people how important water conservation is for everyone.For this, local governments need to lead from the front. They need to fix water leakages and strengthen their water distribution system using sensor-based technology where any leakage can be checked and fixed in no time. Their efforts should also be to empower people and local communities to save and conserve water.

The examples of successful implementation of conservation and awareness programs abound, especially in water-scarce countries. In Australia, when faced with water scarcity, government not only told them about the crisis upfront but also gave them tips to save water. The citizens reduced the time spent in bathrooms, changed the low water consuming showerheads provided by the local authorities.

More than 460,000 showerheads were replaced. And, when the government received comments about showerheads, they worked on the new design. Over 100,000 orders of were made for redesigned water heads. Melbourne succeeded in reducing the water demands per capita by 50 percent. This was a good example of a collaborative initiative of local governments and citizens.

In the United Arab Emirates, the

second-most water-scarce country in the world, the government designed “Business Heroes Toolkit” in 2010.

The aim was to motivate and empower businesses to reduce water and energy consumption. The toolkit provided information on how to measure their existing water-consumption levels and it also had tips to help them reduce those levels. Business houses implemented as many water-saving tips as they could in their office space.

They replaced their toilet-flushing techniques, taps, showerheads. Many companies eventually reduced their employees’ water consumption by half.

Locals in Namibia, one of the most arid countries in Southern Africa, have been drinking recycled water since 1968. India has a problem here because the nation treats only about 30 percent of its wastewater and reuses only a negligible amount. Another side of the story is that our corporations do not have adequate resources for recycling water to drinking standards. Learning can come from anywhere. We can learn from Namibia too. Israel treats 100 per cent of its municipal wastewater and reuses 95 per cent for agriculture and ecological purposes. Marina Barrage in Singapore, the country where 60 per cent water demand is met by imported water, is another example of how water catchment area can also turn into a tourist attraction.

With sixty percent of the country a desert and despite a rapidly growing population, Israel has emerged as a leader in water management projects.

Based on meticulous research and hundreds of interviews, Seth Siegel tells how this all came to be in his book “Let There Be Water: Israel’s Solution for a Water-Starved World”.India has also signed a treaty this year with Israel for technology transfer for effective water management. The recently launched report is a good sign because the government has itself acknowledged the impending water crisis in the country. Now, the government needs to begin empowering municipal authorities and communities and frame water policies for addressing the problem with a new approach.

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Numerographs water stress

Thirsty Nation

Almost 70 per cent of Earth’s surface area is covered with water. Out of which 97 per cent is sea water and 2 per cent is covered in snow. Only 1 per cent of the available water is useable. The dwindling water resources could be a risk to global stability. States in India are already locking horns over the issues of water sharing. Many times these disputes have turned violent and gory. The problems related to water are abound.

Everyone needs to come together and find solutions to the water problem that concerns one and all

Team UrbanUpdate

Water demand by different sectors in India

Average annual per capita availability of wat er

2010 2025 2050

1200

Year Population Per capita Average (Million) Annual Availability (m3/year) 2001 1029 (2001 census) 816 2011 1210 (2011 census) 1545 2025 1394 (Projected) 1340 2050 1640 (Projected) 1140

1072

1000 910

800 688

600

A per capita availability of less than 1700 cubic metres (m) is termed as a water-stressed condition while per capita availability below 1000m is termed as a water scarcity condition

400

200 56 73

21 Indian cities that will run out of water

130

102

0 Drinking Water Irrigation

12 23

63

Industry

5 15

Energy

52

72 80

Other Uses

Shimla

Delhi Meerut Gurugram Faridabad Jaipur Kanpur

Dhanbad Jamshedpur

Asansol

Amravati Mumbai Solapur

Hyderabad

Visakhapatnam

Vijayawada

Bengaluru Coimbatore Kochi

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Madurai

Chennai

Sources: NITI Aayog Composite Water Management report June 2018 UN report on “Water in India: Situation and prospects” 2016 Analysis of 2011 Census Data:India Water Portal Government of India (2006) cited in ADB (2009) The Global Water Cycle and Climate Change report by Robarts & R Wetzel, SIL News V. 29, January 2000, National Geographic Channel

Main source of drinking water in urban areas

Main source of drinking water in rural areas

Non-Himalayan states 80

0.20%Spring 0.20%River/canal

0.70% Spring 0.80 % River/canal

0.40%Tank/pond/lake

8.90% Tube well/ borehole

1.70% Other sources

1.10% Tank/pond/lake

70

1.40% Other sources

60

8.30% Tube well/ borehole

17.90% Tap water from treated source

76 69 68

56 55

53

50

51 50 49 48 44

11.80% Hand pump

1.70% Covered well 8.60% Tap water from un-treated source

43.50% Hand pump

11.80% Un-covered well

38 38 38

1.50% Covered well

20

0

In Billion Cubic Metres (BCM) 2030 2008

1500

Average water use per person per day

Ranking

North-Eastern and Himalayan states 60

1498

59

575

USA

53 50

1200

35

30

10

Demand & supply of water in India

42 42

Rajasthan Goa Kerala Odisha Bihar Uttar Pradesh Haryana Jharkhand

62% Tap water from treated source

Gujarat Madhya Pradesh Andhra Pradesh Karnataka Maharashtra Punjab Tamil Nadu Telangana Chhattisgarh

4.50% Un-covered well

40

13.00% Tap water from un-treated source

49

374

Japan

40

193

0

Supply

Demand

0

100

200

300

400

500

0

Assam

10

86

China

Tripura

300

Sikkim

20

135

India

26

26

Meghalaya

28

149

United Kingdom

Himachal Pradesh

600

31

30 634

Uttrakhand

744 650

Nagaland

Germany

900

Ranking

* The parameters of these rankings are mentioned in the cover story

70%

75%

of our water is contaminated

households don’t have drinking water

India

84%

is currently ranked 120 among 122 countries in the water quality index

rural households don’t have access to piped water

600 million

people faces high to extreme water stress

By 2030

India’s water demand is projected to be twice the available supply

40%

of the population will have no access to drinking water by 2030

By 2025

an estimated 1.8 billion people will live in areas plagued by water scarcity

70%

of earth’s surface is covered by water & only 1% out of 2.5% freshwater is accessible

Gujarat is the highest performer, closely followed by other High performers such as Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh. Seven states have scores between ~50-65 (including two NorthEastern and Himalayan states) and have been classified as Medium performers. Alarmingly, ~60% of states (14 out of 24) have achieved scores below 50 and have been classified as Low performers.

Low performers are concentrated across the populous agricultural belts of North and East India, and among the North-Eastern & Himalayan states.

Water Index scores vary widely across states, but most states have achieved a score below 50% and could significantly improve their water resource management practices.

Water Index scores for FY 16-17 vary from 76 (Gujarat) to 26 (Meghalaya), with the median score being ~49 for Non-Himalayan states and ~31 for North-Eastern and Himalayan states.

