Urban Update November 2017

ISSN 2349-6266 RNI No DELENG/2014/57384

Setting The Agenda For Tomorrow’s Cities

UrbanUpdate Volume IV, Issue VII

NovemBER 2017

Rs 100

the water stress Indian cities are on the verge of becoming water-scarce. Historical records tell us, every part of our nation had its own unique water management system for harvesting and its equitable distribution. Can those technologies be relevant today or do we need a fusion of technologies from the past and present to address the problems that we are facing in managing our water?

Leaderspeak How can municipalities save our heritage?

The project is funded by the European Union.

The project is implemented by the AIILSG.

Magazines & Journals

Energy Efficiency

AMRUT Knowledge Management

Seminars

Project Management Customised Training

Sustainable Development Goals

Policy Research

Advisory Services

Swachh Bharat Mission

ECBC

Smart City Mission Capacity Building

Skill Development

All India Institute of Local Self-Government No. 6, F-Block, Bandra Kurla Complex, TPS Road-12, Bandra-East, Mumbai-400051, Maharashtra Tel.No.: +91-22-26571713, 26571714, 61805600, Fax: +91-22-26572115, Email: contact@aiilsg.org

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.

UrbanUpdate A monthly magazine published by the AIILSG — a project funded by European Union’s ‘Equi-City’ programme for India.

Ranjit Chavan President-AIILSG Rajiv Agarwal Editor-In-Chief Director General-AIILSG Ashok Wankhade Managing Editor Abhishek Pandey Editor Ravi Ranjan Guru Executive Editor

Mail Box Readers’ comments, criticism and suggestions are welcome. Letters to the Editor can be sent by e-mail, or regular mail. They should include name, address, phone number(s), and e-mail address, if available. The subject of the communication should be clearly mentioned, and we reserve the right to edit for sense, style, and space.

Address Urban Update (All India Institute of Local Self-Government) Sardar Patel Bhavan, 22-23, Institutional Area, D Block Pankha Road, Janakpuri, Delhi-110058 FOR SUBSCRIPTION AND ADVERTISING RELATED ASSISTANCE, CONTACT Phone: 011 - 2852 1783/ 5473 (Extn. 37) E-mail: contacturbanupdate@gmail.com

Kumar Dhananjay Consulting Editor Akash Mandyal Editorial Assistant Meenakshi Rajput Graphic Designer Seemab Tasneem Marketing Associate Volume IV - Issue VII Printed and published by Ranjit Chavan on behalf of All India Institute of Local Self-Government.

Printed at Artz & Printz, 208, DSIDC Shed, Okhla Industrial Area Phase-I, New Delhi-110020 Published at Sardar Patel Bhavan, 22-23, Institutional Area D-Block Pankha Road, Janakpuri, Delhi-110058 Note: Subscriptions are only invited from municipal corporations, government bodies, academic & research institutions, etc. working in the domain of urban development.

Despite careful selection of sources, no responsibility can be taken for accuracy of the contents. The magazine assumes no liability or responsibility of any kind in connection with the information thereof. The views expressed in the articles are the personal opinions of the contributors and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the All India Institute of Local Self-Government. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part is strictly prohibited without written permission from the publisher.

Join Urban Update Community Online to read our previous issues, regular posts and news updates.

WWW

urbanupdate.in urbanupdatemag urbanupdatemgzn urbanupdatemag

The project is funded by the European Union.

The project is implemented by the AIILSG.

The views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Commission.

4

November 2017 | www.urbanupdate.in

EDITORIAL

Building cities’ resilience sustainably

A

s we write, the national capital is battling severe air pollution and smog resulting in flight and train delays and cancellations, schools being shut and offices providing work-from-home option for employees. This situation in Delhi has now become an annual feature during winters, aggravated this year by unfavourable wind patterns. The reasons too are wellknown-vehicular emissions, crop burning in the neighbouring areas and construction dust, mainly. There is thus urgent need to put in place long term preventive measures in addition to the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) which is simply a response mechanism. Crop burning though seasonal needs to be prevented. NTPC and some biomass units have offered to buy the crop residue from farmers for use in generating power. Many more initiatives need to be put in place with encouragement and fiscal support from governments. However the greatest long term benefit could accrue from managing vehicular pollution. There is need to make public transport-CNG buses and metro the preferred options, if need be with large doses of public funding support. Alongside, private vehicle use needs to be discouraged. Steeper parking charges, congestion fee on busy roads, and restricting private vehicles on some roads could help. Mass public awareness and education should be at the root of all efforts.

Right at this time another of our metros is staring at a different kind of disaster.

Chennai is bracing itself for a further spell of heavy rains. Early November was a grim reminder to the city’s residents of the horror of December 2015 when about 300 people lost their lives in floods. The resilience of our cities is being repeatedly tested, almost every year, particularly in the face of extreme precipitation events, or sustained heavy rainfall. These instances of heavy rainfall and the resulting floods are becoming more frequent and intense. These are caused by a combination of climate change factors, poor design and execution of urban infrastructure and environmental degradation in our cities.

Larger urban areas suffer more in view of the higher surface temperatures which

affects cloud trajectory and results in high intensity localized precipitation. Several built environment features and practices such as inadequate storm water drainage, choked urban rivers and waterways, impervious urban surfaces, damage to wetlands all contribute to the problem. In addition, there is usually a tendency to keep reservoirs/dams full because of unpredictable rainfall pattern during the monsoon. Thus when there is rainfall for a few hours, the reservoirs fill up and need to be discharged quickly, often resulting in flash floods with insufficient warning time.

Since none of these reasons will go away soon, there is need to beef up preparedness, response, relief and rehabilitation, i.e., resilience to urban floods. Early warning systems need to be resilient enough so as not to break down as they did due to communication breakdown in the Mumbai floods of July 2005.

Then there is the multiplicity of agencies in many of our cities. Quite often in the absence of city level leadership, coordination among different agencies suffers. The National Disaster Response Force and the armed forces which are called upon to assist may suffer from inadequate familiarity with the city.

In addition to an effective response mechanism, there is need to reverse some of the damage our cities have suffered in terms of the environment and urban infrastructure, rejuvenating water bodies and strengthening storm water drain network, for example. For, inspite of our prayers, the skies are likely to open up more often and the next deluge could be even greater in intensity.

This issue of Urban Update takes a look at ancient, historical cities. Along with the cultural heritage, there are insights into management of civic services such as water supply and sanitation in earlier times. We hope some of these will give us new insights into the urban challenges of our times and help us overcome them in a sustainable manner.

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

www.urbanupdate.in | November 2017

5

Quotes

PIN POINT BUZZ

Climate science has long been guiding us toward the need for a zero-carbon future

I envision a world in which everyone can live healthy, productive lives, regardless of who they are or where they live

Saleem Van Groenou Program Manager Google Earth Outreach

Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus Director-General WHO

@VP Secretariat Vice President of India

We should aim at greater ‘efficiency’ & ‘effectiveness’. We have to build a culture of ‘evaluation’ & constant ‘learning’ in our governance

FijiPM @COP23 Fijian COP23 Presidency

We are all in the same canoe - not just island nations but whole world. No-one is immune to the effects of climate change

Durga Shanker Mishra @Secretary_MoHUA Secretary, Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs, GoI

I do believe that the time has come for us to aggressively go in for newer technologies and better ways of doing work. We will have to work collectively to see what can be done faster and smarter Piyush Goel Union Railway Minister

6

November 2017 | www.urbanupdate.in

This is a chance for everyone around the world – policy makers, investors, those in technology – to realize that women are not waiting for handouts, they are looking for opportunities. An opportunity is not a handout AdotKillmeyer-Oleche Chief, UN Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO)

The housing policies needs to promote public private participation and create an enabling environment for providing affordable housing for all with special emphasis on economically weaker and other vulnerable sections of the society

Richard Munang @RichardMunang UNEP Programme Innovation Award Winner

Positioning of climate action as a solution to socioeconomic development is key clean energy to power value addition of EBA driven agriculture

Inside

Volume 4, Issue 7

Inside November 2017

Article

32

34

36

38

A glance at the evolution of world sanitation Sanitation services are essential for running any human settlement efficiently. Ancient civilisations had unique systems of toilets, sewage & waste water disposal. In the times when Indian government is working to make all cities, towns & villages open defecation free and clean through various initiatives, it is important to understand how people in ancient civilisations managed their waste and what technology they used in their toilets

The Idea and evolution of Bazaars Bazaars have always been a centre of social, economic and cultural exchange.

Over a period of time, the concept of Bazaars has changed in its spatial arrangement and offerings

The Imperial Goldmine–Kolkata Kolkata is a city which has a rich history that dates back to the 17th century. The heart of the city has always been in a poor condition due to its nature of functionalities and dense population since its origin. It never really gave it a time span to reorient itself to ensure better quality of life

Cover Story

24

The Water Stress

Indian cities are on the verge of becoming water-scarce. Historical records tell us, every part of our nation had its own unique water management system for harvesting and its equitable distribution.

Can those technologies be relevant today or do we need a fusion of technologies from the past and present to address the problems that we are facing in managing our water?

LEADerspeak

The beautiful heritage of Mehrauli

28

Let’s walk down the memory lane and witness the cultural heritage of Mehrauli that is among one of the seven ancient cities that make up the present Delhi.

Also have glimpses of the festival ‘Phool Walon Ki Sair’ that is a testimony of Hindu-Muslim harmony

One On One

RegularS

6 8 10

34

Pin Point Equi-City Newscan

15 44 46

City Images Book Review Urban Agenda

42

How can municipalities save our heritage?

Municipal Corporations in India have limited functional powers and capacity to preserve heritage sites. However, many corporations are taking initiatives to spread awareness among citizens and tourists about the historical significance of heritage sites and playing a pro-active role in their upkeep and restoration

“Villages can solve problems of cities” In a converstaion with Urban Update, HK Patil, Rural Development Minister, Government of Karnataka talks about making villages efficient so that rural people need not migrate to urban centres in search of better livlihood and lifestyle. He assures to provide better facilities in villages so that people who have left their homes can come back

www.urbanupdate.in | November 2017

7

feature | Equi-City

Improving administrative efficiency at local level Ensuring efficient, responsive, accountable and transparent governance improves service delivery. This requires the effective implementation of policies, laws and programmes. Strong monitoring mechanisms, active citizen participation, convergence of Government institutions and programmes and capacity building of service delivery personnel can help the delivery of pro-poor services Equi-City Team

Efficiency and Effectiveness through public involvement

The workshop under Equi-City project held in October focussed on details of Article 243 of the Panchayati Raj Rules and Regulations in which the expert gave the details of the Act under which the local self-governments were established and being regulated.

Though the Panchayati Raj Institutions have been in existence for a long time, it has been observed that these institutions have not been able to acquire the status and dignity of viable and responsive people’s bodies due to a number of reasons including absence of regular elections, prolonged supersessions, and insufficient representation of weaker sections like Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and women, inadequate devolution of powers and lack of financial resources.

The second session of the workshop focused on Administrative Efficiency and Best Practices. In this session the expert explained about Best Practices in Urban management and Smart Solutions. The expert pointed out the smart solutions for the city which are very necessary and are an inseparable

T

he Government of India’s 12th Five Year Plan with its focus on faster and more inclusive growth, articulates the need for improving implementation, accountability and service delivery. In support of the national priorities, the government of India is focusing on strengthening governance systems at national as well as local level and key government schemes with a view to enhance the realization of the rights of marginalized groups, especially women and children. Towards this end, the process aims to develop a checklist of indicators to measure administrative efficiency and accountability.

8

November 2017 | www.urbanupdate.in

A

part of Administrative Efficiency and Urban Management. The expert also added that Ideal Administration depends on: Efficiency, Transparency and Accountability.

Ensuring efficient, responsive, accountable and transparent governance improves service delivery. This requires the effective implementation of policies, laws and programmes. Strong monitoring mechanisms, active citizen participation, convergence of Government institutions and programmes and capacity building of service delivery personnel can help the delivery of pro-poor services.

In addition to that, job of the officials is to review the work which has been assigned to them, rather to sign on them and transfer it to the seniors. He pointed out that this kind of capacity building workshops and training will help the officials to be up to date and help them to achieve efficiency in their work. Further the discussion continued on the Best Practices in the Municipal administration and Smart Solutions regarding management practices pertaining to sectors like of Transport, Water Supply, Solid Waste Management and Smart Governance using ICT. This

enables municipalities to demonstrate their efficiency and effectiveness and proves they are competent organizations. By demonstrating what they can do at their best, Best Practice offers to municipalities the means to respond to the Government and certifies their readiness for greater responsibilities.

Every state and municipality has its own good practice, which is homegrown, springs from the quality of municipal leadership, management and front-line staff, and from people that pride themselves in giving their best to achieve high quality. Best Practice is about identifying this good practice and transforming it into a training vehicle from which every other municipality and city can learn.

Nevertheless, it is fundamental to learn from the experience of others and to share information, to come up with different and more creative solutions.

The expert also discussed about Inclusive Development and Safe Cities Concept for Urban Areas. It was based on a report which highlighted following important points during the program – ♦♦ Inclusive development is a pro poor approach that values and incorporates the contribution of all stakeholders including marginalized worker groups in addressing development issues. ♦♦ Development strategies fail when our governments neglect the needs of the people for which it is established. Often, countries undertake policies and programs in response to donor demands or private sector interests at the cost of citizen involvement, resulting in ineffective & sometimes destructive developmental programs. ♦♦ It promotes transparency and accountability, and enhances development cooperation outcomes through collaboration between civil society, governments and private sector actors. ♦♦ Development initiatives are more effective for poverty reduction when all stakeholders, especially citizens and marginalized communities, are actively involved in the planning,

execution and monitoring of development programs.

The biggest obstacle in the development of effective public administration is lack of flexible mechanisms to resolve conflicts between private and public interests.

For the full development of the public nature of the administration it is necessary to solve the following problems: ♦♦ Lack of improvement of the innovation -technical potential of the economy; ♦♦ Poor quality of public decisionmaking; ♦♦ Lack of effective policies, taking into account the proportionate interests of both public and private entities; ♦♦ Insufficient number of competitive businesses in the innovation field; ♦♦ Poor personnel training of public managers; Lack of modern mechanism of coordination in the property management.

The character of management action, exerted by the management subject on management object, becomes essential in the course of implementation of a public nature of governance. In this case, the main purpose of public administration is to focus on the achievement of socio-significant results. Thus, public administration becomes the result of a kind of social contract, according to which state powers are transferred to government institutions, and the people are the source of these powers, which automatically makes the public administration the most important sort of governance on the national scale.

Public organizations, citizens and other public institutions in the field of public administration are subjects of this type of governance. They are actively involved in the administrative decisionmaking and decision implementation due to the existence of developed feedback.

concluding observations in the workshop: ♦♦ There are disruptive impacts of frequent public service organizations and reforms, as well as a periodic paradigm shifts. We already know that it is tougher to implement than to design; and we also know that the work is not finished with implementation alone, because there is a danger of backsliding. Without ongoing nurturing, reforms do fade away. ♦♦ It is equally important that while contemplating new reforms, alternatives available are to be included drawn from the local circumstances, history and culture. ♦♦ In addition, governments should undertake regular (periodic) assessments of progress made.

Progress made ought to be regularly and consistently assessed. ♦♦ Attention has to be paid on the weaknesses in the government’s management control framework.

For example, the accountability of administrative heads of departments is still not transparent especially when they get transferred from their post too often too soon. ♦♦ As a result, administrative heads demand results and accountability from their subordinates, and this can only be done by creating an innovative and vibrant atmosphere for their people. In the final analysis, it is through the efforts of such people that results can be achieved and good government is possible. ♦♦ Good governance also depends on the good performance of its public servants because it is the government and its state machinery that are the best defence of ordinary citizens against organized business, labour, and the powerful vested interests which seek special privileges in laws, or simply to do what they want.

Towards holistic public administration

Reference: Gladilina IP PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION: CHALLENGES AND SOLUTIONS. International Journal of Applied and Fundamental Research.

2015. – No 1

General

propositions

offered

as

www.urbanupdate.in | November 2017

9

NEWScan

Urbanisation takes its toll on India: interstate migration on the rise Millions of people are moving to cities every year in India. Pune and Surat top the list of cities that have high influx of migrants.

Pune’s population account for over 21 per cent migrants New Delhi: Rapid urbanisation in India has its own pitfalls. Men in search of prosperity are on the move. The recent World Economic Forum report on India has listed twenty five cities in India among the fastest growing cities in the world. There is a huge interstate migration in India according to a study conducted by WEF. Interstate migration has doubled in India in the period 2001-11 compared to the last decade.

