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Staying cool without air conditioner
OUR ExCESSIVE DEPENDENCE on industries and technology has given rise to climate change, and contributed heavily to increase of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions. Air conditioners are well-known energy guzzlers and emitters of harmful gases into the atmosphere. In this scenario, experts are increasingly appreciating and relying on traditional knowledge systems to replace today’s ecologically unsustainable practices. Eastgate Centre in Harare, Zimbabwe’s capital, is one such building which is using a traditional, non-technological way to keep cool in the heat. Being inspired from indigenous Zimbabwe masonry and termite mounds, it’s designed in a way that the temperature stays regulated all the year round, while only using a tenth of the energy used in any other building.
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nEWSCAn Robots will be used for manhole cleaning in Mumbai
MUMBAI: The Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Eknath Shinde, announced that robots will now be used for cleaning manholes across Mumbai. The announcement came during the inauguration of the Clean Maharashtra Mission 2.0. Various ministers and officials from the Government of Maharashtra, including Devendra Fadnavis, Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra, were also present during the inauguration ceremony at Yashwantrao Chavan Foundation, Main Auditorium. In this exhibition, urban local bodies across Maharashtra gathered to showcase their cleaning and safety equipment that is being used for sanitation. The Bandicoot developed by Genrobotics was the key highlight of the exhibition. The robotic scavenger is being used by Ullhasnagar and Dhule Municipal Corporation for the maintenance of manholes in their area of jurisdiction. It is equipped with gassensing technology to detect hazardous gases, thus minimising the risk of accidents inside manholes. The robot emerged victorious in the Swachhta Start-Up Challenge for being the best innovative solution to eliminate manual scavenging in September 2022. The challenge was organised by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Government of India. It is also being praised for its efficiency as it can clean around ten manholes in a day while a manual scavenger can only cover one or two.
PUDUCHERRY: The Department of Women and Child Development (WCD), Government of Puducherry, has come up with a policy for the rescue and rehabilitation of street children. The policy promotes direct participation by the District Child Protection Unit, non-governmental organisations, volunteers, Childline India, and other stakeholders in identifying hotspot areas. Based on previous learning and experiences, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), in discussion with Save the Children, a non-governmental organisation, has developed a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) to rescue and rehabilitate street children. The policy defines street children as those living without support, children who ran away from their families and are living on the streets or living with a family, and children who go back to their families after work.
The framework of the SOP will include minimum standards of care and protection of the children, access to foster care, and sponsorship as per requirement. The Department of Women and Child Development will be the nodal agency and will ensure all the district collectors’ effective implementation of the SOP. The responsibility will be given to the urban local bodies, municipalities, and commune panchayats to identify hotspots and ensure proper data collection.
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Karnataka secures 6th position in PAI 2022
The state of Karnataka has taken the sixth spot in the Public Affairs Index (PAI) 2022 rankings, released on Friday, October 14, by Public Affairs Centre (PAC), a Bengaluru based think tank. Haryana, Tamil Nadu and Kerala were the top three performers in this index. PAI evaluates the performance of the states on the basis of 22 indicators grouped into three themes: economic justice, political justice and social justice. Karnataka has been grouped with the poor performing states in sectors like governance while in terms of social justice the state has been ranked 10th.
Govt of Delhi raises minimum wages
The Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi has increased the minimum wages for unskilled, semi-skilled, and skilled workers ahead of Diwali. Manish Sisodia, Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi has said that this will provide them with relief from inflation. The revised wages are applicable from October 1. According to a statement from the Delhi government, wages for unskilled workers will rise from `16,506 to `16,792, from `18,187 to `18,499 for semi-skilled workers, and from `20,019 to `20,357 for skilled workers.
nEWSCAn NGT imposes `3,800 cr fine on Telangana for waste management failure
HYDERABAD: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has slapped a fine of `3,800 crore on the Government of Telangana for failing to treat solid and liquid waste generated in the state as mandated by the Supreme Court order in 2017. In 2017, the apex court had given a deadline of April 2020 for all the states to establish the necessary facilities to treat all the solid and liquid waste generated in the state.