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leaderspeak Clean Water

Access to clean water means good health for all What is the most important thing for the survival of human beings? The answer could be: oxygen, water or food! Indisputably, water is the second most important thing after oxygen for humans. Yet, water stress is affecting over 4 billion people worldwide and2300 people die every day from water-related diseases globally. What can municipalities and communities do to ensure supply of safe water

Ranjit S Chavan President, AIILSG

W

ater has been considered a great equalizer for centuries because all citizens of a city, whether a king or general public, drank the same water but this is not so anymore in most of our cities. Elites of our society are opting for ‘premium water’. Virat Kohli, Indian Cricket captain, was in news recently for his choice of drinking water that costs almost Rs 600 a litre and the bottled drinking water is imported from France. The water may be hyped a lot but the water is free to the public at the spring’s source location in Evian-LesBains, France.But the people in other part of the world are not so lucky.

Another company, Beverly Hills Drink Company, introduced their series of luxury drinking water to the Indian market. Their diamond studded white gold water bottle costs around 65 lakh rupees. Headquartered in Beverly Hills, California, USA, the bottled water is

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named Beverly Hills 9OH2O and it features superior spring water from 5000 feet up in the pristine southern California Mountains.Jon Gluck, Cofounder and President, Beverly Hills Drink Company says, “The taste of Beverly Hills 9OH2O is silky smooth, incredibly crisp, and remarkably light.”

I am not writing this article to promote the use of ‘premium’ water but just want to draw attention to the fact that our relationship with water is witnessing a great change. A necessity for survival is becoming a luxury for many. People in most of our cities do not trust drinking the ground water or the municipal supply. People have either installed water purifiers or use bottled water. But a large population in the country still relies on the municipal supply for their daily use of water.

Wherever you are in the world, it’s the poorest and least powerful who are most often without clean water. In a welfare state like India, governments need to think about the impacts of

the water-stressed situation on the marginalised sections of society.

Around 60 per cent of the human adult body is made up of water.And, most of the fatal diseases are waterborne. This underlines the significance of the requirement of clean water. The recent report by WaterAid ‘The Water gap: The State of the World’s Water2018’says, “around 289,000 children under five die each year of diarrhoeal illness directly linked to dirty water, inadequate toilets and poor hygiene...

Diarrhoea, skin conditions, infections, river blindness and trachoma can all be linked to dirty water, alongside poor sanitation and poor hygiene.

One in four newborn deaths is due to infections and sepsis that might have been prevented had the babies been delivered in places with safe water, decent sanitation and good hygiene.

Some 844 million people are now struggling to access life’s most essential requirement – almost 200 million more than previously counted.”...Water

is becoming scarcer in the Arab States and in the African Sahel, where it is already in short supply, and may start disappearing in Central Africa or East Asia, where it is currently abundant.

These regions could see declines of as much as 6 per cent of GDP by 2050 because of water-related impacts on

agriculture, health and income...”

India has initiated the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan that is gradually bringing about a change in people’s perception on the significance of cleanliness and sanitation. This will certainly have an impact on reduction in numbers of deaths caused by water-borne diseases.

However, India needs to work on the same because over 163,105,959 people do not have access to clean water and this is a worrying sign and needs a lot of work. However, India is also among the top two countries which have improved their situation and reached out to people.

Why this situation

A necessity for survival is becoming a luxury for many. People in most of our cities do not trust drinking the ground water or the municipal supply.

People have either installed water purifiers or use bottled water. But a large population in the country still relies on the municipal supply for their daily use of water. Wherever you are in the world, it’s the poorest and least powerful who are most often without clean water The top 10 countries with lowest access to clean water close to home – by population

1 India 2 Ethiopia 3 Nigeria 4 China 5 DRC 6 Indonesia 7 Tanzania 8 Uganda 9 Pakistan 10 Kenya

163,105,959 60,504,853 59,498,110 57,545,973 46,879,641 26,982,307 26,657,528 23,840,407 21,640,293 19,130,780

The collective effects emanating from growing populations, expanding cities, increasing agriculture and industrial activities are causing rise in the demand for water exponentially, while supply becomes more erratic and uncertain for millions of people.

All of us also need to judiciously decide water tariffs for household use, agriculture and industrial use so that the water is not wasted and at the same time, does not become unaffordable to common people. In India, agriculture accounts for almost 80 per cent of water requirement.

There is a need to think about smart agriculture techniques to conserve water. Policy level changes in allotment of water to farmers can also be thought of. This shall also ensure equitable distribution of water to everyone.

For example, the electricity supply to farmers is at a fixed price in many states and water pumps keep running even after the required use because the ecosystem of using water is not incentivised or penalised for extracting more water than required.

Municipal governments and other bodies which are responsible for providing adequate supply of water to households need to prioritize their plan of action for sustainable use of water in their respective territories. Many a times when the problem arises in a town or city, the blame game begins that clearly reflects lack of coordination between different agencies.

Access to water is about national, regional and local governments choosing to make water a priority, and dedicating funding and expertise accordingly. When governments don’t prioritise basic human needs for water, uneven distribution and shortages are the result.

www.urbanupdate.in | July 2018

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Article resilient city

Putting waste to work for green and resilient cities Across much of Asia the monsoon rains have arrived. They bring cool relief as each drop of rain rejuvenates parched gardens, reviving the dry and dusty trees offering precious shade in our concrete mega cities. This relief, however, is often short-lived. In many cities around the region, water is not absorbed due to heavily built-up urban areas, choking of the rivers, estuaries, streams, lakes, and wetlands that act as natural water channels of the urban watershed. As a result, the somber reality of conserving nature and optimizing resources looms with more urgency than ever before

Sonia Chand Sandhu Senior Advisor, ADB

N

ot long ago, development priorities swerved toward promoting the socalled “green economy.”

The Sustainable Development Goals further strengthened that momentum by articulating goals and targets to guide environmentally-sensitive and equitable growth.

The journey is complicated by rapidly dwindling natural resources from unsustainable consumption patterns as countries urbanize and grow wealthier.

A direct result is continuous generation of waste.

Even if consumption patterns are altered and waste generation minimized, waste creation will never cease.

There’s a silver lining to the “brown economy” in Asian cities

Current global waste generation is at about 1.3 billion tons per year and expected to increase to approximately

32 July 2018 | www.urbanupdate.in

2.2 billion tons by 2025. Over the next 15 years, per capita waste generation rates are expected to climb from 1.2 kg per person to 1.42 kg.

OECD countries contribute almost half the world’s trash. East Asia and the Pacific region add one-fifth, while Africa and South Asia produce the least waste.

In both rich and poor countries, about 59 per cent goes into landfills, leaving a growing share of scarce and valuable land unproductive. Organic trash, food we or animals eat, and horticultural waste makes up about half of global solid waste. Paper and plastic represent 27 per cent.

Pollution from trash dumping in waterways and on land spreads food and water-borne disease like hepatitis B and C, dysentery, cholera, typhoid fever, among others.

There is however, a silver lining to this “brown economy.” Waste can be an asset. Not making the most of it is a missed opportunity.

Include natural water channels in urban planning to optimize land use

Better waste management needs to be evaluated seriously in an integrated manner, with an emphasis on cobenefits. Solutions cannot come from one agency or within one sector alone, but rather across vertical and horizontal layers of governments, across sectors and within communities.

