Urban Update October 2017

Setting The Agenda For Tomorrow’s Cities

ISSN 2349-6266 RNI No DELENG/2014/57384

UrbanUpdate Volume IV, Issue VI

OctoBER 2017

Rs 100

A City for everyone As cities move beyond their roles as economic and livelihood centres and turn towards becoming ‘livable’ and ‘sustainable’, they need to address multi-faceted urban challenges

The project is funded by the European Union.

Connect culture, creativity and citizens in cities

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

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Kumar Dhananjay Consulting Editor Akash Mandyal Editorial Assistants Meenakshi Rajput Graphic Designer Seemab Tasneem Marketing Associate Volume IV - Issue VI 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 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.

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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.

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October 2017 | www.urbanupdate.in

EDITORIAL

Building Winning Cities

G

lobal urban dwellers are expected to reach twothirds of the population by the middle of the century up from about 54 percent now. In 1950, urban population comprised just about 29 percent of the total population.

Increasingly the bulk of economic output is getting concentrated in the world’s cities.The rapid shift from agriculture to manufacturing and services (mostly urban income) has accompanied and facilitated urbanization. Cities have met the needs of these sectors for compact clusters of labour, capital and technology thus aiding efficiency and productivity. Manufacturing has been supported by globally integrated supply chains and services by technology and talent all characteristics of an urban setting.

The numbers of cities will grow with new economic centres emerging and the population in each city will grow too.

Global leadership is no more the preserve of New York, London and Tokyo. Cities like Sydney, Bangalore, Toronto and Barcelona will be taking up prominent leadership roles on the global canvass.

The newer cities will increasingly count among the voices seeking to be heard.

As we go along, cities will becoming increasingly attractive, magnets drawing technology, talent and innovation. At the same time the challenges they face will get magnified-in numbers and in intensity. Among the most pressing challenges cities will encounter are housing, urban mobility, waste management and environment degradation. These will be more acute in the developing world cities.Decades of underinvestment and execution challenges have inhibited development of robust public infrastructure. The problem has been compounded by rapid influx of people into cities, poor awareness levels and weak enforcement of laws.

Severe environmental degradation manifested in deteriorating ambient air quality and water pollution are leading

local governments to announce drastic measures including closing down schools for a few days to protect children.

How cities respond to these and similar challenges will now be the crucial determinant to set apart the winners from the losers, the leaders from the laggards.

Cities are not just about roads, buildings and structures. They are about people- city managers, local governments, civil society and indeed the citizen. Each has a role to play in making her city successful and vibrant.While different cities may seek to traverse different paths in their quest to overcome these challenges, innovation and collaboration are likely to become central themes in their approaches. Urban mobility and waste management for example, will need loads of technology and innovation.Participation of citizens is being increasingly sought as is evident in national programmes like Smart Cities Mission in India. Swachh Bharat is seeing exemplary community participation in every city and town.

As urbanization gathers pace, the rapid population influx is straining the ability of cities to meet the demand for services- water, energy, housing, waste management, etc. While cities need to deploy technology and innovation, they will feel the need for significantly enhanced levels of investment. Given the hitherto limited options for raising funds, how urban managers address this issue will place them among the winners or the others.ULBs also need to constantly upgrade skills and capabilities of their functionaries to overcome emerging challenges. We at AIILSG are working with urban several local bodies to enable them meet these significant challenges.

Together we are working to build cities that are just, equitable, efficient, sustainable and above all livable.

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

www.urbanupdate.in | October 2017

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Quotes

PIN POINT BUZZ

The modernisation of India is dependent on the modernisation of its water management. Better and efficient use of water will help our agriculture as despite having 17 per cent of the global population, we have access to only 4 per cent of the world’s water resources Ram Nath Kovind President of India

We all do events for Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, we talk to big shots for a clean India mission, we discuss Swachh India, but who really works for a Swachh India our safaikaramcharis, ragpickers or waste pickers, but, sadly nobody talks about them.

Amitabh Bachchan Actor, India

Hardeep Singh Puri @HardeepSPuri Union Minister, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs

Integrated and holistic approach to housing will help fight poverty and achieve inclusive and decent urban life for all

United Nations @UN

Indian Ocean has 1.3 trillion pieces of plastic, making it 2nd most plastic polluted ocean: #OceansDay#SaveOurOcean

Michael E Smith @MichaelESmith Archaeologist, Arizona State University

Unfortunately, spatial inequality has been a feature of cities since the first urban settlements thousands of years ago. Not easy to fix

Our government will create Urban Art Commission within one month. An Urban art commission will look into aesthetic development of Mumbai city Devendra Fadnavis Chief Minister of Maharashtra

In order to ensure that the city has a soul, we need to relate it with the local culture and history. It needs to be inclusive and relevant to the local community. At the end of the day, the key to a successful city is the people and the community Stephen Pimbley Director of SPARK Architects (Singapore)

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October 2017 | www.urbanupdate.in

UNDP India @UNDP_India

There is a lot of opportunity in #India to use renewables to improve lives & increase access energy: Karthik Chandrasekar #SGSIndia

Inside

Volume 4, Issue 6

Article

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Life in the Hills: Perfect blend of ancient values & modernity

October 2017

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With rapid urbanization, life has been affected everywhere. Still, one can get glimpses of natural serenity in the cities situated on the hills of Northern and North-Eastern states of India. Lush green environment and clear blue sky -- life in the hills is no less than a bliss.

Redefinition of cultural ethos of urban India From the era of trams to the era of metro, from radio to lightning fast internet, from stargazing on the terrace to Saturday nights in the clubs; cities in India have been a witness of change since their inception.

This article looks back at the culture, lifestyle and community bonding in cities in the bygone era

Life Under Metro Bridges Delhi Metro has revolutionized the city’s public transport and has become the lifeline for its people. Overhead metro bridges have a story of their own and have added myriad colours to Delhi’s daily life

Book Review

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Inside

Cover Story

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Cities, living rivers & dying rivers!!

Cities and towns have had direct relations with rivers which are often called the lifelines of citizens and rural folk alike.

Today the same ‘lifelines’ are begging for their lives

LEADerspeak

28 RegularS

6 8 10

Pin Point Equi-City Newscan

15 46

City Images Urban Agenda

A city for Everyone

As cities move beyond their roles as economic and livelihood centres and turn towards becoming‘livable’and ‘sustainable’, they need to address multi-faceted urban challenges-housing, mobility, congestion and pollution among others. And they need to do this in an inclusive manner keeping in mind the needs of all sections

Connect culture, creativity & citizens in cities Mega infrastructure projects have been at the centre of development strategies for most of the world’s big cities. However, the culture of cities evolved organically without much intervention of policy makers, local leaders and administrators. At present, the sustenance of urban culture needs attention for bringing cultural renaissance in the cities which are losing their identities while trying to absorb similar models of development in their improvement schemes

www.urbanupdate.in | October 2017

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feature | Equi-City

Pushing the Limits towards Awareness

T

he impact of ICT on all sectors of education raises challenges for policy makers, administrators, teachers and students.

Underpinning the realization of the potential of ICT to improve educational practices is a practical challenge. How these challenges are met will determine the effectiveness of the application of ICT as a means for improving systems of education. ICT is impacting on how education is delivered and how students learn. The workshop examines some of the key issues surrounding the application of ICT in education.

In addition to the ICT, we also focussed on disaster response program in next workshop held.

Priorities for Action for making a city disaster responsive: ♦♦ Making disaster risk reduction a priority ♦♦ Improving risk information and early warning ♦♦ Building a culture of safety and resilience ♦♦ Reducing the risks in key sectors ♦♦ Strengthening preparedness for response The workshop also stressed that disaster risk reduction is not just an issue to be addressed by officials, scientists or environmentalists,

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October 2017 | www.urbanupdate.in

but is also critical to sustainable, social and economic development processes and a healthy environment.

Disasters undermine development achievements, impoverishing people, cities and nations.

Equi-City Team along with the Nagpur Municipal Corporation, organized workshops on ‘Innovative Teaching Techniques’ and ‘Disaster Response Program’ for the NMC Officials. The workshop are first of its kind for sensitizing the Municipal Officials about practices in Innovative Teaching Techniques, methods/ techniques mainly focusing on the ‘Information and Communication Technology’ (ICT) and Disaster Risk mainly focusing on ‘Disaster Risks and Management at a city level’.

ICT workshop

The workshop included two sessions, Innovative Teaching Techniques, Rules and Regulations, and Tools and Techniques of ICT. First session focused majorly on Outcome based education and Public Relations, and how to implement them in the context of Municipal schools in case of Nagpur. The use of ICT in supporting language learning is necessity, not only to improve the effectiveness and quality of education, but more importantly to enhance the ICT literacy for teacher and learners as their life skill, in theera of rapidly changing and progressing technolgy.

Outcome of the study was to recognize the capacity of the officials working in the department and act accordingly for the betterment of schools. It was an interactive session stating the qualities of students as described in the rules and regulations by the state and on the other hand as what should be focused for development of students as stated for agenda for year 2020. The importance of Outcome based education (OBE) for students was discussed and its need for overall development of the students explained

to make them ready for 21st century.

Also discussed was Public Relations and communication skills for teachers which will help them to communicate with parents and supporting members to the schools. For the code of conduct for teachers the discussion started with leadership qualities and discussed the importance of leadership qualities in administration of schools. The Expert also suggested that leader should have qualities to lead a team along with the students and other staff to have and overall development of teachers and students along with school. The various rules and regulations which stated the Obligations of teachers to students, parents, community and to the colleagues or other teachers were discussed with focus on means to deal with violations of the above rules. The sessions basically involved following which were the main points of discussion during the workshop: ♦♦ Innovative teaching techniques like mind mapping ♦♦ Use of ICT tools for betterment of students and teacher quality. ♦♦ Incorporation of innovative methods also involves audio visuals and interaction with each and every student for their development. ♦♦ Improvement of quality of student as well as teachers so that the overall system of education improves.

In the second session the expert focused on the use of ICT in supporting language learning necessity, not only to improve the effectiveness and quality of education, but more importantly to enhance the ICT literacy for teacher and learners as their life skill, in theera of rapidly changing and progressing technolgy, also focused on the advantages of ICT for teachers and students. The expert discussed its importance in our education system and listed out the various devices which fall under the category of ICT, which are beneficial for innovative teaching techniques. The expert also talked about the use of social media

platforms for communication between students and teachers, how to use our day-to-day gadgets like mobiles and tablets or television in ICT for teaching and communicating with students.

Use of PowerPoint presentations and interactives whiteboards while teaching using ICT was also discussed and it would boost confidence and motivate students while making the learning process interesting. Using ICT will also add value to the schools.

About Disaster Response Program

The workshop sessions included: Disaster Management, Disaster preparedness and Risk reduction, and Emergency response training and Incident command management.

The workshop focused majorly on the policy and the origin of Disaster Management in the recent past.

References were also shared for Kyoto Earthquake and Yokohama Earthquake and explanation about Sendai Framework (2015) and the importance of Converting goals for Risk Management along with the terms like Hazard, Disaster and Vulnerability with respect to Nagpur city. Roles and responsibilities for the participants and their respective departments and the use of Vulnerability assessment as a tool for Disaster Risk Management were discussed. The expert also focused on importance of Scaling the Disaster Management by help of parameters like Vulnerability, age factor for humans and buildings. The importance of coordination within the departments and third parties for first aid after the disaster was also discussed and suggested to use scaling methods for Disaster management and vulnerability analysis.

For Disaster risk reduction and establishing the importance of preparedness for a disaster and risk management at a city level, expert focused on earthquake resistant buildings for important places like schools and hospitals. The expert also suggested the “shift of approach” while dealing with effective implementation of disaster management system focusing

on priorities of Sendai Framework for disaster risk management and reduction of risk with emphasis on built back better. The expert suggested to identify the risk even from household level to city level and added that the proper awareness and capacity building training exercises can help us achieving this goal. Awareness is necessary even for government officials as also psychological awareness for the victims.

Sectoral responsibilities of NMC towards disaster

♦♦ Emergency assessment ♦♦ Continuity of operations during an emergency ♦♦ Rescue and medical assistance ♦♦ Health services ♦♦ Water, sanitation and hygiene promotion ♦♦ Food and nutrition ♦♦ Relief ♦♦ Shelter ♦♦ Restoring family links ♦♦ Protection, safety and security ♦♦ Logistics and transport ♦♦ Information Technology (IT) and telecommunications ♦♦ Communication and reporting ♦♦ Monitoring and evaluation Next session focused on Emergency response planning. The expert also advised to plan and act accordingly.

He majorly focused on Chemical hazards and safety from chemicals with examples of Bhopal gas tragedy.

He discussed on key safety points as given by Emergency Response Guard book (ERG 2016) and explained the importance of these. The Expert also advised safe working practices like: limiting the exposure, use of proper equipment and tools, avoid mixing of chemicals and the use of common sense.

The roles and responsibilities of various departments and individuals were clearly explained in the session by the expert. The expert discussed the Management of Incident on site and explained how to control the above efficiently. The expert also focused on team structure pertaining to Primary Incident Command function. This session had a small practical training about how to control the incident with a staged live incident and the participantssuccessfully participated in it to perform various roles in the activity. The session and the activity were useful for the participants in understanding their roles on site and they imbibed several leanings including execution techniques.

Both these workshops will help the officials to understand the benefits of modern technology and ways to implement it practically on ground.

www.urbanupdate.in | October 2017

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NEWScan

Mitigating Disaster: UCLG & AIILSG launch Countrywide Campaign New Delhi: UCLG-ASPAC and All India Institute of Local Self-Government in association with United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction held a day long workshop in New Delhi on 22nd September. The workshop was attended by representatives of various municipalities and officials of the government. The workshop was focused on how to mitigate the risk in case of a disaster and how our cities are prepared. The workshop was held under the SENDAI Framework. The Framework is a fifteen year agreement which is non-binding and voluntary. It recognizes the fact that the State has to perform the primary task of reducing disaster risk but the role must be carried with the aid of other stakeholders and importantly local governments. Cities and towns have been inundated with disasters in recent times.

The latest data available suggests that in 2015 worldwide 346 disasters were reported leading to the death of twenty three thousand people. It affected about a billion people and caused economic damage to the tune of sixty seven billion dollars. As per the data available for Asia, the region suffered maximum damage with hundred and fifty two disasters followed by America, Europe and Africa. Situation has become grim in past few years. The total disaster in last twelve years has resulted in a loss of 1.3 trillion dollars, about eleven lakh killed and more than 2.7 billion affected.

Sendai framework is to make cities resilient and has set a goal till 2030 to reduce disaster risk. It has out lined ten essentials to make cities ready to face any disaster. ♦♦ Organise for disaster resilience ♦♦ Identify, Understand and use current and future risk scenarios ♦♦ Strengthen financial capacity for resilience

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October 2017 | www.urbanupdate.in

♦♦ Pursue resilient urban development and design ♦♦ Safeguard natural buffers to enhance the protective functions offered by natural ecosystems ♦♦ Strengthen institutional capacity for resilience ♦♦ Understand and strengthen societal capacity for resilience. ♦♦ Increase infrastructure resilience ♦♦ Ensure effective preparedness and disaster response. ♦♦ Expedite recovery and build back better The idea is to substantially reduce the risk of disasters, losses of lives and livelihood, health, economic damage, physical, social, cultural and environmental assets of persons, businesses, communities and countries.

Its in this context that workshop was organized in India. Representatives from Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Haryana, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh participated in the conference.

Hills states, particularly have been susceptible to natural disasters. Dev Dutt Sharma, Special Secretary to Himachal Pradesh Government said

that “We have put in place institutional mechanism and capacity build up work is on. All the equipments are in place and we have regular meetings to deal with any disaster. The work to sensitize from district to local level is on and we are at work all the time. We even conduct mock drills from time to time. We even conduct mass awareness program from time to time and specially on the occasions when the state has suffered”.