The bench also asked the state government to form an operative mechanism with the help of which service providers can execute their work concerning solid and liquid sewage waste management across all the districts, cities and towns at the same time. The court added that the Chief Secretary, Government of Telangana, can designate a nodal officer at the Additional Chief Secretary rank who would monitor and assess the progress of solid waste management in the state. As per the order of NGT, the restoration measures include establishing sewage treatment and utilisation facilities, enhancing the capacity of existing sewage treatment plants, ensuring the compliance of standards regarding decal coliform and establishing sewage and sludge management facilities in rural areas. Additionally, the Chief Secretary should file a biannual progress report with verifiable progress on the issue.
UP: Four more ULBs to issue municipal bonds
LUCKNOW: More municipal organisations in Uttar Pradesh (UP) will use the capital market to pay for costs associated with development projects. Following the lead of Lucknow and Ghaziabad, other civic bodies will also issue municipal bonds now. Varanasi, Kanpur, Agra, and Prayagraj Municipal Corporations have been given the go-ahead to begin the bond issue preparations by Amrit Abhijaat, Principal Secretary, Urban Development in UP. These bonds would be between `100 and `100 crore in size and lodged with financial institutions. Abhijaat said that the civic bodies needed money to enhance infrastructural facilities and continue work on various initiatives in these cities. Mahamilind Lal, the Financial Controller of Jal Nigam, has been assigned by the Government of Uttar Pradesh as the nodal officer for the bond issues. For floating bond issues, municipal corporations would enlist the assistance of the nodal officer. Credit rating firms have also been asked to provide municipal corporations with a credit rating. The UP government had permitted the municipal corporations in Lucknow and Ghaziabad to issue bonds in 2019, which were highly successful. These corporations were then rated by companies that the Securities Exchange Board of India has approved. BrIEfS
Kochi needs to strategise to combat Climate Change
There is an urgent need for Kochi, which, being a coastal city is more vulnerable to rising sea levels, to come up with a strategy to combat the effects of Climate Change, according to Sarada G. Muraleedharan, Additional Chief Secretary, Local Self-Government Department, Government of Kerala. Civic bodies must go beyond routine administrative tasks and put up visionary plans while working to raise their own funds. If there is concentrated effort, she noted, modern garbage treatment systems, slaughterhouses, and litter-free public spaces are easily achievable.
UN Chief Guterres’s message on the occasion of World Habitat Day
On World Habitat Day, Antonio Guterres, United Nations Secretary-General shared his message on the rapid and unplanned urbanization worsening many of the challenges faced by people. He said that the number of people living in overcrowded settlements with inadequate housing is rising every day. World Habitat Day’s theme for this year is ‘Mind the Gap. Leave No One and No Place Behind’, which highlights the fact of the widening inequalities across the world. UN Chief emphasised on innovative solutions to address inequalities, to ensure adequate shelter for all and tackle climate challenges.
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President felicitates winners of Swachh Survekshan 2022
NEW DELHI: The President of India, Droupadi Murmu, felicitates the cleanest states and cities during an award ceremony held under the title Azadi@75 Swachh Survekshan 2022 as part of the Swachh Bharat Mission Urban 2.0. The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Government of India, held the award distribution ceremony on October 1 at Talkatora Stadium, New Delhi. The event also celebrated eight years of the Swachh Bharat Mission, launched in 2014, and the first anniversary of the Swachh Bharat Mission – Urban 2.0. During the celebration, the states/ union territories (UTs) and towns and cities that have achieved excellent results in the field of cleanliness and sanitation received the Swachh Survekshan 2022 Awards and certificates for Garbage Free Cities (GFC).
Murmu launched the Swachh Survekshan 2022 Dashboard and presented around 12 awards. Indore, the city of lakes, again emerged as the ‘Cleanest City’ in the country for the sixth consecutive year in the ‘more than 1 lakh population’ category. Surat emerged as the second ‘Cleanest City’ in the same category for a second time in a row, followed by Navi Mumbai in the third place.
In the ‘less than 1 lakh’ population category, Panchgani from Maharashtra came first, followed by Patan from Chhattisgarh in the second position and Karad, again from Maharashtra, was placed in the third position.
