Urban Update March 2019

Setting The Agenda For Tomorrow’s Cities

ISSN 2349-6266 RNI No DELENG/2014/57384

UrbanUpdate Volume V, Issue XI

Cities need to prioritize gender sensitive planning, policies Cities around the world are making their ecosystems gender sensitive and encouraging more women to participate in the social-political sphere

The project is funded by the European Union.

March 2019

one on one | Finland’s Ambassador

‘We can’t stop development so adopt sustainable models’

The project is implemented by the AIILSG.

Magazines & Journals

Energy Efficiency

AMRUT Knowledge Management

Seminars

Project Management Customised Training

Sustainable Development Goals

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Swachh Bharat Mission

ECBC

Smart City Mission Capacity Building

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

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March 2019 | www.urbanupdate.in

EDITORIAL

Women & cities; better the balance, better the world

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

B

alance for Better is one campaign theme for this year’s International Women’s Day. March 8th is celebrated each year as International Women’s Day though the campaigns are designed to evoke awareness and action all year long.

The event has been observed for over a hundred long years, which helps to draw attention to the long standing nature of the issue of gender equality and the fact that much still remains to be done. It is a call to accelerate action on gender parity. For us it is relevant to look at women and cities.

For too long, discussion on the issue has been limited to concerns for women’s safety in our cities. The issue has to go beyond such basic concerns and address issues which enable women to participate fully and realize their full potential educationally, professionally and socially. There has been significant effort since several years to up the role of women in local governance.

While the constitutional amendments at the national level mandate one-third reservation, several states have increased it to 50 percent in Panchayati Raj institutions and even urban local bodies.

We believe that having more women elected members in our urban local bodies will definitely address many issues of our cities more effectively. Take for example, water supply. It is the lady in the house, whether a working professional or housewife who understands this issue best.

The timing, the quality, ways to calibrate supplies during shortages, are all nuances of water supply that have a big impact on how families manage their day-to-day activities and thus the active participation of women will ensure that ULB responses are in line with user needs. Or take the operation of public health centres. Location of the centres, access, timings, staffing are all important in order to deliver effective services to citizens. The services are most likely availed by women members of a family for their children and elders.

Therefore understanding their needs better

will surely help. So also matters relating to public mobility, sanitation and waste management. These will get addressed in a more logical and efficient way with a greater role for women.

Cities must make efforts to involve more women, including from among citizens in order to design, deliver and improve upon citizen services.

The involvement of women in is also known to eliminate inefficiency, suboptimal choices and therefore corruption in public life. Studies suggest that this relationship is prominent where women are in policy making roles. Decision making in such cases could happen more on merits, i.e., the actual need of the situation rather than other considerations. This by itself is likely to enable transparency in the decision making process which in turns promotes accountability and inclusivity.

The Government has in the recent past unleashed several measures to scale up women’s participation in various facets of our economy. Women entrepreneurs’ role has been highlighted noting the impressive share of women in MUDRA loans at 73 per cent and reserving some amount of government purchases from women owned MSMEs. Employment opportunities have been improved with more recruitment in the armed forces and in the mining sectors, for example. Expectant mothers are specially being taken care of by increased maternity benefits, immunization, and cash incentives.

This issue of Urban Update carries several viewpoints on the subject of women’s role in cities. We welcome further thoughts, opinions and feedback from our family of readers.

www.urbanupdate.in | March 2019

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Quotes

Inclusive development is central to sustainable development. It also encompasses sustainable mobility solution, sustainable urbanisation, sustainable energy security, sustainable waste management and sustainable innovations

India will lead the energy revolution in the world with the e-vehicles. India will drive on e-vehicles. We would not have to import oil and will produce electricity on our own domestically.

India is fast becoming the automobile manufacturing hub of the world

M Venkaiah Naidu Vice President of India

Piyush Goyal Union Minister of Railways and Coal, Govt of India

PIN POINT City leaders across England are united in raising the alarm about the dangers posed by poor air quality. We have worked tirelessly to encourage clean air innovation and establish the largest air quality monitoring network of any major world city

Globalism is an ideology that prioritizes the neoliberal global order over national interests.

Nobody can deny that we are living in a globalized world. But whether all of our policies should be “globalist” is highly debatable

Sadiq Khan Mayor of London

Klaus Schwab Founder & executive chairman, WEF

BUZZ Hardeep Singh Puri

United Nations India

World Health Organization (WHO)

@MoHUA_India

@UNinIndia

@WHO

Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs, GoI

An important issue for Delhi is the need for regeneration of brownfield areas in the city. This redevelopment must compliment the extensive metro network already established in the city by planning higher densities of people and jobs closer to transit

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Assaad W Razzouk @AssaadRazzouk CEO of Sindicatum Sustainable Resources

Over 160 million Indians lack access to clean water. Rural women walk an average of 6-20 km a day to fetch water, are hit the hardest by India’s water crisis. If current usage patterns do not change, by 2030, the world’s water demand will exceed supply by 40 per cent

The main driver of Climate Change is fossil fuel combustion which is also a major contributor to Air Pollution - and efforts to mitigate one can improve the other: Coalfired electricity must end by 2050 if we are to limit global warming rises to 1.50C

The war on plastics can cut projected peak oil by a decade: Two-thirds of oil demand from petrochemicals is for plastics, the only source of oil demand where growth is expected to accelerate according to the constantly misfiring

Content

Inside Volume 5, Issue 11

6 8 10

Pin Point Equi-City AIILSG Diary

11 15 46

Newscan City Image Urban Agenda

March 2019

Urban Dialouges

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Bhopal to have new Master Plan within a year: Jaivardhan Singh All India Institute of Local Self-Government in partnership with Bhopal Municipal Corporation and Bhopal Smart City organised Urban Dialogues – Reimagining Bhopal on February 12, 2019. Urban Dialogues was focused on laying a roadmap for helping Bhopal city to build a better urban future. Objective of the conference was to bring out probable solutions for the urban issues that Bhopal city is facing

22 Articles

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36 40

Time for a policy to declare ‘urban drought’ to end hardships of poor women Urban poor sets agenda for 2019 Indore: Paving way to cleanliness for Indian cities

Velo-city

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21 Cover Story

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Cities need to prioritize gender sensitive planning, policies Cities around the world are making their ecosystems gender sensitive and encouraging more women to participate in the social-political sphere. Cities in the many developing countries have taken admirable initiatives to bring women at the forefront through promoting their role in urban planning, local leadership, decision making and city management. Safety is not the only issue for women in cities as there are numerous issues women face in a city while going to work, schools or running errands

Leaderspeak

32

Women need to be better placed to reap benefits of urbanisation Urbanisation is bringing numerous benefits to women that include improved legal protection, better access to justice, and a narrowing gender gap in schools and universities. Still, women are not able to get equitable opportunities at workplaces. Countries all over are trying to bridge the gender gap in all aspects of life but the situation on the ground is changing at a snail’s pace

History & modernity defines city of lakes Bhopal Bhopal, a city founded in 11th century is a city which is not only rich in water resources with 14 lakes but is also rich in culture and heritage. Today, where the old Bhopal still carries the charm reflecting its culture and heritage, the new Bhopal is being developed into a smart city

36 www.urbanupdate.in | March 2019

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article Equi-City

Equi-City conducts urban awareness campaign on sanitation in Nagpur Team Equi-City

S

wachh Bharat Abhiyan is an important Mission which our future generation and students must know and be aware of. It is a cleanliness campaign run by the Government of India, which was initiated by the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi. This campaign was launched officially by the Government of India on 145th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi on October 2, 2014.

The Government of India has aimed to make India a clean India by October 2, 2019 (150th birth anniversary of the Mahatma Gandhi) through this campaign. The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) had conducted ‘Swachh Survekshan-2016’ survey for the rating of 73 cities in January 2016 followed by ‘Swachh Survekshan-2017’ conducted in

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January-February 2017 ranking 434 cities and recently concluded Swachh Survekshan-2018 for ranking 4,203 Cities in order to encourage cities to improve cleaniliness and sanitation.

MoHUA recently conducted its fourth survey ‘Swachh Survekshan-2019’ to rank all cities under Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban (SBMU) to scale up the coverage of the ranking exercise and encourage towns and cities to actively implement mission initiatives in a timely and innovative manner.

The ‘Swachh Survekshan-2019’ survey of all Urban Local Bodies was conducted between January 4 to January 31, 2019. The objective of the survey is to encourage large scale citizen participation, ensure sustainability of initiatives taken towards garbage free and open defecation free cities, provide credible outcomes which

would be validated by third party certification, institutionalise existing systems through online processes and create awareness amongst all sections of society about the importance of working together towards making towns and cities a better place to live in. Additionally, the survey fostered a spirit of healthy competition among towns and cities to improve their service delivery to citizens, towards creating cleaner cities.

In background of the aforementioned facts Equi-City Team in Nagpur facilitated Urban Awareness Campaign in Nagpur Municipal Corporation Schools targeting students and areas surrounding the schools to sensitise them on sanitation and towards health seeking behaviour. The details of the Urban Awareness Campaign are as follow:

S.No. Zone Venue Date 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

2 6 1 7 10 9 4 3 8 5

Valmiki Nagar Hindi Medium School Ganjipeth Urdu High School Jaithala Secondary School Kundanlal Gupta High School Makardhokda Hindi High School Kapil Nagar Hindi Primary High School Sheshrao Wankhede School Durganagar Secondary School Ram Manohar Lohia Primary High School Dattatrey Nagar Secondary School

The Equi-City Team along with NMC conducted Sanitation Awareness Campaigns and Quiz Competitions in all ten zones of Nagpur in NMC affiliated schools. The team helped to spread awareness in the residential areas and shops around the school regarding the sanitation, environment and cleanliness of the city. The team also carried out rally of students in the city and sensitised around 5000 people about keeping their environment clean.

The Sanitation Awareness Campaigns in the schools were initiated with the welcoming of the Equi-City Team by giving a plantation as a token of welcome. The School Principals addressed the students regarding the importance of cleanliness in their lives and the Swachh Bharat Mission taking place in the country. Team generated awareness amongst the students and teachers about ‘Swachh Survekshan-2019’ which is ongoing in the city and how we can contribute to make Nagpur the cleanest city in this competition. After the brief orientation exercises on Swacchta, a Quiz Competition on Swachh Bharat Abhiyan and Sanitation was conducted by the Equi-City Team for the students of school in order to spread awareness for cleanliness of the city and Swachh Bharat Mission.

Around 50 students of 5th to 10th class participated in this quiz competition from each school. The winners of the quiz competition from each class were given prizes.

Followed by the quiz competition.

These campaign helped to sensitise around 5000 people about keeping

December 18, 2018 January 8, 2019 January 11, 2019 January 18, 2019 January 19, 2019 January 22, 2019 January 24, 2019 January 29, 2019 January 31, 2019 February 4, 2019

their environment clean. Teachers and students of the school joined this Sanitation Awareness Campaign very actively with great fervor and joy. Further, Equi-City Team is also planning to launch city wide Awareness Camapaigns in Colleges and Educational Institutions as well.

The Equi-City review meeting with Abhijeet Bangar, Commissioner of NMC took place on February 6, 2019.

The team in the meeting showed their Presentation on Equi-City projects from the starting in 2016 until end of 2018. Following are the points discussed during the meeting ♦♦ The meeting started with an introduction about the activities conducted in past 3 years by the Equi-City Project under Dr Amrita Anand, Project Manager, Equi-City Project. A brief detail of project activities was discussed for each year from 2016-2018, describing the focus of the main activities and its outcomes in that particular year. ♦♦ Functioning of City Development Forum and its utilisation in the improvisation of Governance and Municipal Services was discussed. Also, how it can benefit in effective Citizen Engagement for decisionmaking process. The Commissioner said that suggestions on procedural reforms from EquiCity Team must be also worked upon to improve administration and governance. ♦♦ Commissioner putting forward his suggestions on mobile based and web based application for monitoring of municipal services, said that the interface

♦♦

♦♦

♦♦

♦♦

of the mobile application to be built under Municipal Rating System must be user friendly and should have integration of all the services provided by the NMC (like property tax, birth/death registration) and not just services related to sanitation. He also suggested coordinating with Nashik Municipal Corporation as they have conducted a similar exercise using the mobile application platform in their city.

Further, discussions were on current activities and evaluation of municipal services in Nagpur Survey done by the Equi-City Team for M&E of services.

Commissioner Sir discussed to suggest a methodology and reforms to improve the mode of service delivery and focused upon reducing the response mechanism of NMC for grievance Redressal.

The discussion on evaluation of municipal services survey was followed by discussions on monitoring of municipal services, where Dr Amrita requested the Commissioner on forming a written mechanism for evaluation and follow-up, involving the Zone level Official and elected representatives, so that the selected indicators can be monitored in those zones.

The Commissioner also suggested to integrate the Swacch Bharat application as well in the Municipal Rating System application and bring in different services provided by the NMC on a single platform.

Overall, the Commissioner suggested that Equi-City Project should provide recommendations on systemic reforms and process reengineering/modification through which the whole structure should be integrated in the NMC using the already available resources. The Equi-City Team should also suggest how to monitor and coordinate services of NMC so that there is a better response from the Citizens and quick engagement from the NMC.

www.urbanupdate.in | March 2019

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AIILSG Dairy

AIILSG, World Bank Group organises Smart Republic 2019 on Digital Strategies and Solutions for Smart Cities

E

AIILSG organises ICBP training for Elected Representatives of Nagar Palika Nigam

Anil Baijal, LG Delhi lighting the lamp at ‘Smart APEX Conference for Smart

Jagdalpur and Bhilai at Delhi office.

Cities CEOs’

ICBP Training program for Municipal Employees at Ahmedabad Center

AIILSG regional centres celebrated International Women’s Day across India- a picture from Madhupur centre

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BRIEFS

newscan

RMC to install electric compost machines Ranchi Municipal Corporation (RMC) has decided to install three electric compost machines at various places in Ranchi by the end of February 2019. The machines will be installed in Madhukam vegetable market, Daily Market and Birsa Munda bus stand at a cost of `14 lakh. Kiran Kumari, health officer of RMC said, “Now, we have decided to set up electric compost machines which segregate organic waste in three steps and automatically convert trash into manure, which will then be used to fertilise parks or will be given to RMC self-help groups to sell them and generate revenue.”

DDMA approves disaster management plan in Cuttack The District Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) approved the Cuttack City Disaster Management Plan, 2019 on February 13, 2019 to address the problem of urban flooding in Cuttack.

