Urban Update July 2021

ISSN 2349-6266 RNI No DELENG/2014/57384

Setting The Agenda For Tomorrow’s Cities

UrbanUpdate Volume VII, Issue III

July 2021

AIILSG’s contributions and innovations for COVID-19 relief, resilience building

Recovery has to be environment positive

European Union The project is funded by the European Union.

AIILSG The project is implemented by the AIILSG.

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Quality is just one of our strengths

AIILSG has begun skill development programmes in Rajasthan and Jharkhand. The institute with its 90+ years of experience in the field of capacity building would impart training to youth living in rural areas of these two states to make them employable in various emerging sectorsApparel, Beauty & Wellness, Electronics, Healthcare, IT-ITEs, and Renewable Energy.

As per Mou singed, AIILSG will train 16,000 youngsters.

AIILSG is committed to build empowered India with skilled human workforce For Details, email at delhi@aiilsg.org

UrbanUpdate A monthly magazine published by the AIILSG. Ranjit Chavan President-AIILSG Rajiv Agarwal Editor-In-Chief Director General-AIILSG Ashok Wankhade Managing Editor Abhishek Pandey Editor Ravi Ranjan Guru Executive Editor Ashley Paul Senior Sub-Editor

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Setting The Agenda For Tomorrow’s Cities

Hitesh Nigam Reporter

ISSN 2349-6266 RNI No DELENG/2014/57384

Setting The Agenda For Tomorrow’s Cities

UrbanUpdate

UrbanUpdate

Volume VII, Issue II

Pooja Upadhyay Trainee Reporter

Volume VII, Issue I

Volume VII, Issue III

June 2021

July 2021

AIILSG’s contributions and innovations for COVID-19 relief, resilience building

May 2021

Roles, challenges in achieving sustainable development

Radhika Matta Shivi Sharma Editorial Assistants Arjun Singh Digital Marketing Associate

UrbanUpdate

ISSN 2349-6266 RNI No DELENG/2014/57384

Setting The Agenda For Tomorrow’s Cities

Cities can make

economic Rebound

equitable

Cities & the 2 Wave

Recovery has to be environment positive

More value, less waste central to sustainable urban economy

nd

European Union

AIILSG

European Union AIILSG

project The project is implementedThe by the AIILSG.is funded by the European Union.

The project is funded by the European Union.

The project is implemented by the AIILSG.

European Union The project is funded by the European Union.

AIILSG The project is implemented by the AIILSG.

Meenakshi Rajput Senior Graphic Designer Volume VII - Issue III Printed and published by Ranjit Chavan on behalf of All India Institute of Local Self-Government.

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July 2021 | www.urbanupdate.in

Editorial

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

Rebuilding sustainable post-COVID cities The COVID pandemic has exposed chinks in the armour of cities across the globe. While cities have for decades driven the economic narrative, they have also thrown up disparities and inequalities among the population in most parts of the world. Cities have played leading roles in generating employment, livelihoods and incomes; thereby pulling millions out of poverty. Yet, the distribution of these benefits has been uneven resulting in deep rooted and growing disparities among city dwellers. Access to housing, healthcare, education and services have been unequal.

These were on stark display during the pandemic. Cities saw high infection rates, and dwindling economic activity resulting from restrictions put in place to control spread of the disease.

Livelihoods of migrants from the rural hinterland, already living in challenging conditions in the city, were the most affected.

The pandemic has revealed a world of complex, connected and high-impact risks. More so for the cities. Cities are highly vulnerable being exposed to climate risks and natural disasters since they host large populations (over half of the total) in high density conditions, and a disproportionately large share of emissions. These risks and vulnerabilities have deepened during the pandemic. The already deep-rooted disparities and inequalities have got amplified.

Governments at all levels across geographies have responded in several ways. On the one hand, vigorous efforts have been made to strengthen the healthcare infrastructure with all round beefing up of manpower, equipment and facilities. This is evident now in the mass vaccinations being undertaken by both, the public and private service providers. Alongside, there is realization of the need for safety nets for vulnerable sections of the population, primarily in terms of food security.

This is being provided through free rations, subsidized meals and the like, with big support from civil society.

In addition to building more efficient healthcare systems and providing effective safety nets, policymakers must also work to build more resilient cities. This is crucial since cities are more vulnerable in pandemic situations. Alongside, any disruption in the economic activity in cities can have a big impact on the larger economy and on a larger number of citizens. We have seen this during COVID-19. “One of the biggest lessons learned from the COVID-19 crisis is that sustainable, resilient cities were able to handle the pandemic better,” according to Jan Vapaavuori, the Mayor of Helsinki. In the aftermath of the COVID crisis, as we rebuild, we must rededicate ourselves to the objective of achieving better liveability of our cities by addressing inclusiveness, resilience and sustainability. Our work must include the creation of appropriate amount of green spaces, promotion of clean and green energy, effective and efficient waste management through reuse and recycling, sustainable use of natural resources like air and water, and protection of the natural ecosystem, among others. COVID-19 can be seen as a reminder and an opportunity for our cities to rededicate themselves to building a sustainable future for all on this planet. In the words of Diana Urge-Vorsatz, Professor at the Central European University of Budapest, Hungary, “Let us not go back to normal because normal was not working”.

This issue of Urban Update looks at rebuilding post-COVID cities. We trust readers will find it engaging.

www.urbanupdate.in | July 2021

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Quotes

We urge governments and international development banks to prioritize investments in programs that can get children back into school, and in social protection programs that can help families avoid making this choice in the first place

Swachh Bharat Abhiyan created a mechanism that increased the involvement of the civic bodies and the citizens alike in the process of waste management

Henrietta Fore Executive Director, UNICEF

Satish Kumar Sinah Associate Director, Toxics Link

PIN POINT

The kind of infrastructure that India has been able to set up for communication actually came in handy in ensuring business continuity and exhibiting resilience in our businesses

Trees, cool/clean streets & parks can reduce air conditioning needs by 30% if properly placed around buildings. In cold climates, they can shield homes from the wind & save energy used for heating by 20-50%

Dr Omkar Rai Director General of STPI, MeitY, GoI

Brent Toderian President, Canadian Urbanism

BUZZ Dr S Jaishankar

Urban Resilience Hub

Pascalle Sebus

The Energy and Resources Institute

Minister of External Affairs, GoI

@UResilienceHub

PhD Researcher, Antwerp University

@teriin

@DrSJaishankar

Covid has impacted the fight against poverty, hunger, and disease across the world. India is today at the forefront of the response, giving food support to 800 million citizens

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@Pascalle_Sebus

Building urban resilience can help unite multiple stakeholders to tackle immediate needs while building safer and more sustainable cities

UrbanTourism is on its way back after COVID19 and with the use of digital tools, it can transform into a catalyst force for recovery

It is estimated that approximately 1.2 million people are dependent on the #coal sector. However, this figure does not include the workforce employed in coal logistics that includes both road and railway transportation

Content

Inside Volume 7, Issue 3

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Pin Point Newscan

13 46

City Image Urban Agenda

July 2021

Girl Power Project

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Sustainable Utilization of Non-Timber Forest Products

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Cover Story

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AIILSG’s contributions and innovations for COVID-19 relief, resilience building AIILSG’s COVID-19 relief and resilience building efforts have positively impacted more than 3,00,000 underprivileged populations from 76 pre-dominantly tribal villages, and more than 63 slum units

LEADERSPEAK

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Recovery has to be environment positive Citizens are increasingly becoming aware of the significance of clean and healthy living environments over anything else. In the post-Covid world, the pressure is expected to mount further. Ensuring a clean and healthy environment is a complex task and requires governmental attention in multiple aspects of urban governance and development. Cities can do so by making the right choices in policy-making for enhancing environmental health, improving air quality, water and sanitation facilities, waste management, and conserving biodiversity

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Articles

30

Funding green initiatives for a sustainable future

32

Shifting transit preferences in Indian Cities 2.0

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Plastic recycling promising, but alternatives are the solution

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India needs to pay more heed to the electric rickshaw industry

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Using technology to combat COVID-19

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India needs robust nursing education to build healthy cities

E-Dialogues

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Need for policy intervention to make urban economy sustainable All India Institute of Local Self-Government (AIILSG), in collaboration with CityNet, organized a webinar on ‘Making Urban Economic Development Sustainable’ on July 23. This was the second webinar in a series of monthly webinars. Other supporting organisations are Foundation EMDA Southasia and 3R Waste Foundation

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Innovative start-ups can lead the way towards smart cities www.urbanupdate.in | July 2021

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Girl Power Project

Sustainable Utilisation of Non-Timber Forest Products Team girl power project

A

ligning with this year’s theme “Ecosystem Restoration” of the World Environment Day, the Girl Power project team organized an event of Tree Plantation, keeping in view the COVID protocol in different places. The guests were Asha Lakra, Mayor, Ranchi; Dr Kamini Kumar, Vice Chancellor, Ranchi University; and Rajesh Kachhap, MLA Khijri (Ranchi). A total of 35 plants were planted in various places including campus of Ranchi University and Ram Dayal Munda Park, Ranchi. The Mayor, on this occasion, gave a special message to women entrepreneurs, focusing on the importance of plantation and its deep linkage with enterprise on how a plant/tree can contribute to one’s income. Jharkhand has a unique relation with forests since ancient times. The word ‘Jharkhand’ connotes ‘area of land covered with forests’. Therefore, literally as well as symbolically, Jharkhand is associated with forests. Tribal people have enjoyed the right to collect Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFP) by tradition. In the beginning, they used to collect NTFPs only for consumption, but later they came to sell them for cash income.

During the project’s Baseline Survey, it was found that NTFPs are found in survey areas too. The minor forest produce provides employment specifically to the tribal families round the year in Jharkhand. NTFPs have been considered as Common Property Resources and available in forest areas.

The tribal areas in Chhotanagpur and Santhal Parganas are rich in NTFPs like Tendu leaf, Sal seeds, Mahua, Kusum, Karanj, Palas, Harra, Bahera,

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Amla, Neem, Honey, Wax, Gum etc.

In the forests of Chhotanagpur region, medicinal plants such as Amla, Harra, Bahera, and herbs such as Satwar, Papuravi, Amarlata, Neem, and Bel, are highly valued. During the season of collection, the tribals, including male, female and children, collect the produce from the forest. The collection and quantity depend on the availability of NTFPs in that area. A majority of the species are available between April and July. For collection of NTFPs, villagers, including tribal women and children, go deep inside the forests and cover long distances ranging from 3-10 km.

The tribal women give more time for collection and processing of produce (drying and storage of Tendu, Siali, Sal leaves and seeds). The commodities are used for self-consumption and sale depends on quantity.

Non-Timber Forest Products are the next major alternative source of income after agriculture in the study area of the state. The average income

and unpaid employment generated through NTFPs based self-employment for the surveyed population in the area varies from `1500-6000/household/ annum. This plays an important role in supporting their livelihood.

A few insights on major NTFPs collected from the study villages are; ♦♦ Mahua: The tree grows in forest and in the agricultural field area.

On an average, every family has two to three trees. One tree yields about 10 kg of dry flowers and oil is extracted from Mahua fruit and is used for self-consumption and selling. ♦♦ Tendu leaves are collected by most families; each family collects an average of 200 bundles in a season.

One bundle comprises 100 leaves, tendu fruit is collected and sold.

Each family collects an average of three basket (Dalia) and each Dalia contains 20-30 kg. ♦♦ Sal fruit collection by the families ranged average 4-6 tins. The oil

♦♦

♦♦

♦♦

♦♦

extracted from Sal seed is utilized for cooking, lighting and massage purposes and the residue oilseed cake is utilized as cattle feed.

Kusum and Karanj seed is collected for self-consumption for extracting oil consumed in cooking, lighting or lubrication and the residue oilseed cake is vended as cattle feed. The oil has medicinal /therapeutic use.

Bel, Ber, Jamun fruits and Mushroom are eaten for supplementing nutrition and health. These fruits are also sold in local market.

Bamboos are priced for its multifarious uses like young culms (Karla) for pickle, culms for brooms, baskets, fans, sieves, fish trap, plates and other handicraftsmaking, sticks, huts, tool handles, fishing rods, hunting materials making etc, in the area of the state.

Lac is found abundantly is some districts identified for baseline survey under the Girl Power Project.

Lac has a good market at local and

regional level. Price fluctuation has largely affected the income of the farmers.

An assessment was done to explore not only the current but also the potential contribution of NTFPs to both livelihoods and biodiversity. It was seen that NTFPs can play a critical role in providing both food and income for the poorest households, notably by creating income and employment opportunities for women. The project focused on identifying the critical gap for successful NTFPs initiatives that provide income opportunities by evolving value added products, models and methods as well as scope of NTFP based enterprises. Two important forest products in the region are Lac and Mahua, which have potential to provide employment to thousands of tribals living within and around the forest, and therefore these commodities are included in the work plan of the project to impart training to rural women to motivate them to become entrepreneurs by establishing product

based enterprises in their vicinity.

Mahua is often considered synonymous with alcohol in the context of tribal life and culture.

However, in Jharkhand, many grassroots organizations are engaged in discovering and promoting other uses of the Mahua collected by tribal communities.

While there has been growing concern for forest conservation and bio-diversity issues, management of the NTFPs as a viable alternative to timber has begun to attract attention.

A realization has already emerged to shift focus to NTFPs, whose effective and purposeful use could meet the objective of revenue generation without affecting forest conservation measures.

Also, future human needs for food, water, health, energy, and settlements to a large extent depend on how the forests are managed. Accordingly, needs for concerted efforts arise not only for conservation of NTFPs but also their proper use for sustainable development.

www.urbanupdate.in | July 2021

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NEWSCAN

Gujarat government unveils 4-year plan for state EV policy GANDHINAGAR: As part of the Gujarat State Electric Vehicle Policy (GSEVP) 2021, the Government of Gujarat has unveiled a four-year plan with a total outlay of `870 crore, which will be offered as subsidy or incentive for new buyers. The funds have also been allocated for those who invest in the development of infrastructure for EVs. Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani said in a press conference that the EV policy will benefit those purchasing electric two-, three-, and four-wheelers, as well those who set up charging stations across the state. He also said that the benefits under the EV policy are over and above those offered by the national FAME-II subsidy scheme. The official estimates suggest that the policy will help the state government save fuel expenditure up to `5 crore and will also reduce carbon emissions by six lakh tonnes in the next four years. The policy will be valid till July 2025, and aims to subsidise the purchase of a total of 2,00,000 EVs, including 1,10,000 two-wheelers, 70,000 three-wheelers and 20,000 fourwheelers. The incentive of `10,000 per kWh of battery capacity is the highest offered in any state. However, the total incentive is capped at `20,000 for twowheelers, `50,000 for three and `1.5 lakh for four-wheelers. The incentives and subsidy will be directly credited to the bank account of the consumer by the Department of Transport, Government of Gujarat, once the purchasing document is authenticated. Moreover, there is a price threshold for EVs which are eligible for the subsidy. In order to avail the benefits, the ex-factory cost of the two-wheeler should be less than `1.5 lakh, three-wheelers should be up to `5 lakh and four-wheeler should be below `15 lakh. The subsidy is available for both commercial and personal-use vehicles.