It has put cities like Pune and Surat in the top bracket of cities affected by migration.

Alarming as it may sound, as per WEF report ‘Migration and Cities,’ the country’s in-migration is growing at 4.5 per cent annually. That is about fifty to sixty lakh people on the move annually.

As a result Pune’s population rose to 3,115,000 with the influx of new people increasing from 370,000 in 2001 (14% of the population) to 660,000 in 2011 (21%).

Southern states are a big hit when it comes to interstate migration. Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka are huge attractions for the migrants and account for a third of interstate migrants in the city.

Apart from the main metros, Surat is the other big migration magnet in India. Startling is the fact that more than half of Surat’s population as of 2015 was migrant. It stood at 5.33 million. It’s no surprise that while earlier there were migrants from Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, now they are being joined by

10

November 2017 | www.urbanupdate.in

populace from Odisha, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.

The textile and diamond industries alone have attracted over 600,000 migrants from just one state, Odisha.

Citing examples, WEF in its report has said that Bihar, with one of the highest outflows of domestic migrants, also has the worst per capita income, roughly the same as Somalia’s. The amount is around 520$ per capita. In contrast, Kerala, a destination for inmigrants, has a per-capita income four times that of Bihar’s (about $2,350) and a birth rate of 1.6 children per woman, at par with Denmark.

Even small towns some years ago, like Faridabad, Ludhiana and Surat total over 55 per cent of in-migrants,

Migration trend

whereas the rate in Agra and Allahabad is below 15 per cent, demonstrating the significant variation among Indian cities regarding in-migration.

The significance of this data must not be lost. People are moving hurriedly in search of jobs and prosperity. Cities and the growing ones are bursting at the seams. What is clear is that we have not been able to arrest the migration precisely for the reason that we are not able to create basic amenities and ensure growth of employment in the towns and villages. If we fail to achieve that, all the talk of reverse migration would fail and our cities will continue to suffer. RURBAN mission has to become successful to set things straight.

One hopes there will be will to do that.

EVENT

COP 23

Germany hosts Bonn Climate Change Conference BONN: The countries from all over the world are meeting for the 23rd annual “conference of the parties”(COP) with the aim of launching world’s nations towards the next level of ambition needed to tackle global warming and put the world on a safer and more prosperous development path which lies under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) which aims to “prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system”, i.e., halt global warming. The event is scheduled from 6-17 November 2017 in Bonn, Germany, presided over by Fiji, organizationally and logistically supported by the Government of Germany, the region of North-Rhine-Westphalia and the City of Bonn. Approximately leaders from 20 countries are expected to attend the event in which President Emmanuel Macron of France and German Chancellor Angela Merkel are also included.

10,000 government delegates are expected to be at the event, another 8,000 people from other groups and 2,000 members of the media will be travelling to Bonn from all over the globe. The organizers are trying to avoid as many emissions as possible, by using electric buses for conference transport.

The Climate Change Conference, coming just two years after the landmark adoption of the Paris Climate Change Agreement, will also further fuel momentum among cities, states, regions, territories, business and civil society in support of national climate action plans, the internationallyagreed temperature goal and the wider objectives envisioned for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

The damage that the extreme weather has inflicted this year from floods in India and Nigeria to hurricanes in the Caribbean and wildfires in the US and Europe, indicates that global emissions

Climate change has been significantly increasing the tendency of extreme weather, from heatwaves to floods.

But without any significant decrease in the global carbon emissions, one can expect “severe, widespread, and irreversible impacts” for billions of people and the natural world

need to start falling urgently – in the coming years. The Bonn meeting will be vital in building the rules that will enable the Paris deal to work.

The landmark Paris agreement at COP21 in 2015 delivered the first truly global deal to tackle climate change, but national action needs to be significantly strengthened to meet the goal of keeping global temperature rise to well below 2C, and 1.5C if possible.

The Paris Agreement is supported by national climate action plans which is also known as Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) whose ambition are collectively advanced to get on track to the Agreement’s temperature goal.

Governments will take stock of the evolving global situation and how mechanisms to facilitate implementation and promote compliance will operate.

The Paris agreement included a mechanism for the pledges to be reviewed up. The vital groundwork for this has to be done in Bonn before being

finalised in 2018.

The first three days of conferences (10-12 November) will present action in 8 core thematic areas; namely Energy, Water, Agriculture, Oceans & Coastal Zones, Human Settlements, Transport, Industry and Forests. Daily morning press conferences will raise these events and the final two days (13-14 November) will axis into the high-level piece, featuring the most prominent speakers spotlighting the crosscutting themes of finance, innovation, resilience, Sustainable Development Goal 11 (Sustainable Cities & Communities) and Sustainable Development Goal 2 (Zero Hunger).

This conference initiates many initiatives including the UN on health and small islands; a platform to support engagement with Indigenous Peoples; a wide-ranging Gender Action Plan and the ramping up of a global risk transfer project that aims to deliver affordable insurance cover to an extra 400 million poor and vulnerable people.

www.urbanupdate.in | November 2017

11

BRIEFS

Deesa municipality adopts green energy Deesa municipality has gone green by installing rooftop solar power plant on its building.

Municipality president Pravin Mali claimed that Deesa is the first civic body to adopt solar panels to power the needs of its building. “At present, the plant generates 10KW power which is more than sufficient for our consumption. The extra, unused power is being sold to Uttar Gujarat Vij Company Ltd (UGVCL). Earlier, UGVCL used to disconnect the power supply many times due to delay in payment of electricity bills. Now, we have not only repaid Rs 98 lakh pending dues to UGVCL but are selling surplus power to the state-run company “ said Mali.

Once done with installation, it will generate 1,000KW power and the street lights too will run on this environment-friendly energy.

GHMC goes ‘hi-tech’ to supervise work progress Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) has decided to install 30 screens incorporated with a camera in all circle and zonal offices and three screens in the offices of the commissioner, mayor and additional commissioner.

The set up will have a special mechanism at an estimated cost of Rs 3 crore for conducting video conferences. According to the officials, a 10x28 metre screen will be installed on the seventh floor of the GHMC headquarters and the GHMC will also be able to access CCTV footage with the cooperation of the police department. In the addition to that the civic body has also planned to develop a mobile application for its staff so that the higher authorities can interact with them easily.

12

November 2017 | www.urbanupdate.in

NEWSCAN

Kowdenahalli Lake transforms from swamp to ecological haven Bengaluru: The Kowdenahalli Lake stretching 55 acres, which was once a deserted swamp, is now a vibrant waterbody frequented by local and migratory birds, home to several species of fish and reptiles and with medicinal plants and fruit-bearing trees dotting its periphery. Under the United Way Bengaluru (UWBe) flagship initiative, Wake the Lake, the waterbody has been rejuvenated, with the collaboration of community, government and corporates.

C Narayanappa, President of the KR Puram Lake and Environment Protection

Trust, urges the local MLA to release funds for lake development and by driving concerted community efforts like cleanliness and plantation, he hopes the waterbody will be a model for citizen participation in lake rejuvenation.

“The community has registered itself as a trust and we have got Rs 1.2 crore sanctioned from the MLA’s fund for developmental works. As of now, there is a gravel pathway lined up with LED streetlights, toilets, gazebos and benches.

But soon there will be an open gym, yoga space and a children’s park. We also allow contractual fishing as fish ensure cleanliness of the water,” he said. Mahesh CS, senior manager, UWBe who handles rejuvenation for 16 lakes, says the threatsfaced by waterbodies in the city would continue till the rajakaluves or stormwater drains (SWD) connecting to them do not carry clean water.

‘No Garage, No Car’ rule in Aizawl

Aizawl: The Mizoram government on 1st November has made it mandatory for its citizens to own a garage to own any type of vehicles. The State Assembly, in 2010, passed the Mizoram Motor Vehicle (Amendment) Rules, 2010 that makes garage mandatory for vehicle owners in Aizawl. After seven years, the government has finally enforced the Rules. A meeting of Traffic Management Committee on July 27, 2016, gave vehicle owners in Aizawl one year to make garage, setting a deadline of October 31, 2017. An official from AMC said, “We have instructed local councils in all localities within Aizawl Municipal Corporation (AMC) to start inspecting if all vehicle owners in their jurisdictions have garages” The move aims at decreasing the glaring congestion on roads in the city. An official of Traffic Management Committee said, “Those failing to have a garage during the last one year, will no longer be able to own a car” Aizawl, a city with a population of 3.5 lakh people, boasts of 1.25 lakh vehicles. Vehicles parked on the roadsides has added extensively to the traffic congestion. “As more and more people are buying vehicles, it is getting extremely difficult to find space for traffic especially in the State Capital. With houses located on the slopes of the ridges, citizens have developed the habit of parking their vehicles at night on the roads. This has to stop, and thus the amendment in the motor vehicle rules,” said a State Transport Department official. The Police Superintendent of Aizawl said that the Rules will apply to vehicles beyond MZ-01-F 7188, because this was the last registration made before passing of the Amendment Rules.

Subscription PAGE

www.urbanupdate.in | November 2017

13

BRIEFS

DilliHaat at Pitampura goes green DilliHaat in Pitampura has gone green. About 98 percent of its energy needs is now being powered by the sun. After issuing a tender by the Delhi government, this tourist hotspot has been running on solar energy for two months.Andrew Hines, co-founder of CleanMax Solar, the company behind the project said, “It is a rooftop solar project.

The way the project works commercially is that CleanMax is the developer of the project.

It is owned and operated by us under a long-term agreement of 25 years. They basically consume the power and pay per unit. The tariff being charged at DilliHaat now is significantly lower than the grid rate. DilliHaat has to pay Rs 8.1 per unit of power for the grid, while it is getting its solar power for a little more than half of that”, said Hines.

Sea walkway point to come up at Malpe beach Maple beach (Karnataka) is all set to get the state’s first sea walkway which will be another attraction for the tourists visiting Maple. The point will be located near the tourist jetty, which transports tourists on boats from Malpe to the St. Mary’s Island.

To construct sea walkway Rs 53.5 lakh has been allotted to the Nirmiti Kendra by the Malpe Development Committee. The construction of the walkway will begin on November 1 and be completed by December-end. In total 15 benches will be installed on the walkway so that they can enjoy the sea breeze. The length of the sea walkway will be 500 metres from the jetty and its width will be 8.5 feet. Tourists will be able to watch breath taking views of three islands, St. Mary’s Island, Light-House Island and the Bhadargad Island.

14

November 2017 | www.urbanupdate.in

NEWSCAN

NGT fines four railway stations for improper waste disposal New Delhi: The National Green Tribunal, on October 23, imposed a penalty of Rs one lakh on four railway stations for not complying with the solid waste management rules. A bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar imposed the fine each on Anand Vihar railway station, Vivek Vihar railway station, Shahdara railway station and Shakur Basti railway station.

The green panel directed them to submit 25 per cent of the fine amount to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and rest to the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC).

A railway official said that the railways will file a review plea against the judgement while advocate Om Prakash, representative of the railways for the case assured the bench that all necessary steps to maintain hygiene and cleanliness would be taken at the stations.

The order by NGT came after it examined an interim report submitted by a committee set up by it. The committee recommended action against defaulting bodies for improper management and treatment of sewage and lack of mechanism to recycle waste.

Earlier, the tribunal had constituted a committee to inspect major waste generators in the national capital which included 5-star hotels, educational institutions with hostels, malls, and housing societies. NGT had directed the Delhi government to provide a list of all such establishments to be inspected

by the committee. Noting that Delhi alone generates 14,100 metric tonnes of municipal solid waste every day, the tribunal said that the major generators of waste could not be just households. It expressed concern that public authorities lacked infrastructure and appropriate technical capacity to handle such huge quantity of waste.

NMRDA looks for alternative landfill site Nagpur: The Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) has asked the Nagpur Metropolitan Region Development Authority (NMRDA) to recognize another landfill site for dumping city’s waste. The city generates over 1,100 metric tonnes of solid waste daily and to manage this much waste they will require another landfill site.

The present garbage dumping yard at Bhandewadi is over-burdened. “At some point, we will need to relocate the site. Hence, we have approached NMRDA to explore all possible sites,” said municipal commissioner AshwinMudgal.

NMRDA officials said that 28 sites were shortlisted. “We have started the process of surveying the sites. Final decision will be taken after holding a meeting with concerned civic agencies and weighing pros and cons of all sites,” they said.

Sources also said that NMRDA officials have recently visited two sites appropriate for sanitary land fill in Kalmeshwar and Butibori. According to sources the officials are focusing to have a safe distance of the site from city to prevent any kind of health issues to humans. According to sources, appropriate measures are being taken for treatment of solid waste and after the tendering process, bio-mining will be implemented at the site. Bio-mining is a process where the already dumped waste is segregated. The waste is detached by harrowing and sprayed with composting bio cultures. Depending on its type, the waste is then sent for recycling, reusing or composting.

CITY IMAGES

ITO Skywalk Delhi’s longest pedestrian foot over-bridge ITO, one of Delhi’s busiest traffic junctions, is all set to have its first mega skyway. The construction is expected to be completed by March 2018. The 615-metre long skyway will have four arms that will connect Sikandra Road, Mathura Road, Tilak Marg and Bahadurshah Zafar Marg with Pragati Maidan and ITO Metro station and Supreme Court. Steel benches and stylish overhead canopies for food stalls will be set up.

Escalators and eight lifts will be installed with each carrying capacity of 20 persons.

www.urbanupdate.in | November 2017

15

BRIEFS

Over 2,700 more CCTV cameras to monitor law Bengaluru will have as many as 2750 CCTV cameras installed by the end of December 2017.

While inaugurating a police station at Gurappanapalya, Home Minister Ramalinga Reddy, announced that each ward would be granted Rs 10 lakh to install the cameras at strategic locations. “The cameras would be connected to the jurisdictional police station to monitor round the clock. This will not only help the police to monitor law and order but also with investigation of cases. At present, the city traffic police have around 720 CCTV cameras and rely on over five lakh private cameras installed across the city, Reddy said.

GHMC comes up with ‘mosquito app’ GHMC have adapted new methodologies to curb mosquito menace as Hyderabad has shown an alarming increase of malaria and dengue cases in the last six months. GHMC is using the technology to alert people about the need to control the mosquito population responsible for vector-borne diseases. Accordingly, GHMC developed one mosquito app to help the citizens in learning more about mosquito menace, The mobile app is introduced to bring awareness among people of Hyderabad on prevention and control of Dengue and Malaria.

Anyone can download the app from Google play store. There will be different questions in the app related to the mosquitoes and the troubles they are facing and users have to reply to the questions in ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ format. Users after answering the questions, have to upload the same and earn cash prize through lucky draw.

16

November 2017 | www.urbanupdate.in

NEWSCAN

All cities & towns in five more states declared ‘Open Defecation Free’ New Delhi: With the completion of three years Swachh Bharat Mission in the month of October, five more states viz., Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Haryana have reached the milestone of making all cities and towns ‘Open Defecation Free’.

This was announced by the Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri.

Giving an account of the progress towards Swachhata in urban areas of the country, Puri informed that as against

the target of building about 66 lakh individual household toilets in urban areas, 38 lakh toilets have already been built and construction of another 14 lakh toilets is in progress. Over two lakh community and public toilet seats have been built as against the mission target of five lakh toilet seats.

Stating that focus in now being laid on Solid Waste Management, Puri said that efforts are on to generate over 500 MW of electricity and over 50 lakh tons of compost from municipal solid waste to enable processing of the entire solid waste being generated inurbanareas.

He informed that the fortnight long ‘Swachhata Hi Sewa’ campaign has witnessed participation of over 80 lakh people spread over 3.50 lakh activities in urban areas. Puri emphasized that sanitation is a birth right and individual responsibility as well.

Swachh Bharat as envisioned by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Minister stressed on the need for ‘life style change’ to realise the objective and for its fulfillment.

Sewage treatment to ensure the greenery CHENNAI: Four parks under Smart Cities that have a water requirement of 10,000 liters for daily maintenance will be getting sewage treatment plants (STPs) to reduce dependency on external water supply, especially during the summer months.

Four STPs of 40,000 liters, 20,000 liters and 10,000 liters have been planned for Natesan Park, Jeeva Park, Kodambakkam Park and CIT Nagar Park, tenders for which have been floated by the city corporation, according to officials. “The STP plants will tap the underwater sewerage system for daily water requirements. The process to convert raw sewage into treated water will remove floating material and oil from the water in the sewers and it will undergo anaerobic breakdown,” said a senior official.