Tirupati from Andhra Pradesh was awarded the best city in the Safai Mitra Suraksha Challenge, and Haridwar in Uttarakhand was declared the best Ganga town in the ‘more than 1 lakh population’ category. On the other hand, Shivamogga in Karnataka received the fast mover city award. Indore was also declared the first 7-star Garbage Free City in India. Similarly, Surat, Bhopal, Mysuru, Navi Mumbai, Vishakhapatnam and Tirupati received the 5-star Garbage Free certification.
Surprisingly in the state-level awards, Madhya Pradesh was declared the cleanest state in India in the ‘more than 100 urban local bodies’ (ULB) category pushing the state of Chhattisgarh into second place. For the last three years, Chhattisgarh has occupied first place. The coastal state of Maharashtra emerged as the third cleanest state in India.
In the ‘less than 100 ULB’ category, Tripura emerged as the top performer pushing Jharkhand into the second position, which was winning the cleanest city award for the last two years. The Himalayan state of Uttarakhand became the third cleanest state in this category.
This year, Swachh Survekshan recorded the participation of 4,355 cities and collected feedback from over nine crore people, while last year, it was only five crore. Out of 22 states and five UTs awarded this year, eight states received more than ten awards each. On the other hand, eight states and five UTs have shown improvement spanning between five to 25 per cent compared to their overall performance last year. Similarly, four out of the eight northeastern states have shown considerable improvement.
Additionally, 10 Cantonment Boards (7 last year) and 2 Ganga Towns have been awarded this year. Smaller cities with a recorded population of less than 25,000 have admirable performance securing around 40 awards.
The Star Rating Protocol was launched in 2021, aiming to evaluate the performance of the cities based on solid waste management parameters. Around 3,600 cities have applied for the assessment this year, while only 2,238 cities applied last year. There were 11 five-star cities, 182 three-star cities and 218 one-star cities in this year’s assessment which highlights the aspiration of cities to attain Garbage Free City status.
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415 million people uplifted from poverty between 2005-06 to 2019-21: UNDP
NEW DELHI: According to the latest Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) released by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI) at the University of Oxford, 415 million people in India were uplifted from poverty between 2005-06 and 2019-21. According to the report, “Sustainable Development Goal target 1.2 of reducing at least by half the proportion of men, women and children of all ages living in poverty in all its dimensions according to national definitions by 2030 is possible to achieve and at scale.”
India has the world’s largest population of poor people, 228.9 million, followed by Nigeria, based on population data from 2020 (96.7 million projected in 2020). Despite advances, the COVID-19 pandemic’s adverse impact on growth and rising food and energy costs continue to threaten India’s population. Despite enormous progress, it will be difficult to eradicate poverty for the 228.9 million poor people in 2019–2021, especially as the number has probably increased since the data collection.
In 2019–21, there were still 97 million more poor children in India than there were poor people overall, including adults and children, in any other nation, as per the global MPI. However, the data doesn’t cover changes after the pandemic.
According to the research, 1.2 billion people live in acute multidimensional poverty in 111 nations. 593 million of these people, or 50 per cent, are under 18. The study examines the prevalent deprivation profiles among 111 emerging nations. The most prevalent profile, affecting 3.9 per cent of the poor, involves deficiencies in all four indicators: housing, sanitation, cooking fuel, and nutrition. Over 45.5 million people are poor in only these four parameters. According to the report, this group is primarily South Asian, with 34.4 million living in India, 2.1 million in Bangladesh, and 1.9 million in Pakistan.
In rural areas, 21.2 per cent of the population lives in poverty, compared to 5.5 per cent in urban areas. Nearly 90 per cent of the world’s poor live in rural areas; 205 million of the world’s 229 million impoverished people reside there, making rural areas a clear priority. In India, the researchers noted that more than one in five children (21.8 per cent) are poor, compared to roughly one in seven adults. This equates to 97 million underprivileged kids.
India is the only country in South Asia where families headed by women are much more likely to be poor than those headed by men. In female-headed homes, 19.7 per cent of the population lives in poverty, compared to 15.9 per cent in male-headed households. A woman is the head of one in every seven households, meaning 39 million people live in poverty.