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The state government has also waived off the registration fees for buyers of EVs, which will make them even more affordable. Gujarat has 278 charging stations across the state so far and is aiming to add 250 more, which will take the total to 528 stations. Those who set-up the first 250 commercial public EV charging stations will be eligible for 25 per cent capital subsidy on the equipment/machinery (capped at `10 lakh per station). The state government will also waive off the electricity duty for EV charging stations for the duration of the policy. The policy directs all commercial and housing entities to produce a ‘No Objection Certificate’ to those members who want to install charging stations and designated parking spaces. Sohinder Gill, Director General, Society of Manufacturers of Electric Vehicles,

said that the policy is a welcome step by the state government and aims to make Gujarat an EV hub and mobilise rapid adoption of EVs in the state. He said, “We are excited to be a part of this policy and would put all efforts in order to achieve the target under the policy.”

Mahesh Babu, Chief Executive Officer, Mahindra Electric Mobility Ltd, said, “We thank the state government for notifying the new EV policy which is both progressive and comprehensive in nature. The outlay of `870 crore over the next four years will help EVs to flourish in the state. The policy outlines clear adoption strategies, especially in the last mile mobility segment. The fiscal benefits being offered by the government will directly benefit the end customer while the non-fiscal benefits will help develop the overall EV ecosystem in the state.

NEWSCAN | BRIEFS

India, Bhutan review development ties NEW DELHI: In order to review their development partnership, India and Bhutan met virtually on June 28 and agreed to implement some new projects in the Himalayan nation across various sectors such as road infrastructure, water and COVID-19 management.

The talks between the two nations were part of the 3rd India-Bhutan Development Cooperation Talks. Rahul Chhabra, Secretary (Economic Relations), Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), led the Indian delegation while the Bhutanese delegation was led by Kinga Sinye, Foreign Secretary, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement. Indian Ambassador to Bhutan Ruchira Kamboj also attended the talks. It added that India committed `4500 crore for implementation of development projects and `400 crore for the transitional Trade Support Facility during Bhutan’s 12th Five Year Plan.

The MEA further said that as many as 77 large and intermediate projects and 524 small development projects (SDPs)/high impact community development projects (HICDPs) are at various stages of implementation under the 12th Five Year Plan. With the plan completing its third year, India and Bhutan reviewed the overall progress of the ongoing Project Tied Assistance (PTA) projects, as well as the SDPs/HICDPs. Sinye highlighted the impact of HICDPs at the grassroots level and commended India’s role in the socio-economic transformation of the Himalayan nation. During the talks, both sides also agreed to implement some new PTA projects across numerous sectors, including road infrastructure, water management, industrial parks and COVID-19 management. India deeply values its privileged partnership with Bhutan.

The Indian side remains committed to continue to support Bhutan in its development efforts, the MEA said. The two sides agreed to hold the next Development Cooperation Talks on a mutually decided date.

Method developed to detect COVID-19 effectively from phone swabs LONDON: Researchers from the University College London, United Kingdom, have developed a noninvasive and cheap technique which can accurately detect the novel coronavirus using samples taken from screens of smartphones. They analysed the swabs via mobile phones, rather than testing them directly, using a method known as Phone Screen Testing (PoST).

The researchers found that those who tested positive by the regular nasal swab test also tested positive when the samples were taken from the mobile phones. The study, published in the journal eLife on June 22, detected the presence of the novel coronavirus on the phones of those who are 81 to 100 per cent contagious with high viral load, which suggests that

this technique is as accurate as antigen tests. The researchers noted that the global screening of SARS-CoV-2 is still a priority as COVID-19 is continuously mutating and new variants keep emerging when the vaccine rollout is not adequate in various countries. PoST is more of an environmental test rather than a clinical test, which is non-invasive and low costing than the traditional method of testing, according to the researchers.

The features mean that it is suitable for rollout in low-income countries and also decreases the discomfort of current testing methods. The team also added that PoST sampling takes less time and does not require any medical assistance.

It is a revolutionary testing methodology which will help in mass testing.

NITI Aayog sensitizing states on MPI and SDGs

Sanyukta Samaddar, Advisor to NITI Aayog, has been visiting various states to hold sensitization workshops across the nation. She visited Karnataka on June 28 for a workshop on achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). She urged administrators to take up focused action on high priority SDGs. Samaddar has been sensitizing state governments of Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) measures too. The advisor focuses on encouraging the states to avoid overlapping deprivations and focus on priority areas for action at national, state and district levels to implement initiatives to alleviate poverty.

Development work to be completed before Aug 15 in Dehradun Smart City Ashish Srivastava, District Magistrate, Dehradun and CEO of Smart City Dehradun, announced that all developmentrelated work in the city will be completed by August 15.

During his review of smart city works at several places in the city, he issued instructions to the responsible contractors to adhere by the deadline. Some roads have been dug up in the city for laying pipelines and multi-utility ducts. Therefore, he has instructed contractors to take special care of that and to report to relevant departments in case any roads cave due to rains. He has also asked other departments of the municipal corporation to follow suit.

www.urbanupdate.in | July 2021

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BRIEFS | NEWSCAN

UP to connect healthcare centres with main roads

In a bid to provide people with easy access to proper healthcare facilities, the Government of Uttar Pradesh has decided to connect all primary health centres and community health centres in both rural and urban areas to main roads. The responsibility to improve the road network has been handed to the urban development department, municipal corporations, the public works department, gram panchayats and urban/rural bodies. This move is being undertaken as a result of the devastating impact of the second COVID-19 wave.

Municipal workers to get social security benefits

The Ministry of Labour and Employment, Government of India, has directed the Employees’ State Insurance Corporation to cover all casual and contractual workers employed with the municipal bodies under the ESI Act. This direction will assist lakhs of people to come under the social security cover, which will include sickness, maternity, disability and dependent benefits. These beneficiaries will be eligible to explore medical benefits via the huge network of ESI facilities including 160 hospitals and more than 1500 dispensaries across the country.

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Climate impacts are to hit sooner than expected: UN Report NEW DELHI: As suggested by the landmark draft report by United Nation Organisation (UNO), climate change will affect life on Earth in the coming decade, even if humans try and control the greenhouse gas emissions. Events such as extinction of species, widespread diseases, unlivable heat, collapse of ecosystem and cities menaced by the rising seas are the obvious consequences which people will face after around 30 years from present, the report added.

The dangerous thresholds of climate change are closer than expected and the dire consequences stemming from decades of unbridled carbon pollution are unavoidable in the coming future.

The report also said that the challenges posed by it are systematic and unfair as those who are least responsible for global warming will suffer disproportionately.

The report warned that previous major climate shocks dramatically ended species and changed the environment. It

raises the question if humans are sowing seeds for their own demise.

The key takeaways from the report include a temperature increase of 1.1 degree Celsius recorded so far, which indicates that the Earth’s climate is already changing. The 2015 Paris Agreement set the target of capping rise in global temperatures due to global warming below 2 degrees Celsius.

However, keeping the current trend in mind, the world is set to experience a three degree Celsius rise in temperature at best, the report said.

One more major takeaway from the report is that the world must face its reality and prepare for tackling the effects of climate change as the current levels of adaptation will not help in the future.

Scientists have also pointed towards the point-of-no-return thresholds in the climate, which are known as tipping points, and experts have just begun to understand and measure them.

Rajasthan UDHD to implement land pooling scheme JAIPUR: The Urban Development and Housing Department (UDHD) of the Government of Rajasthan is planning to implement the land pooling scheme in the state. The rules of the Act were framed in 2020, but its implementation was not visible on the ground. The UDHD has now directed all urban local bodies (ULBs) of the state to send proposals of schemes for plots having a minimum area of 250 hectares.

ULBs have been directed to plan proposals to develop hospitals, parks, stadiums, and educational institutes along with the residential schemes. According to a senior official, the government has decided to promote the Land Pooling Scheme (LPS) because its model has been successfully implemented in many cities. As per the Act on LPS, part of a land will be used for urban infrastructure development with the consent of the land

owner. Under the LPS, land owners will be able to come and give their lands, where city authorities will work as facilitators and then develop it as per the layout rules.

The concerned civic body would later give the proportionate piece of developed land with necessary infrastructure, including roads, parks, and open spaces, to the land owner. As a facilitator, civic bodies can earn revenue by way of its share, including the cost of development, and land owners will receive a good value for their share of the land. The scheme dictates that a land owner will receive 45 per cent as compensation on developed land.

City Image

Turn your feces into green energy, crypto BeeVi – a portmanteau of the words bee and vision – is a rest room developed by the Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology, South Korea, which converts human excreta into energy. As a bonus, the rest room provides the user with a modest quantity of digital currency in return for their feces. BeeVi pumps your excreta into an underground tank, which means it uses less water straight away. Microorganisms then decompose the waste into methane, a useful energy source, which is later used to generate electricity.

Feces Standard Money

www.urbanupdate.in | July 2021

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BRIEFS | NEWSCAN

Karnataka to give `1 lakh to COVID affected families Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa announced financial relief of `1 lakh on June 14 to each of the below poverty line (BPL) families who lost their earning member due to COVID-19 infection.

Yediyurappa said that a lot of families are in trouble due to COVID-19 and that is why this decision has been taken. He added that the policy will assist 25,000 to 30,000 such BPL families and will incur an expenditure of `250 crore to ` 300 crore.

`702 crore allotted for work in AMC The Government of Gujarat has allotted `702 crore for various developmental works in Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation under the Swarnim Jayanti Mukhyamantri Shaheri Vikas Yojana. As per the official statement, the amount will be used for a number of infrastructure projects in Ahmedabad city, including the completion of ongoing road, water and drainage projects. It also said that approximately half of the sanctioned amount will be used for road resurfacing, storm water drainage, sewage treatment plant and water supply works.

CIDCO for development of Nhava Island The City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO) has issued a public notice inviting expression of interest for developing Nhava Island, Navi Mumbai. The location is close to the Mumbai Trans-Harbour Link project, which aims to connect Sewree, Mumbai with Nhava Island. According to the city planning agency, the entire parcel of land can be used for tourism, cultural and social activities and can be developed as a picnic spot.

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July 2021 | www.urbanupdate.in

IMF proposes carbon-price floor to tackle global warming WASHINGTON DC: Citing reason that climate change presents huge risks to the functioning of the world’s economies, the staff of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has proposed a carbon-price floor.

In a paper published on June 11, the staff of the organisation proposed the idea of different minimum carbon-price levels for countries based on their stage of development. The proposal talks about implementing a three-tier price floor among the United States of America, European Union, United Kingdom, Canada, China, and India, with prices of $75 a ton for advanced markets, $50 a ton for high income markets, and $25 a ton for low-income markets. It hopes that this could help cut global emissions by 23 per cent from baseline levels by 2030.

This, in turn, can greatly enhance the effectiveness of the Paris Agreement goal, which dictates keeping the temperature increase to below 2 degrees Celsius.

Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director, IMF, remarked that focusing on a small number of large emitters would make negotiations easier and could still cover a big percentage of global emissions, thereby taking a major step towards the cuts in greenhouse gases the world needs.

She added that tax is one option for achieving the price floor, however, it could also work through regulation or emissions trading. The revenues thus created could be used to compensate households for price increases and supporting businesses and workers in moving from high carbon activities to activities with low carbon intensity.

According to IMF staff, there is need for rise in global price to $75 a ton or more by 2030 if we are to limit global warming to 1.5-2 degrees Celsius. Presently, the global average emissions price is $3 a ton and around four-fifths of global emissions remain unpriced.

Former Kerala health minister gets prestigious European award TRIVANDRUM: K K Shailaja, Former Health Minister, Government of Kerala, was awarded the prestigious Central European University (CEU) Open Social Prize to honour her commitment to the public health service. The award is given to persons with exceptional distinction who serve towards the idea of an open society. The award was announced at the online 30th graduation ceremony, which was held in June 2021.

Michael Ignatieff, President and Rector of CEU, while presenting the award to ‘Shailaja Teacher’, said that this year the award is being conferred to an exceptional public servant from the developing world. He added that Shailaja and her staff of the public health service have done exceptional work during the COVID-19 pandemic and showed to the world that determined leadership, effective communication and dedicated community-based public health service can save several lives. By awarding Shailaja, the university is honouring a

public servant and female leader for her contribution to public health service, he added. He mentioned that Shailaja Teacher’s example shall inspire young women to enter public service.

K K Shailaja, in her speech, asked the graduating students to keep learning and sharing knowledge with others as “we live in an increasingly volatile and unpredictable world.” She added that the leaders need to rise to global challenges and find new solutions to build an inclusive and equitable society. She said that each one of them has an opportunity to step up and change the world for better by finding a leader in them.

NEWSCAN

Worst is yet to come: Draft UN report on climate change NEW DELHI: As suggested by a landmark draft report by the United Nations Organisation (UNO)’s climate science advisors, climate change will alter life on Earth, even if the world is capable of taming greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Events such as extinction of species, widespread diseases, unliveable heat, ecosystem collapse, cities menaced by rising seas, etc, are devastating climate impacts which are bound to become painfully obvious before a child born today turns 30, the report added.

The report said that the worst is yet to come, which will affect our children’s and grandchildren’s lives more than our own. The report consists of four major takeaways which are subject to some minor changes in the coming days. Firstly, climate is already changing, even with a 1.1 degree Celsius rise in temperature. However, scientists believed that controlling the temperature rise to two degrees Celsius above mid-19th century levels would be enough to safeguard the future. This goal was also enshrined in the 2015 Paris Agreement, which has been signed by almost 200 countries. However, on current trends, we are headed towards a rise of three degrees Celsius at best. The World Meteorological Organisation last month projected that there is a 40 per

cent chance that the Earth will cross the 1.5-degree Celsius threshold for at least one year by 2026.

The report’s second takeaway is that the world must face this reality and prepare themselves for the onslaught.

The report warned that current levels of adaptation will not be enough to respond towards future climate risks. It also added that millions of people are likely to face chronic hunger by 2050 and 130 million more could experience extreme poverty within a decade if inequality prevails. The report also warned that almost 350 million people living in urban areas will be exposed to water scarcity due to severe drought at 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming.

The third takeaway is that the report warns about the cascading and compound impacts of climate change, along with point-of-no-return thresholds in climate system, which are known as tipping points. Almost a dozen temperature trip wires have been identified in the climate system for irreversible and catastrophic change. According to recent researches, warming of two degrees Celsius will cause the melting of ice sheets in Greenland and West Antarctic, which would add enough water to lift oceans by 13 metres.

The final takeaway is that the

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change believes that much can be done to tackle the worst-case scenarios and prepare for the impact. The report suggests that transitioning to more plant-based diets could also help in reducing the emissions by 70 per cent by 2050. However, the report warns that simply replacing gas guzzler with a Tesla or planting billions of tress to offset businesses is not going to help. The report says, “We need transformational change operating on processes and behaviours at all levels – individual, communities, businesses, institutions and governments. We must redefine our way of life and consumption.”