The plan was made after an order by the Odisha government. Prabodh Rout, district emergency officer, said that the Cuttack City Disaster Management Plan, 2019 had a three-pronged strategy to tackle floods including construction of underground drains, setting up of electricity-operated pumping stations in areas which are most vulnerable to waterlogging and reorganising relief operations in the affected areas. Three underground drains will be constructed to serve as channels for drainage of rainwater.

Electricityoperated pumping stations will be set up in 50 locations. The District Mineral Fund would bear the expenditure, said Rout.

Increasing size of huge cavity in Antarctic glacier indicates rapid decay: NASA WASHINGTON: The scientists from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) have discovered a humungous cavity growing at the bottom of the Thwaites Glacier in West Antarctica which is almost 300 meters tall. The increasing size of the cavity indicates a rapid decay of the ice sheet and acceleration in global sea levels as a result of climate change. Researchers were surprised to see the size and explosive growth rate of the newfound hole. It is big enough to have contained 14 billion tons of ice, and most of it melted over the last three years.

Science Advances, the journal that published the findings, highlight the need for detailed observations of Antarctic glaciers’ undersides. In a statement NASA said that researchers expected to find some gaps between ice and bedrock at the bottom of Thwaites from where ocean water could flow in and melt the glacier. Eric Rignot, University of California, said, “We have suspected for years that Thwaites was not tightly attached to the bedrock beneath it.” “Thanks to new-gen satellites, we can

finally see the detail,” Rignot added.

Ice-penetrating radars used in NASA’s Operation Icebridge revealed the cavity.

Some of the essential data was also collected from a constellation of Italian and German space-borne synthetic aperture radars. The data collected was of very high-resolution and was processed by a technique called radar interferometry to see how the ground surface below has moved between images.

Researchers said that about four per cent rise in the current global sea level is due to melting of Thwaites Glacier.

It holds enough ice to raise the global sea level a little over 65 centimeters and backstops neighbouring glaciers that would moreover raise sea levels for about 2.4 meters if all the ice were lost, they added.

PM launches several development projects in J & K JAMMU: Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India launched several development projects in Jammu and Kashmir on February 3, 2019. He laid the foundation stone of All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS) in Jammu and Srinagar.

He also laid the foundation stone of the new terminal building of Kushak Bakula Rinpoche Airport in Leh. It will come up over 11.8 acres of land at a projected cost of `480 crore.

He inaugurated the 9 MW Dah hydroelectric project in Ladakh. The project is completed at a cost of `95 crores. He also laid the foundation stone of the 624 MW Kiru hydroelectric power project over the Chenab in Kishtwar district. PM launched the University of Ladakh which is established under the University of Ladakh Act 2018. It will be a

Cluster University comprising degree colleges of Nubra, Leh, Zanskar, Kargil, Drass and Khaltsi. He laid the foundation stones of model degree colleges at Singhpora in Baramulla, Villgam in Kupwara and Padder in Kishtwar. He also laid the foundation stone of the Northern Regional Centre of the Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC) in Jammu, and inaugurated the University Institute of Engineering and Technology at Janglote in Kathua.

He also laid the foundation stone of a 1640m double-lane bridge over the Chenab at Sajwal in Jammu. He further declared electrification of 100 per cent households in J&K under the Saubhagya Scheme. He also inaugurated facilities for the launch of the first Rural BPO at Bandipora in North Kashmir.

www.urbanupdate.in | March 2019

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BRIEFS

newscan

NDMC passes policy on issuance of household industry license The standing committee of the North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) passed a policy for online issuance and renewal of licenses for household industries on February 15, 2019.

The Citizen Service Bureau stopped the issuance of licenses from April 2011 for household industries and started issuing licenses only in case of conforming industrial areas and for local commercial areas.

The industries under the A and A-1 categories in the master plan of Delhi 2021 will be allowed to operate in residential areas. Polluting industries and those which involve storage of inflammable materials are prohibited. 112 types of activities can be carried out, including manufacturing of electronic items such as sewing machines, typewriters, etc. The industry is allowed to hire up to five workers and the working hours are limited from 8 am to 6 pm.

CCTV surveillance enabled Pune Traffic Department to fine 6.33 lakh violators PUNE: Post the implementation of the CCTV drive e-challan system, the traffic police collected `7 crore more in 2018 as compared to the previous year. Around 2.5 lakh more violators were fined in 2018 as compared to 2017, according to the information released by the Pune Traffic Police Department.

The Traffic Police Department took action against 18 lakh residents for traffic violations in 2018 out of these, 6.33 lakh cases were registered through the CCTV (closed-circuit television) surveillance system. Tejaswi Satpute, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), traffic said, “Apart from active traffic

policing, the major reason behind higher number of cases in 2018 are the CCTV’s installed across the city that captures the violations.” The cameras installed, captures the image of violators at traffic junctions and transmits it to the command and control centre of the traffic department. A case is registered with the help of information feed and fines are collected by the traffic personnel.

The violators can also pay thei fines online on punetrafficop.net/ by filling the required details of the vehicle. The web portal provides details of the case, including the photograph of the vehicle violating the traffic rules.

Satpute said, “We are not taking action only to increase the revenue, the traffic branch is doing its job in a more holistic way to improve the traffic in the city.”

Maximum number of fines were imposed on those who were found violating zebra crossing. Such violations amounted to 6.12 lakh cases out of the total 18 lakh cases where people were fined `200 each.

SMC to set up 3,148 CCTV cameras in Surat

Chandigarh to implement e-governance soon

Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) will install 3,148 CCTV cameras in Surat for 24X7 surveillance of its facilities. The work is implemented under the Suman Eye Project and is expected to cost `14 crore. The CCTV cameras will help SMC to monitor BRTS, schools, water distribution facilities and its other services. CY Bhatt, Deputy Commissioner, SMC, said that the tender for the project has been floated and the work is expected to complete within 9-10 months. He said that there will be zone wise control room set up from where activities could be monitored. All cameras will be linked to integrated command and control centre.

CHANDIGARH: E-governance will be introduced in Chandigarh soon, making all civic services such as fire NOC, booking of community halls, birth and death certificate and building plan approval available online for the convenience of residents.

This was informed at a meeting chaired by V P Singh Badnore, Punjab Governor and UT Administrator. The meeting was called to review the works under the Smart City Mission. Manoj Kumar Parida, UT Adviser and K K Yadav, Municipal Commissioner were also present in the meeting. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed with Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) for setting up an Integrated Command and Control centre (ICCC) in the city. It will help in surveillance through cameras and intelligent traffic management system along with an adaptive traffic control system.

The Municipal Commissioner said that the sensors would also be installed at 10 locations to indicate the air quality in the city. Dynamic-message signs will be installed at 40 locations to inform the public about any new development in the city as well as to guide them about the route on which they are travelling.

CCTV cameras will be installed at all important places like markets, public parks, schools, colleges and community centres. The project will cost around `184 crore.

Services like smart lighting, parking and bike sharing etc. will be connected with the command centre for information on real-time status. The bike-sharing scheme will be implemented for the entire city. 617 bicycles docking stations have been identified with a total of 5,000 cycles will be put into service in the first phase. The scheme will be operational within 12 months.

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March 2019 | www.urbanupdate.in

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Varanasi all set to prevent flow of untreated waste in Ganga The city is now preparing for zero sewer discharge in Ganga and expects to complete the project by November 2019.

National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) officials said, “Work on 50 MLD sewage treatment plant in Ramana is going to be completed by November 2019, it is expected to be fully operational for treating discharge of AssiNala. With this, the flow of the untreated sewer from Varanasi to Ganga will be thoroughly examined.” Projects for the regular cleaning of 84 ghats costing `15 crore have been started and the process of the skimming of the river surface to collect floating garbage which costs around `2.48 crore, have been operational in the city. NMCG has sanctioned `11.73 crore for repair of 36 ghats, which is expected to be completed by June, 2019.

BeMC to install ‘smart traffic system’ to improve city’s mobility Berhampur Municipal Corporation (BeMC) decided to install integrated traffic management system in Berhampur. Chakraborty Singh Rathore, Commissioner of BeMC said that the city will have solar LED traffic lights with automatic timing system. Cameras plugged in with traffic lights will be set up at crowded intersections.

The system will be integrated with e-Vahan, a flagship of egovernance application under the National Transport Project.

Rathore said that the system will help to detect traffic offences and violation of speed limit.

He further said that the tender process for the system is in final stage and it will be functional by end of May 2019.

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March 2019 | www.urbanupdate.in

Submit `10 cr performance guarantee for cleaning of Yamuna: NGT NEW DELHI: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) showed dissatisfaction for the cleaning of River Yamuna and asked Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi Government to submit a performance guarantee of `10 crore each in a month.

The bench headed by Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel, NGT Chairperson asked these state governments to give a performance guarantee with Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) to ensure there is no further mistake in this regard. The bench also warned the chief secretaries of all the three states that they would be personally liable for any kind of non-compliance.

NGT directed the steps to be taken by the earliest for disposal of solid waste, ensuring cleaning of garbage and the cleaning of drains. These orders came just after the monitoring committee filed an interim report. The committee in its action plan recommended a study to evaluate the flow of river Yamuna for

stretch between Okhla and Hathanikund.

The Committee stated that the river is fighting to stay alive and it would not be possible to revitalise it until and unless the environmental flow is provided. In regards to idol immersion, the monitoring committee asked the authorities of the city to look over the possibilities of creating artificial pits and ponds. The NGT earlier asked the Uttar Pradesh and Haryana government to consult the members of the monitoring committee appointed by the green panel and constitute their own full time committee. As Yamuna is highly contaminated with the industrial waste and sewage, the pollution in the river is a serious concern, said NGT officials.

NGT also asked the Haryana Pollution Control Board (HPCB) to conduct a study about the water quality and the flow of the Yamuna at the entering points of Haryana and submit a list of industries located in the catchment area.

NGT appointed committee to inspect Wazirpur steel picking units NEW DELHI: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) constituted an expert committee on February 7, 2019, to inspect steel picking units at Wazirpur which were found to be damaging the environment. A bench headed by Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel, NGT Chairperson, constituted the committee that comprise of representatives from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), National Environmental Engineering Research Institute and a senior scientist from Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur. The committee was asked to inspect and furnish a report within two months.

The directions came while the NGT was reviewing an application submitted by the Wazirpur Industrial Estate Welfare Society, Delhi Government and the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) pertaining to an order passed by the tribunal on October 2018. In the earlier order, the NGT had noted the DPCC’s stand that the permission will not be granted to such units while the Delhi Development Authority had submitted that such units are “in prohibited category” under the master plan. The bench on February 7, said, “It is also clear that huge amount of hazardous waste is dumped in the green belt adjacent to residential area which is not planned to be scientifically handled as per law.” NGT appointed CPCB as the nodal agency and said that the committee has to conduct the study to evaluate the carrying capacity of the area with respect to sustainable development of the area.

City Images

Leading from the

front Women have in recent times, taken up a wide variety of roles in professional life. On this International Women’s Day, for example, Madan Mahal Railway Station near Jabalpur was fully managed by women railway staff members. In the railways, women are increasingly taking up hitherto male jobs such as locopilots and train guards. Lady Travelling Ticket Examiners (TTEs) are now a common sight. Air India, on 8th March, operated several flights with all-women crew. A total of 52 flights including 12 long and mid haul international flights operated with all-women crew including cockpit and cabin crew.

Over 400 women employees of the airline participated operating a whole range of aircraft including the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.

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Bike ambulance service begins in Delhi The Delhi Government launched bike ambulance services on February 7, 2019 to ensure timely health assistance in traffic-congested areas of the city. These bikes will be known as First Responder Vehicles.

These will have a portable oxygen cylinder, first aid kit and dressing material, air-splints, GPS and communication device etc. The project was completed at a cost of `23 lakh out of the total amount approved by the cabinet which is `40 lakh. Arvind Kejriwal, Chief Minister of Delhi and Satyendar Jain, Health Minister of Delhi, launched the fleet of 16 bikes at Delhi Secretariat. The initiative is expected to reduce the ambulance response time in congested areas and JJ clusters in East and North-East Delhi.

Prisoners in Agra to make eco-bricks from plastic bottles Agra district jail prisoners will now make ‘eco bricks’ with PVC bottles and other discarded pieces of plastic and polythene. These bricks will be used to make benches and toilets in parks. The members of the citizen group Agra Vikas Manch and Unfold Foundation, an NGO on February 24, 2019 displayed the preparation of environment bricks for prisoners of Agra District jail.

Ashok Jain, President of Agra VikasManch said, “We have signed an agreement to support the eco-brick project with the administration of the district jail of Agra. We will pay Rs 4 for every eco-brick made using one liter PVC bottle and Rs 5 for those made using 2 liter bottles.

This money will be distributed among prisoners on the basis of their contribution.”

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Karnal gets ODF++ & Panchkula ODF+ status KARNAL: The Karnal Municipal Corporation (KMC) received the Open DefecationFree plus plus (ODF++) status under Swachh Survekshan 2019. The official declaration was made on February 5, 2019 after the report of the third party inspection of the Union Government was announced. The city was inspected on January 27-28, 2019. The team inspected 16 community and public toilets, three treatment plants and other sites in Karnal. KMC ensured that there is no open urination and open defecation in the city.

The officials and residents are hopeful of getting the top rank in the country in Swachh Survekshan-2019 as Karnal city had secured the first place in Haryana and 41st in India in Swachh Survekshan-2018. The city initiated scientific treatment of human waste through sewage treatment plants (STP). Panchkula Municipal Corporation (PMC) was issued a certificate of ODF+ status by the Central Government on February 5, 2019. The inspection of the city was carried out by an inspection team from Delhi in the third week of January. The team inspected public places, including – individual, community and public toilets. According to the ODF guidelines, 10 washrooms in a city should have sanitary napkin vending machine, napkin destroyer and hand wash facility. PMC met these guidelines. The corporation has a sewage treatment plant for scientific disposal of human waste. Rajesh Jogpal, Administrator-cumMunicipal Commissioner, PMC, praised the work of all the employees of the civic body and urged them to continue with their work of keeping the city clean. The civic body got 250 extra points in the sanitation survey. He said that these points would help to improve Panchkula’s rank in the Smart City list.

NGT directs Odisha govt to present status report on SWM NEW DELHI: Odisha government to present a status report on various initiatives regarding the solid waste management in the state by March 26, as directed by the National Green Tribunal (NGT). A bench comprising of Adarsh Kumar Goel, NGT Chairperson, Justice SP Wangadi, Justice K Ramakrishnan, and Nagin Nanda, expert member asked the Chief Secretary to be present in person in the tribunal.