Conducting the symposium Helmi, UCLG-ASPAC said that” this year in June we signed an agreement with UNISDR in June 2017. We had an agreement with UNISDR to make city resilient campaign. In several countries in Asia and other regions, we are holding these workshops to let people know about disaster management and mitigation’.

Sendai Framework has set to reduce global mortality rate by 2030. It aims to substantially lower the mortality rate in the coming next decade compared to the previous one. It also seeks to ensure that economic loss is much lower by the end of 2030 in comparison to the period of 2005-2015.

Brief Bio: Hardeep Singh Puri Hardeep Singh Puri was born in Delhi on 15 February 1952. In a career spanning 39 years, he served as India’s permanent representative to the UN in 2014. A keen debater, Puri was the Prime Minister of the Hindu College Parliament. He joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1974 and has an extensive experience in multilateral diplomacy. Puri has been stationed at important diplomatic posts in Brazil, Japan, Sri Lanka, and the UK. Between 1988 and 1991, he was the Coordinator of the UNDP/UNCTAD Multilateral Trade Negotiations Project to help Developing Countries in the Uruguay Round of Multilateral Trade Negotiations. Author of ‘Perilous Interventions’ – The Security Council and The Politics of Chaos, Puri was appointed as the President of the Governing Body and Chairman of the Governing Council of the Research and Information Systems for Developing Countries (RIS). ♦♦ Minister of State (independent charge) for Housing and Urban Affairs ♦♦ President of the UNSC (August 2011, November 2012) ♦♦ Indian Ambassador to Brazil (January 2008 – October 2008) ♦♦ Permanent Representative of India to the UN (4 May 2009 – 27 February 2013) ♦♦ Worked as a lecturer at St Stephen’s College, Delhi.

Hardeep Singh Puri

becomes the new UD Minister Considered one of the top diplomats of India, Hardeep Singh Puri, who has a career of more than 39 years in diplomacy becomes the union minister under Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri, 65, a 1974 batch Indian Foreign Service officer has been chosen as the union minister under Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs after a major re-shuffle by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

A resident of Delhi, Puri has authored ‘Perilous Interventions’ – The Security Council and The Politics of Chaos, Harper Collins, September 2016. He pursued Bachelor’s and postgraduate study in History at Hindu College, University of Delhi, and worked as a lecturer at St Stephen’s College, Delhi.

Considered as one of the top diplomats of India, Puri has a career of

more than 39 years in senior positions at the Ministries of External Affairs and Defence. He has served as the Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations from 2009 to 2013. He has also been the Chairman of United Nations Security Council Counter-Terrorism Committee and Secretary-General of Independent Commission on Multilateralism in New York. Ambassador Puri joined International Peace Institute as a Senior Advisor in June 2013.

Puri Served at the headquarters of the Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi, as Under Secretary in the

early 1980s, as Director and Chef de Cabinet to the Foreign Secretary in the early 1990s, as Joint Secretary of the Americas and Europe West Divisions and on deputation to the Ministry of Defence in the 1990s. Permanent Secretary dealing with economic relations in the Ministry of External Affairs from June 2008 to April 2009, before joining as Ambassador and Permanent Representative of India to the united Nations in New York on 4 May, 2009. He joined the Bharatiya Janata Party in January 2014, expressing an admiration for the party’s approach to national security.

www.urbanupdate.in | October 2017

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BRIEFS

Turtle Sanctuary to be set up in Allahabad

In order to protect the rich aquatic biodiversity of river Ganga from escalating anthropogenic pressures, development of a Turtle sanctuary in Allahabad along with a River Biodiversity Park at Sangam with an estimated cost of Rs 1.34 crore have been approved under Namami Gange programme. This project will provide much needed platform to make the visitors aware of their place in the ecosystem.

The sustenance of more than 2000 aquatic species including threatened gharials, dolphins and turtles in river Ganga exemplifies the rich biodiversity of this lifeline to over 40 per cent of the country’s population.

Vizag to have ‘all abilities’ children park With an aim to enhance social infrastructure of the area and encourage development, Vizag Smart City has pioneered the initiative under the smart city project of creating a special park for ‘kids with special needs’. This project is aimed at showcasing the city’s strong emphasis on enhancing the social infrastructure of the city, in this case for improving health and wellness of all its citizens which includes differently abled. The ‘All Abilities Park’ seeks to balance the needs of the differently abled without segregating them from the balance of the community.

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October 2017 | www.urbanupdate.in

NEWSCAN

Rs 300 cr Plan for better SWM NEW DELHI: Minister of Housing & Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri announced a Rs 300 cr action plan for a visible improvement in Solid Waste Management in Delhi. Addressing the ‘Public Affairs Forum of India’, the Minister said this initiative will be supported by the Ministry from the ‘Urban Development Fund’ operated by Delhi Development Authority.

Puri informed that under the Plan, automated machinery, equipment and other systems will be procured for better collection, transport and storage of garbage, decentralized treatment and better maintenance of sewers and drains.

Soon after assuming office, Puri raised the issue of garbage problem in the national

capital during a discussion on Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban) in the Ministry on the fifth of this month and desired an action plan for improving the situation.

North, South and East Municipal Corporation of Delhi will spend Rs 100 cr each on procuring a total of 549 units of modern equipment. An assistance of Rs 80 cr will be provided to each MCD from the Urban Development Fund. All equipment including treatment plants are to be procured and commissioned by the end of this year. This initiative will quickly add a waste treatment capacity of 670 metric tons of bio-degradable waste besides preventing release of foul gases, smell and proliferation of germs, pathogens, pests etc.

Item

COLLECTION, STORAGE & TRANSPORT ITEMS

East South North Total Qty Qty Qty Qty

Battery Operated Litter Pickers (for Market area) Auto-mounted Litter Pickers (1 per ward) Fixed Compactor Transfer Station (Complete Set) Underground Bins with compactor Mechanical Road Sweeper (CNG)

50 64 20 5 7

50 104 0 0 0

10 2

4 4

50 104 20 5 4

150 272 40 10 11

DECENTRALISED TREATMENT PLANTS Accelerated Composter (1-Ton Per Day capacity) Bio-methanation Plant (5-TPD capacity) LARGE TREATMENT PLANTS

Bio-Methanation Plant of average 100 TPD capacity SPECIAL VEHICLES FOR DRAINS& SEWERS Super Sucker Recycler Machines Suction-cum-Jetting Machines

6 4

20 10

4

1

6

2 0

2 4

1

2 10

6 14

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BRIEFS

Cuttack to build bus depot to decongest roads The Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC) has decided to construct a bus depot at Naraj to streamline the traffic system in Millennium city.

State government has allocated funds for the bus depot. A land parcel sprawling over 7acres has been identified for the project at Naraj and the depot will come up at a cost of Rs 4.90 crore.

The design and technical details of the project has been sent to the chief engineer for approval.

Civic authorities have aimed to complete the project within six months as it is an urgent need of the city with proper shed facility for safe parking of buses, workshop and garage where the buses can be repaired and maintained, toilets and drinking water facility also for the bus drivers and crew, etc.

VMC signs pact with private firm for city cleanlenss In order to overcome the problem of garbage disposal, the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC) entered into MoU with Kumbakonam-based Zigma Global Environ Solutions Limited in the presence of Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu at ‘Swachhata Hi Seva’ programme held at Indira Gandhi Municipal Corporation (IGMC) Stadium on October 2.

Since the process gives a dual benefit - effective disposal of waste and production of power from waste - the VMC has put the entire process on fasttrack. Apart from being costeffective the process also helps eliminate methane production, unlike other ‘sanitary landfill’ methods. Estimates suggest that an expenditure of Rs 14 crore has to be done to implement biomining project at Ajit Singh Nagar dumping yard.

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October 2017 | www.urbanupdate.in

NEWSCAN

Kempegowda to be first Aadhaar-enabled airport BENGALURU: The Bangalore International Airport Limited has given push to its plan to make Kempegowda International Airport (KIA), country’s first airport to have complete Aadhaarenabled entry and biometric boarding system. According to the Request for Proposal issued by BIAL, the airport is expected to be completely Aadhaarenabled by December 2018, the initiative is in line to become a Smart Airport a digitized, seamlessly connected and intuitive one. BIAL will soon tap all the benefits of using Aadhaar-enabled entry and biometric e-boarding process. This will confirm personal identity for airport passenger processing and access control at the airport. The process enables the passenger to be verified in less than five seconds at every checkpoint up to the boarding gate, completing the screening process in 10 minutes compared to the average 25 minutes. This will help more passengers to enter through the same gate.

The staff and the authorities say “With real-time authentication of passengers,

entry using biometric readers can enhance security, speed up clearance and alleviate delays at the airport. In addition to eliminating the need for passengers to present their ID and boarding passes at multiple stages of the airport journey, passengers can expect passage through various touch-points to be smooth and stress free”.

BIAL executive director and President Hari Marar said “this new move will speed up the validation process and provide a significant increase in security.

The use of biometrics will soon be the only verification required at each passenger touch-point and will go a long way in improving the flow of passengers, providing a better travel experience as well”. According to the RFP, issued in October 2017, BIAL has set a 325-day deadline to implement the new system.

By March 30, 2018, the project will go live as far as airport entry is concerned, and in another 90 days, under phase-2, almost all domestic airlines will also be a part of this security system.

Modi launches 16,320-crore Saubhagya scheme New Delhi: PM Narendra Modi on 25th September launched the Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana – “Saubhagya” scheme to ensure electrification of all rural and urban households in the country.

The total outlay of the project is expected to be Rs 16, 320 crores while the Gross Budgetary Support (GBS) is Rs 12,320 crores. The outlay for the rural households would be Rs 14,025 crores whereas the gross budget is Rs 10,587.50 crores. For urban households the outlay is Rs 2,295 crores while gross budget amounts to Rs 1,732.50 crores. The States and Union Territories are expected to complete the works of household electrification by the 31st of December 2018. The beneficiaries

for free electricity connections would be identified using Socio Economic and Caste Census (SECC) 2011 data.

However, un-electrified households not covered under the SECC data would also be provided electricity connections under the scheme on payment of Rs 500 which shall be recovered by DISCOMs in 10 installments through electricity bill.

Beneficiaries of the scheme shall be identified by conducting household surveys using Mobile App and their application for electricity connection along with applicant photograph and identity proof shall be registered on spot.

The Rural Electrification Corporation Limited (REC) will remain the nodal agency for the operationalization of the scheme throughout the country.

CITY IMAGES

Meenakshi temple

Cleanest iconic place Under the ‘Swachhta Hi Seva’ programme, Sri Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple in Madurai has been adjudged as the best ‘Swachh Iconic Place’ in India.

Located on the southern bank of Vaigai River in Madurai (Tamil Nadu), the temple is dedicated to Meenakshi, a form of goddess Parvati. Meenakshi temple won the title after being shortlisted along with ten other iconic places. The other top iconic places included Taj Mahal, Ajmer Sharif Dargah, the Golden Temple, Tirupati Temple and Sri Vaishno Devi Temple. There are around 63 compact bins in total and four compactor trucks which do rounds around the temple.

There are 25 e-toilets and 15 water ATMs for devotees to use. The Madurai municipal corporation has also notified that a fine of Rs 50 would be charged from people littering in and around the temple.

www.urbanupdate.in | October 2017

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UHUDA to map Urban areas for planned development

For proper planning and development, Uttarakhand Housing and Urban Development Authority (UHUDA) is all set to carry out large-scale mapping of urban areas. In the first phase, survey will be conducted to prepare GIS base maps of urban local body areas with high resolution satellite images and in second phase, on the basis of GIS maps master plans will be prepared for urban and regional planning.

“Urban areas have developed in a largely unplanned manner in Uttarakhand, to prevent that from continuing, we will be mapping all unmapped urban body areas in the first stage.

No Helmet-No Fuel With the help of digital surveillance, Chittoor district has successfully implemented the “No Helmet-No Fuel” rule, which led to 50 percent increase in the number of helmet users in Chittoor municipal corporation limits. Deputy SP K. Kesappa said, “2,000 personnel, including the police, volunteers and students, have been deployed to monitor the rule in Chittoor, Puttur, Madanpalle and Palamaner divisions. In order to assist the motorcyclists, we have spoken to the agents selling helmets from Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. The bulk stocks are being kept at all petrol pumps and sold to the bike riders at a subsidy. A helmet costing Rs 1000 is sold at Rs 600”.

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NEWSCAN

Vice-President inaugurates “Crusade for Toilets” HUBLI: The Vice President, M Venkaiah Naidu inaugurated the “Swachhta Hi Seva” and “Shouchalayakkagi Samara” (A Crusade for Toilets) Programme in Karnataka. He was presiding as the Chief Guest over a public event at Hubli. The Vice President later visited Konnur Village, in Naragund Taluk, Gadag District, where he initiated the activity of ‘TippeSamskarane’ (Waste Processing). He also inaugurated a “Shudda Kudiyuva Neerina Ghataka” (Purified Drinking Water Plant), visited the Janata Colony in the village, and addressed a “Shouchalayakkagi Samara” public gathering at the local high school.

Speaking on the occasion, the Vice President emphasized the need for Swachhata to become a janaandolan. He complimented the taluka, district and state for the good progress made by them. He gave several examples of ordinary people making extraordinary contributions, including Ms Lavanya, a young girl from Karnataka who persuaded her unwilling family to build a toilet and then went on to inspire her entire village. The Vice

President appreciated the fact that many young women are now demanding toilets before they get married into another family. He also honored 13 Village Panchayat Presidents and the Naragund Taluka Panchayat President, the achievers of “Shouchalayakkagi Samara”. He also declared the rural areas of Naragund Taluk as an ODF block.

Vajubhai Rudabhai Vala, the Governor of Karnataka, emphasized the importance of caring for one another, as enshrined in the slogan of the government, ‘SabkaSaath, SabkaVikas’. He said that to care for others, we need to start by taking the initiative ourselves in the direction of a Swachh Bharat. Ramesh Jigajinagi, the Minister of State, Drinking Water and Sanitation, congratulated the State government on the occasion and re-emphasized the importance of the Swachhata Hi Seva campaign. He reiterated the fact that the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, in his recent visit to Uttar Pradesh, had appreciated the naming of a toilet as “Izzat Ghar”.

Pharma toxic waste kills over 20 lakh fish HYDERABAD: Toxic chemical waste coming out of Kazipally Industrial Estate which houses 30 pharma companies killed nearly 20 lakhs fish in Gandigudem Lake on city outskirts. Ameenpur police registered FIR under Section 277 and Section 278 of IPC against top pharma companies, Mylan, Hetero Pharma, Aurobindo, SMS Pharma, Sriram and Vantec and accused them for this incident. Chemicals gushing out of pharma industries toxified 266-acre GandigudemLake of Patancheru in Sangareddy district and killed almost 70-80 percent fish in the lake. Telangana Pollution Control Board examined the water in the lake and confirmed chemical toxicity resulted in death of fish. Ameenpur sub-inspector G Lalu Nayak, who is investigating the criminal case against the pharma firms said, “We lodged cases against five pharma companies following a complaint from fishermen cooperative society president ChintaJanardhan.

The complainant alleged after heavy rain on October 3, pharma companies released chemical waste into the lake which killed fish. There are 30 industries in the cluster and we will investigate and book the guilty.”

Fisherman cooperative society said most of the fish were Rohu that weighed between 2kg and 8kg. Janardhan the member of the society said: “We have been releasing seedlings into the lake for three years. A year ago, harvesting fish earned us around Rs 2 crore. Recently, we released 30 lakh seedlings of Rs 25 lakh. But all that has been washed away after pharma companies discharged waste.”