Although environment protection laws provide an anchor, the responsibility for managing waste lies with local governments, which are often constrained by skills, staffing levels and finances. Policies and regulations need to be accompanied by behavior change to address the root cause of the garbage problem.

In cities, co-benefits of integrating the natural network of water channels within a master plan framework would optimize land use and create an alternative transport network.

In the Philippines, an archipelago of

over 7000 islands where land is scarce, daily waste generation increased from 37,427.46 tons in 2012 to 40,087.45 tons in 2016 (approximately 14.672 million tons per year).

Metro Manila produces one-fourth of the country’s daily output of solid waste, according to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

The increase in trash cost taxpayers P1.84 billion ($34.5 million) in tipping fees alone.

Delhi, Manila urban waste management should target nallahs, esteros

The Philippine capital’s urban watershed constitutes around 273 esteros, creeks, and tributaries. These are clogged with waste and heavily encroached by informal settlers and commercial establishments, which constrains water absorption leads to frequent flooding. The virtual disappearance of esteros deprives the city of potential water transport which would ease traffic congestion.

A co-benefit of cleaning up the esteros would be easier water run-off and reduced flooding In New Delhi India, the “nallah” network—350 kms of natural drainage—is full of garbage, silt, sewage, and sludge. It is heavily encroached by informal settlements and over 280 hectares of land around the drains is not utilized.

Co-benefits of clearing this network

In New Delhi, the “nallah” network—350 kms of natural drainage—is full of garbage, silt, sewage, and sludge. Co-benefits of clearing this network would include walking and cycling paths for commuters, and reduced pollution would include walking and cycling paths for commuters, and reduced pollution through effective drainage, Moreover, it would recharge depleted ground water levels and enhance tourism. Some nallahs are 700 years old, and connect many of the city’s famous archaeological sites.Similar approaches could be taken at other cities across the region. In fact, not doing so is a further missed opportunity to leverage advances in technology and reinforce global commitments to innovate and provide financial incentives for resource recovery. One way of grasping such opportunities is through “GrEEEn” city action planning. This approach is based on the “3 Es” principles (environment, economy and equity), which can facilitate a shift towards monetizing waste in ways that optimize our environment assets while providing economic gains and equitable benefits.

6 economic gains from better urban waste management

The 3 Es encourage the optimization of the natural environment through master planning that integrates built and natural infrastructure and resource recovery through effective recycling of scrap metal, paper, glass, plastics and cardboard. This is already a large industry in many developed countries, but yet to take off in the developing world.

Waste to energy conversion for industry, residential and commercial use particularly for power generation and cement kilns should be a priority. This also enables companies to reduce their carbon footprint and access carbon credits.

The economic gains of better waste management are far-reaching and include: ♦♦ Revenue gains from tourism improvements. ♦♦ Taxes on importers and producers of waste. ♦♦ Organic waste turned into compost for fertilizer, construction materials and animal feed. ♦♦ Waste exchange programs bring stakeholders together for mutual gains. ♦♦ Enhanced revenue collection and fees by combining waste management bills with electricity bills (as in Mombasa) or water bills (as in Addis Ababa). ♦♦ Clean services can generate new livelihoods through resource recovery and operations and maintenance of natural water channels.

Landfills should be the absolute last option to limit their impact on people and the environment. Innovative financing and structuring co-benefits can incentivize policy makers, practitioners and citizens for mutual benefits and improved quality of life that green, resilient cities can produce.

(The author is Senior Advisor to the Vice President for Knowledge Management and Sustainable Development, ADB. The article was first published as an ADB blog)

www.urbanupdate.in | July 2018

33

Article waste water

India needs big policy push for treatment and reuse of urban wastewater

Ranjan K Panda Convenor, Combat Climate Change Network, India

N

ews of water scarcity fuels a lot of hue and cry in the nation, however when it comes to discussions about solutions we find very little engagement of people across all sections of the society. It is an irony that when the NITI Aayog released its Composite Water Management Index (CWMI) 2018, the scary water scarcity situation of India got huge media attention. In reality, the NITI Aayog report hardly says anything new about the water crisis we face today. Most of the data it uses are already in public domain. What’s new is the fact that the admission comes from a government body. What is also new is that the government think tank projects an intent to do something systematically through the developed index.

The index is the beginning of a new era of water management, the NITI Aayog claims. It would take at least half a decade to see if this index is technically working and then it can be modified. However, it will take at least thirty years, in my opinion, to gauge its effectiveness in managing India’s water resources sustainably. I say thirty years because that is the minimum period climate scientists take to understand a particular pattern of weather to be confirmed as a trend. Interestingly the CWMI does not factor in climate change. That’s a lacuna, among many, that one gets to see at a cursory reading of the tool.

Some of the indicators do deal with

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initiatives of the state governments that fall under climate change adaptation and hence we can say the tools have a scope to analyse such actions and rank the states accordingly. However, as the index is put to work and sharpens, may be the Aayog have to think of better ways to integrate climate actions as a tool of better and sustainable water management.

Same is with pollution of water bodies. The index does not factor in solid pollution control measures, even though it does talk about water reuse and recycling. That’s perhaps the reason why some of the most polluted states rank high in effective water management. In this article, we will delve into this aspect, especially in the context of the cities. One of the indicators does mention that contamination of water leads to 20 per cent of disease burden of the country and talks about capacity installed in the states to treat urban wastewater but this is not comprehensive.

Polluted rivers

The NITI Aayog says that 70 per cent of India’s water resources are contaminated and the country is placed at 120th position amongst 122 countries in the water quality index. In fact, our cities are responsible for most of the river pollutions in the country.I have earlier written in this column that pollution of our rivers has been growing by the years, and our cities are the main culprits. In fact, a comparison

of two reports of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has confirmed that number of polluted stretches of our rivers have doubled in just five years.

While in 2008, a total of 150 river stretches were polluted, it increased to 302 by 2012.

The latest that is available is a report of 2017 from 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. It was found out by the CWC that water quality at 67 locations is beyond the permissible limit.

Out of 67 sites, 14 sites fall in CategoryI that means the river there is severely polluted. 12 sites fall under CategoryII, 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 is severely polluted according to a latest report of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). According to this report, as I have already written in this column earlier, even bathing in the river could be fatal with the concentration of Faecal Coliform (FC) shooting up to 13 times than permitted limits in many stations.

Data mismatch

The NITIAayog tool does not comprehensively cover the pollution

data. In fact, data has been a big problem in India. There are many sources that generate data but there is hardly any coordination between all of them, even when they belong to some or the other wings of the governments. According to data released by the Government of India in December 2015, urban areas of India generated an estimated 62,000 million litres per day (MLD) sewage.

The CWMI covers data of only 33,699 MLD wastewater generated from urban areas of 23 states.