The report has highlighted some of the worst fears of climate activists around the world. While most of them have been pressing for largescale economic, social and cultural changes, what must be adopted now is a personalised approach. Like the report claims, simply planting trees is not going to be helpful for the environment, or reverse the trend of climate change. What needs to be done is to make every individual aware, from the youngest to the oldest, from the richest to the poorest, of the havoc that a rise in global temperatures and sea levels can cause.

www.urbanupdate.in | July 2021

15

NEWSCAN

Carbis Bay Declaration signed among G7 nations to tackle the pandemic

NEW DELHI: The Group of G7 nations signed the Carbis Bay Declaration on June 14, where all the powerful nations pledged to ‘end the pandemic and prepare for our futures’ and also to ‘build back better’. After the threeday meet at Cornwall, England, a new document was delivered by the heads of Britain, the United States of America (USA), Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan. All the countries vowed to ‘reinvigorate our economies’ with a funding of US $12 trillion to help those in need of recovering from COVID-19.

Other countries present at the meeting included South Korea, South Africa, Australia, along with Antonio Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations Organisation (UNO).

In addition, heads of the European Union and the European Commission were also present at the event, with the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi joining the event virtually. The G7 members agreed to the declaration which sets out commitments to prevent any future human and economic devastation similar to the COVID-19 pandemic. Sir Patrick Vallance, Chief Scientific Advisor, United Kingdom, presented the work of the Pandemic Preparedness Partnership, which is a group of international experts from various industries, government and

16

July 2021 | www.urbanupdate.in

scientific institutions. The group was established by the UK to advice the G7 nations on how to prevent, detect and respond to future pandemics.

An independent report named ‘100 Days Mission to Respond to Future Pandemic Threats’ has been published by the Pandemic Preparedness Partnership. The report contains suggestions on how governments, and other bodies, can respond quickly to future outbreaks of diseases. It suggests ways to control them in the first 100 days post identification, which is a crucial time to change its course and prevent it from turning into a pandemic. The Carbis Bay Declaration has incorporated the recommendations of the Pandemic Preparedness Partnership report and also mentions ways in which the G7 countries can prevent future pandemics. Of the new human diseases, three-quarter originate in animals and such diseases are emerging at an increasing rate. The UK has set up the Animal Vaccine Manufacturing and Innovation Centre to stop new animal-borne diseases before they put people at risk.

Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General, World Health Organisation (WHO), said, “As the world is gradually coming out of the pandemic and recovering from

COVID-19, we welcome the Carbis Bay Health Declaration. We need to work on significant scientific and collaborative response towards the COVID-19 pandemic and find some common solutions.” The declaration calls for support from G7 nations for the Global Pandemic Radar (UK’s initiative to identify future COVID-19 variants and track new diseases in the world). The initiative will protect the domestic vaccine programs from new variants of COVID-19 by identifying them beforehand.

Such measures assure the insurability of extreme perils as was done with United States terrorism risk after September 11, 2001 and Japanese tsunami risk after March 11, 2011.

The Carbis Bay Health Declaration is a major milestone for developing a pandemic resilient world and for the modelling required in support of it.

Moreover, pandemic preparedness will also be vital for protecting the most vulnerable segment of the society from being affected unfairly by future pandemics. As was evident in India during the two waves of the COVID-19 pandemic, the poor and the informal workers were worst hit by the pandemic. Preparing for future pandemic must, therefore, incorporate the issues and challenges that the poor and informal workers will face.

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Setting The Agenda For Tomorrow’s Cities

UrbanUpdate Volume VI, Issue IX

Setting The Agenda For Tomorrow’s Cities

ISSN 2349-6266 RNI No DELENG/2014/57384

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ISSN 2349-6266 RNI No DELENG/2014/57384

Setting The Agenda For Tomorrow’s Cities

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BRIEFS | NEWSCAN

Haryana constitutes Panchkula MDA

Manohar Lal Khattar, Chief Minister of Haryana, announced the constitution of the Panchkula Metropolitan Development Authority (PMDA) on June 9. PMDA is being constituted to enable swift execution of the district’s integrated development plan.

Khattar said during the press conference that the authority will work with the Haryana Shahari Vikas Pradhikaran, the Haryana State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation, and the Panchkula Municipal Corporation. It will work to ensure availability of infrastructure and other key facilities to people. He also mentioned the state government’s plan to make Panchkula a major hub for industrial investment.

Andhra to provide free medical care to children The Government of Andhra Pradesh announced on June 15 that all children will be provided free-of-cost medical care in government-run hospitals in the state. The decision was taken during a meeting held in Amaravati regarding the prevention of the possible third wave of COVID-19. According to the official statement, special arrangements are being made to provide training to the medical staff in pediatric-related issues. A decision was also taken to recruit doctors and other medical staff to treat the children.

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July 2021 | www.urbanupdate.in

Maharashtra accords high protection to ‘heritage trees’ MUMBAI: In an effort to protect the trees and environment, the Government of Maharashtra has approved the formation of the Maharashtra Tree Authority, which will be responsible for protecting trees across the state. During the meeting of cabinet ministers headed by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, an amendment to the Maharashtra (Urban Areas) Protection and Preservation of Trees Act 1975, was also approved. According to the new directive, trees more than 50 years of age will be considered ‘heritage trees’.

According to the amendment, heritage trees will be accorded more protection and it will be difficult for anyone to cut them. Moreover, projects which cannot proceed without felling trees will need to multiply their compensatory afforestation procedure. For example, if an infrastructure developer removes a 52-year-old plant, he/she will be required to plant 52 new plants, which should be at least 6-8 feet high during plantation. On the other hand, if the developer cannot take up afforestation in exchange of felling trees, financial compensation will be mandatory, which would also be higher than before.

The newly made Maharashtra Tree Authority will regulate the felling of trees in the state as according to the amendment, if any project needs to cut more than 200 trees, it will also need to send a proposal to the Tree Authority. In addition to this, the local tree authority, along with the Maharashtra Tree Authority, will conduct a census of all the tress, including heritage trees, every five years.

IIT-M launches Global Water and Climate Adaptation Centre NEW DELHI: A Global Water and Climate Adaptation Centre (GWCAC) was launched at the Indian Institute of Technology - Madras (IIT-M) to tackle global water security issues and challenges in adapting to climate change. The Centre has been launched with support from an agency of the Government of Germany, institutes of Technical University of Dresden, and RWTH Aachen University. IIT-M will host the Centre with a satellite hub at the Asian Institute of Technology, Bangkok.

It was inaugurated on June 30 and has been named ‘ABCD’ (Aachen-BangkokChennai-Dresden). Moreover, a joint doctoral research programme to promote inter-disciplinary work and bring the knowledge to tackle water scarcity under global partnering institutes has also been launched.

The partners of the project share a common thought that science-based solutions and global innovations network

must go together with a local and global stakeholder through dialogue. This would complement IIT Madras’ expertise on the adaptation and rehabilitation measures of coastal infrastructures.

Moreover, in its own operations, the Centre aims to reduce carbon emissions through measures such as enabling internationalization, while at the same time replacing international flights through the use of digital communication tools and innovative technology. This idea has been embedded in the design of the Centre from the outset.

NEWSCAN

India ranks 120 in Sustainable Development Report 2021 th

NEW DELHI: The 6th edition of the Sustainable Development Report (SDR) 2021 ranked India at the 120th spot out of the total 165 countries with an overall score of 60.1. Finland topped the table with an overall score of 85.90, and was followed by Sweden with 85.61 points, Denmark with 84.86 points, Germany with 82.48 points, and Belgium with an overall score of 82.19. The rankings were published by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) on June 14, which ranks all the states of United Nations Organisation (UNO) based on their performance in achieving the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The report contains data on the International Spillover Index.

India’s spillover score stands at 98.90 out of 100, and the country has been ranked 32 out of the total 165 countries.

The action plans of any country can cause some amount of negative affect on other countries’ ability to achieve the SDG targets. A country with a higher score of spillover shows that it causes more positive spillover effects and less negative spillovers. The SDR is the first

study which examines all countries on the basis of their performance against all 17 SDGs. All member countries of the UN had adopted the Agenda 2030 and SDGs in 2015.

Since 2015, it is for the first time that all the countries in the Index have shown reversal in the progress of achieving the SDG goals due to the devastating COVID-19 pandemic.

Particularly, low income developing countries have less financial resources in order to achieve the SDGs and the pandemic has worsened the situation for them. In addition to the SDR, the authors of the report have also compiled Spillover Index for all the member countries. The index measures spillovers based on the actions of countries which can be in negative or positive. The index is divided into four categories, which actively impact the SDGs of countries due to negative spillovers. The categories involve Environmental and Social spillovers embodied in trade, direct cross-border flows, international economic and financial flows, and peacekeeping and security spillovers.

Since 2012, SSDN operates and functions under the Secretary-General of the United Nations and develops the SDG Index every year. It prepares the technological and global scientific expertise to assist in finding solutions for sustainable development, including the implementation of the SDGs. In India, Niti Aayog also prepares and publishes an annual SDG Index, ranking states according to their performance on various indicators such as hunger, education and healthcare. It also measures the states’ performance on climate action, access to energy and sustainable cities, among other criteria.

According to the Index, Kerala (75) and Himachal Pradesh (74) have topped the table, followed by Tamil Nadu (74) and Andhra Pradesh (72). On the other hand, Assam (57), Jharkhand (56) and Bihar (52) are the worst performing states in achieving the SDG goals in the country. The report shows that Mizoram, Haryana and Uttarakhand, with an increase of 12, 10 and 8 points, have shown maximum improvement among all the states as compared to the rankings of 2019.

Although India has not been a leader in terms of achieving the SDGs, the nation’s work on individual SDGs has been phenomenal. For example, India’s share of renewable energy has increased tremendously since 2015. Moreover, with the Government of India’s Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles – Phase II policy, along with electric vehicle policies released by the respective state governments, the adoption of electric vehicles has also increased steadily in India. Through such schemes, a race is also underway among Indian states to be the leader in terms of the number of electric vehicles owned by the residents. These initiatives provide growth to India’s performance in the SDG Index.

www.urbanupdate.in | July 2021

19

event | 5th ICSGSC

Renewable energy can significantly reduce risks of climate change TOKOYO: The 5th International Conference on Smart Grid and Smart Cities (ICSGSC 2021) was held in Tokyo, Japan, from June 18-20, 2021.

The conference addressed diverse topics related to recent trends and progress made in the field of smart grid, smart cities, green and other advanced energy systems.

For the past few years, smart grids have been one of the main topics in research and development at the academic, industry and business levels. The smart grid is envisaged to be the next generation electric grid for smart cities. It enables the smart integration of conventional power generation, renewable generation, distributed generation, energy storage, transmission, distribution and demand management. The benefits of smart grid include enhanced reliability and resilience, higher intelligence and optimized control, decentralized operation, higher operational efficiency, more efficient demand management, and better power quality. However, all these prospective transformations also bring with them numerous challenges and opportunities. Research authors were invited to submit their research papers

20 July 2021 | www.urbanupdate.in

which will be reviewed by a committee of prominent individuals who have made significant contributions in the areas of the smart cities, smart grids and energy generation. The topics covered in the researches included Power and Energy System Applications, Power Energy Management Systems and Appropriate Technology.

The event commenced with a discourse on ‘Control of PowerElectronics Based Renewable Energy Sources’ under which, how micro-grids as networks with distributed energy sources have gained significant interest over the past 20 years was discussed.

The energy sources are predominantly renewable energy sources, most of which are interfaced with the network through power electronics converters. Their performance is affected by the change of parameters of passive components depending on temperature and operating conditions.

The speaker for this title was Prof Om P Malik, IEEE Fellow, University of Calgary, Canada.

The title of the next speech was ‘Digital Twins Rising Role in Smart Cities Applications’. Prof Abdulrahman Al-Ali, American University of Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, spoke on this

topic. Digital Twins are gaining ground and becoming increasingly popular in smart city applications such as smart energy, smart buildings, smart factories, smart transportation, smart farming, and smart healthcare. The digital twin concept is evolving as complementary to its counter physical part. While an object (thing) is stationary on the move, its operational and surrounding environmental parameters are collected by an edge computing device for local and/or cloud-based decisions.

The title of the final speech for the conference was ‘The First Hybrid Electric Vehicle in the World’ and was delivered by Prof Masayuki Morimoto, IEEJ Fellow, Tokai University, Japan.

During his speech, Prof Morimoto discussed how the Prius is often considered to be the oldest hybrid vehicle in the world. However, the idea of hybrid vehicles has been in the automobile industry since 1890s, according to some works of literature.

He went on to urge all automobile manufacturers to quickly promote adoption of electric and hybrid vehicles if we wish to have a chance at saving our world from the catastrophic events of climate change.

The 5th International Conference on Smart Grid and Smart Cities presented a platform for experts and researchers in the field to share their experiences in adopting newer methods of energy generation and power grids. They also got a chance to share the solutions that many of them had come up with to overcome limitations they faced while developing smart cities across the world. The conference surely promoted adoption of smart grids and green energy, both of which are critical in our fight against climate change and are the quickest methods of reducing global carbon emissions.

Survey Based report

There is change, but more can be done Delhiites on waste management NEWDELHI: Team Urban Update conducted a survey on ‘Adherence to 13% 10% Solid Waste Management Rules 2016’ to better understand waste management 30% methods undertaken by urban local 40% bodies (ULB) in Delhi. When asked if people are aware of the Solid Waste 13% Management Rules (SWMR) 2016, 73.3 per cent of the respondents said 30% 50% yes, while 23 per cent said they are not YES acquainted with them. Additionally, 57% NO only 30 per cent respondents said that MAYBE the measures enlisted in the SWMR 2016 are being undertaken by their ULB, while 50 per cent disagreed and Does your municipal corporation collect Does your municipal corporation under20 per cent were unsure. This must waste from COVID-19 take measures to spread awareness on 57%positive families make us question the role that ULBs separately? the importance of waste segregation? are playing in proper implementation of the SWMR 2016. Despite over 73 per Green Tribunal’s order, waste from Since March 2020, the Central cent respondents being aware of the COVID positive households and other Pollution Control Board (CPCB) rules, only 30 per cent said that they domestic bio-hazardous waste like has issued guidelines from time to are being implemented by their ULBs, sanitary pads must be disposed of time under the Bio-Medical Waste which is a striking difference. separately, so as to ensure protection Management Rules 2016, and reviewed With the ever increasing population of the environment and public health. them to ensure that COVID-19 waste and urbanisation, waste management 56.7 per cent of the respondents said is collected with utmost caution and has emerged as a huge challenge in the that their municipal corporation does transported to “biomedical waste country. Not only has the quantity of not provide the option of collecting treatment and disposal facilities”, waste increased, the characteristics of COVID waste separately, while 30 per specifically designed to handle waste have also changed tremendously cent of the respondents responded biohazardous waste from hospitals, with the introduction of new equipment positively. The survey also revealed health camps, morgues, pathological in people’s daily lives. Scientific that 50 per cent of the respondents and clinical laboratories, and other disposal of solid waste is the only way did not believe that their municipal medical establishments and activities. of minimizing its adverse impact on corporation undertook any awareness In May 2020, CPCB also launched the environment. Local authorities campaigns regarding responsible waste a mobile application called COVID-19 are responsible for the development segregation and proper disposal, which Bio-Medical Waste Management App, of infrastructure for collection, is also an important stipulation in the to keep a tab on this fast-growing stream of waste in real time. Around 50 per storage, segregation, transportation, SWMR 2016.