According to the report, India’s decrease in MPI value remained propoor in absolute terms as it had been from 2005-2006 to 2015-2016. Rural areas had the lowest MPI values and were the poorest. In rural areas, the prevalence of poverty decreased from 36.6 per cent in 2015–2016 to 21.2 per cent in 2019–2021, and in urban areas, it slipped from 9 per cent to 5.5 per cent. The MPI value decreased the fastest in children, the age group with the most poverty. Children’s poverty rates decreased from 34.7 per cent to 21.8 per cent, and adults’ poverty rates dropped from 24 per cent to 13.9 per cent.
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India reveals its Long-Term Low Emission Development Strategy at COP27
SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt: Bhupendra Yadav, Minister for Environment Forest and Climate change, Government of India, submitted India’s Long-Term Low Emission Development Strategy (LT-LEDS) on Monday, November 14, during the 27th Conference of Parties (COP27) at Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt.
Last year during COP26, the Prime Minister of India introduced the longterm goal of India, that is, becoming a net zero country by 2070. Apart from that, four other updated nationally determined contributions introduced that day include reaching 500 GW nonfossil energy capacity by 2030, meeting 50 per cent of energy requirement through renewables, cutting projected carbon emissions by one billion tonnes and reducing emission intensity by 45 per cent at 2005 level, all to be achieved by 2030.
Key elements of the LT-LEDS strategy include the low-carbon development of electrical systems in India, the development of integrated, efficient and inclusive low-carbon transport and industrial systems and the promotion of energy and material efficiency in buildings. Apart from that, the strategy also focuses on CO2 removal and related engineering solutions, increasing forest and vegetation cover while keeping in mind the economic and financial aspects of low-carbon development for the country. The first key element of the LT-LEDS strategy includes several sub-elements such as expanding renewables and strengthening the grid, exploration and promotion of low carbon technologies, demand side management, rational use of fossil fuel that does not compromise the energy security of the country, and lastly, determining green taxonomy and optimum energy mix. The second key element is greening the transport sector, especially road transport, including passenger and freight, which have the lion’s share with a massive 92 per cent in the transport sector’s total emissions. LT-LEDS strategy encourages improved fuel efficiencies, a phased transition to clean fuels, and model shift towards less polluting modes of public transport. It also includes electrification across different modes and traffic management.
For the sustainable development of urban systems in India, this strategy aims to mainstream adaptation measures in the built environment, promoting resourcing efficiencies in system guidelines, policies and bylaws. The strategy also seeks to introduce the elements of climate resilience in the building design and construction of all future urban systems. Along with it, the strategy stresses ensuring low-carbon municipal service delivery through resource efficiency and management of water, solid and liquid waste.
Reducing carbon emission from industrial system LT-LEDS aims to increase the use of natural and biobased materials, fuel switching and use of electricity in the manufacturing sector as far as possible, enhancing material efficiencies and recycling, thus strengthening the concept of the circular economy. Green hydrogen technology and low carbon sustainable growth of micro, small and medium enterprises have been given due stress in the strategy.
For the development of CO2 removal technology, the strategy seeks international support in technology transfer, financial support and cooperation in research and innovation.
The country’s commitment towards the conservation and promotion of biodiversity is also included in the LT-LEDS. It also includes restoration, conservation and management of the plant, animal and microbial genetic resources and trees outside forests and simultaneously strengthening the institutional framework in the states concerning this sector.
However, the strategy makes it very clear that the country’s commitment towards transition towards a low-carbon economy should not compromise energy security, energy access and employment opportunities, thus following the principles of climate justice that India stands for. India recognises that climate change is a global problem and all countries should come together in times of crisis. But global climate action should be based on the principle of equity and the concept of common but differential responsibilities and respective capabilities (CBDR-RC) enshrined in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate change (UNFCCC).
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Urban Mobility India Conference & Expo UMI holds discussion on efficient urban transport
KOCHI, KERALA: Urban Mobility India (UMI) Conference and Expo 2022 was held in Kochi from November 4-6, 2022. Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), Government of India, and Chief Minister of Kerala Pinarayi Vijayan jointly inaugurated the event on November 4, 2022.