With regard to the information on treatment of wastewater too, the CWMI has not been able to provide concrete picture when it comes to the gap that exists between treatment capacity created and what is utilised. According to the Aayog, most large states have installed capacity to treat more than 50 per cent of their urban wastewater, but significant gaps remain. It has not been able to specify the gap. In relation to the large wastewater generating states such as Punjab, Maharashtra, Gujarat, and UP, the Aayog prefers to use a rather ambiguous statement, “they can potentially treat 65-100 per

cent of their urban wastewater”.

The Aayog further vouches for the larger states and informs that “In line with installed capacity, the treatment percentages vary from 25 per cent to 95 per cent for the larger states. Haryana is the leader and treats about 95 per cent of its wastewater. Rajasthan, in second position, appears to have significantly increased its treatment capacity in one year, and treats 71 per cent of its urban wastewater, up from 42 per cent in the base year of 2015-16.”

Creation of capacity does not necessarily mean actual treatment. The NITI Aayog admits that only one third of the wastewater generated is treated. Going by a 2009 report of CPCB on functioning of the Sewerage Treatment Plants (STPs), we found that the STPs were actually treating 81 per cent of their capacity. Other independent reports put the figure further low.

Treatment and reuse

The NITI Aayog index makes a right noise in this regard when it says, “It is imperative for the country to boost treatment of urban wastewater, both

to ensure that downstream areas are not contaminated, and to enable the reuse of water.” It gives the example of Israel that reuses 94 per cent of all water with a majority being used to meet 50 per cent of the country’s agricultural demand.

I was expecting that the Aayog does an evaluation of existing water treatment and reuse projects in India. According to a report by Price Waterhouse Coopers, the Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) has built a 40 MLD reuse plant in 2014 to supply reclaimed water to Pandesara industrial estate, the Chennai Metro Water Supply and Sanitation Board (CMWSSB) has awarded a PPP-based reuse project contract in 2016 to develop 45 MLD reuse capacity on the design, build, and operate (DBO) model to supply non-potable water to industries, Bengaluru’s water utility has built a 10 MLD tertiary treatment plant at Yellahanka that supplies reclaimed water to Bengaluru International airport, and Maharashtra Generation Company (MAHAGENCO) and Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) have jointly invested in a reuse project where treated water from an STP is further treated and used as cooling water.

There are already many such small examples throughout the country.

There is also reasonable policy push.

However, what India needs at the moment is a massive push for wastewater treatment, recycling and reuse in its urban areas. Municipalities and industrial houses need to strictly adhere to the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act of 1974 that mandates the discharge of only treated wastewater.

We just cannot afford polluting our rivers and water bodies; we cannot discharge even a single litre of polluted water into them. Water pollution multiplies the water scarcity woes as having contaminated water is like inviting disastrous consequences. And finally, sole reliance on STPs cannot help us treat all our urban wastewater.

As I have written in this column before, we need a multi-pronged decentralised approach of wastewater treatment and management that needs to integrate nature-based solutions.

www.urbanupdate.in | July 2018

35

Article plastic menace

The Challenge of Plastic is proving Stubborn Plastic pollution is a real challenge and scientists have alarmed the world about the threat imposed by the extensive use of plastics in real life items

Tikender Singh Former Deputy Mayor, Shimla

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uch has been touted by the ruling establishment in India about its commitment to meet the challenge of plastic pollution. Prime Minister Modi in one of his tweets on the World Environment Day (WED), exhorted the people to ensure that ‘our future generation lives in a clean and green environment’. Plastic

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pollution was the theme for the WED. The experts working in this field have however been sceptical about the manner in which the GOI is heading.

Raghu from the Delhi Science Forum writes that today nearly 300 million tonnes of plastic is produced in the world which is equivalent to the weight of the entire human population on the globe. Micro plastics have been found in 83 percent of drinking water samples collected from all over the world and Indiaranks third behind the US and Lebanon in the regard. The situation is precarious. But the point is, whether just a token on the day of WED would serve any purpose or something more needs to be done.

‘We the people’ a show on the NDTV hosted for this week debated the plastics impact on humans. Plastic has a ubiquitous presence in our

lives. No doubt it has revolutionised convenience. It has played a critical role in technological advancements from computers to replacement of heart valves. But it is now threatening plants, animals, marine and human life and hence interventions and regulations are required.

Where to start from

The point is where to start from? A complete ban on plastic may not be possible today. But starting from single use of plastics which comprises almost 40 percent of the total plastic produced can be easily done away with. But the reality in India is completely different from what Modi claims. The campaign and target on plastics reduction should not fall flat as it did for one of the flagship programmes-the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM).

There is a complete ban on coloured polythene bags in the country, but one can find them in abundance in almost every part of the country. Just in the backyard of the Prime Minister’s residence in Delhi one can easily find such coloured bags from the grocery shops and other vendors. So where is the will to implement the decisions taken?

Himachal has a different story to tell

The state of Himachal Pradesh in the Himalayas and particularly its capital city Shimla has shown the way in which an effective ban on all forms of polythene carry bags can be implemented. The journey to control polythene in Himachal Pradesh started from 1995 when a HP nonbiodegradable garbage (control) act 1995 was formulated. This then led in 1999, to the imposition of a ban on traders, retailers and vendors in the state of HP from using coloured polythene carry bags manufactured from recycled plastic. However, partial ban could not deliver the desired results. In 2011 the state government completely banned the use of polythene in all its forms. Many of the single use plastic items like plastic cups, glasses, plates and spoons were covered under this order dated March 19, 2011.

The HP High Court was also pro-active and in one of its orders in the CWP titled Sanjeev Kumar vs Union of India and others, the court asked the government of HP to take more stringent measures. In accordance with this order, in June 2013, the government further imposed prohibition on the traders, retailers and vendors in the state of HP and this covered from ‘store, supply to sale’ of non-biodegradable plastic material. The enforcement of this order was more interesting than the order itself. Earlier only the officers had the punitive powers of compounding for using such plastic material. With

the 2013 order, there were multiple agencies who were assigned the task of compounding users and vendors carrying plastic material which was covered under the above definition.

The three main agencies were the pollution control board, the local bodies and the police. The drive was massive in the initial days and in Shimla city when nearly 1162 cases were registered and a sum of Rs 9,48,950 was generated through this exercise. Both the state government and the city were serious about it. In the meantime, massive campaign was unleashed which was able to create the consciousness of dissuading people from using plastic bags.

The complete ban existed not just on production in HP but also sale of such polythene bags within the state territory. Initially there were cases of polythene bags being smuggled into the state from the borders of Punjab and Haryana but soon a crackdown was unleashed which restricted their sale in the state. This has created another small-scale industry where hundreds of families especially in the urban poor households started manufacturing newspaper made packets which are now widely used in the state.

The challenge is large and still remains

Despite an effective ban and its implementation, the challenge is immense especially for the mountain state as plastic packed milk packets continue to litter around. Similarly,

plastic packed noodles and similar stuff is rampant. New technologies have to be found so that the packaging industry is also motivated to find alternative packaging.

Another major challenge happens to be from the packaged water and beverages bottles. It is interesting to note that when the city of Shimla and the state were going ahead to even ban the plastic bottles (2014-15) completely, a big lobby of the beverages industry in the country played a significant role to prevent that. Alternatives were suggested where a buy back scheme will work and will effectively consume the plastic bottles. But the reality is very grim. This has not happened. Thousands of bottles are found littered around.