Telangana Pollution Control Board Sangareddy regional officer Bhadra Girish said, “Preliminary findings suggest toxic chemicals from Kazipally Industrial area as cause of fishkill. We collected samples and are examining chemicals. Dissolved oxygen levels in the lake dipped due to natural reasons and as well as pollutants.”

NEWSCAN

Celebrating Ahmedabad’s World Heritage Inscription Before a fervent audience, UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova presented the certificate of inscription of the Historic City of Ahmedabad on the World Heritage List, the first urban center in India to be inscribed, on 1 September 2017

Ahmedabad: “The beauty of Ahmedabad is breathtaking, but the significance of this city lies beyond the physical beauty of its architectural heritage – it lies in its historical symbolism of religious tolerance and peaceful coexistence. The harmony it embraces through its diversity tells a story of religious and cultural exchange and dialogue,” said the DirectorGeneral. Inscribed on the World Heritage List in July 2017, the walled city founded by Sultan Ahmad Shah in the 15th century, on the eastern bank of the Sabarmati River, presents a rich architectural heritage of mosques, densely packed traditional houses in gated streets, as well as Hindu and Jain temples from a later period.

“We understand that with the World

Heritage recognition for the City, greater responsibility has fallen on us to conserve and preserve the heritage value associated it,” said the Chief Minister of Gujarat Vijay Rupani. “We are firmly committed to ensure the authenticity, integrity and conservation of the Historic City of Ahmedabad as required by the UNESCO. I am sure that this first World Heritage City inscription from India will usher urban heritage conservation movement in India in a big way.”

The Mayor of Ahmedabad, Gautam Shah, affirmed that the city “wants to be a standard to be followed for conservation and management. We should leave no stone unturned to safeguard the outstanding universal value of the city.”

Sujata Prasad, Additional Secretary

in the Ministry of Culture of the Government of India said that “the world heritage recognition was a living testimony to the multiculturalism of the city and will revitalize our approach to conservation, noting the need for a paradigm shift to protect cities and save them from encroachment and unplanned settlement.”

Accompanied by cultural heritage expert Professor Ravindra Varavada and local authorities, the DirectorGeneral toured the Bhadra Fort and Sidi Sayeed Mosque, characteristic of Indo-Islamic architecture. “At a time when all societies are looking for new ways to foster sustainable development, boost innovation and build inclusive societies, we must harness the role of culture and heritage to strengthen the social contract, to create jobs, and most importantly, to celebrate dignity and diversity,” said Bokova.

In presenting the World Heritage Certificate, the Director-General also recalled that Ahmedabad was the landmark city from where Mahatma Gandhi launched his struggle for freedom. Bokova visited the Sabarmati Ashram Preservation and Memorial Trust – the site of Gandhi’s first ashram founded in 1915, where she viewed one of the largest collections of his original manuscripts, with some 35,000 catalogued items. The Ashram has also developed the Gandhi Heritage Portal, the largest online, open source digital archive on Gandhi’s life and thoughts.

On September two, the DirectorGeneral travelled to Patan, Gujarat, where she visited the World Heritage site of Rani-ki-Vav (the Queen’s Stepwell), inscribed in 2014. She witnessed the magnificent artistic craftsmanship and scientific mastery of this distinctive form of subterranean water architecture, dating back to the 11th century, which was only restored in its original dimension in the 1970s, through careful excavation, desilting and removal of debris by the Archaeological Survey of India. The 27-meter deep well is adorned at every storey with intricate and graceful carvings of religious and mythological sculptures.

www.urbanupdate.in | October 2017

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NEWSCAN

10,000 toilets built in 10-days in Chhattisgarh Raipur: Under the Swachh Bharat Mission, 10,000 toilets were built in ten days in Abahanpur development block of Chhattisgarh’s Raipur district.

The construction of toilets for 10000 households started on September 7, in villages of Abhanpur block which houses 91-gram panchayats will be declared open defecation free (ODF) by next month.

Union Minister of Information and Broadcasting Smriti Irani took part in ‘Swachhta hi Sewa’ programmes in Kendri (Abhanpur development block) and Mandir Hasaud (Arang development block) villages of the district. “Perhaps during my entire political life, I am seeing it for the first time that 10,000 toilets were constructed in only 10 days in a block,” the minister said while addressing the people in Kendri, located around 25 kms from here. She also congratulated local public representatives, officials and people for the achievement and further said that clean India would be the best tribute people could pay to Mahatma Gandhi. “Mahatma Gandhiji used to say India’s soul lives in villages. To keep the soul of the country clean and pure, I would like to thank chief minister Raman Singh that this Swachhta campaign was held in Kendri village. Indeed, this is a unique initiative this government has undertaken that on one side we talk about technology and promoting Digital India while at the other end we appeal to people to pay attention towards cleanliness,” she said.

“The intention behind this is just to make aware people towards cleanliness. If we look towards health, diarrhea has been killing around 1 lakh children every year in the country and to deal with the disease doctors primarily suggest to mothers to maintain sanitation to keep their kids and family healthy. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had vowed from the ramparts of Delhi’s Red Fort to

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provide toilets to every household in the country (by 2019) and so far, 2.36 lakh villages have been declared open defecation free (ODF)”, she added.

“Similarly, the PM had promised from Red Fort to ensure separate toilets for girls’ students in all government schools of the country in one year.

Being a woman, today I feel proud that 4 lakh toilets were built for girls in government schools as a result of which their enrollment has increased by 15-20 per cent,” she said.

On the occasion, Irani inaugurated smart gram panchayat, smart anganwadi centre and smart school in a same premise in the village. There, the union minister also did shramdan (voluntary work) for the construction work of a toilet. Later, the union minister took part in ‘Swachhta hi Sewa’ programme in Mandir Hasaud village. Hailing the contribution of women in sanitation drive, Irani said, “I bow my head before all my sisters who wake up early at 4 in the morning and do patrolling in their villages while blowing whistle to stop open defecation and keep their surrounding clean. I bow my head to those daughters who

“In 10 days, 10,000 toilets were constructed in Abhanpur block of Raipur with citizen participation.

Kudos to the citizens & district admin!”

Smriti Z Irani Union Minister , Ministry of Textiles ask to check for toilets facility at in-law house before marriage. The dedication of women for Swachhta indicates that the day will soon come when the entire country will become ODF.” During the programme, Chief Minister Raman Singh said that Chhattisgarh would become an ODF state by October 2 next year.

“Swachh Bharat Abhiyan has become a ‘Jan Andolan’ receiving tremendous support from people. Over 14,000 villages and 8,000-gram panchayats have become ODF in the state.”

The union minister also laid the foundation stone of development works to the tune of Rs 102 crore at Mandir Hasaud and also dedicated some public projects completed at a cost of Rs 44 crore in the area.

NEWSCAN

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GHMC to make lakes hyacinth pollution free

“Roko-Toko” campaigns all set to make India open defecation free New Delhi: As part of a special campaign, “Roko, Toko aur Siti Bajao”, South Delhi Municipal Corporation’s 25 mascots, named Roko and Toko, are all set to patrol the areas vulnerable to open defecation. These mascots will look for people coming out of their houses with water tumbler in their hands and will discourage them from defecating in the open by the way of civil defence patrolling. Apart from this, the corporations will also use street corner plays, radio jingles, newspaper advertisements, hoardings to motivate people to stop defecating in the open.

NeemaBhagat, mayor of East Delhi Municipal Corporation also stated that an extensive awareness campaign had been planned in East Delhi.

A report by the National Sample Survey suggests that about half of the

rural population in India still prefers to defecate in open. The South and East Delhi municipal corporations declared their respective zones to be open defecation free on 2nd October as the country completed three years of Swachh Bharat Mission. Out of the 272 wards in the capital, 168 were declared ODF — 104 wards in South Delhi and 64 in the East. The North Corporation will perhaps declare itself as an ODF zone on December 15.

Kamaljeet Sehrawat, the Mayor of South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) said that a lot of hard work had been done in order to “win the war on open defecation”. A few months ago, Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB) identified nearly 105 sites near JJ clusters in south Delhi and handed over the list to SDMC.

India gets its first community toilet for Transgenders Bhopal: As a move forward to realising the rights of the third gender of India, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, inaugurated India’s first community toilet for transgenders in Bhopal on 2nd October, 2017. The toilet was inaugurated in the Mangalwara area of Bhopal, where there is a large population of transgender people. He announced that awareness of government schemes would be created among them. The toilet, constructed by the Bhopal Municipal Corporation (BMC), includes a change room, an official said. It was built at the cost of 35 lakh. Bhopal Mayor Alok Sharma claimed that the toilet was the first of its kind in the country. Different signs for men, women, handicapped and transgender people are present on the doors of the toilet. Stressing at the equal status the transgender community deserves, Shivraj added, “The third gender is yet to get the respect it deserves. My government will ensure equal rights to them. The administration will also be directed to take stringent action against anti-social elements that defame the community” The CM also mentioned he would convene a ‘third gender panchayat’ at his residence for redressal of their problems. He promised that the state government would provide an additional assistance of Rs 1.5 lakh to members of the community for constructing houses under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana. Days after the Centre allowed the community to use public toilets of their choice in April, Mysuru had also introduced special toilets for them in the city’s bus terminal. Moves like these are being welcomed by cities across the country.

After Bangalore Municipal Corporation made their lakes hyacinth pollution free, now Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) has sought support from State and Central governments to provide sufficient funds for the same.

GHMC has already submitted the proposal to the government for approvals in which they are seeking support for 185 water bodies under their jurisdiction.

In 82 lakes hyacinth pollution has spread over 1827 acres and in another 53 lakes area affected is more than 5 acres and in rest 29 lakes, it is less than five acres.

The whole procedure of removal of hyacinth from lakes will cost 18.44 crore. The GHMC is approaching various corporate companies, NGOs and RWAs to join them in this initiative as a social responsibility.

PMC adds 81 sq km in its limits The state government has added 11 fringe villages with area of 80.7 sq km and a population of 2.78 lakh into the Pune Municipal Corporation’s (PMC) limits. Now the civic body will require Rs 2000 crore to undertake development of these fringe areas. “The state government has issued a notification of merging 34 villages in the PMC limits. The government has decided to complete the merger process in phases. Of the 34 villages, those which were partially merged in the city limits will be completely brought under the PMC and two villages –Uruli Devachi and Phursungi -will be merged into the city limits. The process of final notification of the merger of these 11 villages will be completed by December 2017.”

www.urbanupdate.in | October 2017

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Amaravati Smart City Corp to serve as SPV for greenfield project development For the implementation of the smart city project, the Andhra Pradesh Government is set to form a special purpose vehicle (SPV) Amaravati Smart City Corporation. Ajay Jain, Principal Secretary, AP Government, mentioned in an order that, “initially 20 crores will be provided to incorporate SPV in the smart city plan and later this will be increased. The Governor of AP will hold 24,996 shares and Andhra Pradesh Capital Region Development Authority (APCRDA) 24,997 shares along with others.”

After approval of the proposed move, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairsnominated Ramesh Chand, Director (IFD), HUPA, as Director on the Board of Special Purpose Vehicle for smart city of Amaravati.

Jaipur to impose fine for open defecation Despite declaring Jaipur open defecation free (ODF), people in slums their still defecate openly.

To curb this problem Jaipur Municipal Corporation (JMC) has launched a campaign to make aware people about defecating openly and still if they don’t understand, JMC will charge fine. JMC commissioner Ravi Jain said, “We have constructed around 200 community toilets in various pockets of the city, which are equipped with water and electricity. Even then people, especially in slum areas, are defecating in the open.” He also said, “the JMC teams will conduct morning inspections and initially for 20-25 days the officials will persuade people not to defecate in the open and thereafter impose fines”.

20 October 2017 | www.urbanupdate.in

NEWSCAN

India launches its first Bullet train project

AHMEDABAD: Indian Prime minister Narendra Modi with his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe laid the foundation stone for India’s first bullet train project. The train plans to have a speed of 320-350 km per hour and it is expected to reduce travel time between the two cities to around 2 hours from the existing 7-8 hours. The fares could be in the range of Rs 3000 - Rs 5,000.

The first bullet train would be launched in 2022, coinciding with 75 years of independence, promised Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The Japanese prime minister said that about 100 engineers were currently in India working on the project. “We will make it operational in time as nothing is impossible if we

work together.” The high-speed train would connect Ahmedabad to Mumbai, beginning from Sabarmati railway station to Bandra Kurla complex. Passengers would have two options to choose from: the rapid high speed train, covering a distance of 508 kms in 2 hours 07 minutes with four stations and high speed train covering the same distance in 2 hours 58 minutes with 12 stations in the journey.

Initially, each high-speed train will have 10 cars and the capacity of 750 people which would later, increase to 16 cars that will accommodate 1,200 people.

According to initial estimates, around 1.6 crore people are expected to travel by the bullet train annually. By 2050, around 1.6 lakh commuters should travel by the high-speed train on a daily basis.

Funds

The project has been much criticized for the cost it involves. It would require an investment of Rs 1,10,000 crore for which a loan of Rs 88,000 crore will be taken from Japan. The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) will fund it at a low rate of interest of 0.1% per annum.

This loan has to be repaid to Japan in 50 years, with 15 years grace period.

Corporation initiative to collect plastic waste daily THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:The city corporation has introduced daily collection of plastic waste where public can handover dry, cleaned plastic waste at resource recovery facilities attached to aerobic bin units at various places in the city during 9 am to 5 pm.

Earlier the corporation used to conduct monthly collection drives for plastic waste. In a few wards, Kudumbasree workers are still collecting plastic waste on a weekly basis. The health committee is now switching to daily collection drive to avoid dealing with massive quantity of plastic and unsegregated waste which is brought to counters for recycling. The Corporation had last year banned the use of plastic carry bags and pushed for alternatives such as paper bags. Still, the mounting plastic waste has continued to be a problem for it. Only dry and clean plastic covers, packets and other materials is received at these counters.

The plastic collected at the counters is taken to shredding unit at Muttathara and will be handed over to Clean Kerala Company. The corporation has also planned for collection of sandals, old bags, glass waste, e-waste and coconut shells on a periodic basis. Special counters are made during the months for the collection of e-waste. The city corporation has introduced 25 pickup autorickshaws for the disposal of waste from public places. The autorickshaws are given to 25 health inspector offices in the city. The vehicles are primarily used for the disposal of waste which is being collected from public places and drains.

NEWSCAN

Stampedes and Stand-ups Mumbai wakes up after ‘tragedy’ The financial capital of India, yet again, faces the wrath of rapid urbanization as poor infrastructure, negligence and unpredictable weather results in Mumbai’s worst stampede.

Authorities and citizens are all left with the same question.

Are we prepared to face the future?

Mumbai: On 29th September, 2017, at around 10:30 am, as many as 23 people lost their lives and over 50 were left injured after a stampede broke at the Elphinstone Road railway station in Mumbai. The incident happened as chaos broke out at the railway station after four trains arrived at (almost) the same time. People had gathered on a foot over-bridge to seek shelter from the rains.

In a statement by the Director General (Government Railway Police), Anil Kumar Saxena, “Due to sudden rain, people waited at the station. When rain stopped there was chaos to go out, leading to the stampede”. But, the question persists, were ‘sudden rains’ the only reason behind the stampede?

According to Anshul Tiwari, regional head of a marketing company, who is a resident of the area nearby the railway

station, “Ever since the new office buildings have come up in the area, the crowd has increased many times, but nothing has been done to improve the infrastructure at the station. Who is responsible for these deaths?”