The directions were given to the state to form a state-level committee with Justice P K Mohanty, former judge of Orissa High Court as the chairperson of the committee to monitor implementation of Solid Waste Management (SWM) Rules, 2016. The bench said, “The Member Secretary of the State Pollution Control Board will be the Member Secretary of the Committee, other members being Secretaries, Urban Development/ Local Bodies/Local Self-Government, Environment, Rural Development Health

and representatives of CPCB, wherever office of CPCB exists or representative is nominated by CPCB.” The committee had its first meeting in February 2019, and further meetings will be conducted at regular intervals as per the directions of the chairperson of the committee. “We have already noted that ‘Polluter Pays’ principle can be applied by every regulatory authority The compensation for damage to the environment will be payable by each of the states/ UTs at the rate of Rs 1 crore per month for each of the Priority- I and Priority- II stretches, `50 lakh per month for stretches in Priority- III and `25 lakh per month each for Priority- IV and Priority- V stretches,” said the bench.

NGT directed Odisha government to form a special task force in each district to create awareness about the SWM rules, 2016, by involving educational, religious and social organizations including local eco-clubs.

Event

Make in Steel 2019

Quality standards to uphold sustainable infrastructure India has overtaken Japan to become the world’s second largest steel producer. With intense focus, the government has initiated policies to ensure time-bound creation of world-class infrastructure in the country.

However, it is vital that the raw materials used in these projects are of a high degree of quality to ensure a high return on investment, and public safety New Delhi: Foundation of Infrastructure Research Studies Training (FIRST) Construction Council organised “Make In Steel 2019” conference at Hotel Lalit, New Delhi on March 13, 2019. The theme of the conference was “Quality Standards to Uphold Sustainable Infrastructure”.

The conference witnessed participation of steel industry associations, government officials, etc. to discuss on key innovations of steel in construction, explore opportunities to benefit from the use of steel, network with leading figures in the industry, and develop new business contacts. Pratap Padode, President and Founder, FCC, during his inaugural speech mentioned the need for Indian steel producers to change the way they manufactures steel. “Quality and sustainability will be the key to India’s infrastructure creation,” he added. Dr Susmita Dasgupta, Jt Chief Economist, Joint Plant Committee, Ministry of Steel, talked about how India produces more steel than it consumes, and this has enormous bearing on the international market. She urged the steel producers to look beyond comparing themselves to China.

Ensuring good quality of steel in building India This session discussed about how to enhance and ensure standardisation.

To this, NK Vijayvargia, Consultant, Indian Stainless Steel Development Association said, “More testing laboratories shall be set up for steel firms in the MSME segment.” “Quality standards must also be introduced for steel used in utensils,” he added.

Deepak Gupta, Chief R&D and Quality Assurance, Essar Steel, lauded the introduction of stringent quality guidelines by the Ministry of Steel for the betterment of the infrastructure sector. He observed that most quality standards specified by BIS are at par with international standards.

Avinash Bhandari, CEO and Joint MD, Electrotherm asserted that the steel products must comply with Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) norms irrespective of the route of production.

Sustainability in steel production This session focused on better energy management solutions, efficiency in raw material management and water

L-R: Pratap Padode, President and Founder, FIRST Construction Council; Avinash Bhandari, Chief Executive Officer and Joint MD, Electrotherm; , Deepak Gupta, Chief R&D and Quality Assurance, Essar Steel; and NK Vijayvargia, Consultant, Indian Stainless Steel Development Association

transport and logistical support. JM Sinha, Chief Rail Logistics, Customer Service Division & Logistics, Tata Steel, suggested to leverage logistics in order to lower costs and enhance efficiencies.

Shashi Bhushan Shukla, Member Traffic, Inland Waterways Authority of India, mentioned about how the development of inland waterways will help the steel industry to ship goods right up to the Northeast region.

Satyajit Mohapatra, General ManagerTechnical Marketing, Essar Steel talked on how adoption of latest technologies has helped Essar Steel to significantly enhance efficiencies over the last 10 years.

Steel leadership This session emphasised on maximising steel usage, investments in building capacity and uberisation of logistics infrastructure.

Rahul Prithiani, Director, CRISIL Research discussed on India’s per capita consumption of steel which is mere 68 kg compared to the global average of over 200 kg. However, upcoming infrastructure projects would help in capacity building for steel. On this, BK Arora, GM, Afcons Infrastructure said, “Unfortunately, the use of steel is presently very restricted in infrastructure projects, and high cost of steel proves to be an impediment when it comes to EPC projects in infrastructure.”

Krishnakumar Subramanian, CEO Building Solutions, Everest Industries said, “Steel offers a solution in terms of time, sustainability and sturdiness as far as infrastructure projects are concerned.”

According to RK Pandey, Member Projects, NHAI, steel have a good potential in construction of concrete highways.

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TSRTC launches fleet of 40 electric buses Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) launched its first fleet of 40 electric buses in Hyderabad on March 5, 2019. Sunil Sharma, Principal Secretary, State Transport Department flagged off the e-buses at Miyapur bus depot.

He said that this is the first corporation in the country to operate such a huge number of buses. These zero emission buses are manufactured by OlectraBYD. The AC low floor buses will be able to accommodate 39 +1 driver. Charged to the capacity for 4 to 5 hours, the e-bus can travel up to 300 km on the city roads with charging facility being provided at Miyapur and Cantonment depots.

Himachal CM launches 7 online services under SMC Jai Ram Thakur, Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh launched seven online servicesof Shimla Municipal Corporation (SMC) like water and property tax payment services on February 18, 2019 in Shimla. These services are developed by the Information Technology Department under e-district project. He also launched availability of ration card and a copy of parivar register through DigiLocker to the residents of Himachal Pradesh.

The residents can create their DigiLocker account at http:// digilocker.gov.in. They can also download the mobile app for Android and iOS. There are 18,39,865 ration card holders and 16,91,275 families in the parivar register. Residents can download their ration cards and copies of parivar registers on their mobiles and computers through their DigiLocker accounts. He also launched HIMSWAN dongle using private APN services for mobile operators.

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Goa to provide 50% subsidy to small solar prosumers NEW DELHI: In the amendments in the Goa State Solar Policy 2017, the Goa government has approved 50 per cent subsidy to Small Solar Prosumers in residential, institutional, and social sector category with solar plants up to 100 KW capacity.

Earlier, the state government was providing a subsidy of 50 per cent as interest-free loans on the capital cost which was to be recovered in installments after a project has been feeding power to the grid for six months. Now according to the policy, 30 per cent subsidy will be credited to the prosumer as per the guidelines of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) by the center and the remaining 20 per cent will be provided by the state government. The state subsidy will be released after the

solar project injects power into the grid for six months.

The subsidy will be given on the capital cost or the benchmark cost provided by the MNRE or on the cost arrived through the tender process by Goa Energy Development Agency (GEDA), whichever is lower. The energy and solar meter will be rented out on payment of monthly fees by the electricity department of Goa for low tension consumers up to 100 KW. In case of consumers above 100 KW, the approved meters will have to be procured at their own cost as per the specifications and provisions of the electricity department.

The new policy says, “No town and country planning permission will be required for setting up of a solar farm including the construction for operational space.”

Chennai to have 3 centres for innovation in sustainability NEW DELHI: Dr Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister for Science & Technology, Earth Sciences and Environment, Forests & Climate Change, will be launching three important centre’s- Solar Energy Harnessing Centre, Water Innovation Centre for Sustainable Treatment, Reuse and Management for Efficient, Affordable and Synergistic Solutions, the Test bed on Solar thermal desalination solutions.

The three centers are set up by Department of Science and Technology (DST), at Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (IITM) on January 25, 2019.

The Solar Energy Harnessing Centre will focus on technology development activities such as silicon solar cells. The aim is to create a platform that can be expanded to strengthen the knowledge of eco-system. The researchers who will be engaged in centre is from IIT Madras, IIT Guwahati, Anna University, ICT Mumbai, BHEL and KGDS. The Water Innovation Centre for Sustainable Treatment, Reuse and Management for Efficient, Affordable and Synergistic Solutions which has been established with an aim to carry forward the synchronized research and training programs on various issues related to wastewater management, water treatment, sensor development, storm water management and distribution and collection systems. The Test bed on Solar thermal desalination solutions which are being established by IIT Madras and Empereal KGDS as solution providers in Naripaaiyur, Ramanathapuram District, Tamil Nadu.

The aim behind the development of this facility is to deliver customized technological solutions to address frequent water challenges in the arid coastal village located on the coast of Bay of Bengal. The development would provide customized technological water solution to provide potable water to coastal areas using solar energy.

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Thermal power plants in India rank high for polluting environment: Study Burning of coal to generate electricity results in addition of particulate matter and gases like carbon monoxide, sulphur dioxide and oxides of nitrogen, which pollute the environment. Eastern part of Europe, Russia, and India still use old power plants and certainly need to upgrade the same for saving the environment GENEVA: A global study claims that power plants in India are the unhealthiest in the world. China and the US might be the largest coal producers but Indian power plants take a leap ahead in taking a toll when it comes to pollution.

Researchers from Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich (ETH Zurich) in Switzerland said that the Coal-fired power plants produce more than just carbon dioxide, which contributes to global warming. Burning of coal also releases particulate matter, sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxide and mercury which in turn damage the health of many people around the world.

The researchers modelled and calculated the undesired side effects of coal power for each of the 7,861 power plant units in the world to estimate the urgent need for action.

The results of the study which were published in the journal ‘Nature Sustainability’ showed that China and

the United States are the two largest producers of thermal power using coal, but power plants in India take the highest toll in the world when it comes to health.

Stefanie Hellweg from ETH Zurich’s Institute of Environmental Engineering, who led the study, said that the countries in Central Europe, North America, and China all have modern power plants equipped with better technology that pollutes less, but Eastern Europe, Russia and India still have older power plants equipped with insufficient flue gas treatment. These power plants only remove a fraction of the pollutants due to old school technology and often on account of burning coal of inferior quality.

Christopher Oberschelp, the lead author of the study, said, “More than half of the health effects can be traced back to just one-tenth of the power plants. These power plants should be upgraded or shut down as quickly as possible.”

Coal power production globally shows that the gap between privileged and disadvantaged regions is widening.

There can possibly be two reasons.

Firstly, wealthy countries like in Europe import high-quality coal with a high calorific value and low emissions of harmful Sulphur dioxide.

“In Europe, we contribute to global warming with our own power plants, which has a global impact. However, the local health damage caused by particulate matter, sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxide occurs mainly in Asia, where coal power is used to manufacture a large proportion of our consumer products,” added Oberschelp.

The poorer coal-exporting countries such as Indonesia, Colombia and South Africa are left with low-quality coal, which they use for their outdated power plants without modern flue gas treatment to remove Sulphur dioxide.

The researchers said that reducing the negative health effects of coal power generation should be a global priority. “But further industrialisation, especially in China and India, poses the risk of aggravating the situation instead,” they added.

As per the researchers, power plant operators have an economic interest in keeping their plants running for a long time because the initial investment costs for the construction of a coal power plant are high, but the subsequent operating costs are low.

Obersche said, “The best option is therefore to not build any new coal power plants. From a health and environment perspective, we should move away from coal and towards natural gas- and in the long term, towards renewable energy sources.”

www.urbanupdate.in | March 2019

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News Feature

Waste to Wonder Park

SDMC reuses waste to recreate seven wonders South Delhi Municipal Corporation has taken an initiative to manage solid waste in the city in an artistic manner. ‘Waste to Wonder Park’ of Delhi that hosts seven wonders of the world made out of 150 tons of metallic waste is an artistic wonder. The park attracts tourists for its innovative concept and display of exceptional art work, and has turned out to be a good source of revenue for the corporation. However, usage of only metallic waste somehow does not justify the title – ‘Waste to Wonder’ and raise questions about ‘plastic, rubber, and other industrial waste’ which is a bigger problem for the city Adarsh Som Senior Reporter Aman Saxena Editorial Assistant

The quality of waste management services is a good indicator of a city’s governance. The manner in which waste is produced and disposed in a city tells about how people live and how responsible is the city management.

Delhi is one such city where the city authorities came up with a plan to utilise solid waste for beautification of the city.

South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) recently constructed a theme park – ‘Waste to Wonder Park’, where solid waste is utilised to create replicas of the seven wonders of the world.

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Rajnath Singh, Union Home Minister, inaugurated the park on February 21, 2019, and it was thrown open to the public on the very next day. The national capital’s waste to wonder park was an initiative of the SDMC Commissioner and was implemented by the Horticulture Department.

Wonders out of waste The Waste to Wonder Park is now a tourist destination where people come to see the seven wonders made out of waste, it features a 60 feet tall Eiffel Tower, a 20 feet Taj Mahal and a lot more, built using 150 tons of industrial waste. The park is spread across eight acres of land area in Rajiv Gandhi Smriti Van near Sarai Kale Khan. It not only displays an exemplary utilisation

of metallic waste to beautify a city but has also turn out an effective source for revenue generation. As per the SDMC officials, construction of the park on the whole costed `7 cr and till March 6, 2019, around `11 lakh has already been generated as a revenue which is nearly 2 per cent of the total cost. On an average more than 2000 visitors visit the park daily, as of now. It seems a significant step in boosting tourism in the capital and with more interesting things to be implemented in the park in coming days, it will surely push tourism to flourish further.

‘Eco-friendly’ theme of the park is well justified by each and every element featured. The park has solar panels installed which generates around 30 kW of electricity. As per an official from the

SDMC, power utilisation is much less than what is generated from the solar panels. Therefore, the surplus power is distributed to BSES (a power company) which finally adds it to the grid. SDMC is further planning to install small windmills of 5 kW capacity for more generation of renewable energy.

There are various facilities available to cater basic needs of visitors. The park currently has two drinking water points with RO connection to provide safe and clean drinking water. SDMC is planning to install four more such water points for further convenience. The architects and artists have considered the accessibility factor for differently abled people while building the park. The pathway running through the entire park is a flat surface and has ramps built which makes it wheel-chair-friendly. Although, there are no wheel chairs available at the park for differently-abled but SDMC is planning to make the facility available soon. The SDMC official detailed that for the convenience of senior citizens we are planning to introduce e-rickshaw ride through the park. To make it more convenient for visitors, SDMC is coming up with a cafeteria inside the park complex and the Advertisement Department has already begun its work.

The Waste to Wonder Park has a lot to offer to its visitors to make it a great experience, moreover, there are lot more coming that can further enhance visitors experience. To give visitors a mesmerizing experience, the authorities are planning to implement a sound and light show with fountains. Further what SDMC have in its bucket-list is to

Metallic waste is the only type of waste seen utilised.