According to an estimate one million water bottles are bought every minute in the world. This shows the urgent need and the priority of intervention.

Why should one buy water in a bottle?

The obvious answer is that one cannot trust the water flowing from the tap or the kiosk and hence bottled water is a safe way of drinking water. It is here where the engagement with the state is required. For the simple reason if one goes through the mandate of either the parastatals or the municipalities responsible for distribution of water in the cities and the villages, it is clearly mentioned that they are supposed to provide potable water.

If that is the mandate then why should people be forced either to buy bottled water or these modern day RO filters. This debate of reducing plastic and provision to provide potable water is also interconnected. There has to be a complete protocol on water so that the consumers are not forced to buy plastic packed water which is more problematic than the tap water.As mentioned micro plastics have been found significantly in water samples.

The wonder substance called plastic as one of the commentators on the NDTV show exclaimed has revolutionised life but now it threatens the basic evolution of mankind and hence must be targeted not just for oceans, marine life,animal and plant life but for human lives -above all!

www.urbanupdate.in | July 2018

37

one on one Davesh Moudgil, Chandigarh Mayor

“States should share revenue with corporations to strengthen local governments: Davesh The HK Patil role of elected representatives in ULBs will decide the fate of the New Urban Agenda and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Abhishek Pandey, Editor of Urban Update, interviews Chandigarh Mayor Davesh Moudgil and speaks on various aspects of urban governance including the powers of mayors, the impact of 74th Constitutional Amendment Act (CAA) and the corrective reforms required to strengthen urban governance eco-system. Excerpts from the interview...

Abhishek Pandey Editor

The 74th CAA provided more powers to elected representatives in municipal governments. Are those powers adequate, or do mayors still feel the administrative and financial powers are still not enough to bring about a change?

25 years have passed since the 74th Amendment of the Constitution. I think the idea of the Amendment was how to strengthen urban local bodies.

This is my personal opinion that mayors still do not have enough powers. There are many discrepancies. In some cities, election of mayors is direct and in some places, it is indirect. In many states, the right to write Annual Confidential Report (ACR) of municipal officials is with mayors while in Chandigarh and many other cities, it is not so.

The most important thing is the tenure of mayors. The tenure of a

38 July 2018 | www.urbanupdate.in

mayor is only one year in a city like Chandigarh. There are many cities which have mayoral tenure of five years.

They should get adequate time to deliver what they promised to the people. One year is too short a time to execute any concrete development work. I think it’s a joke that a person is given one year to develop a city and to solve the city’s problems. As you are talking about funds and financial powers, when it comes to large scale projects, we seek assistance of central and state governments. If the governments really want to strengthen urban local bodies, the election of mayors should be direct, tenure should be at least five years and as per the recommendations of many finance commissions, states should share revenue with corporations.

The mayoral system in the country is not uniform. Why is there no voice from the mayors’ fraternity to bring corrective reforms in the system so that elected representatives can deliver desired results?

All India Mayor Council is already there. I haven’t heard of any meeting of the Council since I became the mayor.

I’ll raise my concern over two main issues. First, mayors should be elected directly by citizens so that his/her accountability is fixed towards people.

Second, people believe that the person they have elected will bring about changes but one year tenure is not enough to do so, s/he should be given adequate time to deliver and perform.

In existing system in Chandigarh, as soon as a person is elected, he starts packing his stuff to leave the position.

The political pressure is such that in one year of tenure, his last two months go inpreparing for the next election. In my opinion, local networking with citizens can be managed better by mayors rather than any other governing authority. The election of mayors should be direct and they should have five-year tenure for adequately implementing their plans for improving civic amenities in a city.

For example, look at the mayor of London or Washington. If they

announce on radio that a particular road is closed on a particular day then the road will be closed even for the President of the country. But mayors in India are still struggling for their basic rights. The important question is if the mayor himself is struggling for power then who will deliver and perform.

You just compared Paris and Chandigarh. But in Paris when pollution level arises, the mayor declared that public transport would be free for all until the pollution level came down. Do our mayors enjoy such powers? Do you think the mayors should haveadequate powers in areas such as public transport, pollution control and local development projects so that cities can be managed well?

And, one more thing, Union governments have started many urban transformation schemes such as Smart Cities Mission and AMRUT. It is a general feeling that these schemes, particularly Smart Cities Missionhas taken away the powers of mayors, what is your opinion?

When a mayor in the cities of the developed world announces something, people and authorities respect it. Mayor is known as the father of city. But in India, take the example of Chandigarh, there are many departments which are not under Municipal Corporation.

Transport department is not under corporation so mayors cannot take such decisions. Education and primary health departments are with the

If a junior engineer develops a project of a city then he would build a city of concrete. He will not think about the rights of pedestrians and cyclists. The planning department should be under Municipal Corporation or at least they should work with Municipal Corporation.

If the role of mayors and councilors is limited to cleaning of city streets and maintenance of parks and gardens, it will be unfair to people who have elected their representatives to run the cities

www.urbanupdate.in | July 2018

39

corporation but we don’t have enough rights. We just maintain the buildings.

Mayors can’t even write ACR of municipal officials. The point is if a mayor has no powers to make changes in the system for betterment of society, he cannot work.

Second, you mentioned Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) that is created under Smart Cities Mission has neglected the elected representatives.

Even the mayors of cities are not part of it. Though, we are working for Smart City Mission and trying to make PM Modi’s dream come true but until people’s representatives are not in the system, there will no control over the manner of its functioning.

If you talk in context of Chandigarh, a war for supremacy is going on. Who has the upper hand - is it the mayor or the commissioner? On first position general house is there which is mayor who talks about policies and planning, second is Finance and Contract Committee, and at third position is commissioner who is there to implement the schemes and policies. So in my opinion elected representatives should be given enough powers if you want to improve the democratic structure.In the end, I would like to say that a city plan and policy framework should be created with the partnership of local residents. I have implemented

40 July 2018 | www.urbanupdate.in

projects with public participation and this ensures their responsibility and accountability towards public property.

If we talk about government property, people neglect it, they think it’s their right to destroy it. But when people’s input is there in any project then they get attached to it emotionally.

In Chandigarh, the planning department is not under Corporation.

If a junior engineer develops a project of a city then he would build a city of concrete. He will not think about the rights of pedestrians and cyclists.

The planning department should be under Municipal Corporation or at least they should work with Municipal Corporation. If the role of mayors and councilors is limited to cleaning of city streets and maintenance of parks and gardens, it will be unfair to people who have elected their representatives to run the cities.

Chandigarh is known for its cycle and pedestrian-friendly streets. It is also the first planned city of India. What is so special about Chandigarh and what are your future plans for the city?

People of Chandigarh are aware, welleducated and sensitive towards the city.

Chandigarh is also known as ‘pampered city’.There is people’s involvement in city affairs. Pedestrians and cyclists get due respect on the streets of

our city. There is a large population whichtravels on foot and uses cycles.