A Moving Bed Biofilm Reactor (MBBR) uses multiple conveyors to change suspended organics to dissolved organics, and also begins the decay later. The suspended solids will be removed using a secondary clarifier in the next stage.

Secondary treated sewage will be further treated using chlorine. The settled sludge is sent for recirculation to the equalisation tank. The dry sludge coming out of the system can be used as manure. According to officials, this will be rolled out to other parks in a phased manner, so that the dependency on water supply for gardening and park maintenance can be reduced. Anna Nagar Bougainvillea Park and Herbal Park in Otteri already have such STPs in place with the latter making use of sewage water from the OtteriNullah. The 10KL, 20KL and 40KL plants will be set up at a cost of Rs 29lakh, Rs 35 lakh and Rs 40 lakh respectively.

NEWSCAN

WRI Launches Climate Watch Climate Watch visualizes national and global climate actions for achieving Paris Agreement pledges, offering insights on sustainable development, emission trends and more WASHINGTON: Following through on the landmark Paris Agreement means showing what countries are doing to meet their commitments and how they can ramp up ambition over time. For the first time, Climate Watch will bring together dozens of data sets onto one platform, including current and past greenhouse gas emissions, future emissions scenarios, sustainable development targets, progress towards meeting national climate pledges, information on climate risk and much more. Climate Watch will ensure policymakers and researchers are using the most accurate and comprehensive data for decision-making, and create the accountability and transparency necessary to combat climate change.

Climate Watch is managed by World Resources Institute (WRI) in collaboration with partners: African Center for Technology Studies (ACTS), Climate Action Tracker, Climate Analytics, The German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ), The German Development Institute (DIE), Google, NDC Partnership, Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI), United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), and The World Bank. A flagship initiative of the NDC Partnership, the platform will be showcased at numerous events

and an exhibit during the COP23 climate conference in Bonn, Germany next week. “Obtaining up-to-date information remains one of the most important aspects in the implementation of NDCs,” said Nezha El Ouafi, Secretary of State to Morocco’s Minister of Energy, Mines and Sustainable Development and an NDC Partnership co-chair.

“Key to the success of the NDC Partnership is the ability to share knowledge and to learn from one another to accelerate climate action,” said Thomas Silberhorn, Parliamentary State Secretary to Germany’s Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development and an NDC Partnership co-chair. “This task requires comprehensive, up-to-date, and easily accessible data, which is why the Partnership supports tools like Climate Watch. This innovative resource provides fast access to the information countries need to implement their mitigation commitments.”

Climate Watch includes: Data and visualizations on all countries’ greenhouse gas emissions; a userfriendly database of all countries’ Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs); Comprehensive mapping of linkages between Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and the Sustainable Development

Goals (SDGs) and associated targets of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Data and visuals of emissions scenario pathways for major emitting countries, derived from a growing library of models; National and sectorial profile pages that offer a snapshot of climate progress, risks and vulnerabilities; and the ability to download data and create, save and share customized data visualizations through My Climate Watch.

“Reliable information is the foundation for sound policymaking no matter what your aim,” said Paula Caballero, Global Director, Climate Program, World Resources Institute. “Climate Watch offers a wealth of credible climate data and will foster greater transparency and accountability as countries make progress towards achieving their Paris climate commitments.”

According to new WRI research conducted for the NDC Partnership and presented on Climate Watch, climate actions communicated in countries’ NDCs are aligned with 154 of the 169 targets of the SDGs. This is the first time that all NDCs have been mapped against the 169 targets of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, providing a significant resource for policy-makers looking to understand how to achieve the goals of both agendas. The greatest alignment is in the energy, forest, land use and agriculture sectors, but opportunities were found across all 17 SDGs, including health, transport, and education. “Climate science has long been guiding us toward the need for a zero-carbon future,” said Saleem Van Groenou, Program Manager for Google Earth Outreach. “Businesses like ours have an important role to play in accelerating the transition to a clean energy economy. But rising to the global challenge involves a complex mix of policy, technology, and international cooperation.” Funding for this initiative is provided by IKI of Germany’s Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety (BMUB), Google, the Swiss Federal Office for the Environment, and the UK Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.

www.urbanupdate.in | November 2017

17

BRIEFS

MCG to add 849 sanitation workers The municipal corporation of Gurugram (MCG) will be adding 849 sanitation workers to its existing workforce of 3458 sanitation workers. MCG officials state that the present number of workers in the corporation is not sufficient to work on ground.

The new employees will focus on sweeping and cleaning the streets of the city. Anu Sheokhand, joint commissioner, MCG said that the recent expansion of the municipal limits and the inclusion of new sectors in the integrated waste management plan has made it important to employ workers. Earlier, the MCG signed a contract with Ecogreen Energy Pvt Ltd for an integrated waste management plan. Under the plan the agency will take over the Bhandwari waste management plant to convert waste into energy.

Kerala fishermen on a ‘Clean Ocean’ mission Under Suchitva Sagaram (clean ocean), a project launched by the state fisheries department the two fishing harbours off the Kollam coast -have taken out approx.

250 tonnes of plastic waste that was in the marine ecology. In a unique initiative, the fishermen of Kerala have opted to ‘fish’ for plastic waste to reclaim the sea.

As a part of the project, 40 boats with fishermen collect plastic waste from the sea alongside fish.

The fisheries department has set up waste collection centres close to the fish landing points in Neendakara. P. Geethakumari, nodal officer for the sea waste management project said that 30 women were involved in the process of sorting and drying the plastic retrieved which is then processed and converted to usable products at a plant set up by the harbour.

18

November 2017 | www.urbanupdate.in

NEWSCAN

UNESCO award for SrirangamTemple

Tiruchirappalli: Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple in Srirangam has won the UNESCO Asia Pacific Award of Merit 2017 for cultural heritage conservation after its massive renovation and restoration through public-private partnership.

The temple secured one of the four Awards of Merit from a jury constituted of nine international conservation experts, which considered preservation projects from 10 countries in the Asia Pacific region. The restoration of the temple started in June 2014 at the instructions of former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, who was elected from the Srirangam constitu-

ency back in 2011. The huge project was accomplished in the period, at a cost of about Rs 25 crore, with contributions from the government as well as donors.

The kumbabhishekam was performed in two stages — in September and November 2015. The temple, considered the prime of the 108 divyadesams, is located on an islet between the Cauvery and the Coleroon rivers. It has seven prakaras and 21 towers, including the great 236-feet-high Rajagopuram. The restoration of the temple involved careful work by experienced sthapathis, under the direction of experts in archaeology for over a year.

“The old grandeur of the temple has been restored. About 60,000 tonnes of construction waste/debris was removed during the renovation. It is very satisfying that the hard work has been recognised,” said P. Jayaraman, joint commissioner of the temple. The second phase of restoration of damaged portions of the temple outwork is set to begin soon. A few other preservation works are also on the anvil inside the temple, officials said.

PM launches Intensified Mission Indradhanush Vadnagar: “Let no child suffer from any vaccine-preventable disease”. This was stated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as he launched the Intensified Mission Indradhanush (IMI) at Vadnagar in Gujarat. Through this programme, Government of India aims to reach each and every childunder two years of age and all those pregnant women who have been left uncovered under the routine immunization programme.

The special drive will focus on improving immunization coverage in select districts and cities to ensure full immunization to more than 90% by December 2018. The achievement of full immunization under Mission Indradhanush to at least 90% coverage was to be achieved by 2020 earlier. With the launch of IMI, achievement of the target has now been advanced.

The PM highlighted achievements of the Government including the new National Health Policy 2017 which has been unveiled after fifteen years, and is people-centered.

“Regulating of the prices of stents has immensely helped a large section of the country by reducing the cost of healthcare on the middle-income group and poor families.”

IMI would be closely monitored at the district, state and central level at regular intervals. Further, it would be reviewed by the Cabinet Secretary at the National level and will continue to be monitored at the highest level under a special initiative ‘Proactive Governance and Timely Implementation (PRAGATI)’. At the function, the Prime Minister also dedicated the GMERS Medical College, Vadnagar to the nation and launched the Innovative Mobile Phone Technology for Community Health Operation (ImTeCHO) for improving coverage of community based maternal, neonatal and infant health services.

NEWSCAN

7 lakh crore for highway development New Delhi: The government on 24th October approved the biggest highway construction plan so far in the country. The project would develop approximately 83,677 km of roads at an investment of Rs 6.92 lakh crore by 2022. The project is aimed at pushing economic activity across the country. It is likely to generate at least 32 crore man days in the next five years. It focuses on improving the speed of traffic flow on the key corridors by providing uniform four-lane roads. For faster movement of cargo vehicles, most of these corridors will be shorter and access-controlled.

The programme includes one of central governments flagship schemes, the Bharatmala project under which 34,800 km of highways would be constructed at the cost of Rs 5.35 lakh crore. Apart from highways, the road transport and highways ministry will construct 9,000 km of economic corridors across the country under the Bharatmala scheme.

Finance Minister ArunJaitley said that the government has consistently increased public expenditure on infrastructure in order to boost employment and that it was a step forward to the government’s commitment towards providing more efficient transportation.

The project would also involve constructing 6,000 km long inter corridor and feeder routes, 2,000 km of border and international connectivity roads, 5,000 km to be upgraded under the national corridor efficiency programme, 800 km of greenfield expressways, 10,000 km under the national highway development programme and 2,000 km of coastal and port connectivity roads.

“The new highway development programme is both building roads and improving mobility to reduce logistic cost. Better road network and rolling out of smart-tag based tolling will transform the road transport sector”, said an official regulating the plan.

Funds

The project involves a total expenditure of 6.92 lakh crores. Finance Secretary Ashok Lavasa said that the government is looking to raise almost half the money from the market and private investments. The rest would come from the Central Road Fund, highway toll and monetising completed highway stretches. Economists are, on the other hand, doubtful of the state’s capacity to spend for the project. Ila Patnaik, professor, National Institute of Public Finance and Policy said, “My first concern is the government’s ability to give out contracts and build the highway.

If the past is an indicator, the state capacity to spend on public investment is limited”

Work in action

Work for the highway projects has been assigned to the National Highways and Industrial Development Corporation (NHIDCL) and state public work departments. “These organisations would be given sufficient delegation of powers so that there’s speedy implementation,” said Ashok Lavasa.

The National Highway Authority of India has effectively prepared detailed project reports (DPRs) for about 10,000 km of the identified network, which will help faster implementation of the plan.

BRIEFS

Orissa prison premises to have organic farm The Balasore District Jail, one of the oldest prisons in Orissa, is ready to implement an organic farming plan in its premises.

Going by the plan, the five-acres of agricultural land present on the jail’s premises will be converted into land for organic farming. The model is aimed not only at increasing the jail’s earnings but also at teaching the inmates the art of organic farming to survive outside the boundaries of the prison.

Annually, vegetables worth Rs 3 lakh (approx.) are produced and sold from the jail counters.

Apart from vegetables, rice is also grown on the farmland.

Vikarabad gets its heritage centre Dharur in Vikarabad is now site for Telangana Heritage Centre which will exhibit an ecofriendly building experience. The heritage centre will also help to preserve local cultural practices.

The centre is stretched over 24.5 acres, expected to preserve local craftsmanship and nurture and support local rural human resource. The heritage centre, which will start functioning fully in 2018, will support Saturday Angadi in the mandal, which hosts potters, bamboo weavers, Lambadi artisans, and local weavers. The centre will also have many rare fauna, including Baobabs, Nagalingam and timber trees of various species.

South Indian Temple tree, the Kalabash or Beggar-Bowl tree has also been planted. Several flowering trees and shrubs have also been planted, including pride of India, jasmine, jacaranda, gardenia, kamini and oleandar. The owners have also planned a food forest close to the retreat building, which will host several fruit trees.

www.urbanupdate.in | November 2017

19

BRIEFS

700 Crore project for sewage management

Eight projects worth Rs 700 crore have been approved by National Mission for Clean Ganga, out of which four pertain to sewage management in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal, and the other four are related to treatment of drains through bio-remediation pollution inventorization, assessment and surveillance of river Ganga. On sewage management front, a project for pollution abatement in river Ganga at Bally in West Bengal has been approved at an estimated cost of Rs 200.07 crore. Similarly, construction of a 65 MLD STP under Hybrid Annuity model has been approved for Bhagalpur in Bihar at an estimated cost of Rs 268.49 crore. In Uttar Pradesh, sewage treatment related works at an estimated cost of Rs 213.62 crore have also been approved that includes construction of two STPs (28 MLD + 05 MLD) in Farrukabad and one 2 MLD STP at Bargadiya drain in Fatehpur.

Pollution abatement works for river Ganga like interception, diversion and treatment of sewage in Bithoor have also been approved at an estimated cost of Rs 13.40 crore. The treatment of drains - Rajapur drain and Digha drain in Patna and Laksar drain in Haridwar-using bio-remediation technology have also been given a green signal at an estimated cost of Rs 4.29 crore.

20 November 2017 | www.urbanupdate.in

NEWSCAN

Pune Schools to form menstrual hygiene management committee Pune: Under the Swachh Bharat and Swachh Vidyalay mission, all government run schools and junior colleges have been instructed to form committees dedicated to ‘Menstrual Hygiene Management’, to help adolescent girls understand the menstrual cycle and the hygienic habits to be practiced in schools or colleges.

Municipal commissioners and chief executive officers at municipal corporation and zillaparishad level will look after committees who are primarily responsible for conducting training sessions for teachers and implementing awareness campaigns.

The government aims to improve girls’ school attendance during their menstrual cycle. According to a WHO report in 2009, as many as 12 per cent of adolescent girls globally, miss school every month while menstruating. A state-level survey discovered that only 13 per cent girls in Maharashtra, in the age group of 11 to 19 years, had knowledge about menstruation prior to experiencing it first-hand. Additionally, the survey found, nearly 70 per cent of these girls preferred skipping school.

Dr Sunita Tandulwadkar, a gynecologist, said, “This is a welcome move, as girls still feel ashamed and do not know whom to approach. With this, girls will get the necessary guidance.” Teresa David, Principal of Apte School and Junior College, said their school has been actively conducting dialogues with girls studying in Class VII and higher classes. “We have conducted regular sessions with girl students and their mothers during the Palak-Mata Sangh meetings for students studying in Class VII and above. During these meetings, a variety of issues are openly discussed in the presence of mothers,” he said.

Sanskriti themed project to increase green cover Pune: In order to increase green cover and create awareness about the rich cultural heritage of the country, the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has launched “sanskriti”-themed project under the union government’s Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) programme.

Urban landscape designer Aseem Gokarn Harwansh, consultant for the PMC’s Green Space Project, said, “The main objective, under AMRUT, is to increase the green cover in the city… based on a certain theme to attract people and create awareness.”

“There are a lot of stories about trees and their significance in the Vedas. The idea is to put signages at the planted indigenous trees. Other civic bodies are also working on improving the green cover in their respective jurisdictions, under different themes.” she added.

Ashok Ghorpade, garden superintendent, PMC, said, “The union government has approved the

expansion of the civic project of Green Space and Park under AMRUT. The cost of the project is Rs two crore, 50 per cent of which will be paid by the union government, while the state government and the PMC will contribute 25 per cent each.” “The PMC would plant around 20,000 trees of native species in a 15acre plot between the two canals passing through Sinhagad Road. The land belongs to the State Irrigation Department and the PMC has signed an agreement to lease it for a long term. The PMC would plant trees and maintain it. The project would help prevent encroachment on the land and increase the green cover,” he added. “The PMC wants to develop an ‘Oxygen Park’ at the location, leaving space only for a suitable surface for pedestrians. The union government has ordered the PMC to ensure that at least 80 per cent of the trees survive. This is the third such proposal approved by the union government. AmolRudrake, junior engineer in the PMC, said.

EVENT

Better Planning, Better Cities The GPSC announced an important development during their 2nd annual conference: India is establishing its own platform for sustainable cities, to mirror the expanding initiative New Delhi: The second annual conference of the Global Partnership for Sustainable Cities (GPSC) took place in New Delhi from October 30 to November 2, 2017. India’s announcement at the conference – attended by 200 mayors and other municipal officials, academics, and business leaders – marks significant progress for the platform, established only last year in Singapore.

The five cities in India already participating in the GPSC – Jaipur, Bhopal, Mysore, Vijayawada, and Guntur – will join the India Platform for Sustainable Cities, a potentially transformative initiative for the world’s second largest population.

The announcement reinforces India’s commitment to sustainable environmental stewardship and may galvanize other countries and regions to follow suit.

“India’s role is considered to be crucial in addressing global issues on mitigating climate change,” Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri said at the forum.