With a disease as transmissible cent of respondents agreed to doorstep processing and disposal of municipal solid waste. According to SWMR 2016, as COVID-19, it is of the utmost waste collection services offered by all residential welfare associations importance that ULBs undertake their municipal corporations, which should segregate waste at source widespread awareness campaigns on is a big step in the right direction for and handover recyclable material to not just preventative measures but also ULBs. Towards the end of the survey, either authorized waste pickers or on proper disposal of waste. Numerous the respondents were asked to mention recyclers. Moreover, bio-degradable studies have already established a ways which can help civic bodies waste should be processed, treated and sound relationship between waste perform better. One of the most widely disposed of through composting or and the spread of COVID-19. Keeping suggested measures was the stringent this in mind, both the people and the implementation of guidelines by biomethanation.

During COVID times, the quantum ULBs need to be very careful of how resident welfare associations, which of healthcare waste generated has also they handle waste, from its point of would act as an independent check on the activities of the ULBs. increased. According to the National collection to the time it is disposed of.

www.urbanupdate.in | July 2021

21

Cover story | Battling COVID

22 July 2021 | www.urbanupdate.in

AIILSG’s contributions and innovations for COVID-19 relief, resilience building AIILSG’s COVID-19 relief and resilience building efforts have positively impacted more than 3,00,000 under-privileged populations from 76 pre-dominantly tribal villages, and more than 63 slum units

T

he intensive efforts by AIILSG team in challenging field conditions would not have been possible without whole-hearted support from all of its partners - such as Grand Challenges Canada, EagleBurgmann Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), HDFC Bank CSR, MUFG Bank CSR, National Stock Exchange Foundation, TATA Rallis (Chemicals) CSR, TATA Technologies CSR, etc. Their support has been instrumental in making the below-mentioned contributions towards the cause. AIILSG’s Corporate Social

Responsibility Centre established at its International Centre of EQUI-T since 2017 was the key hub in synergizing with these partnerships.

Moreover, considerable credit goes to the AIILSG’s grassroots team of Shikshan Mitras and Aarogya Doots who doubled up as AIILSG’s COVID-19 Warriors. A key strength of AIILSG’s approach is building a cadre of local community para-professionals/ educators which proved to be very instrumental. This ensured that despite the COVID-19 disruptions and lockdown measures, AIILSG could continue and upscale its humble contributions as most of its Enablers of development were from the respective local areas. Many of them being women has been an instrumental factor in uprooting gender stereotypes and enabling

gender equality.

Another crucial niche of these humble contributions is in sync with AIILSG’s global niche to be working at scale with all types of under-privileged: indigenous forest dweller tribes, indigenous nomadic tribes, particularly vulnerable tribals groups, rural poor, urban slum dwellers, differently-abled [disabled], socially discriminated such as those from Scheduled Castes. An important COVID-19 strategy was to customize the interventions to the locations and communities as per their respective socio-economic profiles, and anthropological characteristics (especially for the indigenous forest dwellers and nomadic tribes). The entire efforts were tailor-made based on scientific needs assessment and through community-participation, building on the communityparticipatory-institutions fostered by AIILSG and synergy with the local governments. AIILSG’s sensitivity and commitment towards the

Rajiv Agarwal IAS (Retd.)

Director General, AIILSG

Prof Dr Mukesh Kanaskar Deputy Director General, AIILSG Director, AIILSG’s Corporate Social Responsibility Centre

Shweta Gupta Executive Director, AIILSG’s International Centre of EQUI-T Corporate Social Responsibility Centre

www.urbanupdate.in | July 2021

23

Cover story | Battling COVID disadvantaged populations is manifested through its International Centre of Equity and Inclusion for Transformation (ICEQUI-T).

International Center of EQUI-T is the Social Innovations Lab of AIILSG which consistently strives to enable effective social transformation through innovations, field actions, research, capacity building, policy analysis and knowledge management for the cause of under-privileged populations.

Moreover, considering the gravity of each set of issues faced by the disadvantaged, following sub-centres of AIILSG are formed under the aegis of AIILSG’s ICEQUI-T, namely: ♦♦ Centre for RMNCH+A (Centre for Reproductive Maternal, New-born, Child and Adolescent Health) ♦♦ Centre for Children’s Rights ♦♦ International Centre for Women in Deprivation ♦♦ International Centre for Differently Abled ♦♦ Center for Rural & Tribal Development and for Empowerment of Denotified & Nomadic Tribes’ ♦♦ Corporate Social Responsibility Centre Given the holistic approach AIILSG works with, the above sub-centres converge their efforts as ICEQUI-T for effective and efficient social transformation. The envisioning by the team identified relief, risk-reduction and resilience building as the key pillars of its COVID-19 strategy.

The customized COVID-19 innovations developed by AIILSG have been receiving wide acclaim. These include: COVID-19 jigsaw puzzles, IEC on COVID-19 in six languages, IEC on mental health, BAL-TARFAH experiential learning, COVID-19 hygiene kits, COVID-19 resilience building through ‘Shikshan Ranjan Kendras’ in the community, tribal folk songs adapted for COVID-19 IEC including for addressing Vaccination Hesitancy, and resilience building through expansion of livelihoods portfolio.

Various sub-centres (dedicated towards the cause of the under-

24 July 2021 | www.urbanupdate.in

privileged populations) of AIILSG under ICEQUI-T synergized to have a coordinated response. Their efforts converged as AIILSG at the grassroots.

It was a well-coordinated effort whereby AIILSG’s ICEQUI-T team identified & clearly defined the roles and responsibilities of each sub-centre, needs for developing innovations and time-frame. A coordination mechanism of sub-centre heads was established to make it a highly systematic and efficient effort together as AIILSG. Apart from the obvious aspects related to WASH and COVID-19 appropriate behaviour, AIILSG created a holistic impact as elucidated below imbibing sustainability and futuristics.

The key impacts attained are as below

♦♦ COVID-19 resilience built for more than 3,00,000 disadvantaged populations ♦♦ Enabled outreach for 139 localgovernment units in terms of COVID-19 tracking, follow-up and vaccination. Many team members worked as ‘Gram Aarogya Suraksha Dal’ members and community volunteers with the local governments ♦♦ Built capacities of 438 community institutions (including 219 Baal Panchayats), 876 community youth volunteers ♦♦ Community-embedded ‘Shikshan Ranjan Kendras’ enabled continuation of teaching and learning with demonstration of positive learning outcomes for 17,000 disadvantaged children from Maharashtra, Delhi, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu despite COVID-19 disruptions and related educational lockdowns. The focus has been on preventing learning loss and attainment of foundational literacy and numeracy skills for the children in elementary in light of COVID-19 induced school closure ♦♦ Bridging the Language Barrier through ‘BHASHA SETU’ which is ‘Bilingual Teaching Learning Material’ developed and adopted to bridge the language barrier for 2881

tribal children to gain learning ♦♦ Created newer avenues for experiential learning and vocational exposure such as AIILSG’s innovation of Baal TARFAH ♦♦ Resilience building characterised by further risk proofing of the livelihoods of the poor, including expanding their livelihoods portfolio (eg successfully pioneering strawberry crop cultivation with tribals in highly poverty ridden Palghar district) further enriching AIILSG’s innovative model for tribal and rural development: Transformative Actions for Rural development, Food Security and Health ♦♦ With forward and backward linkages to livelihoods in disarray, AIILSG’s team played a crucial enabler role in ensuring pre-emption of this disruption or restoration as need be ♦♦ Nutrition and immunity: COVID-19 has highlighted importance of immunity-enablers and nutrition.

The nutritional status, especially of disadvantaged children and women, has otherwise taken a big hit. AIILSG pre-empted this by furthering its MAMTA (Movement Against Malnutrition for Transformative Actions) movement to many more.

This involves enabling plantation of nutritious kitchen gardens by location-customized vegetables and herbs. This was further augmented by developing AIILSG’s innovation of herbal gardens, with 3 sub-types of it.

The following text elucidates role played by each sub-institutional entity of AIILSG under its ICEQUI-T:

Corporate Social Responsibility Centre

AIILSG through its Corporate Social Responsibility Center synergised with its Corporate CSR partners for COVID-19 related interventions.

Centre for RMNCH+A

The horizon of the Centre for RMNCH+A (Centre for Reproductive, Maternal, New-born, Child and Adolescent Health) was expanded to

Centre for Children’s Rights Community-embedded Shikshan Ranjan Kendras

Since the incidence of COVID-19 in March 2020, the community-embedded Shikshan Ranjan Kendras (CSRK) of AIILSG are the only source for continued education for the under-privileged children. Weathering the COVID-19 pandemic, the CSRK has emerged as a scalable educationdelivery model that proved to be robust, resilient, adaptable and effective during COVID-19 disruptions for the children left-behind due to school-closure & lack of access to digital-education.

While respecting the COVID-19 lockdown measures, AIILSG ensured continued education and counselling of children (and their parents) through learning at doorsteps approach. A key strength of the C-SRK model whereby a Community-embedded SRK is mentored by a well-trained Shikshan Mitra from the local community proved to be a crucial factor to ensure continued education of the children in various responsive and responsible forms such as Learning-atDoorsteps, or in small batches of five or less children, ‘mobile library’ to read books adhering to COVID-19 safety norms.

Demystifying COVID through AIILSG’s innovation The COVID-19 disruptions and educational lockdowns have of Jigsaw Puzzle deepened educational inequality and learning crisis for the most marginalised children belonging to indigenous tribal populations and rendered them most-vulnerable to risks. Most of these children have no or highly impoverished access to digital education. The ‘Community-embedded Shikshan Ranjan Kendra’ (Learning-with-Fun Centers) of AIILSG provided1.

Last mile connectivity to the most marginalised indigenous tribal children and hard-to-reach children from indigenous Denotified and Nomadic Tribes (stigmatized as born-criminals since 1871 British colonial era, girls are subjected to physical and sexual-violence) and Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (many children are firstgeneration-learners), 2.

Special focus is on education of girls and differently-abled children, 3.

Enabled their access to learning and education with enriched learning environment and quality teaching-learning inputs.

4.

Enabled ‘resilience building’, safety and mental well-being of children, inculcated life-skills in them including safe WASH & COVID-19 Appropriate-Behaviour.

5.

Strengthened capacity & up-skilling of community-educators and School Teachers in developing and/or delivering Digital Teaching-Learning Content.

The field-proven CSRKs enabled continuation of education for the most marginalised 17000 children including 6232 hard-to-reach indigenous tribal children, strengthened capacities of 282 community educators, 282 local-governments, equal number of schools and 564 teachers. AIILSG’s Innovation of COVID-19 jig saw puzzles: This set of nine jigsaw puzzles has proved to be very effective is enabling the children to understand about COVID-19 in fun edu-tainment way.

Covid Hygiene Kit for children: Each of the children attending the SRK was provided with a COVID-19 kit. The kit comprising washable face masks, hand gloves, soap cakes for hand wash, napkins for hand wipe and special items for raising awareness about covid-19 and sanitizer were provided for each SRK. Children as agents of transforming the society: This is a fundamental tenet of AIILSG’s CSRK model whereby children are not viewed as merely passive recipient of benefits, but are active enablers of societal transformation with age-appropriate fun edu-tainment initiatives. AIILSG team has been utilising for more than 10 years creative media such as street theatre and puppet shows with participation of children as an effective way of social transformation.

The same were COVID-19 customized, through nukkad-performances (instead of public performances) and whatsapp dissemination (wherever feasible).

Baal Panchayats and youth volunteers fostered by AIILSG played very crucial part in this. AIILSG perceives this as an important effort in building a progressive and knowledgeable local leadership for future.

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Cover story | Battling COVID include the pandemics, and has been the knowledge-hub for the team. For updating knowledge, AIILSG’s Centre for RMNCH+A deputed its experts to a course conducted by World Health Organization (WHO). And subsequently an in-house training was organized for all our field staff immediately after that. Our strategic planners decided all possible actions by field staff.

An immediate need identified in the initial stages of the COVID-19 incidence was to demystify it, and preempt mis-information and mass-panic on the issue. Considering extremely low literacy levels among the disadvantaged populations AIILSG works with at the grassroots, a key challenge was to demystify COVID-19 in terms and ways easily understandable by even illiterates and children. This led to development of innovative IEC – Pictorial Posters, Tribal Folk Songs, which is visual in nature and its decoding is educationstatus neutral.

The Centre for RMNCH+A undertook extensive web-based capacity building of the team members.

The Centre is running a COVID-19 help-desk analogous since March-end last year.

Crystallizing new specialisation of AIILSG: Mental Health

The detrimental impact of COVID-19 towards mental health, especially of

children, started emerging soon after April 2020. For the under-privileged populations AIILSG works with, the impact was more severe due to combination of various factors such as inherent poverty-perpetuatedvulnerability, uncertainties, etc.

Counselling of children and parents has been a part of the CSRK model since the beginning. It was further invigorated with COVID-19 context. AIILSG also has been keeping the issue on radar while liaising with the government machinery so that it also emphasizes its importance through own channels.

The Centre developed innovative customized training module and IEC comprising 74 posters in 5 sub-themes of mental health: 1. Potential symptoms, 2. Mentally healthy child, 3. Parenting: Do’s and Don’ts for child mental health, 4. When to consult a mental health professional for a child’s mental health, and 5. Worrisome child behavior during COVID pandemic.

Dissemination of the innovative IEC of AIILSG was ensured by displaying these posters in large size at prominent places like walls near Gram Panchayats, key anchor locations in slums, SRK and of houses of children etc.

International Centre for Women-in-Deprivation

Gendered-significance of the effort was

AIILSG’s SRKs only source of continued education for many disadvantaged children

26 July 2021 | www.urbanupdate.in

contextualised and defined for AIILSG’s ICEQUI-T team, which was enabled by the Head of the AIILSG’s ICWID (She is also a co-author of this article).