There are over 1800 parks of varying sizes between 6 acres and 14 acres.

Almost all of them have walking tracks.

Public participation in maintaining these amenities is also high in our city.

There are three type of networks in Chandigarh and these arequite strong. There are Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs), Market Welfare Associations, and religious associations.Apart from these large networks, there is also a senior people’s association which consist of people who are the retired professionals who come up and share expertise for the city’s development. We provide them a platform of participation, we try to formulate schemes and policies with their consultation.

What do you think about your plan for Chandigarh City? What improvements you want to see during your tenure?

Chandigarh was the dream city of Pundit Jawaharlal Nehru and at present Prime Minister Modi’s dream Smart City. We need to balance these two visions. Chandigarh didn’t have any culture of its own. It was a new city and people from various parts having diverse culture came here and settled.

A city where so many people from such diverse backgrounds, cultures came

Public participation forums are instrumental in success of many of our projects because when people are engaged in the development of a city then they start to feel like it is their own and start to respect it. I am sure if the planning and architect department is under the corporation and the tenure of mayor is increased then city will prosper further together to live, it is difficult to take them in one direction.

It’s been like 50-60 years since Chandigarh City came into existence and gradually, it has developedits own culture. Those who are born in the city start to feel like it is their own.

Chandigarh has evolved as a city where people want to settle. World Heritage status has been given to us because Le Corbusier who was a French architect created a zone of Chandigarh that is known as Phase One like that of Lutyen’s Delhi in our National Capital, so we are trying to maintain it.

Open Hand Monument that is an identity of Chandigarh, Raj Bhawan, Vidhansabha, and UT Secretariat are those buildings which have been given status of heritage site. Public participation forums are instrumental in success of many of our projects because when people are engaged in the development of a city then they start to feel like it is their own and start to respect it. I am sure if the planning and architect department is under the corporation and the tenure of mayor is increased then city will prosper further.

The world is also discussing the Sustainable Development Goals and New Urban Agenda. What would be the contributions of mayors in achieving the objectives of these

international agendas?

See 17 goals have been decided, and we have to work upon them and implement them. Bureaucracy should work as per rules and regulations. If I say in context of mayor, as the tenure is of one year only, so before going we inform the new mayor that this much work have been done, and you should look after its future development. Every person has different caliber to do a certain workso one person does work according to his/ her caliber and potential.

Chandigarh is committed to achieve the 17 SDGs. We have already achieved some of these goals and we won’t face much problem. We are totally clear to achieve the objectives under the SDGs and New Urban Agenda. There is also misconception about the idea of smart cities. Smart cities does not mean that we need to facelift cities’ aesthetics, but these cities should be able to provide basic civic services to their citizens.

They should be provided with clean air, clean water, clean ambience, etc.

Today, we talk about 3R—Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle. Why is it needed?

The reason is that we have forgotten our roots and culture. I’ll wrap up this interview with one example that we use to hang jute bags behind our doors earlier, and whenever we went shopping we picked them before going out for shopping.

But today plastic waste is a big menace.

You tell me, where are the jute bags at homes? Who wants to keep them? We are also talking about back to basics.

We have to understand our culture, we can’t ignore it. We have to make a correlation of our core culture and objectives under New Urban Agenda and club them together to build our cities rather emphasizing only on policies under new agenda.

Thank you so much for talking to Urban Update. We would also like to know about your experience in this South Asian Cities Summit; we would also like to take your suggestion regarding this event, sessions, speakers, etc.

What could be the role of the South Asian Mayors Forum in making urban development sustainable?

I have attended the two-day event.

I think the sessions were good and relevant but the level of participation should be increased. You have called so many mayors to share their experiences and their thought process, some interactive mayor to mayor sessions should be organized for idea exchange purpose so that the mayors can discuss and share their problems with each other. I would like to congratulate AIILSG for organizing the South Asian City Summit and propelling dialogues for building future cities.

www.urbanupdate.in | July 2018

41

Travelogue Melbourne

Melbourne

Most Livable City in the World Australia – OZ as they say, is a perfect destination for travelers who seek to have an experience of varied nature, wildlife, culture and climate. The western coast of Australia offers a variety of beautiful beaches, rainforests, unique wildlife and entertainment parks in its coastal cities - Melbourne, Brisbane, Gold Coast, Cairns (famous for its Great Barrier Reef) and Sydney

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elbourne has been rated ‘The Most Livable City in the World’ (as per The Economist group) for 7 consecutive years taking into account its tremendous performances in safety, healthcare, education, infrastructure and environment.It is also one of the lowest-density cities in the world with higher per capita open space.

In 1835, British Monarchy sent

42 July 2018 | www.urbanupdate.in

Nancy Saxena Kapoor Urban Planner, AIILSG, New Delhi

Captain William Lonsdale to oversee the land sales near Port Phillip Bay, present day Melbourne, and a township was established. It was named after the British Prime Minister at the time, Lord Melbourne. Having been originally considered part of New South Wales, Victoria was established as separate colony in 1851. The discovery of gold in the 1850s is the most significant event in the evolution of the state of Victoria and by 1880s Melbourne

was considered one of the world’s biggest, booming and cosmopolitan cities of the era. This multicultural city was transformed in large part by the astonishing influx of immigrants after the second world war – many from the United Kingdom, but tens of thousands from Italy and Greece, as well as displaced European Jews. Then in the aftermath of the Vietnam War, Vietnamese immigrants came. These mass immigrations shook Melbourne

and clever planning brought the Central Business District (CBD) to life.

It is headed towards a population of five million and is predicted to overtake Sydney as Australia’s most populous metropolis by the 2030s. Each year the city is host to more than a million international visitors.

Focused around a Central Business District (CBD), metropolitan Melbourne’s suburbs spread more than 30kilometers in radius. The CBD is on the north bank of Yarra River and is approximately 5 kilometers inland from Port Phillip Bay, where most of the pretty suburbs are situated.

The city enjoys a temperate climate throughout with unexpected showers round the year. Tourist hotspots with historical importance such as Flinders Street Railway Station, Federation Square, National Gallery, Parliament House and St Paul’s Cathedral are a must visit. Melbourne has plenty of large boulevards and parks, however, the landscape of Fitzroy Gardens and Royal Botanic Gardens cannot be missed, as they have tall colorful trees surrounded by fountains, sculptures and other artifacts. Since streets of Melbourne are pedestrian-friendly, one must walk down the CBD area and its neighborhood to explore the shiny glass tall buildings and street-side cafes buzzing with tourists. Australia is not well-known for its cuisine, however, there are plenty of Indian, Chinese, Asian, and Greek restaurants in all parts of the city. Chinatown, situated inside CBD area of Melbourne is a famous hub for premium and fine dining offering a variety of seafood and continental cuisines.

Public transport

The Melbourne Tram and its network spread across the city, is a city-wide infrastructure that provides good last mile connectivity to its residents.