What about ‘Plastic Waste’ which is one of the biggest issues that not only Delhi but cities worldwide are facing? Polythene bags, plastic cutlery, thermocol, plastic cups, etc. are singleuse products and are available in huge quantities in garbage dumps. Delhi is already bearing load of three huge landfill sites namely - Ghazipur, Okhla and Bhalswa. Increasing quantity of waste at these sites shows the harsh reality of the city. Such waste should have been utilised to justify – ‘Waste to Wonder’ rent out the park for big fat weddings, functions and more. As per the official, this step can boost revenue generation and will also give a wonderful venue for the organisers.

Visitors questions use of metal waste only Many visitors admired the park, Waste to Wonder Park is a nice place to have a day out with friends and family. Replicas of the seven wonders are excellent display of art, that also initiates a spark to look for more ideas

for even better utilisation of waste.

Although, on the contrary there were few visitors who opposed the motion – ‘better utilisation of waste’ and pointed out, metallic waste is the only type of waste seen utilised. What about ‘Plastic Waste’ which is one of the biggest issues that not only Delhi but cities worldwide are facing? Polythene bags, plastic cutlery, thermocol and plastic cups, etc. are single-use products and are available in huge quantities in garbage dumps. Such type of waste should have utilisedto justify – ‘Waste to Wonder’.

Many visitors had an emotion of satisfaction that finally civic authorities are seen taking actions on the increasing pile of waste that is choking city’s ecosystem. When asked for a need to have more such parks, visitor replied, the concept behind the park is no doubt a great idea but when it comes to waste management or its optimum utilisation there is a lot more to it that is needed.

Especially, when it comes to ignorance of plastic waste, glass, and other types of industrial waste in construction of the structures.

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article Urban Dialogues-Reimagining Bhopal

Bhopal to have new Master Plan within a year: Jaivardhan Singh All India Institute of Local Self-Government in partnership with Bhopal Municipal Corporation and Bhopal Smart City organised Urban Dialogues – Reimagining Bhopal on February 12, 2019. Urban Dialogues was focused on laying a roadmap for helping Bhopal city to build a better urban future. Objective of the conference was to bring out probable solutions for the urban issues that Bhopal city is facing

U

rban Dialogues – Reimaging Bhopal is an initiative of All India Institute of Local SelfGovernment (AIILSG).

The conference focused on future plans of the government of Madhya Pradesh to make Bhopal city smarter and

22 March 2019 | www.urbanupdate.in

initiatives taken by the authorities to improve basic services for the citizens.

Jaivardhan Singh, Minister of Urban Development and Housing, was present as the chief guest at the occasion. The conference brought together Minister of Law and Public Relations, Municipal Commissioner, Additional CEO of

Bhopal Smart City, Bhopal Citizen Forum officials, city experts, and other intelligentsia on a single platform to discuss and put forward their points of view on various topics such as Smart City Bhopal, Preservation of the natural environment of the lake city, Involvement of citizens in smart city

initiatives, and solutions to various urban issues that Bhopal is facing.

Urban Dialogues – Reimagining Bhopal was divided into four sessions namely Inaugural Session, Session 1, Session 2, and Valedictory Session.

Session 1 was themed as Bhopal Smart City and Session 2 threw light on aspects of infrastructure, mobility, and environment for building a sustainable Bhopal.

Rajiv Agarwal, Director General, AIILSG, in his welcome address talked about implementation of smart initiatives in the city which Bhopal has implemented in a very effective manner. Also, he discussed about the transformation of the city under Smart City Mission and Swachh Bharat Mission. Further, discussing about the role of AIILSG he mentioned about the functioning of the institute and various courses it offers. He talked about the capacity building program that AIILSG conducts for training various elected representatives and municipal officials to help improve the quality of civic services delivered to the citizens. Ravi Ranjan Guru, Deputy Director General of AIILSG made a presentation on the functioning of AIILSG. He talked about courses that AIILSG offers in fields of urban management, municipal administration, sanitation, municipal finance, and other areas of city administration. He detailed the various efforts that AIILSG is putting in for better development of cities in India, be it preparing mater plans for some of them, organising training programs for the city officials, conference like Urban Dialogues, and much more.

Abhilash Khandekar, a renowned senior journalist, talked about development of Bhopal city as a smart city. He opened his arguments saying that the development process of Bhopal is being done in a haphazard manner. Even after implementation of a few smart initiatives, the growth and development is not visible.

Khandekar raised various concerns like presence of urban complex in the city which can be seen among the people of Old Bhopal and New Bhopal. He

further emphasized on the need for preservation of the major attraction of Bhopal city which are its lakes.

Conservation of green cover, water bodies and other natural environment present in and around the city should be the pivotal point while creating and finalizing the Master Plan of Bhopal city, he added. Khandekar also touched upon the aspect of public art in the city and said that there should be proper policies designed for such initiatives.

There is need to raise awareness among the common citizens and also to add to the beauty of the city.

B Vijay Datta, Municipal Commissioner of Bhopal, was present as the special guest on the occasion.

He began his address by talking about the achievements of Bhopal city as he mentioned – Bhopal was ranked as the second best smart city in the country also the city has been awarded for its advanced digital payment services. “We are trying to reach the no. 1 position”, he said. Discussing the theme, he said, “We need to develop the city while keeping alive its original history and we are all geared up for it.”

Jaivardhan Singh, the Chief Guest, in his address thanked AIILSG for organising Urban Dialogues and said that Bhopal is open to feedback for better development and implementation of the city plan. He mentioned that since the past 24 years, Bhopal has not reviewed its master plan, and “my objective is to create a new and more effective master plan within a time frame of one year”. He said that Bhopal is not only the capital city of Madhya Pradesh but is also a unique city in its own sense. Bhopal’s greenery and lakes are the city’s strength and it is our primary responsibility to preserve them. He assured that the master plan will be focused on preservation of Bhopal’s natural environment and will be designed while keeping in mind the next 10-15 years, as long term planning is needed for better sustainable development of the city. Moreover, development of the peripheral areas of the city will also be taken into consideration. Singh said that Bhopal

lacks in urban mobility sector and therefore the administration is trying to add more buses to the BRTS fleet to improve the city’s mobility. There is also an attempt to introduce metro services. Other options like monorail are also being examined. One of the challenges that needs to be addressed is to bring in industries to Bhopal for better generation of revenue and employment opportunities, Singh said.

P C Sharma, Minster of Law (IC) and Public Relations, was invited as a special guest. In his address Sharma said that first of all there is a need to improve the services and its delivery to the citizens and then comes smart city development. Supporting Jaivardhan’s words Sharma added that we are open for feedback from institutions like AIILSG for better implementation of development plans. He said that Bhopal lack flyovers which is one of the reasons for traffic congestion in the city. To improve city’s mobility we need facilities like metro. Sharma also talked about training programs that AIILSG conducts and said that for our officials and elected representatives we can take feedback from the institute on their training and development. He further raised concerns on the state of educational institutions and other infrastructure that will be demolished for the redevelopment projects under the smart city plan for Bhopal.

Session 1 – Bhopal Smart City

The first technical session focused on the development of Bhopal into a smart city. The session was chaired by Nirmala Buch, Former Chief Secretary of Madhya Pradesh. The session witnessed the participation of Ramji Awasthi, Additional CEO Smart City, Pashim Tewari, Technical Director AIILSG and Harish Bhavnani, Bhopal Citizens’ Forum.

Ramji Awasthi in his address talked about the various achievements of Bhopal Smart City. He detailed smart initiatives implemented in and around the city for its development. Awasthi defined the concept of ‘smart city’ as a

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city wherein all the basic amenities and civic services provided to the citizens are ICT integrated. While development of any city is a gradual process and takes time to reach its goal, efforts are being put in to make the infrastructure compatible for ICT integration to enhance delivery of services, he added.

Awasthi explained that Bhopal’s smart city plan is based on redevelopment model, where the existing structures will be demolished and redeveloped as per the plan. He further said that to improve the mobility of the city there is need to build dedicated corridors for pedestrians, cyclists and motorists. Also, to decongest roads and reduce pollution, bike sharing can be a good alternative for people who need to travel short distances.

Awasthi mentioned that bike stand with smart bicycles for public has been installed at a few locations in the city. He further talked about various projects that are completed and ongoing in the city – smart poles, which work on renewable energy and save more electricity as compared to conventional light poles. Also, smart poles are automated and have cameras installed for surveillance. Around 150 poles are already installed and 400 more are in the pipeline. Artificial Intelligence based Integrated Traffic Management System is another project that Awasthi detailed. Nirmala Buch put forward a critical review on smart

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city initiative and while replying to Awasthi said, “Developments should be citizen centric, proactive participation of the citizens should be the most essential component for development of smart city plan.” Emphasising on the involvement of people she said, “Infrastructure is for the people, people are not for infrastructure.” Buch questioned Bhopal’s smart city plan, saying why redevelopment model and not retrofitting model was chosen. She then turned towards environmental issues and emphasised on the importance of lakes, parks, green cover and natural environment in and around the city. Buch further criticised multilevel parking lots saying it do not solve the purpose, as a person who visits the market for only 10-15 minutes will not choose to pay hefty parking charges.

Very few people will actually use the facility, while rest will continue to park their vehicles on streets. She also criticised vertical expansion of the city saying it reduces the space for people to live. Buch concluding her speech saying people need to know about all the aspects of the city and this is part of capacity building for the citizens.

Pashim Tewari came in support of smart city concept and said vertical expansion is the only alternative to manage the growing population and their needs. Horizontal expansion of the city is not a successful model as we have seen in case of Delhi. Government

of India has tried to ensure that before the plan is approved it should be visible to the citizens on the web portal. Also, citizen report card is a mandatory part of the smart city plan. He pointed out issues related to people’s feedback on the smart city initiatives, and said more than 40 per cent of the people do not accept any development plan.

Moreover, to agree on any development strategy, what is the minimum percentage of people we need in support. It is a challenge that we are facing with and is one of the biggest reasons why all the citizens cannot be involved to decide on development plans for that city. Smart City Mission is executed by not only municipal bodies alone but in coordination with the Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs).

This model was accepted because the municipalities have very less power and whatever revenue they generate is not enough to cover the project costs.

SPV model turned out to be a probable solution as it implemented user based taxes so people who can afford will pay to use the facility; this generates more revenue as compared to the earlier execution. Therefore, this revenue from the people who can pay can be used for subsidising services for the ones who are unable to pay.

Harish Bhavnani, the last speaker of the session began his address stating that in 2011 Bhopal was ranked as the

“

I really appreciate the initiative that All India Institute of Local SelfGovernment has taken by organising Urban Dialogues. I warmly congratulate AIILSG for it. Such dialogues plays important role to discuss more about city problems with its solutions. We hope this conference will come with the better solutions to build Bhopal city’s future better.

Jaivardhan Singh Minister of Housing and Urban Development, MP

third greenest city in India. He moved on towards smart development of Bhopal and said that Bhopal Citizens’ Forum was not allowed to opine on the city’s development plan. Criticising smart city initiative, Bhavnani said that we are building a city within a city but not focusing on smart development.

While talking about the bike sharing initiative taken under smart city he said that this is not a successful plan as the terrain of the city is not appropriate for cycling. Bhopal is a city built on hillocks and cycling cannot be an effective solution for improvement of the city’s mobility. Bike sharing could be used for last mile connectivity viz. from residence to bus stops and vice versa, but in that case how will the person return the cycle taken on rent. In such case, Ramji Awasthi replied that bikes are tracked through ICCC and can be left at any bike stand nearby; it is not necessary to leave the bike on the same stand from where it has been taken.

Session 2 - Infrastructure, Mobility, and Environment for building a Sustainable Bhopal

The session was chaired by Anthony de Sa, Former Chief Secretary of Madhya Pradesh. The session involved inputs from Ravindra Saxena, IFS (Retd.), Former Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, MP, Dr Prakash Seth,

Former Secretary at MPPCB, and Dr Arun Paliwal, Joint Secretary Finance, UADD. Anthony in his address said that Smart City plan has both positive and negative reviews from the people and balance should be created. He further said that mobility and infrastructure are to be seen as a part and parcel of one whole package. Ravindra Saxena put forward his concerns regarding the environmental issues. He spoke on legal environmental issues in Madhya Pradesh and across India.

Madhya Pradesh Municipal Corporation Act 1956 has not been reviewed since past 65 years; the law is dynamic and there is a need for updation as per today’s requirements.

Forest Preservation Act was formed by environment department but it is implemented by municipalities, this dichotomy cause issues in its proper implementation.

Saxena put forward a few suggestions such as – There is a need to bring in legal provision that trees should not be cut rather transplanted; Reclamation of solid waste dumping sites are needed for better waste management; Sewage ditch needs to be built in a series so that sewage flows in them and will not enter the water body, also the ditches need to be reclaimed in an orderly fashion to prevent the outflow of sewage; Shelter belts are needed on the western side of Bhopal for preservation

of natural resources; Catchment areas need to be notified as ‘Ecologically Fragile Zone’. He further detailed on rising temperature of central India and shortage of water resources due to warming. Climate change and its impact on humans was another key highlight of his address.

Dr Prakash Seth mentioned about the Upper lake, its fauna, its water, and its deterioration with time due to sewage, pesticides, and other industrial effluents. Major source of water for the Upper Lake is Kolans River, but improper management of the river water for agriculture and other usage hampers the quality of water entering the Upper Lake.

Pesticides and fertilizers used for agriculture are flowing into the river and illegal colonization on the banks affect the lake on a large scale.

Government needs to look into the matter and take appropriate actions to stop further damage to water resources.

He took forward the discussion and highlighted about the Central Environment Planning and Technology (CEPT) report on the Upper Lake.

His concern on the report was that the issue of preservation of the Upper Lake is related to public; therefore, the report should be released for citizens’ consultation. On behalf of the Bhopal Citizens’ Forum he suggested – Effluent treatment plants should be set up to prevent sewage entering the lake, encroachments on the river needs to be stopped to prevent the decreasing flow of Kolans River and proper agricultural methods should be used to prevent contamination of the river water.

Anthony de Sa supporting Dr Seth’s point of view said, “The CEPT report is not any such inquiry that needs to be kept hidden, it should be open for public debate.”