According to a survey conducted by the Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation, the 65 years old, 300 km sub-urban railway system of Mumbai, has an inflow of over 80 lakh commuters every day. A report titled ‘FOB’ (footover bridges) by CAG in 2016 (report number 13/2016) stated that 25 footover bridges in seven railway zones were not strong enough to sustain the crowd pressure of commuters.

There are many flaws in the design of the Elphinstone railway station. Rishi Aggarwal, director of Mumbai Sustainability Centre and an urbanisation expert said that the foot-

over-bridge in the Elphinstone Station is 79 inches and the capacity of the bridge should be increased to double immediately.

Authorities in action

Piyush Goyal, Railways minister of India, however, announced on 30th September that FOBs would be made ‘mandatory’ in all railway stations.

Goyal said that 20 more FOBs have been sanctioned for the Central Railway and 10 for the Western Railway, while 13 projects were sanctioned to widen FOBs. He said officers have been asked to erect a new FOB at the Elphinstone Road within a year.

Furthermore, in order to boost the local railway system, Indian railways is going to launch a 100 additional local train services on its Mumbai suburban network of western railways and central railway zone. With these additional services, the total suburban local train services in Mumbai will increase from existing 2983 to a total of 3083 suburban services.

In all, 32 new services would be added to Western Rrailways and 68 new services to Central Railway. 14 new services were extended to the ‘trans-harbour line’ on 2nd October, 2017. About 16 will be introduced on the ‘main line’ from 1st November The Western Railway presently runs about 1323 sub-urban services. After further addition the total sub-urban services would reach up to 1355. A total 17 services were added in ‘up’ direction and 15 were introduced in ‘down’ direction on 1st October, 2017.

Introduction of these new suburban services is bound to benefit about 77 lakh commuters travelling daily over the Mumbai suburban network. It is expected to reduce the galloping congestion in Mumbai local train system.

www.urbanupdate.in | October 2017

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GMC to have its first Animal cremation-cumburial ground

Smart benches: A unique idea

Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC) is all set to have its first ever cremation-cumburial ground for animals.

GMC Commissioner Monalisa Goswami said, “The Corporation will charge a reasonable fee from the pet owners so that the ground remains self-sustainable.

However, for stray dogs, it would be free of cost.” She also stated that the Corporation has started registration of pet dogs, which will help in streamlining the affairs.

Founder of Just Be Friendly (JBF), an NGO working in this field, Dr Sasanka Shekhar Dutta opined that with the pet population increasing like never before in Guwahati and elsewhere, it is high time that we had a dedicated place to pay them the last respect.

“Besides, even for stray animals, this could come in very handy.

Today, despite some dog deaths taking place on the roads, there is no place to bury them,” Dr Dutta said. While in a unique initiative, Nagpur Municipal Corporation has decided to set up animal carcass incinerator.Under Swachh Bharat Mission’s (SBM) solid waste management project, the Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) is soon going to have the city’s first carcass incinerator for disposing dead animals. The cost of setting up of the plant is Rs 2.39 crore. Both central and state government have already granted Rs 48.11 crore under SBM to NMC. As viability gap funding, NMC will keep Rs 70 crore for its waste to energy project. The project has eight modules: street sweeping waste, primary storage and collection system, waste treatment, decentralized composting, processing and disposal (waste to energy), incinerator for disposal of dead animal carcasses, and environmental compliance cost.

COIMBATORE: The Coimbatore Corporation after installing a solar panel topped structure as smart bench at its main office is all set to go in for 30 more such smart benches, under the area based development component of smart cities project. The Corporation is collaborating with public private model of development, as it would provide spaces for advertisement or choose other advertisement mechanisms to recover the installation cost. The estimated cost of each of the benches was around Rs4 lakh. The Corporation had said that the idea of a smart bench was to create a unique design that provided solar energy to power cell phones, Wi-Fi, LED lighting, and sensor data gathering gadgets. The bench will be fitted with LED lights and will also have a provision to charge cellphones and laptops. About 10 people can be seated at a time.

The objective was to make streets and public properties smarter and greener

22 October 2017 | www.urbanupdate.in

with the proposed smart bench project.

However, the civic body must discuss and explain the purpose and the advantages for the public from the smart bench in the office. It should describe the details of it sutility, benefits of the facility, and about the feedback of the same. “After a study, similar structures will be set up in 30 locations in the city at various parks and reserved sites,” a corporation official said. The Corporation had meanwhile called online for request for proposal for 10 such benches.

NTPC steps in to buy crop residue from farmers NEW DELHI: The National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) and a few biomass power units have expressed their intent to purchase crop residue from farmers in surrounding states in Delhi. This step is being taken by these companies in order to save Delhi from pollution.

Agricultural stubble running into millions of tonnes is burnt by farmers in northern India every October, triggering heavy pollution in Delhi-NCR before the onset of winter. The primary reason for farmers setting crop residue on fire is due to the lack of alternative method to immediately dispose of the stubble.

Bhure Lal, the Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority EPCA chairperson said that a few other companies have also expressed their intention to buy the agricultural stubble and pay the farmers around Rs 1 to 2 per quintal for the same. The executive director (research and advocacy) of the

Centre for Science and Environment while talking about the farmer’s practice of burning the stubble said, “To stop crop burning, we need to create a market for these farmers and come up with a suitable business module”. As many as 35 million tonnes are burnt in Punjab and Haryana alone to make room for the winter crop. While the stubble will help generate power, the by-product of the plant can be used as fertiliser because of its phosphorus-rich quality. While the National Green Tribunal banned the practice in view of air pollution concerns, implementing the order turned out to be a difficult task. However, this step by the NTPC and a few other biomass power plants across Haryana, Rajasthan and Punjab may just bring some muchneeded relief to the city of 12 million.

“Co-firing at power stations by using biomass with coal is one of the initiatives being pursued by the NTPC,” a senior official said.

Dr Harsh Vardhan launches ‘Wood is Good’ Campaign

The purpose of campaign is to promote wood as climate-friendly resource and substitute to materials like steel and plastic as it is carbon neutral unlike other materials which leave carbon foot print in their production

New Delhi: Emphasising the need to create an enabling environment through small steps such as planting more trees, Union Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Dr Harsh Vardhan has said that new and innovative ways must be thought of, to bring more areas under forest and tree cover. Inaugurating a two-day conference on Sustainable landscapes and forest ecosystems: Theory to Practice, the Environment Minister urged the gathering to deliberate and

come out with out-of-the-box ideas and solutions on increasing the forest cover much beyond the stipulated 33 percent. “Innovation is the need of the hour. Innovation co-efficient now is more important than any other coefficient”, Vardhan said.

Reiterating the Government’s commitment to increase the country’s forest cover from 24% to 33% of the geographical area and creating an additional carbon sink of 2.5 to 3 billion tons of CO2 equivalent in forests, as reflected in Nationally Determined Contribution, Vardhan said that the target is proposed to be achieved through a number of planned afforestation drives and initiatives.

The Minister advocated the balancing of environmental and developmental concerns and also urged the gathering of scientists and foresters to devise a solution to the problem of weeds.

Referring to the forests being an integral part of Indian culture and tradition, the Environment Minister said that India has managed to successfully conserve and enhance its forest resources. He reminded the

gathering that our ancestors had given us clean air and clean water and we must make efforts to preserve them for the future generations.

Dr Vardhan launched the ‘Wood is Good’ campaign on the occasion.

Wood is a climate-friendly material, as it is a renewable resource, having zero carbon footprint.

The Partnership for Land Use Science (Forest-Plus) is a joint programme by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) to strengthen capacity for REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) implementation in India. The programme brings together experts from India and the United States to develop technologies, tools and methods of forest management to meet the technical challenges of managing forests for the health of ecosystem, carbon stocks, biodiversity and livelihood. Some of the objectives of the conference include exploring issues and opportunities for ecosystem approach to land management in India; discussing how the approaches and tools developed under the ForestPLUS programme can be used to improve forest management in India and to document and disseminate that learning with a wider group.

Director General, Forest and Special Secretary, MoEFCC, Siddhanta Das, Mission Director, USAID India, White, USAID Director for Energy & Environment, officers of the MOEF&CC, Inspector General, MoEF&CC, Rekha Pai, State Forest Departments and representatives of national institutes and NonGovernmental Organisations were among the distinguished ones present in the gathering.

www.urbanupdate.in | October 2017

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COVER STORY | Culture & Cities

COVER STORY | Culture & Cities

“C

learly, then, the city is not a concrete jungle, it is a human zoo”, said Desmond Morris, the popular author in human sociobiology.He clearly looked at cities differently from what the world has till now. He seems to look at it in terms of livability rather than just buildings and infrastructure.

For many decades now we have been seeing cities and classifying them more or less, based on size and that too the size of the population. This population based nomenclature also defined the kind of administration that the city had and continues to have, for example, smaller towns have the nagar panchayat, bigger ones have the municipal council and even bigger ones the municipal corporation. And finally when the cities turn into a large agglomeration of settlements in close proximity having similar character, we have administration like the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), where development plans take into account more than one corporation area.

Alongside this classification there has existed a parallel, different kind of typology, one which is defined by the dominant economic and social characteristic of the city. Thus cities came to be known as ‘Industrial City’ as is the case with Faridabad, Manesar and some other towns and cities in the NCR as also Ludhiana in Punjab and Chennai in the South. The predominant economic driver of the place became its defining character and helped shape its personality. One could visualize the hustle and bustle of an industrial town with trucks and trailers occupying large portions of the road space and unfortunately a not too healthy environment-polluted air and water and compromised quality of life.

Then we had the ‘Financial Capital’.

Typically Mumbai has occupied the pole position in this category for many decades since the dying down of textile manufacturing. Here one would expect the same hustle and bustle except with more well-heeled

24 October 2017 | www.urbanupdate.in

citizens occupying the spaces. We could also see high density workplaces and residential colonies with high rise office buildings as is typical in Nariman Point in the City. Since the last couple of decades, we now have the ‘IT City’ or the ‘Knowledge City’, typically cities like Bangalore and Hyderabad and more recently Gurgaon in the NCR. Then there are the cities which have a little of all. Take for example, Pune.

The City has a thriving automobile manufacturing ecosystem thus making it an ‘Industrial City’. It also has large IT parks housing some of the top names in the sector, giving it the label of ‘IT City’.

These nomenclatures are dynamic though. We have seen in the last four to five decades itself, cities metamorphose into new ones. Pune for example was till the early seventies purely a ‘Pensioners’ Paradise’ with its salubrious climate, scenic beauty of the hills and easy paced life. All this changed in the early seventies with the arrival of large automotive manufacturing companies and the resulting sprawl of a huge vendor base.

Bangalore was just a ‘Garden City’ and a vacation destination. Delhi and the surroundings were known simply as the seat of power with the political capital there. It also served as a gateway to the country with international air connectivity. Industrial cities in those times were Calcutta from the pre-independence era and towns like Jamshedpur. We also had nomenclature like ‘Oxford of the East’, ‘Steel City’, ‘Temple Town’, ‘Diamond City’ and‘Tourism Hub’. In most cases the nomenclature represented the main economic driver of the town or city. In this period, the economy or livelihood represented the main concern of citizens and administrators. Cities vied with each other to leverage their key competitive strengths in order to attract capital and talent and thus occupy leadership positions in their respective areas. And in turn attract further investment, and talent.

As we moved into the new Millennium, there came a realization that there is more to life than economic considerations and securing

livelihoods alone. Cities remain the hubs of economic activity accounting for over 80 percent of global economic output and this concentration will continue. By 2050, over two-thirds of the human population will reside in cities. However, the superior economic profile of a city alone will not place it among the ‘successful’ cities. As cities grapple with the multi-faceted urban challenges of congestion, service delivery, mobility, waste management and pollution, it is only those which overcome these challenges effectively that will qualify as ‘good’ cities. City managers and urbanists will need to leverage technology and innovation to enable cities meet these challenges and emerge as winners. It is only such cities that will attract technology, capital, talent and innovation and thus put in place a virtuous cycle of investment, development and prosperity.

A City

In line with this aspiration we now have global rankings like ‘Most Livable City’, a recognition the City of Melbourne won in 2017 for the 7th year in a row in an Economist Intelligence Unit ranking which assessed stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education and infrastructure. Another ranking in 2016 by Arcadis, a design and consultancy firm, and the Centre for Economic and Business Research ranked the world’s ‘Most Sustainable Cities’. The ranking was done on three dimensions- social, environmental and economic. Zurich and Singapore occupied the top two positions.

Healthcare, environment andsecurity are some parameters which are likely to figure in any assessment of cities in

As cities move beyond their roles as economic and livelihood centres and turn towards becoming‘livable’and ‘sustainable’, they need to address multi-faceted urban challenges-housing, mobility, congestion and pollution among others. And they need to do this in an inclusive manner keeping in mind the needs of all sections V Vijay Kumar Sr Advisor, AIILSG

Albert Hall Museum Jaipur

y for Everyone www.urbanupdate.in | October 2017

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COVER STORY | Culture & Cities

Strength and Impulse: Redefining Cities Gerard Manley Hopkins once wrote famously describing the cities My window shews the travelling clouds, Leaves spent, new seasons, alter’d sky, The making and the melting crowds: The whole world passes; I stand by.

They do not waste their meted hours, But men and masters plan and build: I see the crowning of their towers, And happy promises fulfilled

A city you live in has the good and bad, worst and the best but nothing is ours. We are in the age of smart cities. But how is a city described?

Going by the classical definitions a city must be distinguished by its size, its functions and symbolic status.

The streets, central locality, history that individuals experience the same everyday must register it. A city, as it is called, distinguishes itself from other human settlements by its size relatively and its functions and status.

In addition, what matters is population and its density, number of dwellings, its economic viability, and infrastructure that characterizes a city. A city must not be described by its size but the role it plays within a larger political context. Cities serve as administrative, commercial, religious and cultural hubs for the adjoining areas. A ‘typical city’ has regulations and regulators, administrators and taxation. But the lives of the people go much beyond this.

In the age of smart cities

Urban planning, smart infrastructure, cutting edge technologies are driving the cities today. India has embarked on a journey to create a hundred smart

26 October 2017 | www.urbanupdate.in

cities that aim to provide residents efficient and reliable infrastructure and services. The programme also seeks to transform the way our cities look today, enhance the quality of life, prosperity and economic opportunities. These cities are also expected to be catalysts and provide a major fillip to other urban centres. We all hear that smart cities will create jobs with the aid of information and communication infrastructure and will improve standards of living. Are all the commercial, activities, utility services and finances defining our lives?

create our cities that reflect our values?

We must bridge the divide between innovation and inequality while conceptualizing a city. Poverty must be at the centre of it. Cities are increasingly becoming more expensive, at least in essentials like housing and healthcare.

They seem to be catering more to the elite. This needs to change. Cities must work to become more equitable, to provide affordable housing, education, healthcare, public transport and other amenities.

Dream City

One school of thought holds optimism because it thinks that the new generation that will rebuild our cities with fresh ideas is the same that is also working against the economic inequality. Is that really so? The policy makers and planners somehow lost it in the process. Cities in India today are suffering from crime, poverty, drugs.

Delhi, the national capital at times described as ‘Crime Capital’proves that what was set in motion in the early nineties called ‘liberalisation’ has brought many gains in the last twenty five years on the economic front. Young people, students and professionals have flooded the cities with their college degrees and money. Look at the impact it is having. Long time residents had to move to the periphery of the cities because of rising rents. Many sold their old houses because of the sum they were offered. Old times houses made way for high rise apartments. The skyline has changed in our cities in the last two decades. Roads have become crowded with private cars, mostly bought on EMI’s, public spaces have shrunk and recreational activities are limited to malls and multiplexes. But what we have lost in the process is the quality of life in the city. We are trying to figure out new order, the new way of urban life.