Running calmly across the entire length and breadth of the city, it asserts the local citizens to abandon their cars to commute from home to work and vice versa. To hop on one has to buy a Myki card and top-up with minimum 6 AUD. Additionally, the CBD area is declared

a Free Tram Zone - a good incentive for working population in CBD to commute internally via this mode of public transport. Special attention is given to non-motorized transport while designing streets by designating lanes for bicycles, wide pedestrian walkways, boulevards of dense trees, a blend of privately owned public spaces that lead to an array of parks and plazas. (Pretty much the ‘idealistic’ street sections we dream of!) The city offers free ‘Victoria Wi-Fi’ with a strong network in the CBD area. Significant capital investments in the infrastructure sector within the region have been done over the last couple of decades that have yielded positive results for the city such as sense of stability amongst its citizens, stateof-the art healthcare facilities, higher per capita green spaces and surge in real estate prices by approximately 1520 per cent annually in Melbourne.

Air quality index (AQI) of Melbourne (Average PM 2.5 level: 12) is much less as compared to New Delhi’s AQI (Average PM 2.5 level: 250). These reasons boost the livability index for Melbourne and make it an alluring deal for many foreign nationals to settle down here.

you spend at least a couple of hours at this market – you get cheap souvenirs, tribal artefacts, variety of clothes, Australian local products,fresh fruits & vegetables, meat and grocery. Streets of Melbourne are buzzing with souvenir shops that sell Australia’s aboriginal artworks like the handmade paintings, boomerangs and didgeridoo (aboriginal musical instrument). To explore nature and wildlife, there are plenty of options in and around Melbourne such as The Great Ocean Road tour to world famous ‘12 Apostles’ (self-drive car recommended), Phillip Island (to watch penguins marching back to land at sunset) and small wildlife parks to feed the hopping kangaroos and click a photograph with koalas (Fact: Koalas only eat Eucalyptus leaves and sleep up to 18-20 hours a day!).

Australians are very enthusiasts when it comes to sports and athletics.

Children playing and practicing athletics in parks and playgrounds is a common sighting across all cities and peri-urban areas. There is no

An enchanting tour of the biggest cricket stadium

The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) is recommended. The magnanimity of the ground that can host more than 1,00,000 spectators will leave you spellbound. The guide takes you around the cricket field, dressing rooms, player’s gallery and shares interesting historical facts about the groundduring the 1-hour tour. Did you know – MCG hosts more Australian football matches during the entire year as compared to Cricket matches (Australian football is different from conventional football).

The Cricket Museum at MCG is host to the ONLY original picture of the meeting of the two greatest cricket legends – Sir Donald Bradman and Sachin Tendulkar.

Tourists are supposed to visit the mighty Queen Victoria Market – it is a shopper’s paradise, to say the least!When in Melbourne, make sure

dearth for adventure sports like bungy jumping, rock climbing and sky-diving. as well as, water sports like surfing and rafting. More than 85 per cent of Australian population lives in its coastal cities, the central part of the country is quite dry and arid, thereby boosting economic and touristic activities on its coast. The modest culture of Australians gets reflected in the random interactionswithtourists and exchange of pleasantries with strangers. Melbourne in itself is truly a mesmerizing place with good quality of life index, making it the most livable and one of the most loveable city in the world.

www.urbanupdate.in | July 2018

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BOOK REVIEW GOOD READS

How to appreciate Mumbai The book is a well-crafted attempt to underline the importance of heritage architecture but it does not stop there as different essays by experts hold out for the readers different dimensions of this important and beautiful area of today’s crowded and uglier Mumbai.

Here you suddenly feel you are in a different world!

Abhilash Khandekar | Sr Journalist

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hen India’s commercial capital and the showcase city Mumbai (erstwhile Bombay) got drowned all over again and local train traffic was thrown out of gear in the first week of July, thanks to the torrential rains, I was in Mumbai and suffered the worst traffic jams outside the new and swanky International Airport. A part of Andheri railway foot over bridge had collapsed, most low lying areas were inundated with knee deep water, pedestrians had harrowing times and potholed roads had added to the extreme miseries of all. I (luckily) visited the area where the problem was comparatively less serious mainly due to the long-lasting planning and well maintained roads and open grounds in and around CST-truly a beautifully conserved heritage zone.

Mumbai has its own unique character, its own high points in urban governance as also its lows. The ancient city is unique because it has multiple identities which no other Indian city can match, such as its international financial hub, thriving Bollywood industry, underworld activities, rich cultural canvas, old world charm and cosmopolitan outlook, to name just

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a few. The city lives with its image of simultaneously having the largest and filthiest slums cluster in Dharavi and also a very shining business district like BKC that can compete with any global city. In my attempt to introduce various cities through different authors’ eyes, I have perhaps not reviewed many books on Mumbai for the readers of Urban Update. And as you all know, Mumbai has inspired many authors to do books on different occasions and on different concepts covering the dynamic city.

So here is a slightly old book

(published in 2008) but one which has a very long shelf life that can sustain a reader’s interest over many more years to come. This edited volume contains superb articles on the heritage side of the city. In all, 17 experts (sociologist, photographer, conservation architect, academician, historian, banker, journalist and theatre artist etc.) from different fields have contributed 20 essays to put together this highly readable book. This book is also for those who know Mumbai and wish to know more and for those who have only

Book Zero Point Bombay In and around Horniman Circle Publisher Roli Books Pages 176 Price Rs 695 Recommendation Must for personal library

Good

Reads

heard of the city’s myriad stories from a distance. The book brings to a cross section of people very close the Mumbai or what was once called ‘Mombaim’.

Incidentally, Mombaim was ceded to Portugal by the Sultan of Gujarat in 1534 and was the less important of Portuguese territories, compared to Bassein and Thana.

In fact, when the famous Asiatic Society of Mumbai (established in 1804 by Sir James Mackintosh) completed 200 years in 2004, a group of enlightened Mumbaikars and members of the Asiatic Society (earlier Bombay Literary Society) thought of organising walks in the Town Hall area where the Society’s library is located.

Asiatika-A walk through the Town Hall was an event started to make visitors to the Town Hall acquainted with the history of the area, its by-lanes, book shops, eateries of the famous Fort area.

Idea was to make people aware of the heritage of this area full of important institutions and buildings such as the RBI (established in 1935), Town Hall, Horniman Circle, St Thomas Cathedral, Bombay University (1857) and let them know the interconnections of these institutions. The genesis of this book lay in the numerous walks conducted with enthusiastic youths that actually brought many of the members of the Asiatic Society closer to the physical and historical beauty of Horniman Circle.Hence we get to know - who was Horniman? What was the importance of having RBI, the Mint House away from Delhi? How did Bombay Stock Exchange start in Mumbai? Who were the visionary men behind creating such beautifully designed and functional institutions like Asiatic Society? And the importance of the architecture of the precinct and so on.Horniman Circle was earlier known as Elphinstone Circle, named after the former Governor but was later changed to honour an Irish journalist Benjamin Guy Horniman, the former editor of Bombay Chronicle and a supporter of Indian national cause.

The book is a well-crafted attempt to underline the importance of heritage architecture but it does not stop there as different essays by experts hold out

for the readers different dimensions of this important and beautiful area of today’s crowded and uglier Mumbai.