“If India succeeds with its chosen path of sustainable growth, planned urbanization and efficient resource management, we will be able to provide the right direction to other countries who seek sustainability. India’s cities need to rise to the challenge and become the exemplars of sustainable development.”

Supported by the Global Environment Facility and managed by the World Bank, the GPSC serves as a connector of cities working towards more integrated urban planning, more use of renewable energy, and more efficient delivery of services.

“Systemic thinking is urgently needed to build cities and their infrastructure to increase resilience to cope with the

“If India succeeds with its chosen path of sustainable growth, planned urbanization and efficient resource management, we will be able to provide the right direction to other countries who seek sustainability. India’s cities need to rise to the challenge and become the exemplars of sustainable development” Hardeep Singh Puri Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs challenges they face. I hope that GPSC brings together partnerships of many stakeholders around an integrated approach to support cities”, said Naoko Ishii, CEO and Chairperson, Global Environment Facility.

The theme of the 2017 forum, ‘Better Planning, Better Cities’, was illustrated through the many events, including a Mayor’s Roundtable featuring city leaders from India, Malaysia, Paraguay, Vietnam, Senegal, China and Japan, and a series of in-depth learning forums included sessions on municipal planning and PPPs led by the IFC. Ede Ijjasz-Vasquez, Senior Director for the Social, Urban, Rural, and Resilience Global Practice, moderated the roundtable discussion and lauded the cities’ commitment to “place themselves on a path toward sustainability, despite the challenges.”

Mayors and city leaders indeed face huge challenges in their municipalities, from inadequate infrastructure to vulnerability to disaster risks. But in the place of insufficient services and

facilities is firm determination to deliver more and to innovate towards results. Americo Zuniga, mayor of Mexico’s Xalapa city, said that the city he leads will pioneer the use of green technology to manage solid waste and generate clean energy; one planned initiative is a state-of-the-art biodigester.

The Vice-Governor of Abidjan in Cote D’Ivoire, Yeo Klotioloma, outlined the city’s plans to ease traffic congestion and reduce emissions by preparing a bus rapid transit system, enacting regulations to control air pollution, promoting non-motorized transport options, and investing in new infrastructure through PPPs. The impetus for the investments, expected to amount to US$480 million, was a US$5 million grant from the GEF. Still in an early stage, the India platform intends to be a multi-sectoral partnership for knowledge-sharing and building capacity of state-level actors, and to link investments with technical assistance required to generate bankable projects. The initiative is expected to complement existing national urban initiatives, including the Smart Cities program, which promotes energy efficiency, resilient infrastructure, and compact and mixed-use development for 100 cities across India.

“City leaders can customize the Urban Sustainable Framework to identify the policy options that are most politically, technically, and fiscally feasible, to invest in cities that are more resilient to climate change and embody urban management that is both participatory and inclusive,” said Xueman Wang, Senior Urban Specialist and coordinator for the GPSC. With the USF, cities are better equipped to develop strategies for the long term, including for financing.

The World Bank and the IFC are well positioned to support the cities’ multilayered efforts, through complimentary services and serving as a ‘One Stop Shop’ for sustainable urban development.

www.urbanupdate.in | November 2017

21

Event | 15th Green Building Congress

CII, IGBC organise 15 Green Building Congress in Jaipur th

Rajpal Singh Shekhawat Minister for Industry NRI & Govt Enterprise, Rajasthan

Jaipur: The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Indian Green Building Council (IGBC) jointly organised the 15th edition of Green Building Congress (GBC 2017) on October 4-7, 2017 in Jaipur.

The three-day event began with a curtain raiser event on October 4.

On the occasion, Rajasthan Chief Secretary, Ashok Jain said that the large national and international participation indicates awareness and interest towards creating a sustainable built environment. He said the State has taken a number of initiatives for saving energy. In 191 cities of the State LED lights have been installed in 158 cities. It is no. 1 in the country in terms of changing the lights. It is producing 2000 MWs of solar energy which is second largest in the country and will soon be no. 1 in the country. Additional Chief Secretary, Urban Development & Housing Department, Mukesh Kumar Sharma said that it was appreciable that in last 15 years, IGBC has facilitated 4.68 Billion sq ft of green building footprint. He hoped that there would be more such green building projects in the State in future.

Shedding light on the

22 November 2017 | www.urbanupdate.in

Rating systems for healthy buildings for occupants “IGBC Healthy Building Rating”, Greening of Existing Cities—IGBC Green Cities Rating (for Existing Cities), Green Affordable Housing, Green New Building (Version 3.0) and Green Interiors Rating System were launched during the 15th edition of Green Building Congress Team Urban Update

accomplishments of the World Green Building Council, Terri Wills, Chief Executive Officer, said that green building policies have had around 60 per cent impact. She further added that the council is changing the way buildings are being constructed. Commending the efforts of the council she said that they also play a critical role at the United Nations and are a significant contributor for climate change. In his address, V Suresh, Chairman, Policy & Advocacy Committee, IGBC, said that the IGBC hopes to increase to 10 Billion sq ft of area by 2022. He further added that the three-day event will prove to be a significant platform for world councils to act together for sustainable development.

Rajpal Singh Shekhawat, Minister for Industry, NRI & Govt.

Enterprise, Government of Rajasthan, inaugurated the event. Shekhawat said, “Government of Rajasthan is committed is facilitate sustainable development of the State. The Government has introduced a slew of measures, including offering 5% additional FAR (Floor Area Ratio) for projects under JDA (Jaipur Development Authority).

It’s encouraging to see that, the State

of Rajasthan has already 83 IGBC registered projects with a footprint of 103 million sq ft of green buildings making Rajasthan the role model for other states. Awareness about the importance and benefits of adopting the green building concept is very important to further this growth, he underlined. Gajendra Singh Khimsar, Minister for Environment & Forest, Government of Rajasthan said, “India, which is currently the 2nd largest country in the world with Green Building footprint of 4.68 billion sq. ft, has the potential to be the world leader soon. V Suresh, Chairman, Policy & Advocacy Committee, IGBC said, “The green building movement should not just be urban centric, it should reach villages and rural part of India. With these objectives, IGBC on one hand has been driving initiatives to introduce various rating systems customized to meet the requirements of different types of built environment including IGBC green building village rating system. At the same time, our effort has been to create opportunities for market transformation and make green building affordable to ensure greater participation.”

A rating program for healthy buildings for occupants, “IGBC Healthy Building Rating” was launched during the inaugural proceedings.

The program evaluates buildings on the metric of people-centric design, and on the incorporation of elements that address energy consumption, water use and waste management in a sustainable manner. The building rating system addresses the physical, intellectual and social wellbeing of its occupants. The day was also marked by felicitating organisations with Green Championship awards to recognize their efforts in green building movement in India. The awards were given to Indian railways, Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, SBI, Reliance Industries Limited, ICICI, Carrier- United Technologies, Agarwal & Agarwal Interior Designer, RP Sanjiv Goenka Group, Godrej Green Building Consultancy Services, Thomas Associates Architects and Orbit Group.

The event also featuredmany sessions on incorporating sustainability and green elements into buildings serving the healthcare, schools, homes, affordable housing and data centers arenas, along with panel discussion with key industry leaders and financial institutions.

The last day of the event was marked by the launch of India’s first rating system for Greening of Existing Cities—IGBC Green Cities Rating (for Existing Cities). A Rating system for Green Affordable Housing, Green New Building (Version 3.0) and Green Interiors Rating System were also launched. Other sessions organised cover the issues relating to

“Government of Rajasthan is committed is facilitate sustainable development of the State. The Government has introduced a slew of measures, including offering 5% additional FAR (Floor Area Ratio) for projects under JDA (Jaipur Development Authority).”

Rajpal Singh Shekhawat Minister for Industry NRI & Govt Enterprise Government of Rajasthan

Affordable Housing, Green Schools and Green Hospitals. The session on Green Hospitals aimed at highlighting the importance and benefits of incorporating green features in hospitals which would result in faster recovery, energy management and less generation of waste.

On the concluding day, Ashok Jain, Chief Secretary of Rajasthan, assured

that Government of Rajasthan will offer all the possible support and cooperation in further accelerating the growth and spread of green buildings in the State.

A stronger framework of incentives will be created through stakeholder consultations, he added. Presently the Jaipur Development Authority (JDA) is offering a 5 per cent FAR for Green Building projects.

www.urbanupdate.in | November 2017

23

COVER STORY | Water Systems and Ancient Cities

COVER STORY | Water Systems and Ancient Cities

The Water

Stress Indian cities are on the verge of becoming water-scarce.

Historical records tell us, every part of our nation had its own unique water management system for harvesting and its equitable distribution. Can those technologies be relevant today or do we need a fusion of technologies from the past and present to address the problems that we are facing in managing our water?

Abhishek Pandey | Editor

Agrasen ki Baoli at the heart of Delhi

24 November 2017 | www.urbanupdate.in

C

lean water, just like clean air, is the basic necessity for any life form to survive. No human settlement can survive in the absence of adequate water supply for drinking, irrigation and other purposes. That is why it is quite common around the world that many famous cities grew and evolved around

water bodies.

Archaeological evidences show that the practice of water conservation is deep rooted in the science of ancient India. Excavations demonstrate that the cities of the Indus Valley Civilisation had excellent systems of water harvesting and drainage. Similarly other civilizations also had their unique ways and means of water storage and management. With the advent of new technologies over time, every part of the country developed its own water management system, suited to local geographical conditions and environment, for fulfilling its requirement of potable water. Some used surface water and others utilised ground water. Even the people living in the desserts of Rajasthan had built artificial catchment areas and storage to address their water needs. The functionality of those systems is commendable because community owned water resources and distributed among the members equitably without having any formal governance system.

How did communities build their own mechanism to fulfil their water needs before governments took over management of harvesting, conservation, and supply? It is quite understandable that those technologies or systems may be of little use in the present context due to the population size but the exploration of the technologies gives us a glimpse of how people managed water then.

Sand bores, Baavdi, Katta, open wells, step wells, ponds, lakes, Madaka, Kund, and Karez are some of the water harvesting systems used in India. Even in the golden deserts of Rajasthan, the locals had made Kunds that could collect around 100,000 litres of pure drinking water in one monsoon. The locals used slopes on a raised platform or say an artificial catchment area and from here, water went into a 40-50 feet deep well. This was quite important for the terrain as the ground water level is almost 300 feet deep and not potable. Just 400 km away near Jaipur, Jaigarh Fort has a similar system but that was large because it was built by the king to cater to the requirements of a large population. They brought water using canal. The system existed over 400 years ago but can still be used. It could collect over six million gallons of water every monsoon.

Anupam Mishra, the renowned water expert who died recently, had said in one of his lectures, ‘The Ancient Ingenuity of Water Harvesting’, that people in earlier days used engineering with aesthetics. They installed beautiful statues on the tank walls so people could know that the water will be available for six months or nine months. He also talked about a tattoo used in desserts that had depicted water as the centre of life and steps in the wells as waves of water.

www.urbanupdate.in | November 2017

25

COVER STORY | Water Systems and Ancient Cities

IHCNF organises International Conference on Karez BIDAR (KARNATAKA): The Indian Heritage Cities Network Foundation (IHCNF), UNESCO New Delhi and the International Centre on Qanats and Historic Hydraulics Structure (ICQHS) jointly organised an International Conference on Karez between October 29 and 31 in Bidar. Government of Karnataka, All India Institute of Local Self-Government (AIILSG), Archaeological Survey of India, HUDCO and many other organisations supported the event.

Over 110 national and international delegates that included architects, conservation and landscape professionals, urban planners, geotechnical engineers, hydro-geologists, academicians, archaeologists and bureaucrats participated in the event.

The conference saw presentations by 18 national and international experts and scholars with case studies from Aurangabad, Syria, Morocco, Bijapur, Iran, Burhanpur, Oman, Algeria, etc.

A total of five sessions that covered a variety of issues related to ancient water management system were organised during the three-day conference. On the second day of the conference, all the delegates were taken on a guided tour to Naubad Karez and Bidar Fort.

Eshwara B Khandare, Minister of Municipalities and Local Bodies Department (Karnataka), inaugurated the conference. He said: “the government would extend its support it preservation and upkeep of the Karez in Bidar and Bijapur. “...Scarcity of water is a challenge for every government. The recent past clearly demonstrates difficulty in addressing the demand of water...

26 November 2017 | www.urbanupdate.in

Conservation of historical water bodies becomes most important activity of the state government especially in urban areas. State government has made special budgetary allocation for revival and conservation of Karez system. We have already allocated around Rs 5 cr for the conservation and restoration project in Bidar. Tourism department has released further Rs 3 cr for the project in Bidar and Bijapur. There are several CSR funded projects that have been proposed for revival of water bodies in Karnataka.”

Dr M Ramachandran, Chairman of IHCNF; Harsh Gupta, Regional Commissioner of Kalaburgi; Selvamani, CEO of Zilla Panchayat, Bidar; Ajay Khare, Founder Director of School of Planning and Architecture (SPA)Bhopal and IHCNF Trustee; Kulwant Singh, IHCNF Trustee and Former Regional Advisor of UN Habitat; and K S Raykar, Executive Director of IHCNF also graced the opening ceremony.

It is to be noted that the ‘Karez’ system in Naubad, Bidar in Karnataka

is a unique example of ancient Persian engineering expertise, adapted to the Indian environment, and an ingenious method for collection, transportation, storage and distribution of ground water.

In his presentation ‘Hydrology—As Evident from the Medieval Water Supply System at Burhanpur’, Sharad Mande, former Hon. Secretary General of India Water Works Association, said: “the integrated water resources development is one aspect but restoration of cultural heritage is above all.”

Vishwanath Srikantaiah of Biome Environmental Trust presented ‘The Well and Karez: The Historical Evolution of the Access to Groundwater’. He said that India was and is a groundwater dependent civilization. Over 60 per cent of total water requirement and 85 per cent of drinking water requirementis fulfilled by groundwater. He said that urban India needs to learn sustainable use of groundwater.

Once an environmentally sustainable water management system in some regions of India, the Karez system is on the verge of extinction due to lack of awareness and knowledge in modern society. There is hardly any documentation or case studies/best practices available in India to rehabilitate these historic water networks. Pallavi Gokhale, an academician from Pune spoke about Peshwa Period Water Supply

Water and Indian cities

What is Karez?

It is a gently sloping subterranean canal, which taps a waterbearing zone at a higher elevation than cultivated lands.

The Karez are known to be environmentally sustainable water harvesting and conveyance techniques through which groundwater can be obtained without causing damage to the tapped aquifer System of Pune. She said that Haud, Ooswas, Nahar constituted the 20-km long water supply network in Pune and has worked efficiently but rapid urbanisation has caused damage. She had digitally reconstructed in 3D space to understand and enable people to experience this system in its entirety.

Other prominent speakers who spoke on significance and restoration needs of traditional water management systems like Qanats, Foggara, Karez, Falaj Al Sarani included Dr Josepha Ivanka Wessels (UK), Dr Mahamed Mahdane (Morocco), Dr Abdelkrim Dahmen (Algeria), Dr Dale Lightfoot (USA), Prof. Larry Mays (USA) and Dr Majid Labbaf Khaneiki (Iran).

The conference created awareness on the significance of and the opportunities of reviving the historic water system. It also explored the potential of Karez being recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Dr N Manjula, Director of Tourism Department, Government of Karnataka, along with Kumar Pushkar, MD KSTDC and Vijay Sharma, MD of Jungle Lodges graced the closing ceremony.

Water is becoming scarce in our cities because of uncontrolled exploitation of existing water resources and ground water extraction. According to the World Resource Institute report published in 2015, most of the world countries such as China, India, and the United States of America (USA) would face water scarcity. Scientists say, India may be water stressed as early as 2025.

This is partly visible as many Indian states are fighting for water. The battle for rights on Cauvery water between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka has been blood-spattered and caused many deaths. Haryana and Delhi are also at loggerheads for Yamuna water.

According to a report by NASA, ground water tables have declined by an average of one metre every three years in some parts of the Indus basin, turning it into the second most over-stressed aquifer in the world. It is also distressing that just 10 per cent of waste water is treated and the remaining flows into the water bodies and that is why almost every river, canal, lake, pond and other water bodies around urban centres is polluted.

There is a lot to learn from the dying wisdom of water harvesting. Managing water in our cities is not just about building dams and getting more water to cities through pipelines. It is much more than that. Water management system also includes efficient water use by plugging the gaps to reduce water wastage and then bringing down the ratio of non-revenue water, ensuring metered water supply in every municipality, equitable distribution and share of water to every household, quality of water, and waste water management.