We inhabitants of cities are always on the search for the ‘Dream City’. What constitutes a dream city? Let’s look at renowned cities of the world. New York has handed over large swathes of its Broadway to bikes, benches and cafes. Los Angeles is trying to turn its motorized population into rail commuters. Cities are increasingly using creative methods for new pedestrian spaces and waterfronts for recreational purposes. India’s urban reboot is in full swing. A range of mega projects is being undertaken and we are made to believe that cities are back.

Every capital city in the country today is vying for new metro lines, malls, multiplexes and more. This rising aspiration in the cities is not just mere ‘urban renewal’. All the existing notions of what constitutes a city are being challenged. These are the times of innovation and demographic shift. But in the midst of all this there is a huge economic imbalance being created.

Every now and then we hear the rumble of protests in our cities. They might not make the headlines but they are real in this new urban era. We have witnessed in the recent past movements such as Occupy Wall Street, London and Frankfurt. A movement that spread to about nine hundred cities.

The big question is how we should craft our new urban future? How do we

Optimism Vs Negativism

Matter of Survival

As human beings we need to breathe

to live. Today, practically every Indian city is searching for that one fresh breath where they are inhaling clean air. Pollution has made such an impact on our lives that the Global Burden of Disease Study estimates that air pollution causes more than three thousand deaths everyday in India. Vivekanand Jha, Executive Director, the George Institute of Global Health, India says that “half of the top twenty polluted cities are in India. The country has seen the steepest increase in air pollution since two thousand ten. Although China achieved global notoriety some years ago, it is India that has experienced nearly hundred fifty percent increase in ozone-attributable deaths over the last twenty five years. In comparison, the number of people who died due to diseases caused by pollution in China did not increase much in the same period”. Almost every river in the country and all the water bodies are contaminated and polluted. All the efforts to make them cleaner have come a cropper. Even the capital city of Delhi has not been able to clean Yamuna till date. Water bodies are so important in cities life. From bursting crackers to polluting our rivers we are everyday busy twisting the laws of nature. We cannot keep our religiosity aside to save the environment we live in. so much so that cleaning of Ganga is suspended due to Diwali celebrations.

In our developmental pursuit and to make life for city dwellers easy we are busy playing havoc with forests and mountains. From Mumbai to Bengaluru, trees are being cut and mountains being blown away. Take the case of Aravali range which is six hundred ninety two km long and cuts through four states of Gujarat, Rajasthan, Delhi and Haryana. First it was deforestation, and then came mining and now encroachment. It has been assailed in every way possible.

Environmentalists are warning that it’s a do-or-die situation for Aravalis.

Jitendra Bhadana, Faridabad based activist says that encroachment has emerged as “the biggest problem. The

mafia and the property dealers control the government and administration and get approvals. Many leaders own the land in the hills so why would they take a call that can work against them”?

A Long Battle Ahead

Redefining our cities is going to be an uphill task and is going to be a long battle. Almost everyone agrees that cities are plagued by severe problems but things move on as usual. Citizenry has to assert itself as the major stakeholder in this process because it’s their life, their sun, their air, their water, their movement that is most affected. Economic aspiration and growth alone cannot be at the centre of our city planning. The government, administrators and planners cannot express their helplessness. What we do need is better urban planning starting with proper land use assessment. Vivekanand Jha suggests that we must “reduce major transport activities close to communities, relocate traffic sources from crowded areas, avoid mixing of residential and industrial areas, reduce uncovered areas in the city by planting more grass and plants, improve transport technologies and increase awareness of the societal burden imposed by air pollution”. Well these may help.

We need to be conscientious about our responsibilities towards the environment we live in.

The economy must grow but so must the quality of life of citizens.

We can redefine the city if we bring people at its core and soul. Bridge that growing socio-economic divide that is ever widening by bringing the most vulnerable sections of society at the heart of policy making, specially the urban poor, the elderly and children because they bear the burnt the most.

As someone famously said “A city is a place where there is no need to wait for next week to get the answer to a question, to taste the food of any country, to find new voices to listen to and familiar ones to listen to again.” it’s time to listen to the call of the times.

times to come. Cities will increasingly need to become ‘sustainable’ in their efforts to become sought after destinations. How the city uses energy, for example, with maximum recourse to renewable sources and minimizes global warming will add to the sustainability quotient. Urban mobility is a big challenge in all cities of the developed and developing worlds. How city managers innovate to promote use of public transport options and develop mass rapid transit systems will determine congestion and emissions.

Waste management is a huge problem characteristic of cities of all economic profiles. This also manifests itself in the form of environmental degradation (plastic contamination of oceans for example). While the developed world cities have better systems to ‘manage’ the problem, the creation of waste, per capita is much larger in these cities. Successful cities will be those that move beyond ‘managing’ waste to ‘reducing waste’.

Going forward, security of citizens will also be a crucial determinant of success of any city. Populations will increasingly use a city’s security as a measure of its livability to decide on locating there. Deployment of technological aids could help in better policing and crime prevention.

Above all, cities will need to address economic disparity and work towards inclusivity in order to become attractive to a wide spectrum of potential dwellers. Cities will no more be ranked by glitz and glamour alone. It is important that cities become attractive destinations for all, not just the social, economic elite. Affordable housing, effective service delivery, viable alternate public transportation options, educational infrastructure, leisure options and healthcare amenities are all very crucial in making a city livable.

The city will need to craft solutions to meet these needs of all-especially the poor, the elderly, women, the differently abled and children.And they need to do all this while remaining the economic powerhouses and providing livelihoods. Then we can truly have cities that are ‘For Everyone’.

www.urbanupdate.in | October 2017

27

Leaderspeak | Urban Culture

Ranjit S Chavan President, AIILSG

Connect culture, creativity and citizens in cities Mega infrastructure projects have been at the centre of development strategies for most of the world’s big cities. However, the culture of cities evolved organically without much intervention of policy makers, local leaders and administrators. At present, the sustenance of urban culture needs attention for bringing cultural renaissance in the cities which are losing their identities while trying to absorb similar models of development in their improvement schemes

C

ities have always been the centres of economic activity, power and culture.

They are the places where cultures meet and evolve with gains in both social effectiveness and significance.

Our cities are transforming themselves faster than ever.

This is not just related to their expansion and fastpaced development in terms of establishing large-scale infrastructure and provision of efficient services but is also related to the change in their outlook and longstanding perceptions about them. Take the example of Jaipur and Bhubaneswar. Jaipur is not just about forts, Hawa Mahal, Chaar Darwaja and other monuments in the walled city; at present, it boasts of modern architectures like World Trade Park that

28 October 2017 | www.urbanupdate.in

is a business centre cum shopping mall. The other city, Bhubaneswar is not merely a City of Temples; it has evolved itself as an education hub in Eastern India. The transformation in these cities is commendable as both these cities have not altered their basic characteristics or features to remain relevant in changing times.

Physical development in cities shaped their culture.

Catherine Belsey, a British literary critic and academic, defines culture: “Culture constitutes the vocabulary within which we do what we do; it specifies the meanings we set out to inhabit and repudiate, the values we make efforts to live by or protest against, and the protest is also cultural.

Culture resides primarily in the representations of the world exchanged, negotiated

and, indeed, contested in a society.” Culture consists of a lot of things that include food habits, music, clothing and festivals. All these things change fast in a city and are linked closely with infrastructure development.

If a city gets a new transport system such as Metro, it becomes a part of the city’s culture. Likewise, local trains in Mumbai are very much part of its culture.

It is undoubtedly true that every development project comes with a price. It is not just the financial cost but also its impact on environment and culture. For instance, if traditional markets are razed by municipal corporations to build swanky malls or shopping centres, it will have impact on the livelihoods of the local population. When the government has tried to take any such initiative,

people have protested. We have seen such protests in Indian cities when government wanted to raze slums to build multi-storeyed apartments for the poor.

This is because the slums are not just about housing but their existing form is also linked with strong community engagement that is not seen generally in high-rise apartments.

People do want modern infrastructure but they are still very much for sustaining of their culture, traditions and lifestyle. This is why it becomes pertinent to take care of community concerns before implementing any infrastructure project.

Transformation of urban public spaces

Lisa Bornstein of School of Urban Planning, McGill University underpinned,

in one of her articles in a journal ‘City, Culture and Society’, how mega projects for city building can benefit communities without affecting local culture. She has given case studies of many projects taken up in Canada and United States of America (USA) to depict how community benefits were ensured in megaprojects. She cites the examples of Old Port of Montreal, “The Old Port is considered a success in many respects. It is a public space accessible to all, with a variety of events available at little or no cost. Cultural festivals, a science center, and a skating rink co-exist with historical museums and festivals, the Clock Tower, a grain silo and the Old Montreal streets and churches that reaffirm the past. Local residents are given permit parking and efforts are made to maintain

cleanliness, important where many restaurants and bars cater to tourists. The public’s participation – and the guiding vision, principles and plans for development – are considered key to the success of the project.”

United Nations also released a detailed report ‘Global Report on Culture for Sustainable Urban Future’ that says,“Culture has the power to make cities more prosperous places safe and sustainable.” The report shows that the implementation of development policies that take into account the protection and promotion of culture and heritage, as advocated by the UNESCO conventions, benefits the cities. It defends the full integration of culture in urban policies to ensure sustainable and better quality of life for its residents.

Recommendations of Global Report on Culture for Sustainable Urban Future People

♦♦ Enhance the liveability of cities and safeguard their identities ♦♦ Ensure social inclusion in cities through culture ♦♦ Promote creativity and innovation in urban development through culture ♦♦ Build on culture for dialogue and peacebuilding initiatives in local community

Environment

♦♦ Foster human scale and mixed-use cities by drawing on lessons learnt from urban conservation practices ♦♦ Promote a liveable built and natural environment ♦♦ Enhance the quality of public spaces through culture ♦♦ Improve urban resilience through culture-based solutions

Policies

♦♦ Regenerate cities and rural-urban linkages by integrating culture at the core of urban planning ♦♦ Build on culture as a sustainable resource for inclusive development ♦♦ Promote participation through culture & enhance community’s role ♦♦ Develop innovative and sustainable financial models for culture

www.urbanupdate.in | October 2017

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Life in the Hills: Perfect blend of ancient values & modernity

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Aakash Mandyal Editorial Assistant

A thinly veiled mist covered the mountain’s face, A cool feeling of stillness came too, And found a peaceful, resting place, Among God’s most glorious pew.

It waited there, a blissful view, For God to speak its name, It lingered in the mountain’s blue, And God could find no blame.

Ruskin Bond 30 October 2017 | www.urbanupdate.in

apid urbanization has affected our lifestyle drastically everywhere and cities in hills are no exception. Lately, healthy air, placid and lush green environment and clear blue sky have merely become dictionary words and their presence has disappeared from metro cities.

Still, one can get glimpses of natural serenity in the cities situated on the hills of Northern and North-Eastern states of India. India’s Northern and North-eastern mountainous belt extends from Jammu and Kashmir (Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand) to a curve that ends at Mizoram. This belt is a mountainous terrain of India with many beautiful cities known for their serene environment and unique lifestyle. As topography of these states is mountainous, their economy is highly dependent upon farming. Due to the scarcity of industrial employment, tourism acts as a major asset for these states. Towns or cities like Dharamshala, Shimla, Manali, Kaza (Himachal Pradesh); Darjeeling (West

Bengal);Leh (Jammu and Kashmir); Shillong and Cherrapunji (Meghalaya); Gangtok (Sikkim), Guwahati (Assam), Kohima (Nagaland), and Haridwar, Mussori, Joshi Math (Uttarakhand) are a few examples where people enjoy fresh breath of air; eat natural organic diet and enjoy longer lifespan as compared to people living in polluted environment of metro cities.

The race of urbanization has started affecting these cities and life of the people living there. Yet, life here in the hills is way better than in cities in plains.

There is no considerable difference between the topography of cities and villages in hills except their population and available facilities. A majority of urban dwellers grow their own food. A day in hills starts with a pure pleasant morning with mesmerizing view of the sunrise and ends with a decent view of the sunset leading to blue starry sky.

People in the hills usually wake up early and we can say that by 6:30 am almost 90 percent of population is awake.

Most of the population in the hilly cities opts for healthy organic eating.

Since they have a lot of physical

Hilly Cities | Article

activity, they remain toned and healthy. Taking the example of a few cities and towns in Himachal Pradesh like Sunder Nagar, Mandi, Joginder Nagar, Kullu and Dharamshala where both urban and rural population have the same kind of lifestyle. About 80 percent of population of these towns possesses small farms around their homes which they have converted into vegetable gardens. Here they grow vegetables for daily usage devoid of chemical fertilizers as they manure them with their own pet animals’ dung like cow and buffalo. In states like Himachal Pradesh, about 93 percent of population depends upon agriculture which provides direct employment to 71 percent of its people.

The state government of Himachal Pradesh declared Himachal a leader in organic farming and aims to develop 200 bio villages. As per the state government’s agricultural survey, “There is scanty use of chemicals in the state, i.e. 158 grams as against 381 grams per hectare average in the country.”

Tourism: Major source of revenue

Tourism is another major source of revenue for people living in hills. The local population of hills is making best possible efforts to attract tourists from India as well as abroad. Paragliding in Billing (Himachal Pradesh), various trekking and camping services at Kheer Ganga (Kullu), Triund (Dharamshala) etc. and river rafting at Manali, Rishikesh etc. are some of the tourist attractions.

Rise in tourism is gradually affecting

local culture in hills. For instance, the local population of hills is constantly trying to inculcate English language in its communication so as to communicate with foreign tourists.

Many restaurants are being set up that offer various cuisines which is a further boost to revenue generation.

Also, the growth of tourism is tending to make the local hill population more westernized.

If we specifically talk about Himachal Pradesh, according to the statistics of tourism ministry of India, Himachal Pradesh’s Tourism department has been the most successful tourism department of the country in 2010. The state was visited by approximately 1.32 crores tourists in 2010 as against 1.14 crores in 2009, which is an increase of 16 per cent, as per the state’s tourism department analysis. This sector is estimated to contribute more than Rs 1,250 crores to the GDP of Himachal Pradesh. The ‘Queen of hills’ Shimla is the most preferred destination among British tourists. Kullu shawls, Kangra paintings, Chambarumal and Himachali wool products are always in demand. This has encouraged artisans and small enterprises to promote the state’s rich culture and heritage.

Mountain biking, vintage car rally, paragliding, river-rafting and skiing organized seasonally, are some of the most awaited events of this place.

Religious Dominance

Religion has always been a dominant factor which significantly influences life of people in the hills. The people of hills are strict followers of religion and have deep rooted religious beliefs. They

don’t compromise on following their rituals which preserves their ancient culture. Various religious places in hills attract devotees from all over the world.

The entire ambience of the hills is so serene and tranquil that many yogis, meditators, mystics, sadhus, etc. visit the Himalayas which is considered to be abode of Lord Shiva and presence of these people is deeply influencing the culture and lifestyle of the population in the hills.

Socio-cultural diversity in the North-east

North-eastern part of India is one of the richest floras in India, where people depend on shifting cultivation systems and forest based food products for their sustainable survival. This region is not only rich in plants diversity but also has a great treasure of cultural, social and linguistic variability, conserved by tribal people.

The traditional foods processed and prepared by women of North-eastern region are intimately connected to their socio-cultural, ecological, spiritual life and health. The processing and preparation of ethnic foods not only demonstrate the creativity and treasure of food heritage of tribal women but also their incremental learning to sustain the life and ecosystem as a whole.

Looking at the diversity in ethnic foods, an attempt has been made to explore the ethnic foods made of local soybean, bamboo shoot, tree bean, laipatta (leafy mustard) and rai (Brassica juncea (Linn.) Czern. & Coss.) from different selected tribes of Northeast India.