This aspect has special significance as many of the field areas involve communities with conservative gender norms. Generally, COVID-19 has its impact on increasing gender disparities and gender discrimination. Increase in violence (in all forms) against women and girls emerged as a shadow pandemic in hindsight of COVID-19 pandemic. The team took conscious efforts to enable gender equality. ♦♦ Many of AIILSG’s COVID-19 warriors / change makers/ enablers at the grassroots being women has been an instrumental factor in uprooting gender stereotypes and enabling gender equality. This has been a consistent and cross cutting endeavour across all initiatives undertaken by the team, whereby preferably atleast 50 per cent team members are women ♦♦ Sensitisation and capacity building sessions were conducted for the COVID-19 warriors on the aspects of gender equality and taking this process further in their respective communities ♦♦ There has been consistent endeavour across field locations to sensitise community including women and men/ girls and boys on the aspects of women and girls safety,continuation of education of girls (with counselling to parents to pre-empt any school dropouts of girls), re-enrolment of schooldropout girls, age-appropriate Sexuality Education (eg good touch, bad touch, information on helpline numbers), imbibing messages of equal treatment for girls/ women and inculcating good behavioural practices in children for the same from a young age through mentorship by these change makers and creating awareness in community about gender equality by observing International and National days of significance such as ‘International Women’s Day’, ‘National Women’s Day’, ‘Mothers’

Day’, ‘National Girl Child Day’, and similar other occasions ♦♦ Another hitherto neglected aspect in disadvantaged communities (slums, tribal and rural areas) is promoting education in ‘science’ and as career path for girls and overall lack of ‘scientific temperament’ in girls and women which is also linked with their poor educational status. Understanding the crucial significance of this and building scientific temper in children from the young age, an innovation of ‘MY SDG4 and Innovations with Disadvantaged Children’ = “Mentoring by Youth for enabling SDG4 & Innovations with Disadvantaged Children” is initiated with aim of ‘Enabling Innovations with Disadvantaged Children by Fostering Scientific Temper & Innovations Culture from a Young Age’. The idea is to make ‘Learning Science and (basic) Technology Fun’, promote ‘learning by doing’ with children and foster the culture of ‘innovations’ from an early age. Simple low cost to no cost science experiments were demonstrated and conducted by the children (including girls) and to promote ‘learning by doing’, ‘Science Kits’ were disseminated for use by children through Shikshan Ranjan Kendras. ♦♦ A crucial factor being their role central not just for relief but as repository of scientific COVID-19 knowledge and for COVID-19 resilience building too. ♦♦ Local women trained by AIILSG in livelihoods interventions went a long way in dismantling gender stereotypes.

Centre for Rural and Tribal Development and for Empowerment of Denotified and Nomadic Tribes

The centre developed a modus operandi for AIILSG’s efforts at the grassroots as well as supporting the local government efforts in various villages. These included:

♦♦ “Gram Suraksha Day”: AIILSG’s trained Shikshan Mitras helped villagers to organize this special day to do sanitization, distribution of food material, establishing quarantine and isolation centre in the village for restricting movement of population. ♦♦ Use of songs in local dialect: to create awareness about COVID-19, addressing vaccination hesitancy and to promote vaccination in community. In many project areas, the dialect of the tribes is different than the so-called mainstream dialect. Eg in 46 field action villages in AIILSG, the predominant understanding is through the local Bhil and Pawara dialects. ♦♦ Enabled outreach of government agencies for COVID-19 tracking and vaccination, distribution of relief material by the government including food grains, sanitizers, soaps, school books etc. ♦♦ Relief for 190 starving families from Denotified and Nomadic Tribes (DNTs): The DNTs are among the most marginalised in the world and India. AIILSG’s ICEQUI-T team has been making humble efforts for their empowerment. With traditional livelihoods dwindling very fast and having hardly any skills to survive in the modern world, food insecurity has been a key issue faced by the DNTs. Their hunger and starvation issues got seriously aggravated further during the COVID-19 induced lockdown.

It was feared that the situation will have especially detrimental impact on the children from the DNTs. When the AIILSG ICEQUI-T team got to know about it, it took up the task of identifying the families in extreme poverty and need for food grain support in one of its field action areas: DNT settlements in Shirur Kasar taluka in Beed district. It provided relief to 190 DNT families 3 DNT settlements: Adarsh Nagar, Uttam Nagar and Ram Nagar.

Each of the 190 families were provided a packet of dry-food-ration

sufficient for 15 days. , which included: Rice, Bajra/ Jawar, Tuar Dal- pigeon pea, Edible Oil, Spices, Chilli Powder and ground Turmeric.

As the task was extremely challenging considering the strict lockdown measures, the local government machinery was approached. The local government machinery responded very well and provided all necessary support. It is worthwhile to highlight and appreciate that the initiative was launched at the hands of Tehsildar, Shirur Kasar and Chief Executive officer, Shirur Kasar Nagar Panchayat.

International Centre for Differently Abled

An important set of disadvantaged neglected even now in COVID-19 context are the ‘differently abled’.

The closure of blind girls’ schools had constrained dissemination of an innovation of AIILSG’s ICEQUI-T of Comprehensive Sexuality Education for blind girls and women. A need was identified for innovative, personalised dissemination tools for differently abled. This led to development of the Khushi Doll soft toy. It is designed by AIILSG team in such a way that an easily accessible and replaceable pen drive within the Khushi doll can be loaded with audio-message on wide range on developmental and health aspects, including COVID-19.

The AIILSG innovation of ‘Khushi’ doll has special significance as it will enable accessing information by the blinds girls and women who are not ‘braille literate’ and have no avenue for accessing scientifically correct information, further it will also help transcending socio-cultural taboo associated with imparting Sexual and Reproductive Health Education to all types of differently abled girls including blind girls.

AIILSG looks ahead to serve the cause better by reaching out to more and more differently abled through its foster-daughter- ‘Khushi’, which literally means ‘Happiness’.

[Note- All the interventions followed the respective COVID-19 protocol during implementation.]

www.urbanupdate.in | July 2021

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Leaderspeak | Urban Environment

Recovery has to be environment positive Citizens are increasingly becoming aware of the significance of clean and healthy living environments over anything else. In the post-Covid world, the pressure is expected to mount further. Ensuring a clean and healthy environment is a complex task and requires governmental attention in multiple aspects of urban governance and development. Cities can do so by making the right choices in policy-making for enhancing environmental health, improving air quality, water and sanitation facilities, waste management, and conserving biodiversity

C

ovid-19 came as a shocker for cities. A majority of them were ill-equipped and not prepared to deal with a disaster of this magnitude.

It caused havoc. Health infrastructure in cities collapsed, economic activities suffered, and people in informal settlements or migrant populations faced an acute shortage of basic amenities while dealing with the effects of the crisis. Local governments having sparse resources were impacted severely. Yet cities managed to bounce back. They returned to normalcy with an eye on the rear-view mirror for learning from their mistakes. Now the cities are creating policies for recovery, and most of them are focusing on green recovery. It is a crucial time for the transition towards climate-smart approaches for rebuilding cities as the policies cities make today will decide their course of development for years to come. The Pandemic has demonstrated the abilities of local governments and communities to mitigate the health and economic impacts of health disasters. The world has witnessed many innovative initiatives and solutions from cities for building local resilience to tackle any such health crisis in the future. Cities are also building resilience strategies keeping in mind immediate environmental and impending climate change impacts.

The primary focus has to be on decorbonising urban activities, including business and economic activities and optimal energy use in urban operations. According to the

28 July 2021 | www.urbanupdate.in

Climate Emergency, Urban Opportunity report, low-carbon measures could cut emissions from urban buildings, transport, materials use and waste by almost 90 per cent by 2050; support 87 million jobs in 2030 and 45 million jobs in 2050, and generate a return of at least USD 23.9 trillion by 2050. This will make cities resilient and build their long-term sustainable development plan in which their economic activities are not dependent on fossil-fuel use.

Green reboot

Covid-19 has proved to be the biggest disruptor of economic activities, infrastructure development and achievement of global goals in the last 100 years. Cities have gradually restarted their urban systems, and now, they will also have to make strategies for achieving global goals. Cities are slowly shifting their focus from short-term pandemic relief measures to long-term plans for building resilience without compromising their development agenda.

Local governments have to take essential decisions to allocate limited resources effectively for decarbonising economic and business activities. In the post-Covid world, ULBs face a shortage of funds due to the impact on revenue generation and transfer of existing funds towards Covid relief measures.

Further, cities will also have to make sure that every action is inclusive for achieving the global targets. The United Nations has declared the “Decade of Action” to ensure the SDGs are achieved within the next ten years.

Since most of these goals depend on how cities perform on different parameters, it will lean considerably on urban policies directed towards green recovery plans.

The ‘Green Reboot’ report estimates that if cities in 21 emerging markets, studied by the International Finance Corporation of the World Bank prioritise climate-smart growth in their recovery plans, they stand to gain as much as USD seven trillion in investments and could create 144 million new jobs by 2030.

Protecting the environmental ecosystem in cities is also a priority for local governments in the postCovid world. Experts have suggested opting for nature-based solutions to mitigate the negative impacts of

Ranjit S Chavan President, AIILSG

emission-induced climate change events to address urban issues. The report also says that nature-based solutions can provide up to 37 per cent of the emissions reductions needed by 2030 to keep global temperature increases under 2 degrees Celsius while improving air quality and promoting people’s well-being. Nature-based solutions could also improve natural ecosystems that underpin sectors that rely on nature for inputs—such as construction, agriculture, and food and beverage—that generate $44 trillion or half of global GDP.

Global learning

Many cities worldwide used technology for containing the spread of the virus and providing relief to citizens.

Technological integration was also used for assisting local businesses to thrive during the lockdown and curfew days. The central learning was that cities and local governments have to be adaptive, agile, and resourceful to integrate new systems in their operation and management framework.

A significant shift has been seen in the transportation, energy efficiency and housing sector.

Globally, the Pandemic had a devastating impact on informal settlements. Migrants either have to leave cities or live with improper civic services. The Pandemic has again highlighted a sharp disparity in access to civic services between the rich and the poor. Therefore, the focus of cities should be on making delivery of

The ‘Green Reboot’ report estimates that if cities in 21 emerging markets studied by IFC prioritise climate-smart growth in their recovery plans, they stand to gain as much as USD seven trillion in investments and could create 144 million new jobs by 2030

urban services equitable. In technology adaptation, cities have to make sure people of all classes have access to digital services through accessible common service centres if they do not own internet-enabled devices. Embedding digital technologies in governance shall also include citizen participation, data safety, and responsive governance systems.

The Pandemic has also impacted how people work in urban settings. Such changes were seen worldwide. With people working from homes or going to offices on alternate days, cities have begun looking at the impacts on public transport use. The transport choices have also seen a shift in favour of private vehicles. Cities around the world have seen a decline in the use of public buses and metro trains. Keeping this in mind, cities in the developed world have built more exclusive spaces for cycling and walking. Some European cities are working on the concept of 15-minute cities where people can walk or cycle to places they need to travel for their daily needs within 15 minutes. The mix-land use and importance of public spaces in cities have come to the fore. And, it will be reflected in the way city make their development plans for the future.

It has become clear that cities are prioritising environmental balancing with development to create a cushion for cities and citizens to absorb the impacts of imminent disasters and pandemics. And, to make this a reality, cities will have to improve their functional capacity and enhance their access to updated knowledge and resources.

www.urbanupdate.in | July 2021

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ARTICLE | Green Financing

Funding green initiatives for a sustainable future

A recent study by scientists from across the globe has claimed that the world has already crossed crucial tipping points in its fight against climate change. While countries have tried to introduce sustainable practices, their effect has not been substantial. The concept of green financing has now come to our rescue, showcasing a potentially green and clean future Ashley Paul | Senior Sub-Editor

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hen a government, a bank or any other organization sets apart a portion of its funds to support green, sustainable initiatives/projects,

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it is called green financing. The term has gained renewed importance, especially post the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement. With green financing gaining popularity, more and more cities and organisations are adopting it for promoting use of green resources.

How it can help

One of the biggest hurdles in quick adoption of green initiatives is the cost which is associated with them. It is necessary to understand that a major portion of the project which municipal corporations undertake bears heavy

investments. This is mainly because sustainable development is not a cheap affair. Therefore, although government agencies have a steady source of revenue, the same is not the case with private players. Their primary aim is to make profits and to justify the costs of the organisation to the shareholders.

This makes investing in high-cost sustainable projects a tough choice.

Here is where green financing plays its part. International organisations like the World Bank, the United Nations, and the Asian Development Bank, have specific funds which aim to aid such private players and government agencies in undertaking green projects. These may range from banning the use of plastic to building infrastructure which has minimal carbon footprint.

Secondly, green financing also means that the prospect of battling climate change is inclusive and promotes participation from all sections of the society, whether a small company or a big multinational corporation, the urban local body (ULB) of a small city or that of a big metropolis.

Thirdly, through green financing, international organisations and governments can plan sustainable development strategies based on the needs of different regions. This helps in overcoming the ‘one shoe fits all’ approach to development.

Issues and Challenges

Although more and more ULBs, governments and international private and public organisations are moving to adopt green financing, the concept is not without shortcomings. One of the major issues is that green financing has no fixed definition. Moreover, the lack of an international set of guidelines and framework for the same is also a deterrent to green financing.

Some of the other issues with green financing are:

Incoherence between the SDG targets and national goals This is a major issue which hinders

governments and ULBs from adopting green financing. Simply put, a developing country may focus primarily on rapid economic growth to meet the aspirations of its people. And since this may not always coincide with sustainable development, the latter suffers. Another obstacle is that the costs associated with green financing, are often very high as compared to the same project done in the conventional way.

Absence of a regulatory framework In most cases, green financing is connected with undertaking projects that benefit the environment around them in some way. However, once these projects have been formulated, there is virtually no central authoritative body with appropriate powers to regulate and monitor if the project is being implemented in the right way. This means that the organisations actually responsible for implementing these projects may find it easy to flout the basic tenets of the projects in order to make profits.

Preference of short-term projects A long term project financed through funds available under green financing can often be less preferred than a short term project. This is mainly because the returns on a short term project are received much earlier. In the case of a long-term project, however, the investment is large and the returns are delayed.

For example, a project for construction of an eight-lane bridge between two mountains while keeping the SDGs in mind is a longterm project. On the other hand, the construction/maintenance of a city road is a short term project. This is why ULBs and private firms prefer undertaking short-term projects.

Case Studies

Despite its shortcomings, green financing has been successful in various instances in promoting a

shift to more sustainable and greener projects. One of the most recent examples of this is that of the Asian Development Bank, which decided that it will stop funding projects working on extracting non-renewable fuels and will use those funds to finance extraction of green fuels. This way, the Bank not only promotes a shift but also assures the concerned stakeholders of sufficient funding so that they will be able to shift their operations and still remain profitable.

Another success story is the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC)’s CNG bus fleet. The entire fleet of the DTC was changed in the time preceding the 2010 Commonwealth Games. With it, the overall carbon footprint of the state public transport provider was reduced, while at the same time, it produced thousands of employment opportunities for the unskilled and semi-skilled workers. The switch also bettered the fleet of the DTC which, in turn, encouraged more people to adopt public transport facilities. This decreased the number of cars on Delhi roads, thereby reducing pollution levels and traffic jams in the city.

A third one would be that of installing a concentrated solar power system in Morocco. Under the project, mirrors and lenses are used to concentrate a larger amount of sunlight onto the solar panels, which in turn are able to generate more energy. Since the project required a sizeable investment, the African Development Bank, as part of its green financing funds, helped the Moroccan government with the project, which now accounts for 38 per cent of the country’s total energy generation.

The number of organisations engaged in green financing has been increasing in the past decade. However, if we wish that it should avert climate change and prevent it from affecting millions, if not billions, of people worldwide, we will need to come up with solutions to the challenges that green financing faces and learn from the success stories which are already available.

www.urbanupdate.in | July 2021

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ARTICLE | Public To Private Transport

Shifting transit preferences in Indian Cities 2.0 As cities are rebuilding themselves post-pandemic, the transit preference of the people is also shifting from public to private modes. According to an analysis by Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), the percentage of people using public transport in cities is projected to decrease from 75.7 per cent in 2000-01 to 44.7 per cent in 2030-31 Hitesh Nigam | Reporter

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hile there could be several reasons for this long term shift, in the near term, an important reason behind growth of private vehicles is citizen hesitancy in using trains, buses and metro given the fear of COVID infection. This trend comes with attached complexities involving increased vehicular pollution,

32 July 2021 | www.urbanupdate.in

higher congestion and parking space problems, and elevated risks of road accidents and several other undesirable outcomes. Just as the country started pushing aggressively for rapid rollout of e-mobility, Bharat emission norms, etc., the COVID pandemic seems to have set the clock back.