There is a plethora of concerns relating to water management in cities. From drinking water supply to waste water management to sewerage management, every Indian city has its own set of problems. Of particular concern is the question of how to make water more accessible to poor urban communities.

The draft of National Water Framework Bill 2016 gives the following guidelines for usage of water in the urban sector: ♦♦ The appropriate Government shall

ensure conformity with the Service Level Benchmarks for water supply, sanitation, solid waste management and storm water drainage, as may be prescribed. ♦♦ Urban water supply shall be metered and priced on a volumetric basis: Provided that the appropriate Government shall provide sufficient quantity of water for drinking and sanitation free of cost as part of the realization of the right to water for life. Provided further that annual water accounts and water audit reports, indicating leakages and pilferages, shall be published to sensitize communities for reduction of non-revenue water giving due consideration to associated social equity issues. ♦♦ The appropriate Government shall ensure that urban water supply and sewage treatment schemes are integrated and executed simultaneously, with provision of sewerage charges included in the water supply bills. ♦♦ The appropriate Government shall encourage reuse of urban water effluents from kitchens and bathrooms, after treatment, in flush toilets ensuring no human contact with human excreta. ♦♦ Water resources projects and services shall be managed with community participation. Provided that for improved service delivery on sustainable basis, the State Governments and urban local bodies may associate private sector agencies in public private partnership mode with penalties for failure, regulatory control on prices charged and service standards and with full accountability to democratically elected local bodies.

All stakeholders need to jointly address the complex issue of water supply in our cities. Shoring up availability, conservation, efficient use and reuse, recycling and waste water management are all elements which require close attention. There is no time to lose.

Recall the words ‘We never know the worth of water till the well is dry’. Let us not wait till then.

www.urbanupdate.in | November 2017

27

Leaderspeak | Heritage in Cities

Ranjit S Chavan President, AIILSG

How can municipalities save our heritage?

Municipal Corporations in India have limited functional powers and capacity to preserve heritage sites. However, many corporations are taking initiatives to spread awareness among citizens and tourists about the historical significance of heritage sites and playing a pro-active role in their upkeep and restoration

I

ndian cities have thousands of unprotected monuments which are neglected and getting damaged because of sheer neglect. The reason is there is no authority that is responsible for the upkeep of heritage sites and buildings which are not protected.

However, as per the directives of Government of India, it is the function of urban local bodies to prepare a list of heritage buildings, precincts, and neighbourhoods to ensure their conservation and monitor to avoid any deterioration of tangible heritage coming under their jurisdiction.

Preserving historical monuments in cities may not be considered economically feasible as urban lands are becoming costly. They are often replaced with buildings that appear contemporary and more efficient.

The responsibility is complex as the government is not the only custodian of all the heritage sites. In India, many heritage buildings and monuments are owned by private individuals or trusts. How

28 November 2017 | www.urbanupdate.in

would government ensure the adequate maintenance of such heritage sites? There is no specific mention in the twelfth schedule of the 74th Amendment of the Constitution defining the role of municipal bodies in preservation of cultural and heritage sites.

There are many sites which are not in the ‘protected monuments list’ of Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) but still hold historical and cultural significance.

Heritage comprises archaeological sites, remains, ruins, and monuments protected by the ASI and their counterparts in the states, and also a large number of unprotected buildings, groups of buildings, neighbourhoods, and public spaces including landscapes and natural features which provide character and distinctive identity to cities.

According to the directives of Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, “no development or redevelopment or engineering operation or additions/alterations, repairs, renovations including painting of the building, replace-

ment of special features or plastering or demolition of any part thereof of the said listed buildings or listed precincts or listed natural feature areas shall be allowed except with the prior permission of Commissioner, Municipal Corporation or Vice Chairman of the concerned Development Authority. Before granting such permission, the agency concerned shall consult the Heritage Conservation Committee appointed by the State Government and shall act in according with the advice of the Committee.”

Heritage cells in municipalities

Ahmedabad is among the first few cities that started a heritage cell in 1996 to conserve and promote the rich heritage of the city through strategic interventions. A separate budget of Rs 50 lakh was allocated, as a start up fund. As a result of various Heritage initiatives undertaken during the last two decades, the AMC has become a national leader in urban heritage conservation.

Many Indian cities are now

replicating Ahmedabad. For smooth functioning, the heritage cell was upgraded into a full-fledged Heritage Department in 2013. Ahmedabad has set an example in urban heritage conservation and preservation but still most of our cities, barring a few, do not have any such cell or department. Learning from the experiences of Ahmedabad, many other Indian cities like Amritsar, Pondicherry, Pune, Baroda, Mumbai, Jamnagar, Delhi, Bhuj, Siddhpur, Jaipur, Surat, Agra, Patiala, Jodhpur and Lucknow have already launched their projects to suit local requirements.

Conservation of heritage

Indian kings and emperors had been concerned about preserving the heritage. According to historical records, in 3rd century BC, Emperor Ashokahad ordered to conserve wildlife. In the 14th century AD, Firuz Shah Tughlaq ordered to protect ancient buildings. During the British era, many regulations such as Bengal Regulation (XIX), 1810 and Madras Regulation (VII), 1817 were passed and enabled the government to in-

tervene whenever the public buildings were under threat of misuse.

Then in 1863, ACT XX was passed which authorised the government to “prevent injury to and preserve buildings remarkable for their antiquity or for their historical or architectural value”. The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) was established in 1861 to initiate legal provision to protect the historical structures all over India. Later, the Ancient Monuments Preservation Act (VII) was passed in 1904 which provided effective preservation and authority over the monuments, and in 1905 for the first time, 20 historic structures in Delhi were ordered to be protected.

At the time of independence, 151 buildings and complexes in Delhi were protected by the central ASI. The State Department of Archaeology was set up in 1978 in Delhi, but it lacks the power to acquire or protect buildings, and merely looks after some monuments de-notified by ASI. In 1984, Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) was founded to stimulate awareness for conservation of cultural her-

Since all the policies are formulated at national or state level; it is the duty of the concerned governments to institutionalise a separate cell or department in every municipal corporation with separate funds for ensuring our cities contribute their bit in preserving the heritage of India

itage among the people.

CPWD released ‘Handbook of Conservation of Heritage Buildings’ in 2013 to help related agencies in preserving our heritage.

Intangible heritage

Indian cities have treasured not just tangible heritage in the form of historical monuments but also had a rich intangible heritage in the form of cultural traditions, artistic skills of the local populace, dance and music forms, religious practices and so on.

Many of our cities still boast of keeping the cultural heritage alive. UNESCO has enlisted 429 intangible cultural practices. The list was prepared in 2008 when the 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage took effect. As of now, despite having such a rich cultural heritage, only 12 cultural practices are represented in the list. It is surprising that the country that has such a huge cultural heritage is not able to promote it. Since all the policies are formulated at national or state level it is the responsibility of the concerned government to institutionalise a separate cell or department in every municipal corporation. The role of private players and civil society organisations at local level can also be thought of for effectiveness of any such program.

www.urbanupdate.in | November 2017

29

Article | Rome

T

he father of the science of psychoanalysis Sigmund Freud famously compared the city of Rome to the human mind. What he meant was, as the human psyche is a build-up of memories, the city too has an intriguing series of layers. Rome too has a history that goes deeper and deeper. Once you start discovering the city you find that every modern building is on top of a renaissance era and under that you find remnants of medieval period and as you go down further you find the ancient Rome.

Mary Beard, a traveller famously wrote “Freud might also have said that – just as with the mind – as you go deeper into the city you find the dirty bits (the mess, the slums and the filth) as well as the clean, official, splendidly “proper” façades.” Ancient Rome was the biggest city in Europe with a population of a million till Victorian London happened. And not all of them, be it hairdressers or dockers lived in marble villas. They were all stacked in towers and blocks lined along the narrow streets with almost no public services and amenities. Rome today could be a tourist paradise but certainly was not a place in those times to get along. So where can you find the traces of these ordinary “high-rise Romans”?

Amazingly, the answer is “all over the city”. You only need to know where to look, and to keep your eyes open.

Happily, it isn’t all buried underground.

Life in early Rome

I am not getting deep into the history of the Roman Empire or republic but just highlighting the life of an average inhabitant and their daily struggles.

King Romulus founded the city in 753BC. It grew into a rich and powerful city during the next few hundred years. Historians say that by AD 117 the Roman Empire included the whole of Italy, much of Europe including England, Wales and parts of Scotland.

According to a legend Romulus had a twin brother called Remus. They were abandoned as babies in the area that later became known as Rome. A shewolf found and raised them, but when

30 November 2017 | www.urbanupdate.in

The City of Visible History Kumar Dhananjay Consulting Editor

they grew up, Romulus fought and killed Remus and became the first ruler of Rome. Legends apart, the Roman Empire continued to expand under the despotic reigns of the likes of Caligula, Nero and Commodus stretching its rule to the entire Mediterranean Sea and in the North to Gaul and Britain.

History is full of stories of tirades of the emperors but often tends to ignore the unsung heroes on whose back the empire was built. The people who lived a relatively quiet existence.

Cosmopolitan, is a term is heavily used these days to describe a city with certain characteristics, but Rome even in those days could be described as one.

Greeks, Syrians, Jews, North Africans, Spaniards, Gauls, and Britons were all there. An average Roman citizen would wake up each morning, labor, eat and relax. The daily life used to be hectic but he still survived.

Movement of population

Life in the city reflected a stark contrast. The average citizen often lived a routine life. Rome worked as a magnet for people from small towns and farms seeking a better way of life. But the job promises were unfulfilled forcing them to live in the deprived areas of the cities. The jobs they looked for were not available as slaves performed those menial jobs.

So much so that slaves were even made to perform as teachers, doctors, surgeons, etc..With jobs not available the numbers of homeless people kept rising. Women, occasionally, would work as hairdressers, midwives or at times dress makers.

Space at a premium

Housing was at a premium in a walled city like Rome. The first concern for anyone arriving in the city was to find

Highlights ♦♦ Romans were wonderful architects and engineers who did not spend all their time fighting. They built roads and walls that we take for granted today ♦♦ Romans built aqueducts, a system with channels and bridges to transport water to the cities ♦♦ Romans enjoyed their food, eating with hands. Would occasionally use spoons but never fork and knife ♦♦ They believed in gods and goddesses. Neptune was the god of ocean and they offered prayers to him to protect them from the sea. Temples were also built to offer prayers ♦♦ Colosseum, one of the most famous buildings left by ancient Romans still stands tall today. A famous tourist site.

a place to live. Little attention was paid to housing need of the people who migrated to the city. Tenement was the only answer.

The fortunate ones who could afford it would get place in apartment buildings or ‘insulae’ as they were called.

But they were also in short supply and in extremely poor condition and overcrowded. Residents lived in constant fear of fire, collapse and flooding. No attention was paid initially to create easy access to these buildings in case of emergency. Only when the great fire of Rome took place under King Nero that attention was paid to this problem and streets were widened. These dwelling units usually were five to seven storeys and laws were passed to keep the height in check but were rarely enforced. The disparity was omnipresent and poverty apparent throughout. It reflected in education, dressing manner and life

in general. Even the floor on which one lived depended upon the income as the lower floors were much more comfortable than the top ones. But civic amenities were missing with flats having no access to natural light, were hot in summer and extremely cold in winter with no access to running water. Human waste would be dumped on streets causing stench and breeding diseases. Though the first sewer system appeared in BC 600 it was not of much help for people living on higher floors.

For many, the only alternative was to use a public toilet.

The family

Regardless of the economic situation, family remained the fundamental unit.

But it was highly patriarchal. The male head of the household wielded all the power over the life and death of family members. He could reject children

if they were disfigured and even questioned the paternity if he had more than one daughter already. He could sell children into slavery. Women were merely allowed to run the household.

Things changed over the centuries but the system still plagues the social pyramid.

Food, baths and leisure

In every age economic status decides what one eats. In those days for the poor it meant waiting for the monthly allotment of grains. Main meal of the day would be between four and six in the afternoon. In the morning and noon it would be snacks and bread.

Many of the foods that we call and eat as Italian did not exist in early Rome.

While the wealthy enjoyed imported spices in their meals, many of the extremely poor or homeless ate rancid cereal or gruel.

For the elite day was divided between business and leisure. Business in ancient Rome was conducted only in the morning. Work hours would not be more than six in a day. The city would be empty because afternoon was devoted to gladiators, wrestling and races, the theatres and baths. After conducting business and leisure, the Romans needed to relax and would spend time at baths.

These were also a place to socialise and conduct business. A typical bath would include a gym, health centre, swimming pool. They were mostly free.

For an emperor, building a bath was to ensure his popularity. A typical bath would have three rooms - relaxation, hot room and cooling room maintained by the slaves.

The fall

Needless to say that economic status has defined the life style since time immemorial. Rome too remained a mixture of wealth and poverty. The wealthy had the benefits and the poor suffered. Arguments are made for and against the demise of the empire. Was it religion? Probably not. Perhaps it was the poor, unemployed, a failing health system and rise in crime that contributed to the fall of the empire.

www.urbanupdate.in | November 2017

31

Article | Toilets in Ancient Civilisations

A glance at the evolution of world sanitation Sanitation services are essential for running any human settlement efficiently. Even ancient civilisations had their own unique systems of toilets, sewage and waste water disposal. In the times when Indian government is working to make all cities, towns and villages open defecation free and clean through various initiatives, it is important to understand how people in ancient civilisations managed their waste and what technology they used in their toilets Aakash Mandyal | Editorial Assistant

32 November 2017 | www.urbanupdate.in

I

ndus Valley civilisation was one of the pioneers in the use of toilets. Ancient civilisations and cities like Dholavira (Kutch, Gujarat, 2500 BC), Banawali (Haryana), Taxila (Now in North-Western Pakistan), Kausambi (1025 BC), Lothal (Gujarat, 2500 BC) and Mohenjo-Daro (2500 BC) had constructed their drain and sewer systems on very scientific lines especially the Indus Valley civilisation which contains the world’s earliest known system of flush toilets. Excavated sites of Indus valley civilisation at Mohenjo-Daro confirm existence of private toilets in households. They had highly developed drainage system where waste water from bathrooms as well as toilets in each house flowed into the main sewer through a drain pipe passing under each house.

During 200 BC, when Roman ascendancy was at its zenith, public baths were very much in vogue and acted as meeting place for the people and reached the highest point of their development. Rome had the distinction of having the largest toilet with 1600 defecation holes, known as the Antoninus Public Bath (200 BC) in which toilet seats were arranged in a semi-circular shape and water flowed underneath. They are known as rivertop type toilets. In 69 AD Vespasianus, the Roman Emperor for the first time levied tax on toilets. Private toilets having a water closet were widely used in Rome around 196 BC and some of these were decorated with mosaic and marble.

Persians also realised the importance of toilets in 480 BC. During the third Persian war, the army suffered from plague which was caused by their own excretion and they lost the war but learnt a big lesson about the need to have proper toilet facilities.

In Mesopotamia, water being aplenty, flush-type toilets were developed as early as 1700 BC and by 700 BC flushtype stools had made their appearance.

The rich and developed countries like America and United Kingdom have succeeded in providing efficient toilet facilities to their citisens;

A walk inside Sulabh International Museum of Toilets During an interaction with Raju Singh, the assistant curator of Sulabh International Museum of Toilets, he explained about the museum and its rare collection of facts, pictures and objects detailing the historic evolution of toilets from 2500 BC to date. While explaining a picture of recently excavated settlements of Harappan civilisation, Singh said “It has been adjudged as the best example of civilisation in India.

Dholavira is appreciated for its sanitational arrangements and water conservation methods. Half a dozen water reservoirs, pucca underground drains, bathrooms, terracotta pipes and wells have impressed town planners and engineers.Terracotta is used today as well. Explaining about ancient Egypt civilisation in 3000 BC he said, “In that era we found terracotta made squatting toilets which we also find in India as well.”

He also talked about toilet etiquettes in ancient India and said, “After decline of Indus valley civilisation, Aryans came to India and made rules and regulations regarding sanitation.

In ancient India we had to follow some important points for defecation which are mentioned in Manusmriti written in second century. If one had to urinate then one had to maintain 10 hands distance from the source of water in order to avoid water contamination. If one had to defecate then one had to maintain 100 hands distance from residential area and 400 hands distance from any temple or river nearby. So perhaps we can say open defecation started during this period.”

Further he explained that John Harrington invented WC (Water Closet) Flush toilet in 1596 on the basis of flush toilet diagram drawn by Leonardo da Vinci. In America, double storeyed toilets were in use in 1920 in office areas. The first floor of the toilet was for the management which had higher position and the lower floor of the toilet was for the employees. Both the floors of the toilets were the same but they were differentiated into floors just to show the superiority of management personnel.