Here you suddenly feel you are in a different world! The authors have taken pains not to confine themselves to mere architecture of buildings but also their tangible and intangible heritage.

For instance, in the article on Asiatic Society, the author (Kamla Ganesh) calls it both “a library and a learned society”.

Indeed, in Mumbai’s intellectual life this institution has had a very distinct and dominating role. Besides telling the selective socio-economic history of the city in a style that is quite unusual what makes this book highly engaging for any common reader is that while capturing the history of the city, using black and white photographs, the book explores new dimensions of this very special urban precinct. History is unfolded in such a manner that you are forced to go from one chapter to another with a lot of ease.

Gita Chadha, a sociologist, takes you around various well-known book shops and introduces roadside book vendors and relates them to the intellectual atmosphere that floats in the air.

People’s Book House, Strand Book Stall, Chetana Book Center, Ballard Estate’s Book Point, a subsidiary of Orient Longman Publishers, and such book stores that not only possessbooks but they trigger animated discussions, attract the city’s top intellectuals and open a window into the Horniman Circle complex continuum of the past and the present. Book Point and the more famous Strand Book Stall (TN Shanbag started it in 1948) catered to a wider audience but in a certain oldfashioned colonial style. Strand was one shop where many top journalists, writers and theatre personalities would make regular visits. Shanbag was a darling of newspaper columnists and would feature in Sunday supplements and literary pull outs very often due to his deep understanding of literary classics and world’s best authors in times when there was no internet.

Young Shanbag was once humiliated for touching a book in a large book store and there he decided to open a book

shop of his own; with the owner of Strand Cinema, KekiMody, he opened the shop where access to Saraswati, the goddess of knowledge, would not be restricted to the elite but would be open to a wider section of people. So Strand, as the writer enlightens us, would offer huge discounts to lay readers out of its owner’s love for books.

In another chapter, Jamshed Kanga, a former IAS officer, gives the readers a peep into heritage conservation movements of Mumbai where the awareness for heritage began as late as 1970s. The existing Development Control Regulations of the Government had no provisions to prevent destruction of heritage building by its owners. Maharashtra Government then formed a working group under Kanga and the Kanga Committee, as it was called then, recommended preservation of a number of monuments and structures. By January 1991, as many as 624 buildings and precincts were identified for protection. The heritage regulations were later extended to public buildings, private houses in Pune, Nasik and Nagpur. The book recounts contributions of authors, intellectuals, activists, bureaucrats and sociologists in helping maintain the beauty of this historic region of the city which the authors suggest, needs to be experienced by walking its lanes and appreciating the architectural styles of structures and the contents of books shops, eateries and various leading institutions such as Asiatic Library, Museum and Mumbai University.

Any city across the world is seldom known for its glass paneled star hotels or expensive hospitals but for its glorious heritage, educational institutions and lasting architectural style of its public buildings and decently maintained civic spaces.

This book introduces Mumbai to readers through an architect’s eye and tells some gripping stories like a matured historian about things that are easily visible but least understood.

(The author is a senior journalist and can be contacted at his Twitter handle Abhikhandekar1 and on mail kabhilash59@ gmail.com)

www.urbanupdate.in | July 2018

45

Urban Agenda water bodies

Cities, citizens must stop polluting water bodies When India is staring at an impending water crisis, the pollution in its water bodies remains the key challenge to ensure sustainable management of available water resources

Ashok Wankhade Managing Editor

W

ater is the lifeline of our communities and environment.

Aseries of emerging water challenges are posinga threat to the reliability of water resources. Our rivers and lakes are choking with sewage sludge, religious offerings, plastic, human bodies and what not. Even the industrial and municipal sewage directly go to rivers in most Indian cities. All of us have seen snow-white froth in lakes and rivers that is created because of concoction of chemicals. The situation in Bellandur Lake in Bengaluru and Yamuna River in Delhi are the perfect examples. According to a study by Karnataka Pollution Control Board, none of the 67 lakes surveyed in Bengaluru had water fit for drinking.

The situation is so bad in Bengaluru that people have also witnessed the strange incident of lakes catching fire because of excessive disposal of industrial and chemical effluents into the lakes.

Water in our rivers and lakeshas become so polluted that it is not safe enough to bathe in. It is evident that water supply to households may be a municipal subject but the control of water resources is either with state or central governments. There is no doubt that cleaning of rivers cannot be done by municipal bodies because of their

46 July 2018 | www.urbanupdate.in

present condition. They neither have the resources nor the technical ability to play an important role in cleaning of rivers.

Since rivers flow across many cities and states, the role of central government become important. However, municipal corporations can play a constructive role in cutting down on their disposal of sewage into rivers and implementing stringent rules so that people do not throw trash in water bodies. According to government reports, the main source of river and lake pollution is disposal of municipal sewage which accounts for almost 75 per cent.

Create ‘Respect Water’ culture

India is a religious country. It is the host of the biggest congregation of people along the river-Kumbh Melain which people take a dip on auspicious days.The role of rivers and water bodies is essential in performing various religious rituals.

Despite having such a godly role of water bodies in our culture, water bodies do not get the respect they deserve.

According to a survey by Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) on the sewage generation from Class – I and Class – II towns in March 2015, it was estimated that around 61,948 Million Litres per Day (MLD) sewage is being generated from these towns against

which total sewage treatment capacity available was 23,277MLD, or only 37 per cent of the sewage generation. The cities and towns have not created adequate systems for sewage collection and its treatment and thus untreated waste water either goes into rivers or lakes or remains inundated on land causing ground water contamination.

National River Conservation Directorate (NRCD) under Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has also suggested that there is need to reduce the water footprint, including water conservation in the agriculture, industrial and other sectors.

The savings in consumption of water will help to allocate more flow for ecological considerations in rivers. It also underlined the need for ensuring minimum/adequate flow in the rivers throughout the year, especially in the lean flow season. However, all these rules and regulations just remain on paper and there is hardly any serious implementation on ground. The state of our rivers tells the reality. If we are really serious to save our rivers, we as a community need to stand up and take initiatives collectively. People are joining hands together to save lakes in Bengaluru so are others in many cities along the Ganga River but their efforts need a ‘policy push’ for quick results.

Rethink cities with AIILSG SMART CITY

As the old adage goes, Rome wasn’t built in a day. Neither any other city. And, of course not alone. AIILSG provides expertise to urban local bodies and state governments for buildings cities from scratch or retrofitting existing ones with technology enabled interventions. AIILSG team has developed city development plans of many cities including that of Mumbai. The institute has also prepared smart city plans for Raipur, Bilaspur, Faridabad, Karnal and also of state funded smart cities of Chhattisgarh—Rajnandgaon, Korba.

AIILSG is also advising a Swedish consortium for Smart City investment and implementation.

All India Institute of Local Self-Government (AIILSG) whole heartedly supports Swachh Bharat Mission and is committed to play a proactive role to realise its objectives.

The institute is organising regular orientation workshops on SBM to augment the capacity of ULBs and also generating public awareness on cleanliness

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