Dr Arun Paliwal, Joint Director Finance, UADD put forward his views on the development projects going on in Madhya Pradesh. He said currently we have projects worth `8100 crore which we are implementing. If we look at the water supply projects, we will be able to provide drinking water supply to every household in all the 378 cities

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Key outcomes of Urban Dialogues Bhopal Declaration

♦♦ Lakes, greenery, hillocks are the most important aspects of Bhopal city and must be preserved while implementing projects and initiatives to make Bhopal a smart city. The ecology of the city should not be compromised. ♦♦ Master Plan of Bhopal need to be made and released early. Jaivardhan Singh has announced during Urban Dialogues-Reimagining Bhopal that the new Master Plan of the city will see the light of the day within one year. ♦♦ Bhopal needs to focus on issues like lake conservation, cleanliness of water bodies, proper sewage network, and most of all on the city’s efficient mobility. ♦♦ Bus Rapid Transport System (BRTS) and Bike Sharing System projects should be revisited and planned according to city’s terrain, demography and citizens’ convenience. ♦♦ Bhopal has witnessed a makeover under the Smart Cities Mission. Developments like dedicated cycle tracks, pedestrian walkways, traffic monitoring system, water quality monitoring system, smart poles, and much more have already been implemented in the city. Artificial Intelligence is being used for effective implementation of various projects and facilities. ♦♦ Citizens also have a responsibility to engage in the development process and contribute their bit to make the city a better place to live.

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♦♦ Temperature in and around Bhopal city is rising.

Conservation of wetland and their catchment areas, vegetation and other natural resources is very important to ensure preservation of city’s ecosystem. ♦♦ Integration of basic civic services such as solid waste management, cleaning of roads, drinking water, adequate sewage network and management of public spaces is required in the new and old Bhopal alike. ♦♦ CEPT Report on the upper lake of Bhopal should be released for citizen consultation. ♦♦ Involvement of citizens in smart city plan must be strengthened. There should be regular dialogues with citizens and their suggestions should be taken into consideration while making and implementing plans.

Urban development of Bhopal should fulfil the aspirations of the citizens. ♦♦ Creating a platform to have robust community participation is the need of the hour. It should enable all stakeholders such as public representatives, educational institutions, prominent citizen voices, and industry players. ♦♦ Public Private Partnership (PPP) has various models.

These models can be discussed to address the financial issues for introducing new projects and programs.

Mutual trust in PPP projects is necessary for the success of projects.

“

Urban Dialogues is a new initiative for Bhopal City.

I congratulate and thank AIILSG for organising such an event with Bhopal Municipal Corporation. I hope that the city experts and senior officers attending the conference will provide us the new ideas to implement for making Bhopal more developed in field of smart city B Vijay Datta BMC Commissioner

of Madhya Pradesh (MP) by 2022.

Also, by 2022 sewage issues will be resolved completely for 60 per cent of the cities. Moving on to Smart Cities in MP, Dr Paliwal said that there are seven cities chosen for implementing Smart Cities Mission.

We have envisaged projects worth 21000 crore for development but equity received is only 7000 crore. If we look at inter-city and intra-city urban transportation project, we have made 20 clusters based on PPP mode and on hub & spoke model of implementation.

Even if we move at the same pace and get as many projects from the center and the state we will still have a resource gap, and that is why PPP model is very important, Dr Paliwal added.

PPP can resolve the three limitations of the government which is financing of infrastructural projects, efficiency in implementation, and maintenance of the infrastructure.

Valedictory Session

The session was chaired by Rajiv Agarwal, Director General, AIILSG. The session was graced by the presence of Rajyavardhan Singh, MLA, Badnawar,

who delivered his point of views on the development of Bhopal. Singh said that when we talk about ‘reimagining’ we need to have a plan and a clear vision of a city we intend to build. There is a need to conduct SWOT analysis of all the aspects that we look for in a city before we proceed further; Hyderabad can be a good example, Singh said. He said that one of the primary issues is waste management. He further emphasised on the importance of implementing PPP model as a solution to the financial crunch that the government is facing.

We need to focus on how much we can stretch that rupee, resources and utilizing it optimally.

Ashok Wankhede, Managing Editor, Urban Update and senior journalist, highlighting the significance of Urban Dialogues said, we try to bring forward the points from various organisations that government and citizens might not know, similarly points from government that others might not know. Therefore, through this program we tend to bridge the knowledge gap and reach a probable solution to urban issues. There are certain misconceptions about the smart city development and many people have a prejudice that this development will not create any good. Wankhede said that smart solutions for development should come to people in a way that such misconceptions should not come up. He further said that there is no specific formula to develop all the 100 smart cities but for every city there is a specific plan based on its specifications.

Development is an ongoing process and things will not happen overnight.

He gave an example of Delhi Metro that initially people criticised it because the construction work caused inconvenience to people on roads, but today metro has supported the people

so much that if it were not there, it would have taken 1-2 hours to travel a kilometer on Delhi roads.

Ramji Awasthi, joined the conference again to answer the questions and concerns raised. He said there is a whole lot of difference in a normal city and a smart city. When we talk about smart city we focus on all the infrastructure, especially for basic amenities should be integrated with the command and control center and is monitored for further enhancement of the services. As an example Awasthi said, earlier we had five water tanks and we knew their operators as well, but with growing demand today there are 175 of them and keeping an account of all of them without technological intervention seems impossible. We have abandoned the idea of manual decision and adapted digital monitoring and decision for providing service to all.

Talking on solid waste management he said that by digital monitoring we can easily make out how much solid waste has been cleared from the city and from how many households. Awasthi said that to prevent congestion on streets we need to have dedicated corridors for pedestrians, cyclists, and motor vehicles and Bhopal Smart City has implemented it.

Intelligent Traffic Monitoring System (ITMS) is not only implemented to generate challans but we look forward to a behavioural change among the people to prevent further traffic violations. ITMS will make people aware that they are being monitored so they have to abide with the traffic rules to prevent being fined. Awasthi further said that when we talk about equipping the city with technology to large extent we also need large power for its operation. To overcome this demand, we will install rooftop solar panels and we also have spare land which has been kept for building a solar energy plant that would generate around 30 MW of power.

Ravi Ranjan Guru, Deputy Director General, AIILSG came forward to summarise the conference. He laid down all the key outcomes of the conference & concluded the session.

www.urbanupdate.in | March 2019

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Cover Story Gender Equality

Cities need to prioritize gender sensitive planning, policies 28 March 2019 | www.urbanupdate.in

Cities around the world are making their ecosystems gender sensitive and encouraging more women to participate in the social-political sphere. Cities in the many developing countries have taken admirable initiatives to bring women at the forefront through promoting their role in urban planning, local leadership, decision making and city management. Safety is not the only issue for women in cities as there are numerous issues women face in a city while going to work, schools or running errands

Hansa Patel Executive Advisor, AIILSG

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any European, American and Canadian cities such as Geneva, Vienna, Berlin, Madrid, Ottawa and New York have taken lead in implementing gender-sensitive projects and programs. In the last couple of years, for example, the City of Geneva has made gender equality a political priority. According to a report by the New Cities Organisation, one of the objectives is to fight gender stereotypes and the reproduction of inequalities.

Every year, the City develops initiatives to engage citizens, for example, the Geneva Equality Week with the aim of taking an original look at a theme by examining it from a gender perspective and equality between women and men.

An awareness campaign “equality, the city shows its will” is presented every year around June 14, an important date for equality between women and men in Switzerland. In terms of services and facilities provided to women, the city has improved its infrastructure and services. The number of spaces available in nurseries in Geneva has indeed more than doubled. According to official data, the city currently meets 82 per cent of parents’ nursery requests, and the City’s ambition is to meet 95 per cent of these requests by 2020.

Moreover, nurseries have become places of enlightenment, education, prevention and social cohesion. They have a crucial role to play in the fight against gender stereotypes.

Indian cities those are evolving as corporate hubs can think in that direction. Why cannot Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Mumbai and other big cities develop such facilities? This is evident that such facilities would improve the participation of women in the workforce. Even the baby care station or feeding rooms are available only at airports as if it is the requirement of only those are flying from one city to another. Why aren’t such facilities available at other public places?

City planners and managers need to take in to account the needs of women while planning a public place

or any facility for citizens. Women face major difficulties in poorly managed sidewalks and pathways when using strollers. Women and men use the city’s infrastructure, mass transit and public places differently. Though, the rationale is not to stereotype gender roles by referring women take care of children but in reality, a majority of them do so.

Public transit systems, public places and the built environment in a city must be planned to provide better accessibility, convenience, safety to women and girls.

The inequality among men and women still exist in multiple forms.

A survey ‘Mapping the Sexism of City Streets Name’ conducted by Aruna Shankarnarayanan and his team at Mapbox in seven major metropolia of the world (London, Paris, New Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, San Francisco, and Chennai) reveals that only 27.5 per cent of the streets were named after women. This is evident that the ratio will go down further if the survey is conducted in Tier-I and II cities. However, the trend is changing and some leading feminism groups advocated for renaming of streets after the name of celebrated female

Public transport, public places & the city environment must be planned to provide better accessibility, convenience, and safety to women and girls personalities. There are many cities in Australia and Netherlands which have gone ahead and started using female crossing signs. All are aware that naming public places, streets using ‘female’ signs only will not help the cause of gender equality in cities but it will definitely highlight the role of women in the development phase of a city or a public place.

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Roadmap to achieve gender equality The United Nations came up with 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2015 for the betterment of humanity. Out of the 17, the SDG 5 talks about achieving gender equality and empower all women and girls. The 2030 Agenda for sustainable development and its 17 SDGs adopted by world leaders embody a roadmap for progress that is sustainable and leaves no one behind. To achieve this SDG we need to rethink about our cities and villages to make them gender sensitive and to build an inclusive community across the globe that offers equal opportunities to all its citizens.

Goal 5 of the Sustainable Development Goals says ‘achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls’. Gender equality is a right. There is a growing consensus that most of the challenges of our times like economic crises, health care, climate change, violence against women and escalating conflicts can be addressed by fulfilling this right or at least gives it the best chance of doing so.

UN Woman says ‘Women are not only more affected by these problems, but also possess ideas and leadership to solve them. Gender discrimination still holding too many women back, holds our world back too. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by world leaders in 2015, embody a roadmap for progress that is sustainable and leaves no one behind’.

It is imperative that women and girls are provided with equal access to education and decent work, health care and an equal representation in political and economic decisionmaking processes. SDG5 also says that the new legal frameworks regarding ‘female equality in the workplace and the eradication of harmful practices targeted at women is crucial to ending

30 March 2019 | www.urbanupdate.in

the gender-based discrimination prevalent in many countries around the world.’ But a crucial question remains that is of the safety of women in an urban environment. How important is that. Ambassador of Finland to India Nina Vaskunlahti says ‘its a very important point, a space in a city should be safe for women, in a way, I think it is about a question of appreciation, one appreciates for sexes, be it a girl, be it a boy. In a similar way, it is the same possibility and same access. So it is a sort of to create lights, to create trust, to create gates that are open, to create wide spaces that sort of gives you physical safety and it is sort of important. But physical safety is one thing but even more important it is to appreciate gender equality’.

Reimagining our cities

It is in the above context that our cities need to be reimagined; a city which is women-friendly, in which they can contribute socially and economically both. That is a pre-requisite for success of any country not just India. Our cities have become most unsafe places for women these days and almost everyone has a horrendous experience to share.

Most women feel unsafe and insecure as we engage with our public spaces and the built environment of our cities.

Kumar Dhananjay Consulting Editor

This sense of anxiety is not unfounded.

India’s National Crime Bureau data highlight that four women are raped every hour. Therefore, design of safe urban environments can play a crucial role in addressing such heinous crimes and making our society better. Kavita Krishnan, leading women rights activist says “city planners should involve women in planning for the entire city they shouldn’t be just involved in

women’s safety plans. Women should be involved and women should be factored in while making cities’ plans as a whole or in changing cities’ plans as a whole. For instance, every aspect of the city should be envisaged with women in it 24x7. We need to imagine cities with women in them 24x7 night and day. So, what does that envisage?

What would you have in place so that women actually access the city at all times?’

Crime against women is a growing concern. Not just in the national capital Delhi, but in city after city, the story is the same. If we take the case of Maximum City Mumbai the latest data and their analysis from 2013-14 to 2017-18 showed that the number of crimes like rape has increased by 83 per cent. Cases of reported molestation

have gone up by 95 per cent and cases of rioting have gone up by 36 per cent.

Undoubtedly, we need to make our cities more inclusive not only from the safety perspective but also social equality and economic future.

Today, approximately 18 per cent women make up the urban workforce and this number has been on the decline over the last decade. Prathima Manohar, columnist says “we need to improve female participation in our workforce to be an economic success.

According to a study by McKinsey Global Institute, the world can add $28 trillion or 26 per cent of GDP by 2025 if women participate in the economy like men do today. The way a city is designed affects women’s freedom and access. It can deter or empower women from going to school to being an entrepreneur.

Therefore, India has to build the ultimate womenfriendly cities if the ‘India’ story has to shine on.”

Rising inequality

The inequality between men and women in India is stark. Just take the example of streets of Indian cities. Undeniably it is a male domain.

According to World Bank data, just twenty seven percent of Indian women participate in the work force, compared with seventy nine percent of men. This trend is most visible in urban areas.

Although women in India mostly walk, cycle or use public transport to go to work, they are still much less visible

in public spaces than men, because many do not have jobs to travel to at all.

Access to good transport itself is crucial to a just and economically productive city. Ultimately, transportation enables women to participate in the society and workforce. Public transport is indeed a key factor in making a city accessible to women. Kavita Krishnan says “public transport in major policy decisions must be a priority which women’s movement is demanding for a long time so that women are really able to access the cities at all times.

There has to be a solid network of public transport. Bombay, for instance, is a good example of that. The fact that Bombay had till quite recently and even now continues to have an excellent public transport of trains and buses running leading into the night means that women tend to access the city a lot more when there are more women out in public places more and more women out on the street.”

The book ‘Why Loiter’, a book dedicated to public spaces specially women’s access to public spaces in India says very clearly about the instance of a young woman who does not want to be seen with a male friend in her own locality and so even though the stretch between the bus stop and home may be unsafe, she will walk that distance alone because she does not want her male friend to accompany her to that point. So, this shows that their fear of patriarchal gaze sometimes outweighs the fear of other dangers.

In fact it puts women in greater danger. So, what can public policy makers do to change the ways in which the city looks at women? While doing all this, the policy makers also have to keep in mind the most vulnerable section among working women that is migrants who do odd jobs. There must be a law in place to stop any kind of discrimination and abuse they face on daily basis. Ultimately, we need to rethink our cities to make them gender sensitive, which is by extension an inclusive city that offers equal opportunities to all its citizens. A city that is good for children, the elderly and women is a great city for all.