He also explained about “Dark Age of World Sanitation” (500 AD TO 1500 AD). This period is known as Dark Age of Sanitation not only in India or Asia but all over the world. In this period people would collect human waste in buckets and throw it outside from window. As a consequence, in 1348-50 many fatal diseases like plague and Black Death spread which further led to eradication of half of the population in Europe.

Another corner in the museum shows the sanitation statusof India. Amer Fort, Jaipur (Rajasthan) which was constructed in 16th century AD had a room which contained eight defecation holes. This kind of toilet was constructed for soldiers and servants and all the waste generated was collected in a dark room and they would clean it either manually or it got however developing countries like India, Afghanistan, and Pakistan are still struggling in this field. According to a study conducted by “UNICEF-

automatically washed out by rain. Another is at Kumbhalgarh fort; in its north-eastern corner there is a toilet room of nearly 10’x6’ in which had a semi-circular row of four holes for defecation. Each hole had foot rest on either side. The excreta fell down some 50 feet’s below.

Moving to the European Section (18th-19th century) of the museum he said that due to industrialisation in Europe people became rich and started using different types of decorative and ornamental toilets.

Explaining different sections of the museum and various facts related to the history of toilets he showed a picture of a book shaped toilet which was constructed in the 18th century

by France and said that in the 18th century France and Britain were rivals and they fought and tried to humiliate each other.

The French constructed the book shaped toilet and named it after a classical book of English Literature, Mc Beth written

by Shakespeare, a British writer just to humiliate the British.

While explaining about “Throne cum Toilet” he said that according to historians, Louis XIV, King of France used to take two- three hours to defecate due to which he was not able to deliver lectures in his court; therefore for better time management “Throne cum toilet” was constructed. Now he could deliver lectures and attend guests on time. So that both the tasks could go on simultaneously.

As we move forward, another section comprises different toilets with today’s technology like toy-commode from China, mobile toilet of Sulabh, electric toilet from USA and the model of the world’s biggest toilet complex at a religious place named Shirdi in Maharashtra constructed by Sulabh International.

Also on display are some ultra-modern electronic toilets from Japan, South Korea and some other countries.

Recently NASA purchased space toilet from Russia for 19 million dollars which is the world’s costliest toilet. As it is a space toilet, a vacuum is fitted instead of flush which pumps urine to a filtering system that turns it in to drinking water.

Stop Open Defecation- 2016 progress report”- “India alone accounts for 93 percent of the open defecation in South Asia.” But it’s very ironic that where

the civilisations of ancient India used proper procedure for sanitation in the old times, people are defecating in the open today.

www.urbanupdate.in | November 2017

33

Article | Ancient Bazaar

The Idea and Grand Bazaar Istanbul

Evolution of Bazaars

Bazaars have always been a centre of social, economic and cultural exchange. Over a period of time, the concept of Bazaars has changed in its spatial arrangement and offerings Unique characters of

Bazaars

Rajni Upadhyay | Editorial Assistant

T

raditional Bazaars were usually situated in close proximity to ruling palaces or places of religious importance for practical reasons. The locations of market places

FLEA BAZAAR

FLOATING BAZAAR

WET BAZAAR

WHERE: Grand Bazaar in Istanbul, Turkey; Les Puces de Saint-Ouen in Paris, France; Brooklyn Flea in Brooklyn, New York; Monastiraki Flea Market in Athens, Greece; Colaba Causeway Market, Mumbai, India

WHERE: Damnoen Saduak Floating Market in Bangkok, Thailand, Dal Lake Floating Market in Srinagar, India, MuaraKuin Floating Market, Indonesia

WHERE: Tekka wet market, Singapore, Graham Street Wet Market, Hong Kong, La Boqueria: Barcelona, Spain, Chinatown Wet Market, Singapore

Flea Bazaars are spaces that sell used, collectibles and old items at low prices.

One can find hundreds of vendors selling everything from fresh fruit to locally handcrafted furniture.

34 November 2017 | www.urbanupdate.in

Floating Bazaars are places where goods are sold from the boat. These markets have great influence in the daily lives of people in cities where water transport plays a major role. The goods sold are majorly fruits and vegetables that come from the merchant’s farms.

Wet Bazaars are places majorly for the sale of fresh meat, fish and other produce. Wet markets are associated with wet floors, fresh food and humid temperature. In these markets, sellers constantly use water to wash down foods & floors to keep them clean & humid.

were judiciously chosen to provide traders protection, and also because such locations generated substantial demand for goods and services. They also acted as connecting points along the regional, national, and international trade routes through which cities were connected and goods, culture, people, and information could be exchanged. The traditional Silk Route is one of the appropriate examples of such connection.

The existence of the concept of market places was developed around 3000 BC in form of Bazaars, according to the documented records. The word ‘Bazaar’ originated from the Persian word ‘bāzār’, and was derived from the Pahlavi (Middle Iranian) word ‘bahachar’ meaning “the place of prices”. The concept of Bazaar slowly gained popularity and got different names in different nations. For instance, in Italian it was known to be as ‘Bazzara’, in Spanish as ‘Feria’, in Portuguese: ‘Meracado, in Swedish: ‘Marknad’, in German: ‘Basar”, in Turkish: ‘Pazar’, in Greek: ‘Ayopa’, in Arabic: ‘Soug’, and in English: ‘Bazaar’.

The chronology of Indian Bazaars can be traced back to the Pre-Mauryan period (middle of 1st millennium BCE) which showcased the appearance of the urban centres of North India in the Gangetic plain. Kautilya’s Arthasastra describes planned and organised selling places of flowers, perfumes and toiletries and other forest produce items.

Contrary to these organised markets lay the markets of Puhar in Southern India.

It was a bustling urban centre with market square, streets and boulevards with the profusion of activities and cacophony and modern-day fair.

The markets of Chola period, roughly 850 to 1279 CE, the commercial markets in streets for the sale of grains, textiles, jewellery, copperware and leather work were famous. Marketing institutions such as nagaram or commercial urban centres which included kadai (shops), angadi (markets), perangadi (a big market in the inner city). The temples were another institution which actively contributed to the spread of market in South India as they attracted donation of gold, money, land, livestock. In this period, temples were active buyers of livestock, rice, lentils, spices, vegetables and flowers and played an important economic role.

Mughal Period (1526 to 1757) was the emergence of power communities of Khattris from Punjab, Aggarwals, Oswal, Maheshwari. Further with eminence of skilled craftsmen and artisan of the cities and the dominance of agricultural activities, the system led to the one-way flow of goods from villages to cities and since villagers were unable to afford the products from the city. With advent of industrial production in the late 18th century, there was mass production of cheap products in the cities enabling villagers to purchase them. By the 17th century the nature of marketing had taken one of its biggest leaps since its early development.

The initial encounter with Europe and early colonial period (1498 to 1857)

NIGHT BAZAAR

ANTIQUE BAZAAR

WHERE: Raohe Street Night Market in Taipei, Taiwan, Rot Fai Market, Srinakarin, Thailand, Arpora Saturday Night Bazar, Goa, India

WHERE: San Telmo Antiques Fair, Buenos Aires, Argentina, Brimfield Antique Show, Brimfield, Massachusetts, The Antiques Market in Arezzo, Italy

Indian Bazaars

It provides a wide range of foods and non-food times to the shoppers. Night markets are more of leisurely strolling and eating and less of business-like day markets. Depending on the popularity of the night markets in the area, they would usually operate once or twice a week.

These are markets selling old, used but precious item at comparatively higher prices. People searching for affordable antiques can find amazing deals among the many stalls overflowing with antiques, vintage posters & artwork etc.

with the Portuguese, middlemen played an important role and specialized local markets such as haats evolved. This era saw the emergence of early advertising in newspapers, Indian manufacturing capabilities started to lose the traditional and ancient essence, the railway networks increased market penetration.

By the time the 19th century came, the world had already begun building shopping arcades which hosted multiplevendor spaces in their newly developed and formalised shopping structure.

Many kings and emperors also contributed in the development of unique characters of markets in their reign. Meena Bazaar in Old Delhi, Beghum Bazaar in Hyderabad, and Johari Bazaar in Jaipur gained their unique characteristics over hundreds of years of their evolution.

Chandni Chowk in Delhi that is spread over 500 hectares houses over 200,000 people and also has hundreds of shops.

It is still considered one of the busiest markets of India and thousands of crores change hands every day.

With change in time and advent of modern technology, every Indian city today boasts of swanky malls where one can find international brands. One can buy from needle to hi-tech cars in these malls. The old markets may not attract the young crowd yet their preservation is essential for holistic heritage conservation.

Design of ancient Bazaars

The designing of the bazaars was dependent on local climate, culture, grandeur and the power of the city. The two types of the architecture development have been seen and developed over the ages i.e., one the Bazaar of Tabriz was the longest vaulted bazaar in the world as it stretched to an astounding 1.5 km of area; similarly the grand Bazaar of Istanbul and many bazaars in cities of Turkey and Iran. The bazaar areas were used to be covered space, with columns and vaults and the rambling and sometimes linear designs developed in the subcontinent contrary to the centralised market places of the West. They usually remained open space and at times got covered to protect the vendors from summer heat and rain.

www.urbanupdate.in | November 2017

35

Article | The Old Capital City

history books and other writings where Job Charnock has been named as Kolkata’s founder.

Etymology

The Imperial Goldmine–Kolkata Kolkata is a city which has a rich history that dates back to the 17th century. The heart of this city has always been in a poor condition due to its nature of functionalities and dense population since its origin. It never really gave it a time span to reorient itself to ensure better quality of life Gaurab Das Mahapatra Urban Planner, Kakinada Municipal Corporation

T

he first mention of Calcutta to the world outside is believed to be in 1688, through a letter by Charles Eyre, then President of Bengal and an administrator of the British East India Company. The letter was sent to Job Charnock, the agent of British East India Company in India. Charnock shifted from Madras (now Chennai) to Calcutta (now Kolkata) on August 24, 1690 and eventually got the power to collect tax of three revenue villages named Kolikata, Gobindopur and Sutanuti, from Sabarna Choudhurys, then Zamindars of Calcutta.

For a long time, Charnock was considered the Founder of Kolkata and August 24, 1690 was considered the Foundation Day. However, Kolkata High Court rejected this in its judgement in 2003. The Division Bench of

36 November 2017 | www.urbanupdate.in

the Kolkata High Court, comprising Chief Justice Asoke Kumar Mathur and Justice Jayanta Biswas, had constituted a five-member committee comprising Dr Nemai Sadan Bose, former ViceChancellor, Visva Bharati, as chairman, and Dr Barun Dey, Dr Sushil Chowdhury, Dr Arun Dasgupta and Dr Pradip Sinha, historians, as members.

According to the report, the name of Kalikata was mentioned in the “Monasavijay Kabya” much before Job Charnock’s arrival and the land document of “Aain-e-Akbari” in 1596. The Sabarno Roy Chowdhury family got the zamindari of Sutani, Govindapur and Kalikata in 1608. Hence, Job Charnock cannot be named as Kolkata’s founder.

The Division Bench had directed the state government to immediately rectify all official documents pertaining to Kolkata’s foundation day as per the expert committee’s report and correct

The etymology of Calcutta itself has several views. Some believe that the city derives its name from the Bengali word Kalikshetra meaning “Ground of the Goddess Kali”. Some believe that one of the three villages, Kalikata, where Charnock lived is behind the city’s name. Other stories relating to is etymology include the location of its original settlement on the bank of a canal (khal); the Bengali words for lime (kali) and burnt shell (kata), since the area was noted for manufacturing shell-lime; the Bengali term Kilkila (meaning, ‘flat area’), which is mentioned in the old literatures.

However, the actual inspiration still remains a matter or quest. The city was known as Calcutta for almost 300 years.

In January, 2001 the name Calcutta was officially changed to Kolkata to suit its pronunciation in Bengali. Kolkata is perceived by various stalwarts in different perspectives. It has been simultaneously referred to as ‘Cultural Capital of India’, and ‘City of Joy’.

After having being at the helm of its pride during British rule, much of Kolkata’s historical splendour has turned into shabbiness in the 21st century.

The notion of preservation and of protecting historical landmark buildings, deeply rooted in a European concept of tradition and history, has gradually been taken up by Kolkata’s administrative units and its general population.

Heritage societies are being formed, heritage walks are offered to tourists; moreover, buildings that have stood empty and neglected for long periods of time are suddenly ‘rediscovered’ and redecorated.

The Present City

Although, Calcutta started with institutionalization of three villages Sutanuti, Kolikataand Gobindopur; at present they are part of Old Calcutta as demarcated by Kolkata Municipal Corporation. It has a gross population of 7, 41,025 (as per 2011 census) and

encompasses ten neighbourhoods of 30 wards, smallest administrative boundary for Kolkata Municipal Corporation. The present day neighbourhoods are given: Based on the primary observation and allied literature study, it is observed

Timeline

The interesting part in any old city is to observe if the city expands steadily or grows in phases of ‘Re-inventing’ itself. The following timeline might provide an insight of the development of Calcutta into Kolkata: Year

Significant Events

1690

First settlement of East India Company with trading activity along the river.

1698

Fort was built at Laldighi and Calcutta started growing around the river port with a cluster of

villages. Moreover, European settlements viz., Portuguese, French, Dutch, Danish, Flemish &

English grew along the length of the Hooghly.

1 Sutanuti Chitpur

1706

Calcutta’s population- 22,000. At around this time, there was gradual conversion of residential

Baghbazar

village to offices around the fort in Dalhousie square area and planned residential development

Sobhabazar

started in Chowringhee/Park street.

Hatkhola

1726

Calcutta Municipal Corporation was initiated.

2 Kolikata Dharmatala

1800

Calcutta’s population- 600,000.

Bowbazar

1803

Transformation from Mercantile complex to colonial buildings, monuments, halls, gardens

Simla

and 33 bathing ghats, like St. John’s Church, Raj Bhavan, Town Hall, Metcalfe Hall, St. Pauls’

Janbazar

Cathedral and Botanical Gardens.

1814

Municipal improvement entrusted to Lottery Commission/Committee resulting in a number

S.

Old

No

Nomenclature Neighbourhoods

3

Present Day

Gobindopur Hastings

Maidan

of North-South arterial roads, tanks and squares.

Bhowanipur

1850-1930

Road, Rail & Transport network developed. Heavy Engineering Industry grew with the advent

of rail in Howrah and construction of pontoon bridge across Hooghly done. Electrification of

trams and opening of Dumdum Airport were completed.

1854

Howrah Rly. Terminus was opened and jute mills, large iron works grew along the riverside.

1911

Calcutta Improvement Trust was created for renewal & development of Town.

1941

Howrah Bridge was constructed.

1947

Huge refugee influx after partition putting civic infrastructure under unprecedented strain.

Calcutta had an estimated 350 colonies with 5,50,000 Refugee population.

1960

Delineation of Calcutta Metropolitan District-1254 sq km with 6.72 million population was

that there is a strong homogeneous perpetual image as well as distinctive differences in all the three neighbourhoods of Sutanuti, Gobindopur and Kolikata. They have similarity in the many ways. ♦♦ Presence of prostitute areas in the areas of Sonagachi in Sovabazar (Sutanuti), Harkata Gali in Bowbazar (Kolikata) and KalighatRed Light area in Kalighat (Gobindopur). ♦♦ Predominance of Mixed use buildings on the streets, ♦♦ Architectural features like Colonial elements (Columns) and Typical Bengal architectural elements (green wooden louvers), and ♦♦ “Foodscape” based neighbourhoods, and many other attributes. ♦♦ The open space network is different where, due to the predominance of British presence, the Kolikata area has more organized green spaces large in space but less in numbers

made.

1970

Calcutta Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) was set up as a Nodal Agency for

implementation of large-scale physical & social infrastructure & municipal services programmes.

1980

Calcutta Municipal Corporation Act (KMC Act, 1980) came into existence.

2001

Calcutta name changed to Kolkata

Source: (Kolkata Municipal Development Authority, 2004)

♦♦

♦♦

♦♦

♦♦

compared to the fragmented green areas in Sutanuti and Gobindopur.

The streets are most congested in terms of road to building height ratio in Kolikata, followed by Sutanutiand Gobindopur respectively.

New construction is least in Kolikata area followed by Sutanuti.

In contrast, Gobindopur area has a considerable number of streets with new construction.

Neighbourhood edge is River (Hooghly) in Sutanuti and streets often open upto the Ghatsunlike Kolikata where the streets are entwined into a web of bye lanes or Gobindopur where wider roads form the edge.