The region is a treasure of indigenous knowledge systems pertaining to agriculture, food, medicine, and natural resources management. Since time immemorial, rural women of this region have selected many wild plants and non-vegetarian foods through trial and have conserved many local crops, ethnic vegetables and indigenous fruits used in local diet for food and nutritional security. The traditional food consumed by tribes of Northeastern region are intimately connected to virtually all aspects of their sociocultural, spiritual life and health.

www.urbanupdate.in | October 2017

31

Article | Cultural Redefinition

Redefinition of cultural ethos of urban India

From the era of trams to the era of metro, from radio to lightening fast internet, from stargazing on the terrace to Saturday nights in the clubs; cities in India have been witness to change since their inception. It would not be wrong to say that culture of cities has been constantly redefining its contours since independence. And, the process is still on. This article looks back to the culture, lifestyle and community bonding in cities in the bygone era Shruti Gupta | Editorial Assistant

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he culture of India refers to distinct and unique cultures of all religions and communities present in the country. The culture in Indian cities is evolving since their inception. Even their names are changing with changing times. Bombay became Mumbai (1995), Madras became Chennai (1996), Calcutta became Kolkata (2001), Bangalore became Bengaluru (2006), and Gurgaon became Gurugram (2016). The identities of cities, along with cultural evolution, have been changing with transfer of reins.

Back in 1950s, people in cities would wake up to newspapers and a cup of tea.

Cities did not have FM radio channels like today to which they can tune into while in traffic. Moreover, majority of people did not have personal vehicles.

Buying a car or even a scooter was an arduous affair.

Print, radio, and cinema were the three major sources of entertainment and information for people. From 1952 to 1988, Binaca Geetmala, a weekly radio countdown show of popular songs from Hindi cinema listened to by millions of Hindi music lovers, was broadcast on Radio Ceylon. The show was later shifted to Vividh Bharati service of All India Radio in 1989.

Hindi cinema was a prominent part

32 October 2017 | www.urbanupdate.in

“To exist is to change, to change is to mature, to mature is to go on creating oneself endlessly” Henri Bergson of urban life right from 1950s till today.

The period from the late 1940s to the 1960s is regarded by film historians as the “Golden Age” of Hindi cinema.

Cinema affected the lifestyle of people in a way that movies were not just watched but followed. Actress Sadhana Shivdasani’s hairstyle became so famous that a haircut known as ‘Sadhana cut’ became a part of the popular culture.

Televisions were still not a part of urban life. Up until 1975, only seven Indian cities had a television service.

Urban Transport

Getting out of house and reaching their workplaces for people was way different than today. Trams and buses ruled the urban public transport in cities like

Bombay, Kolkata, Delhi and Madras.

Today, Kolkata has the only operational tram system in the country, although in a truncated form.

Urban transport started transforming as scooters were introduced in India.

By late 1950s, Indian cities already had considerable number of scooters.

Lambretta and Enfield emerged as major scooter manufacturers. Bajaj started producing scooters in India only in 1960 after which Bajaj Chetak and Priya scooters became a part of an urban Indian’s life.

Whereas, during the 1970s, cars like Ambassador and Fiat (also called Premier Padmini) became a part of popular culture. The decade also saw motorbikes popularizing in cities. Bullet, Yezdi,

Rajdoot were some common options.

The automobile market saw a drastic change with the launch of Maruti 800 in 1983. It remained the best-selling car in India until 2004, when the Maruti Alto took the title.

Community ties

After work, the community life of people started. Recounting the life back then, Mahendra Nath (82), who resided in Lucknow at the time, says, “I was a kid at that time. My father, whom I called Babu,owned a jewellery shop.We were a joint family. Community ties used to be strong unlike today when you hardly know the name of your neighbours.

Babu would come home at around six and the whole family would gather for evening prayer. He would then listen to the radio. At around 8, everyone in the house would be asleep.”

Technology was growing, but did not overcome social life. Unlike today, children were mostly engaged in outdoor games. Anil Modi, a resident of Vasai, Maharashtra, says, “Those days we did not have Television in Mumbai. We had a big terrace (on 3rd floor) attached to my maternal grandfather’s house which was very near to my house. My entire childhood was spent there. Evening time was spent playing outdoor games like cricket, hide & seek, khokho, marbles, tops, gilli-danda, flying kites and what not. We used to hang on water pipes swinging along. Go up and down the building 10 times a day without getting tired. During summer used to sleep under the sky in open terrace watching and gazing at stars. Diwali used to start 15 days before actual Diwali.”

In the year 1958, Godrej launched India’s first refrigerator and the convenience of automatic food preservation entered urban households.

Indian Ministry of Statistics and Program Implementation states that as of 2012, fridge ownership in urban areas was around 44.77%.

The 1980s: Color TVs, cricket and much more

The next decade (1980s) marked the arrival of color televisions in India mainly for the broadcast of 1982 Asian

games held in Delhi. At that time, there was only one TV channel – Doordarshan.

The telecasts happened twice a day, in the morning and evening. Sharad Gupta (42), a resident of Lucknow says, “Our house had a television. I remember all of our neighbours coming to our house on Sundays to watch TV.” Hum Log, the first soap opera in India began telecast in 1984. It was based on the story of an Indian middleclass family of the 1980s and their daily struggles and aspirations. At the end of every episode, veteran Hindi film actor Ashok Kumar discussed the ongoing story and situations with the audience using Hindi couplets and limericks. Such was the popularity of the show among people that during its 17-month run, Ashok Kumar received over 400,000 letters from young viewers, asking him to convince their parents in marriage of their choice.

Cricket ruled over the hearts of Indians as the Indian cricket team won the world cup in 1983. “In 1980s ‘Gali Cricket’ became quite famous. We were crazy fans of Kapil Dev. We used to play until we got completely exhausted,” says Sharad. Then came the 90s. In 1995, both mobile phones and internet were launched in India, but were not a prominent part of urban culture until 2000s. Among kids Shaktimaan, Chacha Chaudhary, Aladdin, Ducktales, Darkwing duck, Gummy bears, Talespin, Jungle book etc were a rage. Shahrukh Khan emerged to be the new idol for urban youth.

Television was now an integral part of an urban household. With privatization, came channels like Zee TV, Star Plus etc. Reality shows like ‘Antaakshari’ with Annu Kapoor made the whole family sit together and watch TV during evenings, a ritual.

2000s: The decade cellphones and 9 to 5s

of

The use of mobile phones boomed in India during this decade. As per July 2014 TRAI report, India has close to 920 million total mobile subscribers, fastest growing telecommunication industry in the world after China.

As the speed of mobile networks

increased from 2G to 3G to 4G and now 5G, the speed of life increased too.

A report by data analytics company App Annie reveals that an average Indian spends about 2.5 hours a day on cellphones.

As BPOs and KPOs flourished in India, the 9 to 5 working hours became an essential part of an urban Indian’s life. As per the NASSCOM-McKinsey Report 2002, BPO became the fastest growing industry, which expanded at a rate of 70 per cent during 20012002. The statistics of 2010 estimate, outsourcing centers in India to employ close to 1,71,100. In 2012, around 2.8 million people worked in outsourcing sector. “It is a race for us. I have to reach my office at 9 am, and get back after commuting for an hour at around 7.

At 8, I leave for gym and get back at 9.

The story on weekends is a bit different.

On Friday nights, we usually spend time sitting on the beachside. Saturday nights are spent either in house parties or clubbing and Sundays are invested in getting over the hangover,” says Mayank (24), an electrical engineer in Chennai.

With the arrival of MNCs, the culture of Saturday night partying came along. cities. From Sufi nights in Gurgaon to Cultural centres in Kolkata, from Live Concerts in Delhi to theatre in Mumbai, metropolitans cities in India have grand plans for Saturday night.

Trams have now been replaced by metros. Delhi metro -- a metro system serving Delhi and its satellite cities of Faridabad, Gurugram, Noida and Ghaziabad in National Capital Region has an average daily ridership of 2.76 million passengers, and serves an average of 100 crore (1.0bn) riders in total during an year. Other metro cities including Kolkata, Mumbai, Kochi, Lucknow etc also have metro networks connecting the city. The scarcity of time has made drastic changes in everyday life of people. House maids and online food ordering have replaced a person’s own cooking. Mobile stores, grocery shops, clothing stores have all been replaced by online shopping. Why step out of the house when you get “Ting Se Leke Tongaur Ding Se Leke Dong” on the tap of a finger?

www.urbanupdate.in | October 2017

33

Article | Metro Bridges

Life Under Metro Bridges Delhi Metro has revolutionized the city’s public transport and has become the lifeline for its people. Delhi Metro is one of those good things that happened to the Delhiites.

The city’s history goes back to many centuries and the modern city today features many facades of ancient culture and a rapidly modernizing country. One of the features of a modern city is the metro system that connects millions of people daily. Overhead metro bridges have a story of their own and have added myriad colours to Delhi’s daily life Rajni Upadhyay | Editorial Assistant

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xploring the undiscovered and overlooked life thriving under the bridges of Delhi metro leads us to the “Free School: Under the Bridge”. Rajesh Kumar Sharma, the academic crusader, is guiding and changing lives of around 200 unprivileged children by giving them free education under the metro bridge near Yamuna Bank metro station.

“When I first started teaching the unprivileged children under the bridge, people called me crazy. They asked, how will you teach these children here?

But gradually more and more children started coming in. Today, there are 270 children studying in two shifts,” says Kumar. Classes are run in two shifts; the morning shift starts at 9 am for boys and the afternoon batch begins at 2 pm for girls.

The abandoned place is cleaned and painted by the students and elevated to better conditions. The school is not registered under any governmental or non- governmental organisation.

The initiative is supported by ordinary people who have come forward to contribute to the noble cause. All the requirements of the school are being taken care of by local residents. Seeing the good cause, the metro authorities granted them permission to convert the metro bridge walls into blackboards.

Students in the schools are children of daily wage workers, rickshaw pullers, rag pickers and farmers living in

34 October 2017 | www.urbanupdate.in

nearby slums. “I have to give my best in teaching these children otherwise they will become part of a generation lost due to poverty. Moreover, I encourage them to get enrolled in government schools so that they can avail some benefits,” adds Kumar.

Delhi metro carries approximately 28 lakhs people from one station to another every day. Likewise, vendors operating under the metro bridges serve many of these commuters. They can eat breakfast in the morning before boarding the train, quench their thirst after a long ride, and buy things of their daily use. The spaces under these bridges are used for business by thousands of local vendors. There is a variety of vendors; from the ‘chhole kulche wala’, ‘cold water@rupees2’, ‘bhelpuriwala’, ‘momos’ to satiate your taste buds and quench your thirst at minimal cost of rupees 20 to rupees 70.

Talking to these people helps you to get an insight of hope that they see for their better lives by serving inexpensive food to the working class travelling by metro everyday and how these abandoned areas under metro bridges’ e.g Rajendra place metro bridge, are converted into hubs by these vendors where they tie colourful flowers into small bouquets and sell them at the nearest red light or the man holding colorful headphones or the numerous trolleys of variety of phone covers or variety of earrings to enhance the charm of the women, you name a

thing and it is available under these big bridges of hugely spread metro network in the capital city.

But these local businesses under the bridges are not as easy as it seems. The vendors have to often compete with the other vendors in the same business; but the unique taste or maybe due to the popularity amongst customers help some to survive. Further these vendors sometimes have to deal with the policemen to grant permission to run the business at particular areas. As we move a little forward, one can again see the competition amongst the rickshaw wallas, auto wallas and e-rickshaw wallas waiting in queue to carry the passengers to the nearby places.

Undiscoverd lives

Metro is considered as a symbol of a modernizing city and development but it is not just business arena of the local vendors; these metro bridges show you a different life altogether. These ‘bridges’ are shelter for numerous lives who are striving for existence in the day and trying to find peaceful sleep at night. A lot of beggars live under the metro bridges and during the daytime see hope for food or money in every passenger that passes through the staircase exiting from the metro. One side of which garbage is dumped by the shopkeepers or local vendors and adjacent to that poverty stricken people find warmth for sleep. In some of the areas, these ‘under metro spaces’ are

converted into clusters of slum and are homes for rag-pickers.

Utilisation

Taking into consideration innovation, versatility, environmental sustainability and utility of the space under the metro bridges, the areas under the metro station are used as parking space by the working class. At station spaces like

Metro is considered as a symbol of a modernizing city and development but it is not just business arena of the local vendors; these metro bridges shows you a different life altogether

Huda City Centre sitting arrangement has been organized with food hubs like McDonald and Cafe Coffee Day. The ‘under the metro bridge’ areas of the Faridabad extension have eco-friendly features and are contributing to the worldwide green movement amid concerns of global warming. Further Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) and artist Agostino Iacurci from Rome came together to transform the face of the station. They painted its boundary walls and bridges with vibrant colours.

The station has been redecorated as part of Delhi Metro’s policy of utilising its premises to promote art and culture.

The modernizing culture of metro is addressing some unresolved problems that are now being taken into consideration like the great deal of traffic congestion that occurs around

some stations, particularly where major interchanges are located. Inadequate space for passengers at road level and insufficient space for pedestrians are some of the factors creating increasingly chaotic conditions.

The metro is connected to the lives of the millions of people of the city in different ways. There are stories inside the metro and outside lies the reality.

A total reality check of the actual modernizing cosmopolitan metro city.

You see development in varied forms in this fast metro life but there also lie major concerning issues that are sustaining in the shelter thereafter.

Utility and maintenance of these spaces under the bridges can elevate us to ‘the goals of sustainability’ and can be an example of how ‘a vision’ is a powerful tool to change a million lives.

www.urbanupdate.in | October 2017

35

Article | Swachh Bharat Mission

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seminar on 100 per cent Segregation of Solid Waste Management for Smart City development was organized jointly by the Regional Centre for Urban & Environmental Studies of All India Institute of Local Self-Government along with Vadodara Municipal Corporation at Vadodara which is also known as ‘Sanskari Nagari’, during September 2017.

Swachh Bharat Abhiyan is a campaign which was launched on 2 October 2014, and aims to eradicate open defecation by 2019. It is a national campaign, covering 4,041 statutory cities and towns. Its predecessors were the “Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan” and before that the “Total Sanitation Campaign”. In 2014, more than half of India’s population still practiced open defecation. Our Prime Minister has set the goal of making the country open defecation-free in five years. “A clean India would be the best tribute India could pay to Mahatma Gandhi on his 150 birth anniversary in 2019”.

There are very few simple things that we need to do to clean India as a part of this mission. Don’t Litter, throw waste in dustbin only. Don’t encourage spitting, immediately condemn people if found doing so. Avoid usage of plastic covers, plastic disposables. Carry a bag with you when you go for shopping; teach the people around you the same.

Teach children about Cleanliness and Sanitation. Plant trees around your house. Separate dry waste and wet waste in your house; ease the work of municipality workers. If possible join

AIILSG organises seminar on Swachh Bharat Mission in Vadodara

Ranjit S Chavan, President of AIILSG, delivering inaugural address during a seminar on Swachh Bharat Abhiyan hosted by states of Maharashtra, Gujarat, Dadra and Nagar Haveli

any of the NGOs working in your area towards cleaning of India. If not at least contribute to it in some way. Avoid personal transport whenever possible.

Encourage Car Pooling if you can’t avoid personal transport.

The seminar witnessed participation from various sectors including local government bodies, public sector undertakings and private sector organizations. There were various discussions held about the clearness of the vicinity and surroundings of the places we live in, methods and care to be taken in support of the Swachh Bharat Mission. The interactive session was very informative and knowledgeable.