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leaderspeak Women in Cities

Women need to be better placed to reap benefits of urbanisation Urbanisation is bringing numerous benefits to women that include improved legal protection, better access to justice, and a narrowing gender gap in schools and universities. Still, women are not able to get equitable opportunities at workplaces. Countries all over are trying to bridge the gender gap in all aspects of life but the situation on the ground is changing at a snail’s pace

I

t is undeniable that urban women have significantly better access to employment opportunities than rural women.

The reason is: social and cultural norms change at a fast pace in urban environment. But the question remains: are these changes fast enough to bring men and women on the same platform at workplaces and in society?

When women migrate from villages to cities, they get freedom of movement, escape from restrictive gender roles and heightened risks of violence. This is evident that gender violence and restrictive cultural and social norms still define rural women’s lives.

Cities and women

Urban life also promises to offer better opportunities for paid work, improved access to civic services, health, and education. Despite all these advantages, women are still not well positioned to reap the benefits of urbanisation. The scope of unequal opportunities for women are many and their reasons are varied.

According to Women in Workforce Study by Her Story, women in India account for just 25 per cent of the workforce. This, despite the female population accounting for half of India’s total population. The survey also questions, “While there have been many conversations around diversity and inclusion, few have centred on what

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exactly this means for women in the workforce.” For the study, a survey was also conducted among a sample group of 120 working women from across the country. Some of the questions asked to respondents included: What do women in the workforce want in corporate policies aimed at promoting diversity and inclusion?; how do they want these policies implemented?

And more importantly, shouldn’t this be a sustained and continuous effort?

The survey throws up the three key outcomes. First, Indian women still struggle to have their voices heard, in large corporates and new startups alike, Second, unconscious biases against or traditional mindsets about women still exist, making it difficult for them to define/ redefine their roles. And, third, women are still significantly underrepresented in C-suite or top leadership roles. These are the challenges which we need to address to ensure women are empowered in a true sense instead of just doing lip service.

The statement from Annette Dixon, World Bank South Asia Vice President, in a recent conference in Mumbai highlights the situation on the ground.

She says, “India’s rapid urbanisation has not yet encouraged more women to join the labour force. Rural jobs have been decreasing and not enough rural women have been able to make the transition to working in urban areas. This makes the need for greater

Ranjit S Chavan President, AIILSG

public safety and safe transport more significant. By any measure, the gap is particularly large and has been widening. India ranks 120 among 131 countries in female labour force participation rates, and rates of genderbased violence remain unacceptably high. It’s hard to develop in an inclusive and sustainable way when half of the population is not fully participating in the economy.”

Unequal prospects

A majority of women in developing countries, especially poor women,

work in the informal sector. According to a report by the Institute for Women’s Policy Research commissioned by the National Democratic Institute, 83 per cent of employed women in South Asia work in the informal economy, as do 74 per cent of women in subSahara Africa, and 54 per cent in Latin

American and Caribbean. Informal employment for women includes street vending, waste picking, and work in small-scale businesses.

Women in small-scale industries are generally poorly paid and have no social security. In waste picking, women collect, sort, recycle and sell valuable

Women’s empowerment has become priorities for sustainable development that lifts up the well-being of all.

The role of local bodies has also become quite crucial in addressing these issues. The first and foremost issue that can be addressed by local governments is equitable delivery of civic services because the poor women get deprived of better economic opportunities when they have to spend more time in arranging for potable water for household works or go long distances for toilets. Even, there are hardly a few cities where crèche services are available Women mayors’ have joined hands together for taking local action on climate change

materials. They often work in terrible and dangerous conditions. They are subject to street harassment, receive little to no support from authorities, and are subject to arbitrary pricing by middlemen. Even in the informal sector, women are struggling for equal pay. Women have been historically marginalised but this is quite ironical that women continue to face inequality in cities because many of them moved to cities for equitable opportunities.

These details suggest that women whether belonging to the poor strata or the high-income class face difficulties in their workplaces. These are true for both types of cities-big and small. The issues of women may be different in London, Mumbai and Latur but women everywhere are still struggling to get equal opportunities. In some cities, the issue of safety is an issue of concern and in others, they are facing discriminatory treatment at workplaces.

Women’s empowerment has become a priority for sustainable development that lifts up the well-being of all. The role of local bodies has also become quite crucial in addressing these issues.

The first and foremost issue that can be addressed by local governments is equitable delivery of civic services because the poor women get deprived of better economic opportunities when they have to spend more time in arranging for potable water for household works or go long distances for toilets. Further, there are hardly a few cities where crèche services are available. The unavailability of these services also deprive them of equal opportunities and affect their economic prosperity.

Local governments should also engage women in citizen consultation and this will help in recognising the women’s and girls’ needs as distinct from those of men. Gender-sensitive urban planning & design can more effectively accommodate their requirements and domestic responsibilities, enabling them to support their families through paid employment and relieving substantial demands on their time and well being.

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Article Policy Reforms

Time for a policy to declare ‘urban drought’ to end hardships of poor women As the temperature rises many cities in India face a drought situation.

Surprisingly, there is no policy to declare drought in a region. Increasing heat has resulted in a significant loss of water in our reservoirs and storage tanks and this has affected livelihood of urban poor and especially women largely. There is an urgent need to develop a policy to declare drought so that actions can be taken to supply potable water to every household in time of crisis

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he summer has set in, much before its arrival time, and that has already become the norm for about two decades now.

Going by predictions of the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), made in first week of March, the MarchMay period this year may witness ‘above normal’ summer in North Indian states such as Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan.

Parts of the southern and northeastern regions of the country may also experience the same summer condition. The forecast has also said that “this season, average maximum temperatures in Himachal Pradesh, West Rajasthan, Konkan, Goa, Coastal Karnataka, Kerala and Arunachal Pradesh are likely to be higher than normal by 0.5-1.0 degree Celsius.” The IMD predicts that there is 37 per cent probability of maximum temperature in 2019 being above normal for the core heatwave zones of Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Odisha and Telengana.

In fact, as we write this piece, India is battling with two extreme weather conditions in two different regions.

According to just released IMD data, while the northern part of the country is experiencing an extended winter

34 March 2019 | www.urbanupdate.in

season, the southern region is already battling with heatwave conditions, proving the predictions for the southern region right.

The first news about heatwave preparedness came from Kerala this year. The state’s labour department has issued an order that makes mandatory

Ranjan K Panda Convenor, Combat Climate Change Network, India

afternoon breaks for workers in order to avoid sunstroke. The circular came into effect from February 28, news reports said. Workers need to stay indoors between 12 pm and 3 pm during summer months, according to this circular. Other governments in the heatwave zone will start their actions

soon. Heatwave deaths have been a major concern for about two decades.

Summer comes with another big challenge: water scarcity. Ironically, our cities do not call it a ‘drought’ because drought has been associated, in official documents and perceptions, as something to do with crop failure associated with monsoon. Drought, therefore, is officially declared in the country after crop cutting is done.

The water challenge

Summers are expanding beyond their conventional season. Urban areas depend on rivers, groundwater and surface water bodies for their water supplies. Dry summers, that are getting harsher due to increasing heat, start drying up our water sources. The last decade has been witnessing record warming globally. In fact, according to a report by the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), that was released during the COP 24 climate summit at Katowice, 20 warmest years on record

The IMD predicts that there is 37 per cent probability of maximum temperature in 2019 being above normal for the core heatwave zones of Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Odisha and Telengana

have been in the past 22 years. 2018 has been the fourth warmest year so far. The warming trend is obvious and continuing, the WMO said.

In the first week of March last year, water level of major 91 reservoirs of the nation was only 36 per cent of total live storage capacity, as per reports of the Central Water Commission (CWC).

Just in about a month, the capacity had reduced by 7 per cent. This year, at the end of February, the average water level status of these 91 major reservoirs is positioned at a better place at 40 per cent. The country is already facing persistent water crisis, that’s getting severe by the years. Water supply to urban areas will get affected if various reservoirs that supply water to them dry up. That also means the urban areas will directly be in a confrontation with the farmers. And we have been witnessing such conflicts during the last decade and more. Large dams and reservoirs have been a conventional way our engineers and planners have been propagating to address water supply and other needs. However, the way these reservoirs are shrinking in their capacity due to various factors – one important aspect among them being climate change and related heat – taps dependent on these reservoirs would dry up fast.

Data released last year by a new early warning satellite system revealed that India is among four countries of the world where the shrinking reservoirs are already leading to doomsday water crisis scenarios. The developers of this satellite system that is working for 500,000 dams across the world found out that reservoirs in India, Morocco, Iraq and Spain could spark the next “day zero” water crisis as the one seen in Cape Town. Giving example of two reservoirs connected to the Narmada River, this study found out how the farmers have been at loss as the government had to ensure drinking water to at least 30 million people.

Going by priorities listed in our water policies, that’s right. However, going by realities in the field, that is a huge matter of worry as this may lead to

serious conflicts between farmers and urban dwellers.

Poor women most affected

The informal settlements in urban areas witness a daily fight for water. The women, who have the responsibility of fetching water for their families have to suffer severe stress under the sun. Be it public taps or tankers, that become the major source of water for the urban poor, the struggle gets harder during drought years. And under such circumstances, use of household toilets bring more burden for the women, as generally in India, women have to fetch water for everyone in the family – be it for drinking, bathing or washing themselves after using toilets.

While we have no policy to declare a drought in the urban areas, there is no recognition of the women folks’ contribution either. They have to go through mental, physical, social and economic hardships while fetching water from the public taps and tankers.

Unfortunately, our policy makers have taken it for granted that provision of a public tap or water through tankers amounts to fulfilling their responsibility towards the urban poor.

This needs to change and with urgency, as climate change is going to make water availability, hence urban poor women’s hardship, further worse.

It’s time we need to think of a policy to declare urban drought. This would mean we must supply safe water at the doorstep of each person and/or family.

However, as that will take time and we need to still depend on public taps and tankers for several years – and perhaps for decades – it is time to compensate the women for their health and economic loss due to extra time given for fetching water.

The age old social practice of burdening women with the job of collecting water for the family needs to be fought with massive awareness campaigns. We need to adopt all these suggestions in rural areas as well.

[The views expressed are the author’s own. They do not purport to reflect the views of Urban Update.]

www.urbanupdate.in | March 2019

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article Urban Poor

Urban Poor Sets Agenda for 2019

Tikender Singh Panwar Former Deputy Mayor Shimla

Cities and their fast-changing characteristics, while beneficial for minority privileged groups, are becoming increasingly detrimental to the majority marginalised sections that live, work and shape our Indian cities.

Urban Local Bodies need to facilitate the underprivileged with appropriate policy interventions,treat them as equal and make cities more livable and just for every citizen

36 March 2019 | www.urbanupdate.in

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arious groups of slum dwellers, civil society organisations, women groups, other groups working amongst the urban poor, disabled women groups, street vendors, housing rights activists and so on assembled in Delhi on February 28 to set in place a new discourse for 2019.

This new discourse called ‘voices of the unheard’ in the cities intends to influence the 2019 general elections by advocating their demands to be (a) incorporated in the election

manifestoes of the political parties and (b) during the elections getting their demand charter endorsed and signed by respective candidates when they visit their (poor people) habitations.

Getting enthused from the ‘election hit campaign’ in recently held Madhya Pradesh assembly elections, where the candidates were asked to endorse ‘zero eviction’ policy and sign it in front of the community people; there is some hope for the poor.

The challenge is the way urbanisation is progressing in the country. Urbanisation is projected as a panacea for the development challenges that we face as a nation.

The cities are evolving at a rapid pace especially Tier2, 3 and Tier 4 cities.

However, there has been less action at the inequality perpetuated, unjustness in design and unsustainable growth of urban India.

The February 28, convention chalked out the following demands which will become focus of actions at the local level to influence the elections in the cities. It may be emphasised that over 150 members of parliament in the Lok Sabha are either directly or predominantly elected from cities.

Right to housing and land title for slums

More than 30 percent of India’s population in cities lives in slums that are unprotected and are bereft of basic services. In contrast with the popular perception, slums are occupying only around 5 per cent of urban land in most cities.

The housing policies that aim to monetize land under slums like ‘Housing for All’ have exploited this little land and lead to numerous evictions and displacements of urban poor. Therefore, it is demanded that land titles be conferred to slum dwellers in Indian cities and ensure their protection first, and then inclusive development later of the community’s choice. This will benefit more than 15 crore urban poor population.

No cut-off dates and Zero Eviction Policy

Numerous basti pockets remain ‘illegal’ without access to services and amenities due to regressive policies of centre and state governments like cut-off dates that determine the legal status of people’s settlements. This is leading to numerous evictions that lead to homelessness and further marginalisation of urban poor.

Moreover, these policies are also contradicting the larger urbanisation policy of the country that is inviting more people to urban areas. It is demanded that such cut-off dates be removed, or cut-off date be as the date of survey and a zero eviction policy prepared at the national level.

Slum upgradation scheme with the provision of basic services on ‘as is where is’ basis

‘Bastis’also called slums have been always considered to be filthy and unclean. This approach to solving people’s housing needs has only resulted in evictions and removal of slums in the name of ‘beautification of cities’. There are numerous successful examples worldwide, where it is amply clear that problem with slums is not the ‘houses’, but the service provision. There is a demand of a national scheme that only focuses on the improvement of slums on – ‘as is, where is’ basis and ensures that there is no diversion of housing debate into the number of houses, but protecting and improving the existing people’s housing wherever possible.

Introducing a National Housing, Habitat and Urban policy in 2019

The National Urban Housing and Habitat Policy of 2007, has mostly remained on paper, with many loopholes in its formulation and gaps in its implementation at the state level. There is a need to conceive a new holistic habitat and urban policy that will pave the way for legislative reforms for inclusive and sustainable

www.urbanupdate.in | March 2019

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urban development. This policy should also keep the needs and protection to informal settlements and livelihoods in Indian cities as a core focus of its agenda;thereby bringing together the diverse policies on housing, transport and sanitation with other emerging issues of quickly urbanising India focusing on marginalised sections and groups (caste, class, gender, disability).

The policy must also address the needs of peripheral urbanisation and include the transient population migrating to cities because of rural distress.

‘Smart’ cities to be reconceived as ‘Liveable & Just Cities for All’

Smart Cities Mission has been a disaster for the urban. The unrealistic plans, focusing on technology centric solutions, prepared by foreign companies and implemented through Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs) against the democratic participatory planning principles has resulted in chaos and bypassing of local elected governments.