Religious gatherings happen in

community parks (like Bagbazar) in Sutanuti due to neighbourhood level fragmented small green areas.

In Gobindopur, it is on streets; but creating less congestion in festival days due to street width. In Kolikata, on account of absence of neighbourhood level parks, it is an absolute mayhem during festival days due to gatherings in smallest of lanes creating congestion. ♦♦ Storm water stagnation is a major problem in Kolikata, especially during rainy season; mainly due to poor infrastructure. Gobindopur also faces this problem but mainly in the area near Adiganga. Sutanuti has topographical advantage leading to no major problem of water stagnation.

www.urbanupdate.in | November 2017

37

Article | Heritage Site

Let’s walk down the memory lane and witness the cultural heritage of Mehrauli that is among one of the seven ancient cities that make up the present Delhi. Also have glimpses of the festival ‘Phool Walon Ki Sair’ that is a testimony of Hindu-Muslim harmony

Nancy Gupta | Project Associate, AIILSG

The beautiful heritage of Mehrauli

T

he Archaeological Park in Mehrauli is the site of many a monument and the abode of history. A really massive park spread over some 200 acres, with over 70 monuments, it is indeed a treasure trove for any heritage lover. This stretch of forest is dotted with lush green parks surrounding many historical structures within it. Mehrauli is the place, with extraordinary riches scattered around with many monuments – from the 10th century to the British era – idolizing a forest and the village itself.

The Mehrauli village of Delhi is famous for the tallest rubble minaret in world, Qutub Minar. Prehistoric tales associate Mehrauli with the descendants of the Pandavas. Mehrauli village has quite a bit to offer the heritage lover with its history and sites like the Zafar Mahal, Jahaz Mahal, Bhuli Bhatiyari, the Dargah, Hijronka Khanqah and Adam Khan’s Tomb, and many more.

A total of 15 dynasties ruled Delhi.

Now, the Mehrauli Archaeological Park is the only place that has structures built by most of these. In the forest, most impressive are the tombs of Balban

38 November 2017 | www.urbanupdate.in

and Quli Khan, his son, and the Jamali Kamali Mosque, attached to the tomb of the Sufi poet Jamali. Jamali Kamali Sheikh Fazalullah aka Sheikh Jalal Khan aka Jamali Kamboh was the court poet to the Lodhi and Mughal courts. He is buried in this park, and locals over time had begun to call this park by his name.

There are dozens of stories around Jamali and Kamali – some say they were friends, some say father-son, some claim them to be colleagues, and some have even gone to the extent of calling them lovers. Whatever the case might have been the structure of Jamali Kamali’s tomb and its adjacent mosque is magnificent. A small square tomb that has a beautiful ceiling is now locked to the public to save it from encroachers.

Equally majestic is the mosque attached to it, which was built during Humayun’s period.

To the west is the 16th century Rajonki Baoli, Delhi’s finest step-well, with a monumental flight of steps. This is a step well nestled amid the lush greenery that is so characteristic of this archaeological park. Interestingly, this step well is called by most locals as the ‘Rajaon ki Baoli’, which changes the meaning drastically, to mean ‘the

step well of Kings’. This particular step well was associated with Raje than with Raja. In Hindi, Raje means mason. It is hence more authentic to call this stepwell Rajon ki Baoli, meaning the baoli that belongs to masons. This Lodhi-era stepwell is the largest in this area. There are 3 more step wells in Mehrauli, out of which only one, which goes by the name of ‘Gandhak ki Baoli’, is accessible to general public. Stepwells were a very important part of medieval Indian cities and settlements. A typical baoli in Delhi and Haryana would have

a natural water source like a spring or a well, attached to the water pond that is approached through stairs. The well is always separated from the pond with a wall having small windows at various levels, while the stairs have rooms on both sides for people to sit and bask in the sun after a refreshing bath.

At the northern end of Mehrauli village is Adham Khan’s Mausoleum, which was once used as a British residence, then later as a police station and post office. Leading northwards from the tomb are the pre-Islamic walls of Lal Kot. The area abuts the LalKot and is sited inside the Qila-i-RaiPithora, which harks back to the Tomar and Chauhan dynasties. The Slave dynasty and the Khiljis administered their domains from a palace that used to be situated somewhere in this very area.

The Tughlaqs don’t have much of a contribution to this place, except that Mohammad bin Tughlaq did extend his city walls upto this area. Later on, the Lodhis and the Mughals made major contributions to this entire park. Even the British are not left behind – their ensembles too find a place here.

To the south of the village are the remains of the Mughal palace, the Zafar Mahal, located centrally in the jungle.

Next to it is the Sufi shrine, the Dargah of Qutb Sahib. There is a small burial ground with one vacant space that was intended for the last king of Delhi, Bahadur Shah Zafar. South of here is a Lodi-era burial ground for hijras (tranvestites and eunuchs), Hijron ka

Khanqah. The identity of those buried here is unknown, but it’s a well-kept, peaceful place, revered by Delhi’s transgender community. Balban’s Tomb, Quli Khan’s Tomb, Tomb of Iltutmish and Dovecoat are also in the area.

Yogmaya Temple

Yogmaya Temple also known as Jogmaya Temple, is a 5000 year old Hindu temple dedicated to Goddess Yogmaya, the sister of Krishna, and situated in Mehrauli, close to the Qutab complex.

Legend says it was built by the eldest of the Pandava brothers, Yudhishtra at the end of Mahabharata war. According to local priests this is one of those 27 temples destroyed by Ghazni and later

by Mamluks and it is the only surviving temple belonging to pre-sultanate period which is still in use.

Another folk legend is that of Mughal Emperor Akbar II’s association with the temple. His wife was distraught at the incarceration and exile of her son Mirza Jehangir who had fired from a Red Fort window at the then British Resident that had resulted in killing of the Resident’s bodyguard. Yogmaya had appeared in her dream and after that the Queen praying for her son’s safe return had vowed to place pankhas made of flowers at the Yogmaya temple and in the nearby Muslim shrine of Qutbuddin Bhaktiar Khaki. This practice set since then is continued to this day in the name of Phool Walon Ki Sair, a festival held for three days during October every year. To its north is Anang Tal, a tank said to have been built by Anangpal or Anandapal, son of Raja Jaipal, who was defeated by Mahmud of Ghazni.

Jahaj Mahal

A little further south is JahazMahal and the Hausi Shamsi tank. A palace shaped like a ship is located on a corner of Hauz Shamsi and is believed to date back to the Lodhi era. It was built as a retreat for the Emperor in the summer months when the heat and dust of Delhi made life uncomfortable. Or was it a resort for pilgrims? At that time too the capital had many shrines of Muslim saints where people came not only from all over India but also from abroad – Turkey,

Iran, Iraq and Arabia to pay homage.

Its rectangular courtyard in the centre, the arched chambers at the sides and an arch which gives the impression that part of the palace was a mosque. There are blue tiles in the pavilion that lead to the gateway. The monument has square towers or “chhattris” at its corners. It is a romantic building and forms the backdrop of the annual Phoolwalon-KiSair.

Phool Walon ki Sair

It is the annual festival, which dates back to the Mughal era, highlights the tradition of harmony between the Hindu-Muslim, and the composite culture of Delhi. The festival started in the 19th Century by the Mughal Emperor Akbar Shah II. The annual festival commences from the dargah of Sufi saint, Qutbuddin Bakhtiar Kakialso every autumn (Oct-Nov). First started in 1812, the festival has today, become an important inter-faith festival of Delhi, and includes offering a floral punkah to the deity at the Yogmaya temple.

Stopped by the British during Mahatma Gandhi’s ‘Quit India’ movement in 1942, the festival was revived by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru in 1961. Ever since it has been organised by the Anjuman Sair-E-Gul Faroshan society.

During the festival, floral tributes are offered at the Dargah of the Saint.

The festival is about dance and music.

Kathak, qawwalis, a blaze of lights, huge pankhas (fans) made of palm leaves decorated with tinsel and flowers, and acrobats delight a vast audience. A huge procession, led by fire dancers, takes the flower pankhas through the streets of Mehrauli. All these cultural programs are organized at the Jahaz Mahal. The event involves a procession led by Shehnai players bearing floral pankhas, chadars and chhatras.

These are offered at the ancient Devi Yogmaya temple and the Dargah of Khwaja Qutbuddin Bakhtiar Kaki. This festival is a testimony of ever-existing Hindu-Muslim harmony in Delhi. The celebration of such festivals also brings locals closer to their heritage and in turn helps the authorities in preservation and conservation.

www.urbanupdate.in | November 2017

39

Article | The Heritage City

Ahmedabad: Three cheers to heritage city!

In Ahmedabad, unlike ancient Varanasi (Kashi), as per the popular perception, commerce dominates the culture.

But this time round, it appears that culture has stolen a march over commerce, finally. UNESCO’s declaration of Ahmedabad as a heritage city is indeed a moment of pride Abhilash Khandekar | Sr Journalist

A

couple of months ago when the Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani received the most coveted certificate from the globally reputed UNESCO, declaring Ahmedabad as India’s first heritage city, it was indeed a moment to cherish for all those who are constantly worried over the fast-paced, chaotic and mindless urbanisation in this country.

The fact that such a historic yet modern and populous capital city got the international nod reflects that Indian politicians and city administrators have not forgotten their cultural past. The real heroes may be different, such as veteran architect Prof R J Vasavada, but the role of urban bureaucracy cannot be undermined while we celebrate the new recognition for an Indian city.

Conserving one’s heritage has been a carefully preserved tradition of the Westerners and agency like UNESCO has been at the forefront of such global movements to encourage preservation of the urban and natural heritage (lakes and biodiversity). Italy is one country, followed by France (as also Greece) where they attach huge importance to preserving their past. In fact wherever I have travelled from Prague to a small Mexican town to even New York and London, heritage preservation seems their way of life. Through old classic monuments, they earn big revenue. In other words, it’s their rich cultural past which helps them earn money for today. In India, we have yet to learn the

40 November 2017 | www.urbanupdate.in

art fully, of attracting tourists to the best of our monuments by keeping them neat and clean. India’s rich historical and cultural heritage dates back nearly 5000 years. While we have the HarappanCivilisation (Indus Valley Civilisation) of 2500-2000 BCE that takes us many centuries back and shows how modern, well-planned India was, in the short period of past 100 years there has been a steady decline as far as heritage conservation is concerned. During the Mughal and British period many top structures were built but they suffered in the past few decades.

Social, industrial, cultural, political and demographic changes may have caused the growing neglect of our natural and built heritage of late. Taj Mahal is a great monument but the same cannot be said of the city of Agra and

the Yamuna River that flows by the Taj. That the Taj should court a political controversy under the new BJP regime, points to the unimaginable depth we are lowering our understanding of history and culture. But that’s a different issue altogether.

Historical significance

It is in this backdrop, Ahmedabad’s new-found identify should be seen, understood and therefore celebrated.

It was a city built by a Muslim. But should that be seen with that singularly narrow vision? Luckily, Modi and his successors did not let that come in between when they bid for the heritage city tag nor did UNESCO think about it negatively. In fact UNESCO recognised the happy coexistence of two major religions in this city which is also known for community living styles.

Ahmed Shah founded the walled city in the year 1411-almost 600 years ago. The capital city was inaugurated in February that year and since then known as Ahmedabad. There are some sketchy accounts of the city’s early developments along the Sabarmati River.

The Hindu craftsmanship gelled well with Persian architecture giving birth to what came to be known as Indo-Saracenic style to build mosques, public buildings,pols (pol is a small housing cluster) and so on. Christopher Benninger, a renowned Architect, says:

A graphical representation of Jama Masjid, Ahmedabad

“The Ahmedabad walled city is an impressive example of ’lived heritage’ where people, their families, and their communities are the social fabric that weaves the physical evidence of heritage!” He adds, “Ancient houses called ’havelis’ are organized in ancient neighborhoods called pols! There are ’pol gates’ leading into sacred lanes with bird feeders, or ’chabutras’, often dating back beyond memory! People socialize, perched on ’Ottas’, or porches acting as social platforms projecting from their homes.There is a hierarchy of historical markers, from interior haveli courtyards, ottas, lanes with chabutras, pols and their gates, major pedestrian lanes linking to ManekChowk, and on to the iconic Three Gates, or ’Teen Darwaza’, that opens out toward the ancient fort of Bhadhra!”

This exciting urban poem is articulated with inspiring iconic spiritual centers like ’Swaminarayan Mandir’ and ’Jama Masjid’, breathing vibrancy into the people of Ahmedabad. Traces of such quaint, beautiful buildings are seen in the old portion of the historic city which has now got the prestigious tag of Heritage City. A large number of archeological monuments, close to 2600 heritage sites and as many as 25 ASI protected monuments are found in today’s Ahmedabad, a reason why the city won the tough race. Bhadra Fort, Lal Darwaza, Teen Darwaza (imposing

The Ahmedabad walled city is an impressive example of ‘lived heritage’, where people, their families, and their communities are the social fabric that weaves the physical evidence of heritage!

Christopher Benninger Architect

gateways to the city), step well Dada Hari Vav, SarkhejRoza and JhultaMinar are just a few examples of the beautifully built and maintained century-old monuments of the city.

Making of the First Heritage City

In fact, the AMC had started the heritage wing in 1996 and had made necessary regulations for the upkeep of these sites and the monuments.

The city’s sustained campaign for creating awareness and conservation got a fillip after Narendra Modi became the Gujarat Chief Minister and the UNSECO included the city in its tentative list in 2011 for preliminary assessment. After going through many tough processes, surveys and reports received by the United Nations agency, the walled city got its international recognition as India’s first Heritage City. The race, many believe, was among Ahmedabad, Mumbai and Delhi but strategic push and better technical presentations (Outstanding Universal Value) tilted the scales in favour of the Gujarat capital. The Culture Ministry had actually submitted (in February 2016) only one fully completed proposal in the culture category. No other city’s proposal reached UNESCO, is what culture ministry sources now reveal. Meaning, there was only one nomination from India which was worth consideration on all parameters.

Yet I strongly feel Ahmedabad needs to be saluted. Incidentally, new city is different and Gandhinagar is still far away-the later-day capital built to decongest Ahmedabad. It’s the old historic city, full of archaeologically important monuments, which has won the prestigious tag.

Once known as Karnavati (in the 11th century), the city got its present name from its founder Ahmed Shah-I. King Karandev-I of the Solanki dynasty, had set up the city initially and later Ahmed Shah helped it flourish and expand. Scholars and historian, however, dispute the facts about who was the original founder. The early habitants built small and big houses using wood and stone with beautiful carvings; the

architectural grandeur of the heritage buildings has been unmatched till date.

Quite a large number of structures have successfully withstood the test of time.

The city indeed underwent many political, social and religious upheavals over the past several decades, including endless riots, curfews and arson as part of religious tensions between Hindus and Muslims in the last century. With a spread of 17,550 sq km area, this is the most important ancient river system around Ahmedabad. I recall my school days when I would often visit my uncle in Bhadra area, near Sabarmati River but I seldom saw water in that.

It was sand and sand all over. That has changed now and the river has some water throughout the year. The river front made by the Gujarat Government, criticised by many, has ensured that water is available for the tourists.

Known as the textile hub of India, with a neighbouring cotton growing belt, the city has also grown now into a global financial center, what with persistent efforts by the then Chief Minister Narendra Modi who started the ‘Vibrant Gujarat’ industrial summits, among many other programmes, to bring Ahmedabad at par with Mumbai. Ahmedabad is also a well-known centre for education with IIM and top architecture institutes and universities set up there. The BJP regime of 15 long years in Gujarat has definitely witnessed an urban rejuvenation and Ahmedabad is no exception. In the year 2010, it was adjudged as the third fastest growing city of the decade by Forbes magazine, while Times of India, which incidentally brought out a beautifully produced document on the heritage city a few years ago,had termed it as one the best cities in India to live in.

The UNESCO has accorded many recognitions to individual monuments, biodiversity hotspots, forest stretches, lakes in India but this is the first such occasion when an entire city has been awarded with the prestigious Heritage tag. It’s indeed time to celebrate and also look around what are we doing to other cities! Just including them in the ‘ smart city ‘ list, may not make them liveable and beautiful.

www.urbanupdate.in | November 2017

41

one on one | Rural Development Minister, Karnataka

HK Patil

“Villages can solve problems of cities�

In a converstaion with Urban Update, HK Patil, Rural Development Minister, Government of Karnataka talks about making villages efficient so that rural people need not migrate to urban centres in search of better livlihood and lifestyle. He assures to build better facilities in villages so that people who have left their homes can come back

Kumar Dhananjay Consulting Editor

42 November 2017 | www.urbanupdate.in

India has made major forays into rural development. It is an attempt to bring villages closer to the cities. How much have you been able to achieve it in particular context of Karnataka?