The theme of ‘Azadi@75 – Sustainable Aatmanirbhar Urban Mobility’ was the main focus of the UMI Conference Cum Expo 2022. The discussions were focused around making transport in cities efficient and sustainable. The conference’s main goal was to enlighten the cities and keep the attending officials up to date on the most cutting-edge and effective urban strategies being used throughout the world. This is related to the government’s National Urban Transport Policy (NUTP) 2006, which places a heavy emphasis on developing state and local capacity. Innovations in the field of technology have led to more cost-effective alternatives for medium sized cities like Metro Neo and Metro Lite instead of traditional Metro Rail. The desired end goal of all these developments is ultimately minimising the need and use of personal transport in favour of public transport. Towards this end, the event saw participation of national and international experts from urban transport sector.
The event was organized by the MoHUA in collaboration with Government of Kerala at Hotel Grand Hyatt Kochi, Kerala. Participants at this event included senior policymakers from the central and state governments, CEOs of transportation companies, managing directors of metro rail companies, and international experts, professionals, academicians, and students. The three-day conference had 10 technical sessions, five round table discussions, one conclave, two plenary sessions, and eight research symposiums.
The Expo at the 15th UMI Conference focussed on local people’s transportation and numerous developments in this area. From Chennai to Delhi, all of
the nation’s Metro Rail Corporations had booths set up for the event. In a session on ‘Climate Change and Urban Transport Impact,’ discussions included greenhouse gas emissions, challenges before electric vehicles, etc. Drawbacks of electric vehicles, including the lack of parking spaces and charging stations, were also discussed.
Hardeep S Puri acknowledged that other nations’ best practices and lessons have been included into the Indian Urban Mobility Systems and remarked that we have been able to learn from their experiences. Regarding the rapid development of Indian metro lines in global context, Puri stated that as of September 2022, 810 km of metro lines are operational in 20 cities and a network of more than 980 km of metro network and Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) is currently under construction in 27 cities. At present, India has the fifth-largest metro network in the world, and will soon overtake advanced economies such as Japan and South Korea to become the third-largest network.
Loknath Behera, Managing Director, Kochi Metro Rail Limited, in a message said, “After the operationalisation of Kochi Metro Rail in 2017, the city is going to witness the launch of the world’s largest fleet of batteryoperated passenger boat under single command – Koch Water Metro. Now, the effort is to have an intermodal integrated transportation system in the city of Kochi – ‘one card for all public transport.’”
A total of eight sessions took place on day three, including four research symposiums on topics like, ‘Smart City, Smart Mobility and Sustainable Urban Freight’, ‘Public Transport and Non-Motorised Transport (NMT)’, ‘Traffic Engineering’, and ‘Safety and Emissions’. In the first session of the concluding day, the topic of discussion was ‘Future Fuels’ which focused on alternative ways to reduce overdependence on fossil fuels for transport in the urban
UMI Conference cum Expo 2022- Award Winners for Excellence
Award Category Project
♦ Most Sustainable Transport System Ahmedabad Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) ♦ Best Public Transport System Modernized & Sustainable City Bus Service Initiatives, Navi Mumbai
context with technology and policy adaptation. The session was chaired by Ravi Prakash, Director of Urban Transport, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Government of India, and moderated by Abhijit Sarkar, ExSecretary (State Transport Authority), Delhi. The second session centered around the topic of ‘Multimodal Integration’. The session had an extensive discussion on integrated multimodal mobility in cities and the ways to promote people-oriented sustainable transport systems in urban areas. This session was chaired by Dr. Sanjeev Kumar Lohia, Senior Advisor (Rail and Urban Mobility), World Bank.
Round table sessions were also held on subjects including ‘street for all’ and ‘sustainable transport development- focus on E-Mobility’. The day also witnessed a plenary session on ‘Urban Mobility- Vision 2047’.
An award ceremony also took place where the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) won the ‘Commendation Award’ in the ‘Metro Rail with the Best Multimodal Integration’ category. On the concluding day, Governor of Kerala Arif Mohammed Khan who was the Chief Guest for the evening expressed his satisfaction with the conduct of the conference and stated, “I hope it led to the sharing of experiences and generation of new ideas that would help create sustainable Aatma Nirbhar Urban Mobility.” Apart from these awards three other prizes for best research paper were distributed during the Conference. First prize was given to Furqan A Bhat, IST Lab, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore and second and third prize were given to Ubaid Illahi, IST Lab, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore and Sarah Alexander, Centre of Excellence in Urban Transport, CEPT University, respectively.