Ranjit S Chavan, President of AIILSG, handing over the certificate to RN Kothari, who secured first rank in LSGD Exam held at Gujarat. Hansa Patel, Executive Advisor of AIILSG, was also present at the occasion

36 October 2017 | www.urbanupdate.in

Participants from all the sectors were very enthusiastic, especially representatives from Vadodara Municipal Corporation.

They presented in detail about the procedure they have been taken up for clean city development. They collect waste from homes every day in the morning hours and later they depute staff with specially designed vehicles to collect waste accumulated during the day. As part of awareness building, they have put up banners for observing cleanness across the city. However, if the authorities find someone not obeying the rules of the corporation, they fine such offenders appropriately.

DS Rana from Municipal Authority receiving participation certificate from AIILSG President Ranjit Chavan during the SBM seminar at Vadodara, Gujarat

Dr Jatin V Modi, President Emeritus of AIILSG, addressing the participants during Swachh Bharat Abhiyan seminar. (From Left to Right on the dais) Dr Jigishaben Sheth, Chairperson of Vadodara Municipal Corporation, Hansa Patel, Executive Advisor of AIILSG, and C N Shah, Executive Director, AIILSG

Hansa Patel, Executive Advisor of AIILSG, welcoming Dr Jigishaben Sheth, Chairperson of Vadodara Municipal Corporation

The seminar was inaugurated by Dr Jigishaben Sheth, Chairperson of VMC

Participants at the seminar on Swachh Bharat Abhiyan held at Vadodara, Gujarat

www.urbanupdate.in | October 2017

37

VELO-CITY | Bengaluru

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engaluru sits at 949 meters above sea level.

The city was once known as ‘Garden City’.

It’s one of the fastest growing cosmopolitan cities. It’s a city of contrasts, known by various aliases such as India’s Silicon Valley, Pub City, Garden City, Air Conditioned City, and Gourmet’s Delight. The place is described in a dozen ways. The city hosts numerous international IT companies, public sector companies, defence organisations and many reputed educational and research institutions.

Add to it a rich cultural heritage, monuments, traditional arts and crafts, exotic cuisine, discos and pubs and combine with them the shopping malls, high rise apartments. The new face of Bengaluru includes infotainment, entertainment, science and technology parks. Bengaluru has changed over

time. The city has transformed from a pensioner’s paradise to the hottest destination for the young chasing IT dreams and BPO.

A Quick Look at the History

Bengaluru means the town of baked beans was founded by Kempe Gowda around the end of the 16th century.

He built four towers to establish the boundaries. Legend says that Bengaluru got its name from the words “Bendha Kaalu’.

The King of Vijayanagara Veera Ballala lost his way in a forest and landed at a lonely cottage. The old woman who lived there could offer the king only boiled beans. Then the place came to be known as ‘Bendha Kaaluooru’. BengaLooru in Kannada and Bangalore in English. Historical evidence suggest otherwise. It says that ‘Bengaluru’ was established much before King Ballala’s time in the 9th

century. The modern day city was established by Kempe Gowda in 1537.

His favourite pastime was hunting. In one of his hunting expeditions he saw a hare chase his dog. He named the place ‘Gandu Bhoomi’ (Heroic Place). He built a mud fort in 1537 and little towns of Balapet, Cottonpet and Chickpet.

Even today these places are hubs of commercial and wholesale market.

His son erected four watch towers to mark the boundaries of Bangalore that stand tall even today in the heart of the city. In 1638 Fathvaji captured the city but his reign did not last long. In 1687, Aurangzeb’s army captured Bengaluru and sold it for a paltry sum of three lakh rupees to Wodeyars. Time travelled and Wodeyars built the famous LalBagh in 1759, one of the most beautiful gardens that has stood the test of the times. In the same year, Hyder Ali received the City from Wodeyars II as a Jagir and

A crowded city that makes it cooler than its climate: Bengaluru Kumar Dhananjay Consulting Editor

38 October 2017 | www.urbanupdate.in

made Bangalore an army town. The history of Bangalore will be incomplete without Tipu Sultan. His palace in Bangalore still remains an example of Indo-Islamic architecture. Hyder Ali started construction of the place within the walls of Bangalore Fort and was completed during the regime of Tipu Sultan in 1791. After his death the British Administration used the palace as its office before moving to Attara Kacheri in 1868. Even today the government has preserved the palace at the centre of old Bangalore as a tourist spot.

Modern Times

Bengaluru, the fifth largest city of India, has seen an exponential rise in its population in the last 20 years.

The city is considered one of the most liveable cities owing to its wonderful climate and the lucrative employment opportunities it offers.

The growth of the city has been exponential in recent years. The city has witnessed unprecedented industrial progress with the establishment of many large, medium and small scale industries and technical and professional institutions of national importance. But the City faces challenges too. Its challenges are unique

because it has grown much faster than any other city in the world. In the last two decades its population has doubled which is unique for any city. Bengaluru is called the garden city of the country.

The city boasts of large parks and open spaces in addition to tree lined avenues in almost all parts of the city.

Food, Shopping and places to go

Bengaluru has a lot to offer to stimulate your taste buds. Do try the ‘Egg Factory’, a place I was introduced to by my journalist friend. Bengaluru is a city of innovations and it’s also true about the food you get. Go to ‘Nagarjuna’ at any time of the day, from Bangalorean to Mangalorean you will find your favourite food but may have to wait for some time especiallyif you want to eat on Banana leaf. A visit to Bengaluru has always been incomplete and is so even today without a visit to Mavalli Tiffin Room, popularly known as MTR on Lalbaug Road, one of the oldest branches. The Ravaidlis and Masala dosas and even the coffee are worth the time you spend waiting for your turn to enter the restaurant.

Ok. Food’s done. Let’s go shopping.

What do you want? Clothes, footwear, accessories, jewellery; name it and you get it. Just go to Commercial Street located near Mahatma Gandhi Road, a famous shopping destination.

Parking in Bengaluru, as in any other city, is a problem. During festivals it’s much more difficult. You can find even walking difficult. Commercial Street, is also called as street shopping paradise

by Bangaloreans. You can get almost everything here, almost everything one can desire! Apart from affordable stuff, one can also locate some of the famous fashion brands in the world.

Commercial Street is close to Mahatma Gandhi Road which is one more of the famous shopping destinations but Commercial Street is the biggest.

Price to Pay

Decades ago, Bengaluru was a green city where people flocked to spend their golden years in search of peace and health afforded by its laid back spirit

and salubrious climes. Its economic life was dominated by public sector heavy weights like HAL, BEL, BHEL, and HMT. Then, towards the end of the last century, the city’s gene mutated, abetted by radical changes in the world order and technology. Globalisation and the Internet shattered national barriers to business and the work space. The Y2K scare served as the trigger. And a new city was born.

Kaustav Sinha, a long-time resident of Bengaluru says ”a culture of entrepreneurship took hold turning the city into an exemplar of economic dynamism. It became a magnet for young job-seekers from all over the country creating a virtuous cycle of investment and talent”. He further adds “development was rapid. Real estate and a youth-driven consumerism boomed.

Pubs and malls proliferated. Sale of cars and two-wheelers skyrocketed, earning the city the epithet: two-wheeler capital of India. The retiree paradise had to cède place to Eden of the young”.

Price Vs Gain

It is a city caught unawares. It did not see its success - and the attendant problems - coming. There was no time to plan. Solutions had to be hurriedly conceived and implemented, which often sowed seeds of future problems.

Infrastructure failed to keep pace with the needs. Meanwhile, success piled on and the influx continued. The city spread in all directions like spilled water spreads on the ground. Rains bring their own set of problems - water-logging of many residential and commercial areas, mixing of rain and sewage water, etc.

Residents have to contend with severe road congestion in peak hours.

However, the problems, though difficult, are not insurmountable. With political will and proper planning, many of the most urgent problems can be solved at least in the medium term. They must be addressed if Bangalore has to retain its hard-earned competitive advantage. Else, it risks losing its position to new suitors in the market like cities in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.

www.urbanupdate.in | October 2017

39

Article | Disaster

When the cities sink, what’s the water that stinks?

Ranjan K Panda Convenor, Combat Climate Change Network, India

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ater that inundates our cities, when they flood due to extreme precipitation events or otherwise, is a complex mix of pollutants including faecal sludge, chemical contaminants and many more hazardous substances. While it is essential to work towards making our cities flood resilient, it’s also vital to plan for better wastewater management.

New norm: living with disasters

World is living in a season of hurricanes right now. After the hurricane Harvey, that has been termed as one of the most devastating storms in US history, the hurricane Irma wreaked havoc in the Caribbean and Florida. It was then followed by José and Maria that too had devastating impacts leaving thousands of people homeless without water, food and power. Maria completely ripped apart small island state Puerto Rico.

Everything collapsed simultaneously, the disaster management officials of the state had to evacuate themselves from the buildings they were in and the

40 October 2017 | www.urbanupdate.in

Guajataca dam, in Northwest Puerto Rico, sustained huge damages causing immediate evacuation of more than 70000 people downstream. As we complete writing this article, heavy rains caused by another storm Nate, that hit large parts of Central America, had already killed 25 people. We have seen worst flood and drought events in South Asia and India during this season as well. Urban floods have increased in numbers, intensities and devastations due to extreme precipitation events.

1990s was designated by the UN as the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction.

Ironically, devastations from disasters have grown ever since mostly due to impacts of climate change. In a research published in Science Daily, Aslak Grinsted of the Niels Bohr Institute at the University of Copenhagen explains, “We find that 0.4 degrees Celsius warming of the climate corresponds to a doubling of the frequency of extreme storm surges like the one following Hurricane Katrina. With the global warming we have had during the 20th century, we have already crossed the threshold where more than half of all ‘Katrinas’ are due to global warming. “If the temperature rises an additional degree, the frequency will increase by 3-4 times and if the global climate becomes two degrees warmer, there will be about 10 times as many extreme storm surges.

This means that there will be a ‘Katrina’ magnitude storm surge every other year,” says Grinsted and he points out that in addition to there being more extreme storm surges, the sea will also rise due to global warming. As a result, the storm surges will become worse and potentially more destructive.

Humanitarian costs of responding to

the disasters have also been increasing fast. As the World Disasters Report informs, between 2004 and 2016 the UN’s annual appeal for international aid increased from 3.7 billion to 20.1 billion USD. The real loss to countries is much more. The 2017 hurricane season has already had worst impacts on the Caribbean countries, with Irma alone costing the region approximately 13 billion USD. Economic losses from disasters such as earthquakes, tsunamis, cyclones and flooding are now reaching an average of 250 billion USD to 300 billion USD each year, says a UN Global Assessment Report on Disasters prepared in 2015. According to this report, India’s average annual economic loss due to disasters is

estimated to be 9.8 billion USD which includes more than 7 billion USD loss on account of floods.

Urban floods and waste management

Often real losses in terms of human health, livelihood and ecological impacts are pushed aside by estimates of loss of infrastructure. Urban wastes are as much a livelihood opportunity for some sections of the poor as much they are a health risk for most of the city dwellers. Our cities are struggling to manage their wastes and in times of flooding all the water that submerge the streets, the water bodies and rest of the spaces float with all the wastes we have not been able to manage properly.

And that’s huge.

Data gathering and reporting systems in India are still not well equipped to warn us of the exact dangers our city populations may be facing due to hazardous substances in the flood waters, however it would be good to take a cue from what US cities have been reporting during this hurricane season. This would help us develop our own systems and mitigate the risks.

On 14th September, the New Republic reported that ‘Florida’s Poop Nightmare Has Come True.’ The hurricane Irma caused flooding that, by the time this report was published, led to release of at least 28 million gallons of treated and untreated sewage released into the open. The original amount was estimated to be much more. Some people did not hesitate to call Irma as a ‘Shitstorm’ that arose because of an age old infrastructure and climate change.

For South Florida, the waste management infrastructure which was designed for a lower sea level, things have especially gone worse post Irma as it was already predicted by experts.

As the Washington Post reported, “the only reason the naturally swampy terrain of South Florida can sustain more than six million people today is because its previous residents dredged and drained it. The operations started in the late 1800s, and by the 1970s Floridians had built an expansive network of canals, levees, and pumping stations to keep water at bay. The system, which was designed to let gravity drag groundwater downstream to the ocean, was based on 1930s sea levels, as Frederick Bloetscher, a water-management expert, pointed out during a 2014 US Senate hearing on Florida’s changing coastline. Fast forward nearly 90 years, and sea levels are higher”.

Cities in the US have been fighting with this menace for long and despite several initiatives they are caught unprepared by the increased episodes of hurricane induced floods. Pumping out of the faecal sludge and other wastes to the Bays has been the last resort but there have been issues of contamination of the sea. A study by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency and several Florida Universities, as reported in the Washington Post, found that the water that Miami Beach pumped into Biscayne Bay in 2014 and 2015 after king tides had live faecal bacteria that significantly exceeded regulatory limits. Then there is the problem of backlash by the sea during tides. There have been evidences of the sea dumping

huge quantity of water on the pumping stations making them defunct.

All these are issues our Indian cities do face as well. In fact, our issues are much larger and complex than what have been reported from these US coastal cities. We have our faecal contaminants loitering on the open streets, in open areas and almost everywhere. So, our cities virtually float on shit water when flooded. Yet, we don’t have a system of monitoring them and there is no special strategy to mitigate the impacts. The floating wastes in India destroy the livelihood of millions of urban poor and cause health hazards for most of the people living in urban limits and beyond.

Mapping the risks and building resilience

Urban populations continue to soar and currently about 54.5 per cent of the global population lives in cities.

This is going to increase further and by 2050 it is estimated that 7 of 10 people in the globe will be living in cities. It is evident from examples of US cities that even high income countries are struggling to make their urban infrastructure climate resilient. For countries like India that’s a huge call especially because the poorest of the poor are the most vulnerable to both climate change induced disasters and poor infrastructural and developmental planning of the ever burgeoning cities.

There is an urgent need for developing strong tools for each of our cities to not only understand the risks from calamities but also hazards from the waste spill related to them. Our city planners need to equip themselves with such new tools so as to save their cities from the short-term poop disasters that can often have long term negative health impacts.

Existing sanitation infrastructures need to get improved and new ones integrated with the resilience plans. The regulatory authorities such as Pollution Control Boards do also have a greater need to develop their capacities to understand spread & contents of pollutants during urban flood disasters & handle them with support of the urban bodies.

www.urbanupdate.in | October 2017

41

Article | Waste Managment

Get Rid of Landfills Dr B C Jain Chairman, Ankur Scientific

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s a citizen of this country and this world, I increasingly get concerned about many issues we as a society face. Of all our issues/problems, one of the larger onesis the waste we as a race generate. And there is no real solution in sight to this problem, particularly for small town and cities.

The numbers are telling:

Human beings as they ‘develop’ produce more and more waste. Urban Indian’s average waste generation per capita is today 400 grams per day. For The USA, it is at a staggering 2,500 grams per capita per day, and we seem to be slowly but surely moving in that direction – a

42 October 2017 | www.urbanupdate.in

frightening prospect indeed!

The world today generates close to 2 Billion tonnes of waste per annum.

This is up from about 1.3 Billion tonnes in 2010 (as per World Bank numbers).

This number will probably grow to more than 2.2 Billion in 2020. India today collects close to 100,000 tonnes per day of waste (the generation is higher and so we see the waste everywhere). And as we urbanise, this problem will only dramatically increase.

We all know the reasons for this problem.

Increasing urbanisation, coupled with economic development and modern living styles have created this monumental problem in the form of solid waste for urban India. Past frugal habits, almost no use of packaging, no knowledge of plastics, a limited population that was largely rural have given way to a scenario where municipal solid waste generation occurs at each step, without much thought going into the aggregated Municipal Solid waste (MSW) heaps that are becoming an integral part of our urban (and partially, even rural) landscape.