This needs to be replaced by the concept of “Liveable & Just Cities for All” – that begins with the premise of inclusion and sustainability, with clear benchmarks and standards for all the urban poor and worker communities in their cities, and protect the existing people settlements and livelihoods.

10 lakh urban homeless, who without adequate shelter as prescribed in National Urban Livelihood Mission – Shelter for Urban Homeless (NULM-SUH) scheme are suffering daily lives of humiliation in the open and in spite of The Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013 –

the inhuman prevalence of manual scavenging continues in Indian cities, leading to the daily occurrence of deaths in the streets and sewers.

Strict implementation of the Act, with appropriate technological and financial support is required to ensure that no more urban poor-workers’ lives are lost.

The whole mission should be channelled through capacitated local elected governments following public consultations and discussions to develop an indigenous model of ‘Liveable & Just cities’. Particular attention will be on promoting E-governance with support from Indian institutions like IITs and NIC (National Informatics Centre), to monitor and support the improvement in service delivery and implementation of projects.

‘National Action Plan’ to address ‘Climate Change Adaptation and Pollution’ for resilient Indian cities

Indian cities are the most polluted in the world and are increasingly becoming unliveable. In the coming years our 10,000 plus cities are going to be great contributors to global warming and climate change, and the same can be controlled only through appropriate measures.

Alongside the threat of pollution, climate change induced disasters are also on the increase in urban areas leading to further marginalization of urban poor groups who are more vulnerable. There is need to target the 100 most polluted/vulnerable cities and take strong measures to control the rising pollution and climate change threats through integrated

The Accessibility And Safety Of Women In Indian Cities Have Been Reduced To CCTVs And More Vigilant Policing. We Wish To Demand A Departure From The Same Using Urban Planning To Envisage WomenFriendly Cities 38 March 2019 | www.urbanupdate.in

relevant policy interventions, one of them being urban planning and development.

Promoting mixed land use, live & work urban form, public transport and non-motorised transport, and sustainable handling of solid waste management are the first steps in the urban adaptive and resilience building of Indian cities.

All informal sector workers guaranteed identity and dignity with basic rights, social security and entitlements with portability

A huge majority of urban informal sector workers – around 20 crore in population, though recognised and protected through numerous existing laws, are not able to avail any benefits of schemes as they lack ‘identity’ of being workers.

There is a need to ensure that all workers are registered as workers through various provisions available in the acts/ policies. Also there is a need to reactivate the Unorganised Workers’ Social Security Act, 2008 (UWSSA) with enough financial provisions in budget to ensure universal minimum social security like healthcare, maternity, insurance and pension. Also, to address the needs of vast number of migrant workers, portability of these schemes should be ensured to provide seamless benefits across jurisdictions to workers.

The centre should also fix universal minimum wages and (or) launch a ‘National Urban Employment Scheme’ to provide livelihoods to the informal sector workers to lead a life with ‘dignity’. Women domestic workers who are around 2 crore in cities and whose work is still not considered work and who are exploited in a patriarchal society - need to be accorded policy protection with a specific act on ‘domestic workers’.

As women work in the informal sector as domestic workers, street vendors, sex workers, home based workers, waste collectors, construction workers, etc., they should be provided with safe access to public spaces and

services. With respect to the on-going demand for amalgamation of labour codes, it is demanded that in the name of universalisation of benefits, the dilution of different acts/boards that exist for different workers be stopped and be maintained separately so as to contribute to the specific needs of workers.

Street vending to be protected and accommodated in Indian cities

Street Vendors (SV) Act ratified in 2014 has not been implemented and street vendors - including chaiwalas and pakodewalas – who number more than 2 crore are being harassed by local authorities and state agencies on a daily basis. It is demanded that street vendors and their positive contribution be recognised, and their survey and registration is carried out in a mission mode as is in the SV Act 2014.

Thereafter, Town Vending Committees (TVCs) be constituted through elections and space for street vending designated in urban planning processes and schemes. Also access to social security schemes is ensured like other informal sector workers.

Implementation of 74th Constitutional Amendment Act (CAA), and devolution of powers and finances

After 25 years of 74th CAA, there is a need for more autonomy and power to the Urban Local Bodies (ULBs).

Increasingly there is a trend of recentralisation of urban governance; SPVs being the best case of the numerous examples. It is expected that the finances and powers of city planning and provision of services controlled presently by the centre & state governments should be handed over to capacitate ULBs that through democratic participatory processes like ward committees ensure that urban planning is localised in scale, and thereby make it inclusionary for urban poor groups.

Required resources and capacities to ULBs have to be imparted by the central and state governments and ensuring that real time ward expenditure data should be put in public domain which is accessible to all leading towards transparency of functions and functionaries of the ULB’s.Increase gender budget allocation in addressing the issue of lack of Dalit women representation.

And thereby, get rid of ‘SPV model’ of governance mechanisms granted through Article 243Q provision that dilute the fundamental principles of the Constitution.

Adequate provision and formalisation of human resources in ULBs

Alongside more autonomy of ULBs, there is a need to address the huge shortage of human resources in the cities due to which the lack of services gets exacerbated. ‘Outsourcing’ on contract basis as the main mode of employment and service provision has led to a decline of quality of city functions like – water provision, sanitation and solid waste and sewage management. There is an urgent need to have a policy that incentivises regularisation of municipal workers, who are at the moment being exploited in sub-human working conditions and bereft of social security. Alsoall ULBs should have greater powers to recruit staff to match their requirements directly and from specialised cadres available to them.

Cities to get 5 per cent of the GDP

Indian cities contribute 70 per cent of GDP and 90 per cent of government revenues, but are in great need of resources to be ploughed back into the development. Now only about 1 percent of the GDP is being invested in our cities and their development through major schemes and programs from the centre, which is less than some of the subsides for the well-off like LPG and petroleum.

There is a need to at least assign 5 per cent of the GDP to the various

developmental programs in cities from centre to the states and ULBs consequently, ensuring devolution and decentralisation of powers as per 74th CAA. This will benefit more than 10,000 small and big cities in India, which is going to account for 50 per cent of India’s population by 2030.

Women-friendly cities that are accessible to all

The accessibility and safety of women in Indian cities have been reduced to CCTVs and more vigilant policing.

We wish to demand a departure from the same using urban planning to envisage women-friendly cities. This may be achieved through – firstly, alerting urban development keeping women and children in the centre.

Like housing, where housing design is gender responsive, and the housing projects should be located in places where an ecosystem of services (public transport, water, sanitation, etc.) is assured.

Secondly, the only way cities will be safe for women is through a more visible presence of women on the streets, this can be achieved by ensuring more pavements that promote walkability and access to public transport, focus should be to encourage mix-use developments so that live-work characteristic favoured by women informal sectors workers like home-based, waste-pickers and domestic workers is supported.

Thirdly, as a means to encourage more women migrant working population in Indian cities – working women hostels for every five lakh population in the city, day care centres and livelihood centres be set up in every ward. Fourthly, to ensure that all our cities have free and accessible toilets in prominent public spaces for women and transgender.

Lastly there should be regularisation of local sensitisation of government departments, social media, corporates, etc.

[The views expressed are the author’s own. They do not purport to reflect the views of Urban Update.]

www.urbanupdate.in | March 2019

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Article Swachh Survekshan 2019

Indore: The Cleanest City

Paving way to cleanliness for Indian cities Indore bagged the cleanest city award – Swachh Survekshan 2019 third time in a row and scored 4695 out of 5000. Indore first became ODF in 2017 and since then the city authorities have been putting efforts to keep the city clean. ULBs have adopted scientific methodologies for waste treatment, better policy framework on open dumping of waste, and much more. Big cities like Delhi & Mumbai must learn from Indore to improve their urban ecosystem

Abhilash Khandekar Sr Journalist

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f the recent results of one of the world’s biggest cleanliness surveys done by the Ministry of Urban and Housing Affairs (MoHUA) are anything to go by, surely one thing stands out, and that is the discernible efficiency of most of the city managers of over 4300 cities.

Madhya Pradesh has shown great awareness in keeping its many cities spic and span, with Indore leading the pack. Municipal governance in

40 March 2019 | www.urbanupdate.in

India has been seldom praised at any level. This is because our cities were in shambles and questions were always raised about the civic conditions of the ever growing cities. Water leakage from public taps, poor tax collection, bad roads, garbage dumps, building permission scams, substandard gardens, absence of public toilets, and dirty slums made our cities pathetic.

A reason why Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India, gave a clarion call from the ramparts of the Red Fort in 2014 to embrace cleanliness.

Overall pathetic conditions of the cities went on after the 74th Amendment to the Constitution in 1993, in what was called the archaic Nagarpalika Act. Mayors and councillors or corporators were made more powerful after dissolution of powers to the civic bodies but cities remained dirty and

civic conditions unhygienic. After that followed many other schemes and policies aiming at improving our cities such as JNNURM which flooded the cash-starved municipal bodies with funds. With that came some structural reforms. Although urban development is a state subject, central funding from time to time was intended at introducing reforms in every aspect of the municipal governance. Then came the Smart Cities Mission, HRIDAY and AMRUT schemes sanctioned by MoHUA to spruce up cities, touted as growth engines of the Indian economy.

But clearly, municipal governance is changing fast as Indore has shown very prominently, and consistently this time round. The city has bagged the cleanest city award in 2019 once again.

Indore has magnificently displayed how people respond to certain good

ideas and schemes of government, if implemented well. Since Indore has topped the chart in all India competition of the ‘Swachh Bharat Mission’ of the Modi government, a look at changing nature of civic administration is timely. It’s also because Indore has shown the way to India, a country leading world’s largest cleanliness survey with 4237 cities fiercely competing and impacting over 40 crore citizens. Even the UN has praised and recognised Indore’s efforts.

Indore was adjudged as number one city for the third year in a row in 2019 for the innovative approaches it adopted in cleaning up the urban mess. The Agra Bombay Road, an important national highway passes through Indore city connecting Western India to the Northern.

Incidentally, Bhopal was number two last year and this time it slid down to 19th but among the categories of clean capitals, Bhopal topped the ranking.

What did Indore actually do to be the all India winner getting 4659 marks out of 5000? Well, the city, after winning the first position in 2017, went about methodically and maintained the consistency which, in other words, means sustainability of its efforts. It built on the base of 2017 in the next two years very scientifically. The commissioners kept gearing up its mammoth staff and their motivation snowballed into a big people’s movement. The Ministry had stipulated stringent parameters for the inter-city competition, which was supported by an independent agency Karvy Data Management Services Limited which made the assessment of 4000+ cities in a record time of 28 days. “All assessments of the ULBs were online, something that was done for the first time,” according to Durga Shankar Mishra, Union Urban Affairs Secretary.

Indore first became an open defecation-free city and district in 2017 and then kept up the cleanliness drive across the city by creating awareness

among citizens for segregating the garbage at source. Door to door garbage collection vans started moving into all the localities, entire municipal staff was motivated to bring Indore to the top. All zonal officers and lower staff of the Indore Municipal Corporation (IMC), with an annual expenditure of close to Rs 5,000 crore, were filled with a rare sense of doing their duties more seriously than ever before. “It would not have been possible without the total support of people of Indore as also of my dedicated team of officers and safai karmacharis,” said a beaming Asheesh Singh, Commissioner for just about a year, and adding that “when ban on spitting on roads was imposed, people actually welcomed it”. Earlier, throwing litter on road was already banned and residents had been persuaded to keep a bucket inside their car to throw leftovers, cigarette butts, banana peels, plastic bags, trash etc. Asheesh Singh took over from Manish Singh in 2018. The former had started the drive which was clearly ungovernmental in its approach for the first two years 2016-17 and 2017-18.

Where one Singh left, another Singh took over with much more enthusiasm and zeal and in very organised manner.

But what the two officers showed to the entire country is extraordinary in the annals of municipal governance.

Asheesh did a stupendous job of cleaning up a huge garbage dump which was 40-50 years old and looked just like Gazipur dump near New Delhi, in less than one year. This dump site was spread over 100 acres of precious land which has been freed and reclaimed. A fast growing Indore has been generating 1100 tonnes waste per day and to treat it scientifically it required a very different approach which Singh could do very successfully and in a record time.

While on one hand the ODF drive was continued, Municipal officers took up the humongous challenge of collecting the city garbage and then processing it 100 per cent on daily basis at the old trenching ground.

More than 800 rag pickers were employed to segregate the dry and wet waste but still they were not able to do the job fully. So the Commissioner set up mechanised segregation plant on the spot and reduced human intervention to the minimum possible.

Wet waste was used to make compost and methane and with the dry waste segregation was done through the latest machines.

In all, after having the right kind of mix of men and machines, 300 tonnes was being treated daily with the help of robotic machine and modern plants, a task which had never been done before. Plastic to diesel plant was also set up there to clean up the decadesold garbage of 13 lakh tonnes which contained a large chunk of plastic waste. It’s a national record and other cities must surely learn from Indore, mainly Delhi and Mumbai where the garbage dumps have earned the mega cities a very bad name.

The garbage cleaning task has never been done anywhere in India on this scale and that actually tilted the scales in favour of Indore where the streets, roads, gardens, railways establishments, residential colonies, their backlanes and public toilets have been continuously monitored to achieve the crucial parameters of a garbage-free city. This year the MoHUA had introduced star ratings and an independent team of assessors went to Indore, like it went to other cities, for seven-stars category rating and found the city to be doing exceedingly well in all the parameters.

Any new visitor to Indore, for the past few months was easily noticing the marked change in the city. People say the frequent visits to hospitals by citizens has steadily gone down as water borne diseases have reduced, pollution is curbed and overall hygiene has improved a great deal and where maintaining cleanliness has become a second nature of Indoreans.

[The views expressed are the author’s own. They do not purport to reflect the views of Urban Update.]

www.urbanupdate.in | March 2019

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One on one Nina Vaskunlahti

Urban Update: Finland and The European Union are helping and coordinating with India under the Smart Cities Mission. What kind of involvement is Finland having with the Indian Smart Cities- 100 Smart Cities that have been chosen to be developed?

Finland is involved in the Smart City Project in various ways. First Finland is one of the five golden countries. In order to access solutions in India, we have already organised a couple of seminars and workshops in selected smart cities such as Panaji, Ghaziabad and also Lucknow. We have had representatives of these places looking for a solution. For instance we have water management, waste energy management, IOT solutions, etc. There are also Finnish companies that are active in India, some are in particular, involved in Smart City projects for instance solar energy solutions, smart charging electrical vehicles, surveillance systems, IOT based health solutions, energy or electricity measurements; big things and small things all together.