Effect of COVID-19

One of the main causes for the spread of COVID-19 infection is linked

to hygiene; to contain its spread; suggestions include regular use of sanitiser, face mask, maintaining distance from others, and continuous disinfection of surroundings. These precautions are difficult to follow in public transport, which is a major mode of transport for daily commuters.

An analysis by the CSE tells us that the capacity of public transport has drastically dipped by 73 per cent on average since March 2020, and the

daily commuters are now wary of travelling in modes of mass transit such as metro and buses.

To help policy makers in giving insights to the transit sector, UITP (Union Internationale des Transports Publics) and the World Bank together studied the pattern of changes in the ridership of bus operators before and after the COVID-19 pandemic in India. 14 State Transport Undertakings (STUs), two government-supported urban bus contracting authorities and 11 private bus operators were analysed in the study.

The study mentions that their average daily ridership before pandemic was 1.5 million, but just 1-2 per cent of normal services were operational during lockdown.

According to the respondents, 81 per cent of the operators reported no ridership post pandemic, while the rest witnessed a decline of almost 90 per cent. The study also provides insights into new measures which are being taken by bus operators to tackle the pandemic, including new cleaning protocols, additional vehicle cleaning and mandatory medical protective gear such as masks and gloves.

One must note, however, that the declining ridership in public mass transit during COVID-19 is not just because of citizen hesitancy. In instances such as the Mumbai suburban rail system and many metro operations, services were either severely curtailed, or ordinary citizens (other than essential services personnel) were not permitted to travel. This was a justified move given that some of these services are extremely crowded and any thought of social distancing would be immediately discarded. In many cases though, citizens have been clamouring for re-introduction of services for all, and authorities are responding in a calibrated manner.

In order to get a broader perspective on the issue, Team Urban Update spoke to Dr Geetam Tiwari, Professor, Indian Institute of Technology-Delhi (IIT-D).

She said, “Clearly, public transport has been adversely affected. Reduction in

ridership due to work restrictions and restriction on other activities led to a drastic reduction in travel demand.

Skeletal bus services continued to meet essential service demand, however, there has been almost no effort to upgrade public transport services (fleet augmentation, infrastructure upgradation, improvement in operations, etc).” She added that in various phases of unlock, there has been very little effort to ensure the safety of public transport users (precautions taken to ensure less crowding and sanitisation). Therefore, as people resume travelling on a daily basis, people who own personal vehicles have begun avoiding public transport.

Maintaining sustainability in the new normal

Growing number of private vehicles on roads has made local governments sceptical about the environmental quotient of their respective regions.

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 7, 11, and 13 rely heavily on the level of pollution in cities and effective use of clean energy.

The Government of India mandated compliance of (Bharat Stage) BS-VI emission standards from April 2020.

In addition, the state governments of Gujarat, Delhi, Tamil Nadu, and Uttarakhand, among others, have formulated their own electric vehicle (EV) policies in order to encourage the adoption of EVs in cities. The authorities are also providing subsidies on the purchase of two-, three-, and four-wheeler EVs in the hope of keeping SDG targets of Agenda 2030 in line with the changing face of Indian cities.

Way Ahead

While moving forward to the new phase of Indian cities and aiming for disaster resilient public transport, authorities and people have to work together in order to enhance urban transit through sustainable ways. On the one hand, promotion of EVs is to be sustained to clean up the air in our cities. Yet, issues such as congestion, parking space limitation, and road

safety can be solved in a long term, sustained manner only by reducing the number of vehicles on the streets, ie., by promoting public transit aggressively. As cities rebuild in a postCOVID world, public transport modes need to be restored in a phased manner by improving hygiene and reducing risks of infection. There are several prescriptions. Some authorities are considering permitting fully vaccinated persons to use mass transit. This seems justified in the current context.

Frequent sanitization of coaches and buses could help overcome hesitancy on the part of citizens. Services must be augmented with fresh investments in order to reduce crowding and its related risks.

Conclusion

The travel preferences of the people in cities are continuously changing in the post pandemic world, which affects both the environment and economy of cities. Public transport, which is losing its importance in the new cities, has to be stimulated again by way of an infrastructure overhaul and rethinking archaic revenue models. Prof Tiwari suggested that the government has to run public transport as an essential service and use special pandemic funds allocated for economic recovery to create dedicated funds for upgrading all aspects of public transport (fleet, technology, operations, public outreach). She added, “In 2008, when the world economy had collapsed and the global vehicle industry was facing huge losses, the Centre had introduced a special package for acquiring new, technologically advanced buses in most cities. A similar effort is required again.

Urban local bodies and state transport authorities should be asked to prepare detailed plans for reviving bus services and prepare a road map for the next five years.”

Efficient, safe, reliable and affordable public transport will be the backbone of our efforts to build sustainable cities of the future. We must do everything we can to succeed. For there is too much at stake.

www.urbanupdate.in | July 2021

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ARTICLE | Plastic Waste & Recycling

Plastic recycling promising, but alternatives are the solution

Since the 1950s, plastic has become an indispensable part of our lives. But the artificially created material has started to take over the world, threatening the very existence of life. Researchers, governments, businesses, and individuals are turning to recycling to tackle the plastic demon. Is recycling plastic enough to deal with the problem?

Pooja Upadhyay | Trainee Reporter

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t the United Nations Environment Assembly held in 2019, India, along with other nations, had resolved to entirely phase out single-use plastics by 2025. Over the years, although many Indian cities have introduced a ban on singleuse plastics (SUPs), in the absence of regulatory seriousness, they continue to exist and thrive. Commercial production

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of plastics had started in the 1950s and has since enjoyed exceptional growth, especially in urban areas. Plastic is a widely used, inexpensive, durable, light and versatile commodity with wide application from our kitchens, offices and factories, to our cars, aircrafts and even spacecrafts. In fact, we cannot think of many instances when we do not come in contact with plastic. But the problem lies not in how plastic is used, but in the end-of-life management

of products made from it. Estimates show that 60 per cent of marine debris comes from urban centres as polluted waterways and unsound waste disposal systems carry plastic pollution to the ocean. Hence, plastic pollution becomes a collective responsibility of brand owners, recyclers, regulatory authorities, and individuals.

As the deadline of the Sustainable Development Goals approaches rapidly, organisations across the world are recognising the significance and urgency of a circular economy, phasing out SUPs, and recycling, and scientifically incinerating the already present plastic waste. Countries are trying to implement innovations to remedy the plastic collection, recycling, and disposal systems. In Europe, countries including Denmark, Croatia, and Netherlands, have already introduced deposit return schemes, where consumers pay a small amount upfront, which is reimbursed to them when they bring the plastic container to a collection point after usage. Similar schemes and systems have enabled Norway to achieve a recycling rate of 97 per cent for plastic bottles. The Government of India introduced Plastic Waste Management (Amendment) Rules 2021, proposing a complete ban on manufacturing, import, stocking, sale, and use of SUP and SUP-based products. However, many cities and organisations are now coming at the

forefront of the battle against plastic usage, waste and recycling, because a bottom-up approach offers more potential in terms of reducing plastic usage and increasing recycling.

recycling and disposal. In fact, such products do not even see the light of the day at recycling plants.

Recycling is the new trend

The plastic recycling process starts with the collection of plastic waste and then distribution to designated recycling facilities. Even though cities are considering turning to circular economies, they lack proper disposal and collection of plastic waste.

Urban areas in India have introduced separate bins for wet and dry waste, biodegradable and plastic based waste, but public engagement remains zero.

The dustbins are used but almost never properly, which results in waste pickers and workers at municipal waste centres having to separate waste into different categories, which could have been done at the source. This not only adds to the already long process of waste management, but creates health related issues for the workers and cleaners.

City of Berlin displays an excellent example of better results in recycling due to better ways of waste collection.

The city’s waste management utility Berliner Stadtreinigungsbetriebe is one of the largest waste management companies in Europe and is responsible for dealing with the waste accumulated for disposal in Berlin. All households in the city are obliged to use its services.

Recyclable waste in Berlin such as glass, paper, and plastic is essentially separated by households and businesses, then collected separately and taken to recycling plants.

Leading the way in India, Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) introduced a new plastic waste management strategy in 2020, wherein International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives South Asia will soon set up Reverse Vending Machines (RVMs) in the city for collection of PET bottles and aluminium cans. This pilot programme is expected to enhance and streamline the collection and recycling of plastic waste. GHMC is hoping to reduce littering and improve authorized

Today, governments, consumers, and businesses are looking more and more at recycling materials. In fact, many cities and businesses are attracting consumers and tourists by highlighting their work on reducing and recycling plastic waste. Recent researches establish that if the rate of plastic pollution continues at the same pace in the years to come, there will be more plastic in the ocean by 2050 than fishes, and 99 per cent of all seabirds in the world would have ingested plastic. This implies plastic entering into numerous food chains, including that of humans, polluting air, land, and water, thereby endangering the very existence of life on Earth.

Recycling of plastic is of paramount importance as it is a method to deal with our existing waste and it is a component of both circular economy and zerowaste systems that could better the livability of both humans and animals.

But, there are some impediments to effective and safe recycling. One is the contamination of used plastic, either due to mixing of non-recyclable plastics with recyclable plastics, or by trying to recycle plastics soiled by materials like adhesives, chemicals, and food remnants. Both these problems result in plastics being sent to the landfill instead of being recycled.

Another complication in recycling plastic is found in the very production of plastic based products. Some goods like water bottles are often made from a single plastic, such as polyethylene terephthalate, which allows them to be recycled after usage. However, many plastic-based goods are produced using a mix of plastics, which causes serious issues in the existing recycling process.

Many plastic-based products are even made of mixture of plastics and nonplastic materials such as wood or metal, which further complicates their

Plastic recycling – easier said than done

collection and processing of PET items and aluminium cans in the city through these RVMs. As a promotional strategy, the corporation will also introduce users receiving rewards from outlets that will have tie-ups with the provider of RVMs. This system also has the potential to reduce the dependency on the informal sector for recycling of materials, thereby avoiding many occupational hazards and creating proper market out of the programme. To increase citizen engagement, GHMC also conducted women self-help group campaign across shops and temples in the city to stop the use of single use plastics. The organisation also provides recognition and awards to places no longer using SUPs. After collection and sorting, washing and shredding plastic waste are crucial steps. Resized plastics after shredding is often used for other applications without further processing, such as an additive within asphalt or simply sold as a raw material. The process further involves identification and separation of plastics based on types, and then extruding and compounding it into different products.

Recycling plastic waste does save the environment, but it is unfortunately not the ultimate solution to the problem of plastic waste on planet Earth. Unlike many materials such as glass and aluminium, plastics are not infinitely recyclable; with each subsequent processing, the recycled plastic material degrades and is of a lesser quality than virgin materials. Although, more advanced ways like chemical recycling are being introduced to keep more plastics in the recycling loop for longer periods of time, alternatives to plastic items are the way to a greener and healthier future. With more ideas and innovations coming in, like bamboo toothbrushes, biodegradable sanitary napkins, edible cutlery, biodegradable packaging, cotton food bags, silicone stretch lids, compostable trash bags, cities, corporations, and their citizens are trying to completely replace plastic and plastic based items from their systems, businesses, and lives.

www.urbanupdate.in | July 2021

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ARTICLE | Mass Urban Transit

India needs to pay more heed to the growing electric rickshaw industry

India currently has over 15 lakh e-rickshaws running in city lanes and providing the solution for first-and last-mile connectivity, especially to the middle-income group. To support the budding electric vehicle industry, several policies have been introduced by the government; none that address the presence of potentially unsafe e-rickshaws and their operation by unregistered drivers Shivi sharma | Editorial Assistant

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ndia is not a country raised on gold. Car ownership is a privilege most do not have. A survey conducted at the end of 2018 concluded that car ownership stood at 30 vehicles for every thousand Indians in a country where 1.3 billion people live. Hence, it is safe to say that most Indians do not have the luxury to own personal conveyance. This is where public transportation comes into the picture. In Delhi alone, over 6.8 million people use public transport on a regular basis. However, only a few have their daily routes aligned with those of metros and buses. Enter e-rickshaws.

Not only can they be used conveniently,

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they are also inexpensive and beneficial for drivers.

Growth of electric vehicles in India

India is on the development path with an exponential rise in the number of cities, from 5161 in 2001 to 7935 in 2011. During India’s years of development, a considerable rise in the number of registered vehicles has also been observed, indicating a strong need for viable options for mass transit.

Simultaneously, there has been a rise in issues related to vehicular emissions in cities. Conventional fuel powered vehicles have largely contributed to rising pollution levels that are leading

to poor air quality and its related health issues. The government has, therefore, been exploring alternative mobility options for the city folk. The most feasible and logical option seems to be electric vehicles (EVs).

Electric rickshaws were introduced in India in 2012. Since e-rickshaws started looming their webs in the fabrics of India’s urban landscape, they have experienced exponential growth.

Currently, e-rickshaws make up 83 per cent of the Indian electric vehicle market with over 15 lakh registered e-rickshaws. The Indian e-rickshaw market is expected to reach a market value of US $13,942.2 million by 2025.

According to a report published by

Prescient & Strategic Intelligence, the rickshaw market is expected to have at least a 33.3 per cent compound annual growth rate between the years 2020-2025. Moreover, e-rickshaws are designed in such a manner that their speed is restricted, making them comfortable for all age groups.

Government policies pushing the industry

Over the years, the government has come up with a number of policies to support the industry’s growth. Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric Vehicles Phase II (FAMEII) scheme (2019), National Electric Mobility Mission Plan (2013), National Urban Livelihood Mission (2013), Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojna (2015) and Smart Cities Mission (2015), have been some of the policies introduced by the government that helped boost the electric vehicle industry.

The on-ground situation

The recent campaigns have been widely successful, the effect of which is evident in the rapidly growing numbers of e-rickshaws in cities.

“An average e-rickshaw driver earns about `500-600 per day,” said Vijay Shukla, an e-rickshaw driver from Delhi. He owns an e-rickshaw that he bought for `1.5 lakh. He estimates that a rental e-rickshaw can cost about `400/per day.

The initial cost of purchasing an e-rickshaw is `0.6 -1.1 lakh, which is cheaper than an internal combustion engine (ICE) based three-wheeler costing `1.5-3 lakh.

He said that the perks of the Switch Delhi campaign and the subsidies offered by the Government of Delhi have given a huge push to drivers to switch to this industry. Shukla, a former cycle-rickshaw owner, believes that EVs are replacing cycle rickshaws in cities.

The government has put a restriction of not more than four riders, excluding the driver, to travel together in an EV. When asked about this rule, Shukla waved his hand and said that the rule is only followed in areas where there is

traffic police present. Vijay, a registered driver, said that most of his peers are still not registered as they are afraid to come under the government’s spotlight.