So what do we do?

The first and most obvious and desirable step that has been talked about for some time is: Reduce, Recycle, and Reuse.

But at this stage in our country’s development, this is easier said than done. As we urbanise, some of our past practices are dying and being replaced with new, more “convenient” practices.

I remember, when I was younger, my mother would never go to the market without a bag (typically cloth) of her own. Then, along came plastic bags at each hawkers’ end and out went the earlier re-usable cloth bags. Thus now all the vegetables come home in their own plastic bags. If we also look at most products we buy today, the packing has gone up dramatically.

Similarly, the new urban economy has given a boost to the attitude of “convenience” and thus changed our age old ways of recycling and reusing.

Thus while the 3 Rs as they are called should be the aim of each one of us, we should understand that these generally go against current human behaviour, find limited acceptance and even if successful, will still leave large quantities requiring treatment and safe disposal / utilisation.

MSW collection and management has thus become one of the most difficult and expensive tasks for most municipalities and Municipal

Corporations across the world and in India. Most municipal bodies either spend a substantial part of their budget on this or just see this as a problem with no solution. Even where the waste is being collected, there are limited technical solutions available to handle the waste effectively.

Available solutions and their limitations / current status

their backyards and for very obvious reasons! ♦♦ Composting As per the National Green Tribunal Guidelines, the wet waste (food waste, dung, vegetable and fruit waste, etc.) should be composted and the compost so generated should be used as fertilizer. A few sites are doing this but this finally treats less than 10% of the incoming waste. Thus there has to be a solution to handle the balance. ♦♦ Waste to Energy This seems to be the only real solution that can get rid of the waste in an economical and sustainable manner. But at this point of time, the technology available is complex, has emissions issues and is not available for villages, towns and smaller cities (typical combustion plants need at least 500 tonnes of waste per day). Many of the plants installed earlier have been shut down due to emission issues.

should allow decentralised processing to minimise transportation and related costs/ issues. ♦♦ Its emissions should be in keeping with all norms as defined worldwide. ♦♦ The solution should be financially viable.

An innovative solution

Under this very gloomy scenario, there seems to be a glimmer of hopeas a new and promising technology has come to convert most kinds of waste to Energy. The technology uses the process of gasification to break down the solid waste into a combustible gas called Syngas. This gas is then used to generate heat or power. ♦♦ The technology uses all fractions of MSW without extensive segregation and coupled with composting / biogas plants, ensures that nothing goes to landfills. Part of the in-feed is given out as totally benign ash/ char that can be used for roads / Parameters of an Ideal buildings etc. while the balance solution material is converted to gas.

The ideal solution should thus be a ♦♦ The way the systems are designed waste to energy technology that does ensures that all emission norms below: are met. ♦♦ It will need to substantially reduce ♦♦ The systems are designed for the volume of the waste – ideally distributed use. Thus, the smallest it should lead to all waste being system is a 2.5 tonnes per day plant processed and should send nothing and the largest can handle upto 200 to landfills. tonnes per day. This allows use of ♦♦ The process should generate the technology in small towns as wealth – fertilizer, gas / power etc, well as large cities. ensuring that the bane of MSW ♦♦ The systems ensure that at current could become a boon.

Waste to Energy power tariffs, the ♦♦ The solution should be usable in projects can be financially viable, small towns as well as large cities. particularly if small support / ♦♦ Even for large cities, the solution viability gap funding is made available.

India - Major Cities only, MSW (MT/ Day) ♦♦ The systems have been designed, developed and made in India.

Major MSW Major MSW Major MSW A typical configuration uses about 100 Cities Generated Cities Generated Cities Generated tonnes of waste to generate about 1.8

TPD TPD TPD MWe of power. It is envisaged that Mumbai 9800 Kanpur 2400 Nagpur 1200 apart from using these systems in New Delhi 9000 Surat 2000 Indore 800 towns and villages, the systems can also Kolkata 8000 Lucknow 1700 Vadodara 750 Chennai 4700 Pune 1600 Varanasi 700 be used to distribute waste processing Bengaluru 4500 Bhopal 1500 Agra 650 in larger cities. This will ensure that Ahmedabad 4000 Jaipur 1300 Patna 600 the transport costs for the waste are Hyderabad 3500 Ludhiana 1250 Madurai 500 much reduced.

The only real solutions that exist today are listed below: ♦♦ Landfilling Most waste collected in the country today is sent to an identified landfill. The landfills are not really scientifically designed and this leads to issues of groundwater contamination (the leachate generated in landfills should be trapped and treated but this is seldom done), air emissions, etc.

As the quantum of waste grows, the landfills start choking and become a physical hazard as well. Recently there have been news reports of people dying due to part of the kachra in the landfills collapsing and falling on people (Delhi).

In Deonar, Mumbai, parts of the landfill caught fire leading to all of Mumbai suffering smog. These are just a couple of examples but we read and hear such depressing stories each day! Similar stories come from other parts of the world as well - Colombo, Kenya etc. Thus the landfill can only be an interim solution and that too is becoming an increasingly difficult solution to implement as no one, including villagers,want these landfills in

www.urbanupdate.in | October 2017

43

BOOK REVIEW | GOOD READS

Cities, living rivers & dying rivers!!

Abhilash Khandekar | Sr Journalist

G

rowing up and studying in schools subjects like civics, geography and history we got to know that most civilizations came up around great rivers across the world. Cities and towns have had direct relations with rivers which are often called the lifelines of citizens and rural folk alike. Today the same ‘ lifelines’ are begging for their lives. Yes, rivers are dying and expect those who are dependent on them--we the human beings living in cities to save them.

At a time when one of the biggest public supported campaigns for saving Indian rivers has been kicked off in India by a non-environmentalist (a modern yogi, mystic and a visionary) Sadhguru, I was drawn to reading this wonderfully complied book on Indian rivers. Honestly, I had not read such an exhaustive book dealing with different Indian rivers before this.

There have been sundry accounts of rivers, expensive coffee table books on one particular river like Ganga or Brahmaputra, but dealing with more than 20-25 major rivers across India in one book is perhaps a first attempt.

A litany of real river experts and field workers have contributed to this volume which makes is very authentic and scientific book yet ! There are a

44 October 2017 | www.urbanupdate.in

number of issues being faced by river systems in India which have been technically explained in it, adding to the immense value of the book.

What is unique about this book is the set of well researched articles written by people ranging from forest officers to IIT graduates and NGO heads to qualified hydrologists who have been studying river’s life and it’s science for decades.

Book’s editor Ramaswamy Iyer (he passed away last year) was secretary of the Water Resources Ministry in Government of India and as such a river veteran who also had authored India’s first Water Policy in 1987. That the policy is hardly being used as a guiding tool to address water issues is a different issue altogether.

Well, Indian rivers are facing extinction--a fact we can’t turn our eyes from. A systematic killing of the rivers has been going on for over decades and its worst impact is being seen now when river after river is giving way to sprawling cities and dams. Soon the relationship between a ‘river’ and its water would be part of a fable. Such is the hopeless situation. Yamuna is the case in point so also the disappeared Saraswati River that a generation before us also had not perhaps seen. Like Saraswati many other small rivers are running dry or have just disappeared, thanks to the incessant increase in population and associated problems.

Experts like former IITians Ravi Chopra, Dr Vinod Tare and Himanshu Thakkar, Rama Rauta, Kalyan Rudra, Manoj Misra, Brij Gopal, Parinita Dandekar, Pandurang Hegde have extensively written about different aspects of Ganga, Yamuna, Cauvery, Narmada, Mahanadi, Godavari and the

Indus System, among others.

Three years ago many river experts had assembled in New Delhi and had deliberated on the state of the rivers and were struggling to come up with a definition of a river. I was part of the deliberations at the WWF headquarters here. This book provides one definition, based on that Delhi declaration: “A river is more than a channel carrying water; it is also a transporter of sediment; it is also the catchment, the river bed, the banks, the vegetation on both sides, and the floodplain “. The totality of these constitutes a river. A river harbours and interacts with innumerable organisms (plant, animals and microbes). It is a natural, living, organic whole, a hydrological and ecological system.

Why did the need to define a river arise? Has river not been part of our lives for thousands of years ? The need to define a river comes at a time when rivers are dying and unprecedented efforts have been started to save them.

It’s because conservation becomes easier in the days of legal fights to save the. The book which has a chapter “Killing a River” in which author Kelly D Alley, an American professor of anthropology, talks of ill conceived hydropower projects and its dams which gather lots of muck and and does other things which bring a river under stress and its river system is ruined to a level where the river ultimately dies.

Author after author has taken up health aspects of different rivers and have dissected them. Reading all the stuff here is quite enlightening. The editors had first thought of collecting essays on healthy and sick rivers but soon they realised that those who have been studying rivers, have actually painted grim pictures of rivers in decline and thus there were not many references to ‘living rivers’. The book was then named: Living Rivers, Dying Rivers, rather aptly. Parinita Dandekar and Thakkar (both of SANDRP) have been lobbying against dams on rivers.

Dandekar says Western Ghats are rightly called water towers of peninsular India. Several east-flowing rivers and hundreds of smaller west-flowing rivers emerge and gain strength from

the catchments of the WG mountains from Gujarat to Kerala. She names few of them like Bhima, Koyna, Godovari, Krishna, Tungabhadra and Cauvery.

While Yamuna and Ganga are fighting threats to their very survival mainly due to problems created by urbanisation process and by the people who inhabit cities like Delhi, Agra, Kolkatta, Patna, Kanpur or Varanasi and exploit rivers while also ruining them in worst possible manners. Small time rivers like Shastri in Maharashtra, and Tamraparni in Tamil Nadu are also said to be under threat. Two rivers--Aghanashini and Bedthi in the ecologically threatened Western Ghats in Karnataka have been saved by people’s action, but perhaps for the time being, says the editor in its introduction.

The authors have tried their best to cover as many rivers as they can, including three major systems that arise from Himalayas, namely Indus, Ganga and Brahmaputra.

Yamuna’s plight has been described by two experts Brij Gopal and Manoj Misra and both wonder if the cities which sprung up on the banks of Yamuna such as Delhi, Agra and Mathura, would survive if their lifeline river does not? It appears that cities are directly affecting rivers existence.

Misra who spearheaded Yamuna Jiye Abhiyan (Let the Yamuna Live Campaign) from 2006 onwards when he realised that the river was being encroached upon from all sides in Delhi, writes that floodplains of rivers are equally important as the water stream itself. He terms river as a natural ecological system which is unique and dynamic and has a living component.

We all know how much encroachments have come up on these floodplains.

Dr Vinod Tare, IIT Consortium head for preparing the Ganga River Basin Management Plan (GRBMP), has in a detailed account on the Ganga, provided the historical and environmental perspective and has spoken about the Nirmal Dhara, the promise the Modi Government made to the country in 2014. “River Ganga’s water quality was historically acclaimed

Book Living rivers, dying rivers Editor Ramaswamy R Iyer Publisher Oxford University Press Pages 476 Price 995

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Recommendation Buy for your library

and its life-giving, healing qualities were realised in ancient times” Dr Tare writes. He writes: “The qualities of Ganga water are: coolness, sweetness, transparency, high tonic property, wholesomeness, portability, ability to remove evils, ability to resuscitate from swoon caused by dehydration, digestive property and ability to retain wisdom”.

The same river is now one the most polluted rivers in the country, necessitating first, the Ganga Action Plan (GAP) of mid-80s and now a separate ministry under Uma Bharti was created. That she could do little to clean Ganga and had to be shifted out is another story. The ministry was supposed to rid the national river of its pollutants and a massive Rs 20,000 cr had been sanctioned by GoI. Dr Tare further adds: “However, the present-day river water quality is abysmal and poses a grave environmental threat to the region”.

He concludes that Ganga has become a trickling stream of polluted water in much of the basin and hopes that if the recommendations made in the GRBMP are achieved in foreseeable future, the river can be restored. He also notes the national mood, cutting across social and political spectra, to urgently rejuvenate the ancient river.

Why I have extensively written about this river is because earlier the Congress Government had spent huge amount on its cleaning some 30 years ago and now Modi Government has earmarked whooping Rs 20,000 crores for the same cause, with multiple objectives--the main being Aviral and Nirmal Dhara--constant flow of the river and clean flow.

Other authors have taken up rivers like Narmada, relatively less polluted, and Tapi, Mahi and Sabarmati.

Himanshu Thakkar, an IIT graduate who heads SANDRP, writes about Gujarat to say that Gujarat is third largest dam-building state in India after MP and Maharashtra, with 666 dams, including 68 under construction. He reminds us of the worst dam disaster of 1979 when Morbi dam burst killing many. “In India, there is no law that requires that if a perennial river is dammed, then the river must be allowed to have some flow all around the year”.

The book enriches the reader beyond any doubt, about all possible aspects of Indian rivers, their history, importance, environmental and geological issues and present status. Unfortunately, most writers end up saying the rivers are in an extremely bad shape.

www.urbanupdate.in | October 2017

45

URBAN AGENDA | Cultural Integration

Are cities losing their souls?

W

alking on the streets in old parts of cities like Jaipur, Delhi, Kolkata and Ahmedabad, one can see the vestiges of the bygone era.

It’s not just available in the form of architectural marvels of ancient times but it can also be seen in the way people go about their lives in the older parts of these cities. One can find a stark difference in the lifestyles of people living in ‘old’ and ‘new’ parts of the city. The ancient parts have retained the soul of the city in its original form while the modern infrastructure that grew around it has a different flavour.

In these times when most of the world’s biggest cities are facing challenges owing to growing population and increasing pollution, it might appear frivolous to talk about something as indescribable as soul in the urban environment. However, it is vital to know the soul of a city for weaving development using the appropriate thread for keeping everything intact and the city sustainable. One of the famous books written on souls of the cities ‘Psyche and the City: A Soul’s Guide to the Modern Metropolis’ talks about the souls of cities. It follows the elusive thread of soul in individual citizens, communities, and cities themselves by idiosyncratically exploring nineteen major urban areas around the world.

Closer home, Delhi is a classic example. Old Delhi and New Delhi are not very far physically, just 5 kms apart, but the culture and infrastructure facilities in both the parts are completely reverse. Old Delhi has many historical monuments while New Delhi has glass towers and sky-scrapers. New Delhi has swanky

46 October 2017 | www.urbanupdate.in

shopping malls and international outlets while Old Delhi boasts of its traditional and extremely crowded Bazaars situated in narrow lanes. The new part of the city has McDonalds, Pizza Hut and KFC; the old Delhi has old yet popular street food corners like eateries at Paranthe Wali Gali, chaat shops at Chawri Bazaar, Karims, etc. As we have observed in all the new cities that are being developed beside the old cities, most of them do not share the same lifestyle, food habits and culture.

People who have lived in Old Delhi all their life still find the new parts of the city quite alien to their perception of the city. They find the new pockets unfamiliar because of unbridled growth and subsequent geographical polarization and disconnected community life. People in the two parts of the city live entirely different lives.

They are different from each other, in terms of class, language and values.

People living in the modern part of Delhi, for instance, rarely venture out to Chandni Chowk for eating food or for shopping. Most of the ‘elite’ living in Lutyen’s Delhi rarely ventures into the oldest and most central parts of the city such as Chawri Bazaar.

The reverse is true for the residents of old city too though there are many threads that connect the old and new parts. Delhi Metro is one of the connecting links that connects both.

Many pan city service delivery facilities by municipal corporations are also connecting the city in the same way and bring the citizens of both parts on the same pedestal. There is a need to retain the soul of the city to ensure the trajectory of their development is in tune with their inner strengths while keeping an eye on the prospects of modern cities.

Ashok Wankhade Managing Editor bhau1008@gmail.com

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