See, In Karnataka I can say, we have redefined rural development. Earlier it was giving them some amenities, it may be road, it may be gutter, it may be auditorium etc., something which is not much related to the life of rural people.

With these the standard of living of rural man never went up. So what we thought was we should give him what is really required for his life to be improved, the standard to be upgraded like pure drinking water. Today we see, all of us drink bottled water, our Prime Minister drinks bottled water.

We have the target that last man of the village should get drinking water of the quality that is consumed by the PM of India. He should get the same quality water which helps in maintaining his health. See rural man is one who really produces the wealth. You give me raw water, contaminated water, polluted water, and those who work under the fans are consuming bottled water. Why such discrimination?

So drinking water is a problem. How do you propose to resolve it? What steps have you taken?

The technology what we have adopted today is to make potable water available to every villager. We are providing it at 10paisa/litre to villagers and we have established more than 10 thousands units which will be covering about 1 crore 50 lakh people. This is a way we have upgraded the life, the health is protected and his comforts increased.

And then come to toilets, we have started a crusade for toilets. I will only tell you of our efforts since October 2016 till today. During this one year, from 2nd Oct 2016 to 2nd Oct 2017, we have made 10,350 villages free from open defecation. We’ll not be talking about only toilet but toilet-cumbathroom, we talk of various amenities in the community toilet including the dressing room, hair dryer, washing machine, including washing space.

These are all required. See in India unfortunately those who are hard working they are given second grade infrastructure, those who are wealthy are given high grade of infrastructure.

Why? What is wrong? We must change the whole mindset. Atairport, look at the bathrooms and compare them with those in our second class and first class waiting lounge in railway stations.

Something is wrong; you are expected to improve the infrastructure where it is really harmful to the society. If the

bathroom is in very bad condition or unclean it effects the health of more number of people.

What has been the result of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan which is going on for last 3 years? What kind of results have you got?

In Karnataka, we have got our plan, we have stared Nirmal Bharat Gram Programmes much earlier to Modi government coming into office. Almost after lapse of a year or so Modi govt has come in office and launched this Swachh Bharat Abhiyan. Earlier to that, we have made this programme of open defection free Karnataka. We have advanced the target of making Karnataka open defecation free from October 2018 to February 2018. We are hoping that funds will continue to flow and we will achieve the target.

office bearers are all geared up and will reach the target. I’ll give an example in one of the districts within 200hours, 21 thousands toilets are built in just one district. Maybe another 100 hrs for the preparatory things but doesn’t matter;the mission 200 is completed.

Likewise Mission 100 days, mission 50 days mission 10 days - we’ll make it.

Don’t you think that it is a very ambitious target because Karnataka has more than 27,000 villages and you still have 17,000 villages to make open defecation free in 6 months?

Almost 80% is covered and we are working on that. It is an ambitious project indeed.It is difficult. It is not an easy job. It is not just clearing a couple of files and issuing orders, but I am sure my team, all our panchayats,

You just spoke about the flow of funds and yesterday also in the programme we said we are longing for more funds.

Is there a problem in funding?

It is not regular. It comes then there’ll be a gap of 15 days and then it starts.

When it is a people’s movement the flow of fundsshould be continuous. I have made it clear to the government of India. I have also requested the CM to come to aid in the event such things happen at the GOI level. One more thing I would like to mention to you. All these years we never thought that villages have their specific requirements. Look at the children, nobody thought where they are going to play, we are creating space for them. Earlier when we were children we were playing on the top of the house orsomewhere on the roads.

Today things have changed. Now you have tractors, cars and motor vehicles, even in villages. We’ve made provision under MNREGA to develop play fields.

All these years we never thought that villages have their specific requirements.

Look at the children, nobody thought where they are going to play, we are creating space for them. Earlier when we were children we were playing on the top of the house or somewhere on the roads. Today things have changed. Now you have tractors, cars and motor vehicles, even in villages.

We’ve made provision under MNREGA to develop play fields

I wanted to bring your attention to the theme of the central government namely RURBAN. How much that helped during the development of villages?

None of these ideas helped us; whatever we are talking about is nothing to do with RURBAN. People have gone out, migrated from the villages. Our objective is to make them come back. Reverse migration should start. To do that there is a necessity of rural reconstruction. Villages are to be reconstructed today. The employment opportunities are all gone. Carpenter is not there, potter is not there, blacksmith and goldsmith is not there.

These activities should restart. Then only the village will get back the same old glory. Rural reconstruction is one major thrust that we should give; we

should not talk in terms of RURBAN. Providing the urban infrastructure, you want to push slums there. You provide the modern and improved civic amenities. In rural areas you have aged people, handicapped people. See we all are educated people. We know the comfort of the western commode but it is not going to be comfortable for rural aged and handicapped man. To provide the simple infrastructure do you want to make a plan of making URBAN area.

Simple things, but our mindset is not in favour of providing good comfort and amenities for those who work.

And that is where the rural minded people can help, people who have same thought process to make rural life more comfortable, the rural standard of life to be upgraded. The whole lifestyle is improved in such a way that we can compete with anybody in the world.

Many schemes launched by the central and state government like the 100 point programme, 21 point programme, Rurban programme, are working at cross purposes. Rurban also has sanitation, streetlights, power, and roads. Then you have your own points. Are these things working at cross purposes and are they actually delivering on the ground?

As far as the rural areas are considered, I don’t see any working at cross purposes.

Urban has similar programmes but they attend to city requirement. Rural requirement is fully focused upon by our Zilla panchayat; gram panchayats have RDPR department. In rural area, our department with 21 point programme namagramhenama yojayana, whose very intention is to make plan from bottom to top. That is now being done and even womb to tomb planning is done. You would be happy to know that first time in India village wise human development Index is made available which makes the exercise strong.

Keeping that as a base the planning is done. We have formulated perspective plan for 6 thousands panchayats after having conducted 80,000 meetings at various levels by meeting 100 people, 50 people, 5 people, 1000 people,and so on.

www.urbanupdate.in | November 2017

43

BOOK REVIEW | GOOD READS

Abhilash Khandekar | Sr Journalist

I

ndia is well known for its temples and shrines. No city is without a set of temples-old and new. They have always added to the beauty of urban scape and rural landscape alike. Because of its rich history as the ancient land of the Hindus, there is no dearth of temples all over the country.

You can find a temple in a deep dense forest, in an uninhabited valley, on hill tops, deep gorges of difficult mountain terrains, in much less populated village or right on the main road of any bustling Indian city, across the length and breadth of this vast country. In fact urban planners and city managers face a challenge if a temple is found in the middle of their city expansion or road widening plans.

Well, I am talking of a group of important temples famous for their architectural grandeur and which are several centuries old. They dot the southern Indian landscape more

Vishnu temples & their architecture! prominently. Temple architecture is an interesting branch of knowledge in our country not merely for the budding architects, religious devout or for a historian, but for the layman too.

Our cities can’t be complete without a temple.

The book that I am introducing to readers of Urban Update in this issue is an exquisitely produced and wellresearched volume on the 106 temples strewn across India, mainly in the southern part of the country. And these are proper temples, built at different times and are the established abodes of Vishnu. Of them, eighty-four are in Tamil Nadu, eleven in Kerala, two in Andhra Pradesh, eight in North India (mainly in UP) and one in Nepal.

According to the author, another two temples are in mystical realm and a devotee, upon completing pilgrimage of these 106 temples, gains access to the rest of the two temples. Collectively,

Book 108 Vishnu Temples-Architectural Splendour, Spiritual Bliss Author Avey Varghese Publisher Niyogi Books, New Delhi Pages 520 Price 2000/Recommendation A must for architects

44 November 2017 | www.urbanupdate.in

Good

Reads

the bunch of these temples isknown as the 108 Divya Desams, amongst the Vaishnavites, more particularly those from Southern India.

As most readers may know it, Hinduism has two major sects with huge following in India, as also, abroad.

Shaivism and Vaishnavism-first for those who follow Lord Shiva and second for those who worship Lord Vishnu. Vishnu followers are known as Vaishnavites.

This superbly illustrated book unearths the grandeur of the magnificent temple structures dedicated to Lord Vishnu. A Vaishnavite is believed to attain moksha or salvation if he pays homage to Lord Vishnu at these 106 earthly abodes and will thereby be granted access to the two heavenly ones.

The author has not only visited all these sites, he has done extensive research on these temples, their history, legends associated with them and architectural styles that have been influenced by the local dynasties and period, besides geography. In temple architecture, the structure is revered as a symbolic representation of God’s form where the topmost point of the temple is the head; the sanctum sanctorum is the heart; the front hall is the stomach and the main gate is the feet of the Almighty.

The idol of the deity in the sanctum is the pivotal point akin to the soul of the being. While another theory equates the temple to a minuscule exemplification of the universe with the deity image as the moving spirit and the peripheral areas of the temple structure as encircling layers containing the universe.

If we look at the brief history of temple building in India, it appears that initially with austere shrines made out of bricks and mortar, usually around trees, temple structures have greatly evolved over the years. The sequential array of the Gupta, Pallava and the Chalukya dynasties and

the Chera, Chozha and Pandya empires of South India have hugely contributed to temple construction. Temples have been considered as the storehouses of past history, art, architecture and the like. The prime reason that led to the birth of a temple structure was the awakening in people for the need of a sacred place to converge and revitalise their spiritual energies. Over the years, the temples evolved as comprehensive institutions where people congregate for discourses, cultural performances and festivals, besides offering prayers.

This book is full of all this as the temples dealt with are all beautifully made intricate structures of imposing styles and unique elegance- some made of granite, others of wood, mainly in Kerala. The images, the history and art that are captured in this book would surely make readers flip through its glossy pages at will. You can open any page and start adoring the details of the temple deity, doors, the colours, the ceiling, and the architecture of the entire building. According to the ancient Sanskrit texts, the ideal spots for temples are beside naturally formed water bodies such as ponds and rivers or lakes. In the absence of such a water body, a temple pond is to be ideally constructed in front or the left of the structure. The Hindu temple architecture is symmetrically set structure deployed with precise concrete squares and circles; the four cardinal directions form the axis in temple construction. In a temple structure, the author tells us, concrete squares of each layer are significant in their own way.

Though giving greater details of all temples would be difficult here, the first temple of the series of 108 definitely needs a detailed mention.

It’s the temple of Sri Ranganathaswamy, (Vishnu) the presiding deity. It’s situated near Trichy in TN and is considered the largest temple in India, abundant in history and legend. For the Vaishnavites this is the most important of all.

Situated on an islet created by the rivers Kaveri and Kollidam, the temple and its complimentary structures are set in a massive compound of about 156 acres within a perimeter of 4116

meters. The presence of seven precincts (prakaras) is a feature unique to this temple. Out of the 21 towers, the 236foot long Rajagopuram is the second tallest of its kind in Asia, according to the author.

The author has given such interesting facts in his book, page after page, with details of the antique sculptures that adorn the temples. Each temple has its own sacred pond nearby-natural or manmade. Along with history of the temples and the festivals celebrated locally and uniqueness of an individual temple, the author has taken pains to delve deep into history to help a reader gain new insights into religion, architecture, history and aesthetics besides geography and arts. This approach of the author in producing the volume makes this book a valued reference document for urban planners and architects without any doubt. The temple Thiruneermalai in Chennai, for example, as history tells us, Sage Valmiki wanted to see the wedding ceremony of Lord Rama.

The Lord, along with Sita Devi, his brothers Lakshmana, Shatrughana and Bharata appeared before the sage who requested him to stay in his place for the benefit of his devotees. The temple is situated atop a hill and the Lord is seen here in all four postures-standing, sitting, reclining and walking. This temple is considered as self-manifested

(SwayamVyaktaKshetra).

While most temples are in the South, temples in northern India are at Thiruvayodhi in UP (Faizabad) while the one of Thirunaimisaranyam is situated near Sitapuralso in UP, and is also self-manifested. There are eight such temples. The author, himself a photographer, has given pictorial details of all temples and the idols inside, unique features of temples towers, walls, etc. It gives glimpses of Uttarakhand temples at Badrinath, Devprayag and Joshimutt and in Gujarat (Thiru Dwarka).

Badrinath temple is simply extraordinary, thanks to the surrounding mountains, adding to its natural beauty.

This Thirubadhari temple is situated 325 kms up from Haridwar on mountain roads, close to the banks of river Alaknanda. The book also talks about the Nepal temple, the only one temple outsideIndia. Why and how these locations were chosen, who chose them and how they were built is unclear from reading the book though the author hints at different dynasties behind the construction of such splendid structures at different times.

(The writer is a veteran journalist who writes on politics, environment and urban affairs. He can be contacted at kabhilash59@gmail.com and Twitter Abhikhandekar1)

www.urbanupdate.in | November 2017

45

URBAN AGENDA | Heritage Conservation

Protect glory of the past

A

ncient monuments give us a sneak peek into the amazing past civilizations. The cultural heritage of these civilizations woven in the architecture marvels of those times tell us a lot about the day-to-day lives of people, standard of civic services, social hierarchy, technology used for managing city systems, etc.

Passage of time, pollution, natural disasters, and the acts of vandalism have destroyed many heritage monuments. There are many heritage sites that the world has lost because of such reasons. The list includes Aleppo City in Syria.

It was once at the crossroads of major trade routes from the 2nd millennium. According to the UNSECO reports and satellite maps, 30 percent of the historic Old City or over 40,000 structures have been destroyed by armed rebels. The historical structures include the city’s citadel from the 13th century, Great Mosque built in the 12th century, 6th century Christian churches, or Ottoman mosques and palaces. Aleppo is not an isolated case.A couple of years ago the magnificent Bamiyan Buddhas, 180-foot tall standing statues of Budhhain Afghanistan, were blown up by the Taliban. The damage to the historical sites has happened in many cities of Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and many other war-torn countries of the world.

Heritage monuments are also getting defaced because of increasing level of pollution and poor upkeep. It is the responsibility of national governments to give due importance to their maintenance, restoration and preservation.

Technological advancements have made it possible for us to preserve the heritage monuments for future generations.

Governments do not have control over natural disasters and other acts of vandalism to protect the heritage sites. However nations can definitely make efforts to preserve them in some forms. CyArk is one of the many organisations that are doing their bit

46 November 2017 | www.urbanupdate.in

to preserve heritage sites using advanced technological tools. Their mission statement says, “CyArk brings global heritage to life and gets you closer than ever to the sites you’ve always wanted to see.”

This is true as they have created 3-D imagery of more than 50 heritage sites across the globe. Their idea is to make it available for everyone through a cyber archive. The organisation with the help of local partners in different countries is executing many projects of digital preservation. According to Ben Kacyra, who invented the 3D scanning system and is the founding director of the organisation, long range laser scanning by sending out a pulse that’s a laser beam of light is used for digital preservation of the heritage sites. The system measures the beam’s time of flight, recording the time it takes for the light to hit a surface and make its return. With two mirrors, the scanner calculates the beam’s horizontal and vertical angles, giving accurate x, y, and z coordinates. The point is then recorded into a 3D visualization program.

Keyra further explains, “All of this happens in seconds. They collect millions of points at a time with very high accuracy and very high resolution. A surveyor with traditional survey tools would be hard-pressed to produce maybe 500 points in a whole day. They would be producing something like ten thousand points a second.” At present, the CyArk team is on a mission to digitally preserve 500 cultural heritage sites within the next five years. They are on a mission to save these cultural heritage sites digitally before more are ravaged by war, terrorism, arson, urban sprawl, climate change, earthquakes, floods, and other threats.

Apart from technological interventions of preserving heritage sites virtually, we need to preserve them in their original forms. For this, it is required that national and other tiers of governments engage local people to keep these sites safe, secure and well-maintained.

Creating a sense of ownership among local population could be of great help.

Ashok Wankhade Managing Editor bhau1008@gmail.com

AIILSG has a footprint across the value chain in urban transformation.

Our areas of functioning involve creating and appraising DPRs, monitoring & evaluation and capacity building under Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) The institute is active in

1560

200 cities of 11 states

In 2016-17 training workshops Municipal officials/employees trained

52

Don’t Let Waste Go To Waste M unicipal Solid W aste to Energy Technology

100% MSW Processed.

No More Landfilling.

Villages,

Environment Friendly.

Meets All Emission Norms.

MSW handled Online with Minimal Pre-processing.

Financially Viable

A Game Changer for

. +91-96625 27226

Vadodara, Gujarat, India