Issues with the industry

Since e-rickshaws work on city roads, flouting the rules is much easier for them. The government tries to regulate the industry by standardising EV design, restricting the number of riders and its route. However, the loopholes and bureaucracy in the system allow the drivers to pave their way past them.

Ajay Singh, a registered Delhi-based driver, while driving on the main road said that he pays `1500 to the traffic police each month. Calling it a ‘tariff’, he said that it allows him to drive wherever he wants.

The number of unregistered e-rickshaw drivers in the country is far greater than the registered ones. There is no official data that can verify the numbers of e-rickshaws operating in the country. In other words, unregistered drivers are operating in the city without any valid licensing. This compromises the safety of on-board passengers, as well as people on the street.

Estimates by experts suggest that several people who own hundreds of e-rickshaws have rented them out on a per-day basis. Since their motives are influenced by commercial gains, the driving quality is not a concern for them.

There is also no fixed rate for renting out an e-rickshaw, which lets the owners exploit the drivers. This cartelization of e-rickshaws ensues an unhealthy dynamic wherein the driver is flouting the rules to make more money for themselves and to pay the rental.

An e-rickshaw, before it starts operating, has to go through a testing process where safety standards (specified by the International Centre for Automotive Technology, and Automotive Research Association of India) are ensured. Despite the prevailing rules, many manufacturers still assemble imported parts from neighboring countries or utilize parts

manufactured locally. Even if an e-rickshaw does not pass the eligibility standards, making it unsafe for those on board, it still is purchased by operators due to their low cost.

In July 2014, the Delhi High Court directed the government to ban e-rickshaws after the death of a threeyear-old toddler who slipped from his mother’s arm while they were on board.

“Their unregulated plying is prima facie a hazard to other traffic on the road as well as to the citizens”, the court had said while hearing a writ petition seeking regulatory reform for e-rickshaws.

Recently, Nitin Gadkari, Minister of Road Transport and Highways, Government of India, had offered to provide funding for the remodelling of e-rickshaws if the manufacturers were ready to work alongside any Indian Institute of Technology.

So, what is the solution?

In the e-rickshaw industry, there is a vacuum created by its unorganized side. Dr Sewa Ram, Professor of Transport Planning, School of Planning and Architecture - Delhi, suggests that drivers go through a different licensing system. Drivers involved in paratransit cannot go through the same certification process as a normal driver as they are associated with the safety of other users. If such a requirement is put in place, it would automatically curb the issue of registration. A policy could be put in place where the drivers are required to carry two licenses on them.

E-rickshaws are designed in such a way that drivers cannot exceed the pre-set speed limit. However, local manufactures are using more powerful batteries that allow the e-rickshaws to run at a faster speed. Dr Ram suggests that the government could put in place more stringent policies that specify the mechanics of the e-rickshaw. The government could work in association with the manufacturers to make the e-rickshaw safer for the occupants in case of an accident. E-rickshaws are an intrinsic part of the lives of middleincome groups and thus there is an urgent need for their regulation.

www.urbanupdate.in | July 2021

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ARTICLE | Data Governance

Using technology to combat COVID-19

Technology adoption across cities has been key to providing better service delivery to citizens and enhancing the quality of life. The smart infrastructure and solutions adopted by smart cities facilitated their response to the COVID-19 pandemic using data analytics for evidence-based decision-making, including predictive modeling Radhika Matta | Editorial Assistant

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s part of the Smart City Mission pandemic response strategy, many Indian smart cities effectively used the Integrated Command and Control Centers (ICCCs), which are the ‘brain and nerve centre’ of the smart cities. Most Indian cities are using their ICCCs as ‘COVID-19 War Rooms’ to effectively coordinate and monitor activities of various state and city agencies. Using them, cities brought together civil society organisations, local businesses

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and others on a single platform through their websites and mobile applications to collaborate with the city administration. To leverage city data for the envisaged benefits in planning and governance, institutions across the world have stressed upon the necessity of evolving a culture of data usage in governance machinery.

The quick adoption of technology solutions by Indian smart cities was facilitated by specific measures instituted by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) of the Government of India.

COVID-19 response by Indian Smart Cities

The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagar Palike (BBMP) used the technological expertise and capabilities of its residents to combat the pandemic.

With the support of city-based IT organizations, BBMP adopted several technology solutions to set up a COVID-19 War Room, dashboards and mobile applications for contact tracing and various other services. In March 2020, this 24x7 command-andcontrol centre helped to map each COVID positive case in the city using Geographical Information System, track healthcare workers using the Global Positioning System, and draw up containment plans using heatmapping technologies.

With the pandemic affecting industries and residents, the Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC), with support from the Surat Smart City Development Limited (SSCDL), has

adopted a rigorous strategy of Track, Test, Treat, Isolate and Quarantine to respond to the challenges brought by the new virus. SSCDL uses the SMART CITY (SMAC) Centre, its integrated command and control centre, to effectively monitor and manage the fight against the pandemic. SMAC Centre gathers information from various sources: self-declaration form on SMC website and SMC app, toll-free helpline, citizen reporting of travellers or suspects in their society/vicinity, international traveller information received from the Government of India,details of patients received from private clinics/hospitals and urban health centres, door-to-door surveys, and data collected through the employee connect app.

“In 2020, there were 49 working Integrated Command and Control Centres across the country, which in 2021 have increased to 53 and 30 more are to be included in the upcoming months,” Durga Shankar Mishra, Secretary, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, told Businessworld.

He added that whether it is artificial intelligence or other technological advancements, including the smart cities as an organic lot, the MoHUA is trying to deploy all resources to make use of them judiciously.

Addressing the challenges the pandemic imposed, Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) explored the possibility of using the existing smart city infrastructure and facilities to manage the response to the pandemic. This has led to a significant reduction in coordination time, helping PCMC take prompt decisions based on the most recent data points.

The city administration onboarded smart city technology consultants to support their efforts in developing solutions for COVID-19 tracking and integrating it with their COVID-19 War Room. The highest priority was given to tracking of infected patients and on prevention of the spread of the disease. A healthcare and patient tracking dashboard was developed

by PCMC to provide real-time

information on COVID-related cases, testing and healthcare arrangements.

“The infrastructure was already existing. However, it was only used for different purposes. When the pandemic hit us, we tweaked the functioning of the ICCC into processes needed for pandemic management and the results are for all to see,” said Deepak Kumar, Principal Secretary, Department of Urban Development, Government of Uttar Pradesh. The ten municipal bodies in the state which are part of the Smart City Mission — Lucknow, Agra, Varanasi, Saharanpur, Moradabad, Bareilly, Prayagraj, Jhansi, Aligarh, and Kanpur —turned their respective ICCCs into war rooms for COVID-19.

Pandemic response by other cities

As part of its pandemic response strategy, New York established a City Emergency Management system, which includes series of task forces to work alongside the emergency support functions. NYC Emergency Management coordinated to ensure that New Yorkers stay informed and connected during critical times.

During the pandemic, the screens otherwise used for advertisements across the city are being used to help people find the ‘least crowded’ times to visit grocery stores and pharmacies.

The same screens are being used to display public artwork related to COVID-19 crisis to promote messages of positivity, solidarity and gratitude during a difficult and traumatic time.

This has helped the administration of NYC in keeping the public calm, informed and aware of how they can stay safe from COVID-19 and stop the spread.

Measures to strengthen data governance capabilities

While cities were able to respond to these challenges during the COVID-19 response, experience in Indian smart cities and their global counterparts suggests that if cities have to

institutionalize and strengthen these practices, the following actions need to be prioritised – ♦♦ Ensure standardisation and interoperability through cities formulating their respective technology management policies and implementation strategies.

Indian cities should use policy advisory support and guidance provided by MoHUA ♦♦ Data security and protection via cities developing their data policy in compliance with national laws and guidelines to ensure citizens’ data security and protection ♦♦ Adequately staffed technology and data management organisation by ensuring appointment of a city data office. Adopting objective indicators to monitor citizen service delivery using assessment frameworks such as MoHUA’s ICCC Maturity Assessment Framework, which enables cities to assess gaps and learn from the experience of cities which are performing better Indian cities need to develop specific standards for technology solutions or regulations on citizen data protection and security. MoHUA is in close consultation with several departments/ agencies, such as the Bureau of Indian Standards, National Security Council Secretariat, and the Department of Electronics and Information Technology, and is working towards providing guidance to Indian smart cities on adoption of available global technology standards. Smart cities in India have been at the forefront of the fight against COVID-19 because of the significant investments made in implementing smart solutions that enabled many smart cities to provide robust responses to the pandemic.

The momentum that the smart cities have gained now with respect to putting all their technologies to use to administer services for the citizens must not be lost. The Government of India must work with all concerned officials to augment the development of ICCCs, and smart cities at large.

www.urbanupdate.in | July 2021

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ARTICLE | Nursing Education In India

India needs robust nursing education to build healthy cities

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lorence Nightingale, well known as “The lady with a lamp”, was the founder of Modern Nursing. She was born in England in the 19th century and died at the beginning of the 20th century. Despite lacking infrastructure and unhygienic practice in hospitals, she established a system for patient care. Her perseverance towards excellent patient care laid down the profession in a respectable and high-status style of health care.

In 1871, the first nursing school was started in Government General Hospital, Madras, with four students with a six-month diploma midwives program. While Nursing Council Act came into existence in 1948 to constitute a council of nurses who would safeguard the quality of nursing education in the country. There are seven levels of nursing education in India today. ♦♦ Auxiliary Nursing and Midwifery (ANM) or Multi-Purpose Health Worker- Female (MPHW-F) ♦♦ General Nursing and Midwifery (GNM) ♦♦ Basic Bachelor of Nursing (B.Sc. Nursing) ♦♦ Post Basic Bachelor of Nursing (P.B.B.Sc. Nursing) ♦♦ Masters in Nursing (M.Sc. Nursing) ♦♦ Masters of Philosophy in Nursing (M.Phil) ♦♦ Doctorate in Philosophy in Nursing (PhD) Nursing education emphasises restoring and maintaining health and preventing disease and helps develop a deep pride in the nursing profession among students to enable further professional growth.

A nurse plays an essential role in

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hospitals as well as society. Where a doctor is the brain of the hospital and a nurse is the heart of the hospital. Nurses advocate for health promotion, educate patients and the public on preventing illness and injury, providing care, assisting in the cure, participating in rehabilitation, and providing support.

No other health care professional has such a broad and far-reaching role.

Nurses help families learn to become healthy by helping them understand the range of emotional, physical, mental and cultural experiences they encounter during health and illness. Nurses are considered as the saviour not only for patients but also for their families. Families are made comfortable to share their grief and pain encountered by illness. In addition, nurses provide emotional support and mental care for a speedy recovery.

Nurses do more than care for individuals. They have always been at the forefront of change in health care and public health.

Nurses played a critical role during the COVID-19 pandemic. They continued to be at the front line of patient care in hospitals and actively involved with evaluation and monitoring in the community. Nurses ensured that all patients acquire personalised, highquality services irrespective of their infectious condition. They also engaged in planning for anticipated COVID-19– related outbreaks, which increase the demand for nursing and healthcare services. However, COVID-19 has affected the life and health of more than one million people across the world. This overwhelms many countries’ healthcare systems and, of course, affects healthcare providers such as nurses fighting on the frontlines

to safeguard the lives of everyone concerned. Exploring the issues that nurses had face during their battle will help support them and develop protocols and plans to improve their preparedness. An integrative review

by S Karger suggested that the major issues faced by nurses in this situation were the critical shortage of nurses, beds, and medical supplies, including personal protective equipment and, psychological changes and fears of infection among nursing staff.

Our country faces an acute shortage of nursing staff with an estimated deficit of about twenty lakh. The deficit in the public sector alone is considered to be 1,40,000 staff nurses. The Nursepopulation ratio and Nurse-doctor ratio is also abysmally low in India compared to developed countries of Europe and other western countries.

Thus, to develop trained nurses, there are two main routes in our country. The majority of nurses undergo a three-year diploma training in Schools of Nursing to become General Nurse Midwife. A minority undertake a four-year training in a College of Nursing (affiliated to a University) to obtain a B.Sc degree from a Registered Nursing College recognised by Indian Nursing Council and State Nursing Councils. Apart from this, many universities are also offering courses other than these, ie., M.Sc in Nursing, PhD and M.Phill in Nursing.

While staff nurses are recruited from the GNM cadre in most public sector healthcare facilities, the B.Sc graduates work for a short duration in such sectors to gain experience. They are primarily interested in migrating to developed countries to get attractive salaries and perks and responsible positions. Thus, they have a bright career therein.

This shows that the higher academic

Hansa Patel Executive Adviser

qualifications in Nursing are valued as a potential route of acquiring betterpaid jobs and higher status, as their roles and responsibilities differ from the GNM cadre.

Nursing Education Overview

Auxiliary Nurse Midwifery Course: It is a two-year duration course with the eligibility of 10+2 (from the Arts or Science stream). Students have to secure at least 40-50 per cent marks in the qualifying examination. The minimum age requirement is 17 years. Only female students can apply for this course. The main aim of the course is to teach students to help the whole community of people in providing healthcare. This course has its importance because of the need for people to know the health profession.

In case of a shortage of highly qualified Nurses, the candidates who have passed ANM are preferred as a stop-gap arrangement.

General Nursing and Midwifery: It is a three-year diploma course designed for aspirants who want to pursue a career in clinical nursing. The programme teaches candidates how to care for sick individuals or those who have been injured to help them attain full recovery. In addition, GNM courses are designed to prepare the students for the clinical approach of handling patients.

Internship: The internship is an integral part of Nursing education, which provides practical exposure to students from the hospital or any other healthcare organisation which should have full-fledged facilities to treat patients suffering from different diseases. During the attachment, they also get an opportunity to research.

Further, they will also gain experience as to how they can professionally handle different situations and adjust to the requirements at the ground level.

Administration and Ward Management, including health economics, are the other areas that would help manage health-related affairs in their future career.

Candle Light Ceremony: The name candle lighting was used because of the historical association with Florence Nightingale, known as the “Lady With A Lamp”. The lighted lamp, the flame, came to symbolise a nurse’s dedication to caring for patient’s needs.

During the ceremony, the students who have excelled in various areas during their academic period are awarded and appreciated. This event would give students little time to break from their busy schedules, recommit themselves to nursing careers, and establish social and supportive relationships with other students.

The Candle Lighting Ceremony is considered one of the most emotionally moving and memorable moments for Nursing students.

It is also a get together of faculty and students and an opportunity to share their experience and achievements during their academic period.

The ceremony begins with the nursing students appearing on stage one by one holding candles, an action inspired

by Florence Nightingale. She would tend to her patients at night, holding a kerosene lamp during the Crimean War. The students participating in the

function wear traditional white nursing uniforms and caps, garments that give them a unique identity. Considering the scarcity of trained nurses in different healthcare organisations and with the recommendations of the Health & Welfare Department of Government of Gujarat, the Institute initiated the GNM (General Nursing & Midwifery Course) with the recognition of the Indian Nursing Council and Gujarat Nursing Council in the year 2004. The course was inaugurated by the then Minister of Health & Family Welfare, Jai Narayan Vyas, in 2004. Further, to give upward mobility to GNM students in their nursing career, we started Post-Basic B.Sc. students in the year 2008 followed by Auxiliary Nursing Midwifery Course in 2009.