So during these workshops, what kind of issues would people throw up at you seeking a solution to this systemic change India is trying to bring about by creating 100 smart cities rather than creating one city as a model first? It is a challenge to bring about a systemic change.

First of all what people are asking us is - Can this work in India given the size of the country? Finland for instance is a small country in Europe with a population of five million people whereas India has 1.3 billion people. So, they are sort of wondering if small scale solutions will work on a big scale. We always say, they do, if there is an approval for solutions it can always be scaled up. Second thing, they want to have examples and models like what do you do with your

We can’t stop development so adopt sustainable models: Nina Vaskunlahti In an interview with Nina Vaskunlahti, Finland’s Ambassador to India, Kumar Dhananjay discusses the Smart Cities project and its implications on functioning of Indian cities. Vaskunlahti also illustrates some of the successful solutions available to address some of the major issues of urbanisation Kumar Dhananjay Consulting Editor

42 March 2019 | www.urbanupdate.in

waste, how do you collect, how do you recycle, etc. We have shown them those examples - for instance, there is an eco village in Southern Finland where all the solutions are based on ecological principles. We show them examples of how things have been done and then what the product is.

You have been Ambassador here in India for almost two and a half years.

So, if we look at the trade relation between India and Finland, India and European Union, because Finland is a part of European Union,how would you characterize the relationship between EU and India, and Finland and India?

Finland has been a member of European Union since 1995 and we are a set of members of European Union and the Union sort of provides us a framework. I would say in both cases the relationship is excellent between India and European Union and Finland.

Every country in European Union is told by that relationship with India about what we do and vice versa.

breach of privacy, breach of data; there is lot of apprehension and it is not from one or two individuals but it’s a large concern. It has been seen that data security has been breached, it has been transferred illegally. What kind of solutions canone look at to stop this problem? think every government has woken up to the fact that there are too many issues happening in the cyber space.

We are aware of it and in particular when our current solutions are based on digital solutions that means we have to be 100 percent sure of the data security. What we can do,I think is more cooperation, more exchange of data and best practices, more beneficial innovations so that the government and law enforcement can be one step ahead.

You talked during sessions about Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the Nordic countries. What kind of agreements were done during the visit?

During his visit last year a joint session between Prime Minister Modi and five other Prime Ministers was organized.

Apart from that every country had its own bilateral meeting with Narendra Modi. In our bilateral meeting, we decided to enhance our energy partnership, look for proven Finnish innovations what Indian energy should look at, be it solar, be it emission control, or clean coal technology. So we are pursuing all these issues at the moment here in India.

We talked about education, what Finnish examples could be used, what Finnish perspectives could be used in India to enhance Indian primary education system and we also discussed about cooperation in cyber space.

Another concern and a very crucial one is in energy sector. India is a developing country and so are many other countries that are developing and their energy consumption level is very high and that is connected to environment as well, that is connected to climate change because the carbon footprint is increasing every day. We cannot ask India or China to stop their development to check environmental degradation.

Where lies the solution then?

First of all you correctly said that development shouldn’t be stopped at all for the sake of the environment or for sake of the future. We have to make sure that we develop in a sustainable way so that this is how we can do to preserve the planet for the future generations. We need to have enabling policies, we have to have regulatory framework that enhances sustainable development and innovations. At the same time all have to remember that we have it in our commitment, be it the Paris Agreement, be it the Sustainable Development Goals that every country and world is committed to. I think we as citizens, as consumers have to be conscious of the personal choices.

Good that you brought up the issue of cyber space. There is a lot of talk about

We are eleven years away from 2030 Sustainable Development Goals,

not much progress can be seen; one can say I am being skeptical about it. Practically do you think we can achieve the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals?

Well let us say professionally we will have to be optimistic and I think it’s very good to set ambitious goals because that keeps you trying, that motivates you to make right choices.

We still have over a decade and I think we have received messages from international climate experts for instance what measures we have to take, about the same time, if you feel in 2030 there is still way to go, nobody has to be pessimistic but to sit down and to assess what has been achieved so far and how can we take the next steps.So the main thing is that you believe that you have to try, you try to do something every day in your own private life, be it your government policies, just don’t give up and also be honest.

The European cities are smaller in size while Indian cities are too big.

Obviously you cannot replicate the model that is implemented in Barcelona, Amsterdam, any other place in Europe, so it has to be India specific. In that sense, whatever you have seen in the progress of Indian cities in the direction of being smart, what more can be done to hasten t hat process?

That is a very difficult question but absolutely right, what works out in Finland cannot be directly implemented in India but in the beginning you have to see what are the best ideas and how those can be modified to Indian needs. In the smart city point of view, I think something that is very simple and goes for the safety aspect is Red light. (Kind of CFL Bulb that when switched on turns red giving it a longer life) Red lights are pretty cost efficient to produce when produced in big numbers, they are sustainable and they last for years and years and because it is very cheap to use guess we can have it for both times of the day.

With city lights, you start feeling safe because you are visible, you can be seen and you can see.

www.urbanupdate.in | March 2019

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Velo-city Bhopal

History & modernity defines city of lakes Bhopal Bhopal, a city founded in 11th century is a city which is not only rich in water resources with 14 lakes but is also rich in culture and heritage. Today, where the old Bhopal still carries the charm reflecting its culture and heritage, the new Bhopal is being developed into a smart city Kumar Dhananjay Consulting Editor

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here is a saying that reads ‘world is a book and those who do not travel don’t read the story’; so was Bhopal to me. My present occupation takes me to various places and the last one was Bhopal where I spent considerable amount of time this year. For me it was like a page in the book that would not come across but when it did, many interesting stories unfolded. Bhopal, like many Indian cities is currently at the crossroads, from being a calm, peaceful city to the city of students and chaos, its landscape and view changing with the changing times. It presents an interesting juxtaposition of old and new. What can one possibly remember when I say Bhopal. Two things comes to mind easily, first that it’s the capital city of Madhya Pradesh and second Bhopal gas tragedy. The incident happened more than thirty years ago but horror stories still keep coming out. Life moves on and so has the city. Recently in the month of January I went to Bhopal thrice and spent three weeks. You are generally apprehensive when you visit a city for the first time. Capital cities in

India are generally hustling, bustling and crowded. But to my surprise I was able to find some solace in the city; Bhopal is truly is an interesting mix of history and modernity, with natural and man-made architecture.

History

Bhopal was built on the site of the 11th Century City of Bhojpal, founded by the Parmara King Bhoj. Originally it was known as Bhojpal, named after Bhoj and the dam (‘pal’) that he is said to have constructed to form the lakes surrounding Bhopal. The present city of Bhopal was founded by one of Emperor Aurangzeb’s Afghan soldiers Dost Mohammed Khan, who took advantage of the chaos that followed Aurangzeb’s death in 1707 and managed to establish his small kingdom in Bhopal. Although the kingdom was not big, it survived several wars and became a princely state in British India in 1818.

Rich cultural history

Bhopal reached its height of culture, arts and public works under the enlightened rule of the Begums, a 19th century dynasty of Muslim women.

Mamola Bai ruled for 50 years from behind the veil after her late husband’s death. The generally accepted rule of the Begums dates from the accession

The heritage walk showcases the famously known Old Bhopal which is a perfect mix of architecture, culture and spirituality. While the old city still retains its charm, the new city is being turned into a smart city 44 March 2019 | www.urbanupdate.in

by the 18-year-old Qudsia Begum who seized control after the assassination of her husband. Although she was illiterate, she was brave and refused to follow the purdah tradition. It was she who started to invest in public works, building the Jama Masjid of Bhopal and a beautiful palace, the Gohar Mahal.

Simultaneously she was preparing her daughter Sikander Begum to rule laying the foundations for what would become Bhopal’s golden age.

In 1844, Sikander Begum rose to power. Sikander was trained in the martial arts, fought in many battles, and never observed the purdah. During the 1857 revolt she sided with the British and crushed those who revolted against them. Apart from her valour she was also an enlightened modernist and a reformer. During her time she ensured social and educational reform that made Bhopal a heaven for scholarship and culture and a centre for building, arts and crafts. Her successor, Shah Jahan Begum left an indelible mark in architecture, music, poetry and the arts. In fact she carried a particular passion for architecture, and invested heavily in a series of elaborate public works that beautified the city.

Sultan Jahan Begum, daughter of Shah Jahan Begum, succeeded her in 1901 and ruled until 1926 when her son succeeded her marking the end of the Begums’ rule.

The peaceful rule of the Begums led to the rise of a unique mixed culture in Bhopal. The Hindus were given important administrative positions in the state. This led to communal peace and a cosmopolitan culture took roots.

Even the Pathans, famous for their

robust soldier-like nature, acquired a taste of culture and indulged in poetry, arts and literature.

Old and new Bhopal

Today, Bhopal remains a city of considerable beauty. Split by a pair of lakes, Bhopal has two starkly contrasting cityscapes. North of the lakes is Bhopal’s Muslim-dominated old city, a labyrinthine area of mosques and crowded bazaars and streets like any other old city in India. North of the old city is a reminder of a more recent, tragic history – the Union Carbide chemical plant, site of the world’s worst industrial disaster.

South of the lakes, Bhopal is a classic picture of a more modern city, with wide roads, some excellent museums, and upmarket hotels and restaurants nestled comfortably in the Arera and Shyamla Hills. The central district here is known as New Market. The larger of the two lakes is huge and lends the city an attractive focus.

Explore the city by walk

If you are interested in history and culture and explore it on foot then there are heritage walks for you. The purpose and vision to organize this

walk is to showcase Bhopal from heritage perspective and provide you an experience to cover all the nuances of the city.

This heritage walk showcases the famously known Old Bhopal which is a perfect mix of architecture, culture and spirituality.

Traverse through the eras with the storytelling of the transitional period in the walled city of Old Bhopal to curate and deliver heritage experiences on-ground. The locations covered during the heritage walk are Iqbal Maidan, Moti Masjid, Sadar Manzil, Sheesh Mahal, Shaukat Mahal and Taj-ul-Masjid. The Bhopal Heritage Walk and sightseeing experience was organized to showcase the fascinating amalgam of scenic beauty, old historic city and modern urban planning of this historic city.

Smart City Bhopal

While the old city still retains its charm, the new city is being turned into a smart one. Bhopal is ranked 20th among the first list in the Smart Cities Mission.

The progress made on the ground is apparent as you travel across New Bhopal. Wide roads with designated cycle tracks and pedestrian walkways cane be seen prominently. A visit to

smart city centre complex reveals how the entire program is being executed.

It has a fully functional Integrated Command and Control Centre from where things are monitored. Despite all this, there are many challenges that the city has to overcome. Sanjay Kumar, CEO, Smart City Bhopal says “The gap between the expectation and experience is high; experience about smart city is not that perfect that we are expecting to so that’s the challenge we are facing”.

The City may be facing challenges but if you have good taste buds then certainly challenge it with the street food when you are in Bhopal. I am sure with that kind of pocket friendly food, you will come back with a couple of extra kilos on you. Poha with Jalebi is famous for breakfast. You can also ask for Chatori gali to get some delicious and mouth-watering dishes. Overall Bhopal is beautiful in its own way. It is one of the greenest cities of India.

Someone like me, who has lived in Delhi for almost 25 years now and has seen the pollution of the city, will be delighted to make Bhopal his home.

Add to it the City’s two artificial lakes that make your evenings so much cooler and better.

www.urbanupdate.in | March 2019

45

URBAN AGENDA Women Empowerment

Still a long way to go Women in greater numbers have started participation in socio-economic and political spheres. They have attained positions that were once thought to be impossible to attain for a woman. Women are becoming independent; they are getting better opportunities but a lot more is needed to further improve the condition of women worldwide

W

omen empowerment has been a major issue of discussion in major platforms in recent times.

The situation is gradually changing. Though, women still face sexual and physical violence, gender bias in society everywhere and the women belonging to the poor strata and marginalized groups. The existing situation calls for reforms in policies and also in mindset of people to create a better world for women.

Women empowerment movements, various governmental schemes, advocacy by pressure groups have pushed the society to mend its traditions and bring about a paradigm shift in people’s perception.

According to a CNN report, women feel more empowered post movements like #MeToo. Women courageously came forward to take a bold stand during the #MeToo movement.

Similarly, Global Fund for Women came up with Funding Leadership and Opportunities for Women Fund (FLOW Fund) in 2016 which is a four-year $5.9 million initiative. The fund supported 139 organisations in 26 countries to empower women to tackle gender-based violence and to provide them with better opportunities to develop and economically.

Twitter in 2017 on International Women’s Day launched a movement named #SheInspiresMe to create a culture of women supporting women, and lift and empower women voices. And, there are more such movements which have been a driving force for the women to reach where they are today.

Similarly, many organizations worldwide came in support of women’s cause and contributed significantly. The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) set up ‘women’s equality & empowerment’ as one of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It also came up with the 2030 agenda – ‘Plan 50-50 by 2030: Step it up for

46 March 2019 | www.urbanupdate.in

Gender Equality’, which is working towards empowerment of women’s and human rights.

Self Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) founded by Dr Ela Bhatt has been working since 1972 for the betterment of poor and self-employed women workers in India. SEWA is both an organisation and a movement. The objective is to organise poor women workers who are self-employed or work labour force for full employment whereby workers obtain work security, income security, food security and social security.

All such efforts have resulted in women becoming financially independent. Safety of women still remains a major issue in our cities. Creating a safe environment for them is the responsibility of the local law enforcement agencies and also of the city planners who need to build public places and transit system keeping in mind the need of women. They should be able to move without fear. A survey

by Oxfam and Delhi Police found that there are hundreds of dark spots in the city where women feel unsafe. For safety, urban design should also be gender sensitive.

An example could be ‘Smart City Mission,’ which has security and safety as one of its essential components. It is putting efforts to build more safe cities applying measures such as installation of security cameras at road junctions, markets, residential complexes, parking lots, etc., implementing women helpline services, launching various mobile applications with live location tracking, and more.

Efforts till now have made it possible for women to feel free today in many parts of the world, but gender bias, crime against women, and more such issues still remain issues of concern. Countries, various pressure groups and organizations across the world are working towards protecting women against such evils, to make this world better, safer, and equal for all.

Ashok Wankhade Managing Editor

3

rd

world mayors’ confErence

Goa, india | 2020 With the objective of building better urban future, AIILSG is organising World Mayors’ Conference 2020 in Goa in the month of January 2020, where city mayors from around the world will join hands together and contribute their bit in achieving SDGs

Come and join to create tomorrow’s cities together For more details, write to us at delhi@aiilsg.org march 2019 www.aiilsg.org

www.wmc2020goa.com 48

Project Update