The admission of the students to the above courses is given as per the norms laid down by Gujarat Nursing Council on a merit basis. It is a matter of pleasure that almost all passed out nursing students are working in different healthcare organisations in India and abroad. With an advanced syllabus and the support of experienced and qualified faculty, they share their knowledge on various topics as per the syllabus. The Academy is having all the required infrastructure, including a well-established Library and Laboratory. Further, we are also sending them to major Government and Private hospitals during the internship period, enabling them to have practical experience in nursingrelated matters and procedures.

www.urbanupdate.in | July 2021

41

CITYNET 2.0 | Localising SDGs

Need for policy intervention to make urban economy sustainable All India Institute of Local Self-Government (AIILSG), in collaboration with CityNet, organized a webinar on ‘Making Urban Economic Development Sustainable’ on July 23. This was the second webinar in a series of monthly webinars. Other supporting organisations are Foundation EMDA Southasia and 3R Waste Foundation Team Urban Update

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he venerable panel for the event comprised of Raj Liberhan, former Director, India Habitat Centre (IHC); Dr Kamla Kant Pandey, Professor (Urban Management), Coordinator, Centre for Urban studies, Indian Institute of Public Administration (IIPA); Dr Lekha S Chakraborty, Professor, National Institute of Public Finance and Policy (NIPFP); and Amarjot Singh Bedi, former President, Una Municipal Committee. The event was moderated

by Abhishek Pandey, Editor, Urban Update.

Pandey began by talking about the steep decline in India’s economic performance post-pandemic and how returning to normalcy is a huge challenge. “The health and education infrastructure received the biggest hit, and almost collapsed. However, cities in post pandemic times are trying their level best to revive and renew their priorities. Efforts are being made to bring economy at its normal pace and also move ahead towards becoming sustainable,” said Pandey. He added that for achieving SDGs, cities have to be economically resilient, and the central government is improvising conducive structures for enterprises and businesses to flourish. He spelled out the following discussion points for the speakers to discuss during the webinar: local economic development and sustainability, importance of resource and energy efficiency, building conducive environment for revamping

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and renewing sustainable practices, and engagement of ULBs. The first speaker, Raj Liberhan began by mentioning that making anything sustainable is a formidable task. “It is not the outcome but the underpinning of any policy, or implementation, which adds up to sustainability,” he said.

Addressing the concern for populated cities and their corresponding growth, he said that cities will be populated and economy will expand, but the ability to let people pursue excellence in this very ambience and in accordance to the expansion is the only key to prosperity for the cities. “COVID-19 destroyed lives and lakhs fell victim to it. Nobody knew the answers to this unprecedented situation.But do we have answers now?” Liberhan exclaimed.

He mentioned points which can be extremely prudent for economic revival of the shock-ridden cities. While saying that hygiene should be made a matter of utmost priority across the country, he emphasized on skill development and better connectivity. He pointed out the discrepancies and redundancies in laws that govern us and focused on how social infrastructure can only thrive when there is a linkage of culture, cohesion and coexistence. Towards the end of his talk, he mentioned how reinvention of solutions is the need of the hour to keep the systems running and how mutual compatibility between users and governance objectives are crucial to economic growth.

Dr KK Pandey took the discussion further with a city specific case study. The case study was based on

‘Engagement of stakeholders for waste management: Bengaluru’. He based his argument on a global focus, which included urbanization, productivity and the environment. He added that in order to revive economies, extra budgetary support and increased participation of stakeholders is important. A quantum jump in resources is the need of the hour. He talked in length about initiatives undertaken by the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) like setting up of dry waste collection centers across the city, and creation of ward committees who will be surveying disposal of waste. He acknowledged the initiatives of the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT), and the Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana (HRIDAY), which are focused on establishing infrastructure that can ensure adequate robust sewage networks and water supply for urban transformation by implementing urban revival projects, bringing together urban planning, economic growth and heritage conservation, eradicating the

For video of the webinar, scan the QR Code

problems of poor sanitation and waste management. He signed off with a few measures which can be implemented at the neighborhood level for proper disposal of waste such as cost effective and environment friendly methods of composting of waste. He also stressed on how communities and civic bodies should work in solidarity towards the aim of sustainability.

Dr Lekha Chakraborty then joined the discussion and flagged her first point. She highlighted the need for us to expand our focus and believe in fiscal decentralization. She pointed out that the ‘one size fits all’ paradigm of growth is wrong. She was of the viewpoint that flexibility of finances is crucial for economic development and proposed mobilisation of tax and

revenue handles from Centre to state governments as one of the ways that could resolve the problem of paucity of funds. In her talk, she referred to the importance of climate change and said that the European Central Bank has emphasized climate change beyond economic development. Furthermore, she suggested climate responsive budgeting to be incorporated in the system as this could be used as a public management tool and it should include urban as well as rural spheres. She then talked of the humanitarian crisis that people are confronted with in these tough times and suggested affordable housing policies to be improvised and implemented for the same. “Growth with equity should be our motto where a link between public policy and

public action should be established,” Dr Chakraborty said while concluding her speech.

The final panelist, Amarjot Singh Bedi, being a former elected leader of an urban local body (ULB), addressed all concerns and suggestions made by others. He started by emphasizing how ULBs are the only link between people and the government, which is hampered from time to time because of systematic dissolving of powers held by municipal corporations with the help of recurring constitutional amendments. He talked about the housing scheme implemented in Una district of Himachal Pradesh, which was a powerful and successful scheme. After monitoring the situation during the pandemic, he suggested that population control can be a beneficial tool in sustaining resources and facilitating implementation of policies. He said that Una is a small town with a small population and therefore the implementation of schemes and adherence to norms and guidelines during COVID-19 was slightly easier than in the rest of the country. “The pandemic infiltrated our lives, our education system, our health infrastructure; no one was spared,” Bedi said. Contradictions in laws which govern us could also be seen as one the major impediments in growth and in becoming fully sustainable. He stressed that people should start taking ULBs seriously and that the government should consult them more often. He also suggested that the extravagant construction of flyovers should be minimized and more innovative ways of solving urban issues must be adopted so that lives of people are not hampered. The webinar was successful in addressing issues in making urban economy sustainable from all perspectives – that of urban experts, of elected representatives, and of on-ground workers. An important point that came to light is that in order to achieve the SDGs by 2030, countries need to come together to sustainably grow their urban centres. Only then will they be able to ensure longterm growth.

www.urbanupdate.in | July 2021

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E-Dialogues 25.0 | Addressing Urban Issues With Innovation

Innovative start-ups can lead the way towards smart cities Team Urban Update

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ll India Institute of Local Self-Government partnered with Smart City Gwalior, Bilaspur Smart City, and Dream Hatcher Incubation Centre to organise the twenty-fifth edition of the webinar series titled ‘E-Dialogues’. The topic of the webinar was “Addressing Urban Issues with Innovation”. Abhishek Pandey, Editor, Urban Update, moderated the webinar and said that it would try to address and understand how innovation has been, and continues to improve governance and quality of life of people in cities and how giving space to startups can give a new push to cities to achieve the sustainable development goals (SDGs).

The first speaker, Kakul Mishra, National Programme Head, National Institute of Urban Affairs, said that the topic is pertinent during these COVID-19 times and has showed how innovations are the backbone of recovery. Innovation is no longer an isolated event. Innovations hold the potential to effectively address the

requirements of urban governance and highlight how urban is a multitude of sectors in one sector, and therefore requires all aspects to come together for it to function properly. She talked about the National Urban Digital Mission (NUDM), launched in February 2021. Its goal is to “use technology as a backbone to foster innovation and contextual solution to address various challenges of the urban sector across India.” The platform is trying to create shared digital infrastructure which can enable cities to build capacity by meeting guidance framework. “The

Cities now have start-ups, innovations, technologies, government regulation orientation, all working towards improving quality of life of people in cities.

Deepti Raj Senior Project Associate, WRI India

44 July 2021 | www.urbanupdate.in

aim is to bring transformative power of collaboration and innovation into the urban domain,”said Mishra.

Under the NUDM, there is key focus on engaging with startups and it is their goal to collaborate with over 500 startups by the end of 2025.

Urban development and quality livability in cities, Mishra believes, can be attained through a proper model of partnership and collaboration, which simultaneously leverages needs and opportunities.

Deepti Raj, Senior Project Associate, World Resources Institute India, started her presentation by mentioning how the COVID-19 pandemic prompted digital adoption to happen, which highlighted the importance of start-ups in terms of bringing services within reach of people. However, the disparity in access to internet in urban India also surfaced during the pandemic, she said, while citing reports. Digital literacy, socio-economic divide and gender divide in the world of internet counters the expectation of height of development in cities. She said that cities now have start-ups, innovations, technologies, government regulation orientation, all working towards improving quality of life of people in cities. However, low-income group

and other marginalized people rarely are part of that ‘development’. She said that the government administration and start-ups need to take a step back and rethink how they can make their services all-inclusive, for an urban space does not consist only of high-income and middle-income groups. Whatever an innovation is trying to do to better quality of life of people in cities, there is need to address the question on how, and more importantly, for whom. Right questions can bring the challenges of making a service all-inclusive to the forefront and can therefore be addressed optimally. Her presentation included innovations and start-ups in urban India which have tried to bridge the gap of privilege for different groups of people in cities, such as community specific kitchens in Kerala’s model, and doorstep delivery of services by Delhi government for people who do not have access to internet.

Group Captain Y Srinivas (Retd), Former Manager at Price Waterhouse Coopers, Bilaspur Smart City Corporation, talked about an initiative of the Atal Tinkering Lab named ‘Moksha’, which has been launched to prevent further pollution of River Arpa because of the ritual of spreading ashes after incineration of a dead body.

The Moksha project created a small box with an alum filter fitted inside, which costs only `1500. When ashes are collected after burning a dead body, it is to be put into the box. When the box is immersed in a water body, water enters through the porous medium. However, when it comes out of the box, it is filtered, thereby not polluting the river at all. The ash left in the box is very rich in phosphorous, which works as an excellent organic manure. Although internationally acclaimed, this project is still struggling to find its place in India. He said that innovations like the Atal Krishi Mitra and Moksha, which can be beneficial for multiple sectors at one time, need to reach society soon.

Pandey then asked Vinay Achantani, Founder of Genie delivery services, about his start-up and how different it is from other existing delivery platforms.

Vinay talked about how it originated last year when grocery shops were unable to sustain themselves due to the lockdowns. The start-up was launched to bring such small shops at the consumer’s doorstep and it envisions an economy where maximum number of such shops are available online for people to access their products. Their app includes delivery of products like groceries, fruits and vegetables, cooked

food, and raw meat in Bilaspur. They are looking forward to expand their app’s reach to other cities like Raipur.

Nisha Niranjan, the next speaker, founded VN Organics in 2020 with Vikas Pataiya in Madhya Pradesh. Nisha said that this start-up is a research project and it is looking for solutions that can bring a revolution in the food industry in terms of health. She mentioned that any and every kind of medicine has some kind of side effect.

People in urban spaces find themselves more exposed to health hazards due to various types of pollution, crowd, increased screen time, etc. Nisha said that the start-up is striving to create healthy food-related solutions which can address the nutrition needs of the human body and shield it from illnesses.

She mentioned that VN Organics is currently working on mushrooms, which is the future of food as it is the only food that has the potential of growing on Mars. They are working on mushrooms that have medicinal benefits and can cure toxicity and any additive damage done to a body, and also reduce the ageing process.

Abhishek mentioned how innovations by the Atal Tinkering Lab can really add to the quality of life. He said that the Moksha project can add value to the Namami Gange Mission.

Thus, Urban Update resolves to publish pieces on such incubation works and innovations, so that urban local bodies can connect with such labs and startups to introduce concerned products in the urban spaces. He reiterated the speakers’ focus on collaborative approach and taking end consumer into account while running a startup on ground, especially those which can further the urban local bodies’ efforts to improve quality of life and achieve SDGs. Srinivas, during the conclusion, suggested that platforms should focus on innovative start-ups in tier 3 cities right now, because those cities can act as a place for test-runs and evolution of those innovations according to challenges and needs, thereby perfecting them along the way from bottom to top.

www.urbanupdate.in | July 2021

45

Urban Agenda

Need for Green

Shift to green infrastructure in Indian cities An analysis by IQAir has shown that more than 80 per cent of the people living in Indian cities are exposed to pollution levels which exceed the limits set by the World Health Organisation on a daily basis. One of the main reasons for this is unplanned development Ashok Wankhade Managing Editor

The rate of growth of Indian cities, both in terms of size and area, has been one of the highest in the world. With fast paced urbanization, the cities in India were often not accompanied with planned development. This not only means that the city’s infrastructure is not planned sustainably, it also means that not enough importance is given to the city’s ecology and its lungs, which leads to further pollution and problems for city folks.

The Aarey Forest in Mumbai is a perfect example of this. For the development of the Mumbai Metro’s train shed, the government had allotted a part of the Aarey Forest. Being the lungs of the entire metropolis, cutting down any part of it for development purposes could be a disaster. Thanks to the work of activists and groups of the residents of the city, the decision was reversed.

Despite being the tiniest state of the country, Goa has, in the last one year, diverted over 150 hectares of its forest land for energy projects. This, according to Delhi-based Legal Initiative for Forest and Environment, is the country’s third highest share of forest land diverted to linear projects, after the states of Arunachal Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, which are 23- and 66-times the size of Goa. These statistics are incredibly worrisome and point to unsustainable development policies being followed in the country.

The drastic reduction in India’s forest cover and increase in its per capita carbon footprint is also a point of concern, even though India’s per capita carbon footprint is much lower as compared to that of many developed countries. Nonetheless, various state governments are making efforts in creating more environmentally-friendly cities. The National Real Estate Development Council (NAREDCO)’s Green Area Development Policy has the potential to be a game-changer. Through the policy, NAREDCO aims to increase green cover within the boundaries of the Capital, encourage people to care for the city’s ecology and help the region’s biodiversity in blooming.

The work done by the Government of Maharashtra in Mumbai is also worth mentioning here. In the recent past, the state government has actively found ways to increase the overall green cover in the city and has invested heavily in building green infrastructure. The state government has also decided recently to turn 1450 hectares of mangroves in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region into a reserved forest, thereby making trespassing into the forest an illegal act, punishable by law. The state government has also introduced amendments to its laws and has decided to give a ‘heritage tag’ to old trees across the state. Cutting down a heritage tree has been made a difficult process and will only be allowed in unavoidable circumstances. The penalty for the same has also been increased multifold. This makes it a landmark decision, with Maharashtra becoming one of the first states in the country to do so.

Thus, Indian cities have realised the importance of planned and inclusive development, while keeping in mind the importance of a city’s ecology and its wildlife. It is time now, however, to put that knowledge to use and increase the green cover in cities across India, if we hope to save our urban residents from the harmful effects of pollution and climate change.

46 July 2021 | www.urbanupdate.in

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