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Facilitating development through discussion
Team girl power projecT
CRIC Project facilitates the tools of development to help ten pilot cities transition towards climate-resilient and inclusive growth. The tools developed for the cities are adjusted to meet their needs and climate change problems, as elaborated in the Urban Analysis Reports (2020). The recommendations from these reports were discussed with stakeholders who are part of the City Working Group to decide on the priority sector based on the agenda and problems they need to overcome. The tools developed are related to the early warning system, waste management and water & sanitation. CRIC prioritises social inclusion and stakeholders’ involvement, starting from the city to national levels, in the tools development processes.
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The FGDs are organised to extract information on primary issues, challenges and potential solutions from the tool’s development. The tools developed should be well-targeted and concretely address existing problems by considering the different characteristics of each city. The results of these discussions will be used as a primary reference for developing the framework and action plan. The tools development process will take place throughout 2021 by involving experts from Europe and local partners. The tools are then tested, evaluated and implemented in the pilot cities from 2022 to 2024.
Purposes
The FGD aimed to collect constructive inputs from participants and build a consensus on the scope of tools to be developed. The FGD’s purposes were to: 1. Facilitate policy dialogue and knowledge exchange between
Indonesian policymakers at the
Ministry of Environment and
Forestry, local governments of ten (10) pilot cities, UCLG ASPAC, CRIC Project, APEKSI and other relevant stakeholders in the strategic sectors; 2. Engage with experts and key actors from Indonesian, European and South Asian respective agencies and bring their expertise to developing climate change tools; 3. Propose tool recommendations from the European experts to reach an agreement on the tools and the scope; 4. Solicit ideas and input from all involved as the basis for CRIC to strengthen its programme delivery and intervention.
Methodology
FGD method was selected to gain clarity and reach an agreement among diverse participants (cities, national governments and experts) on tools developed in the waste management, early warning system (EWS) and water and sanitation sectors. The selection of these three sectors referred to the Urban Analysis Reports, input and recommendation matrix document and cities’ development planning documents.
Before the FGD, a technical meeting with cities was conducted to help cities prepare presentation materials based on the agreed template. The template guided cities to include critical information about the tools expected by cities. The key information to be presented were: 1. Goal that cities want to achieve through the tool adoption; 2. The scope of tools; 3. Modality in cities; 4. Tool gaps in the priority sector; 5. Proposed location where the tools will be tested and adopted; 6. Potential programme/policy.
The FGD was divided into three main parts: presentation from the cities, tools presentation from experts and discussion. The moderator facilitated the sessions in a bid to obtain responses from the participants. The moderator guided the discussion process by allowing all stakeholders to express their opinions and insights. During the discussion, the moderator verified the findings and paraphrased the responses from the participants. The meeting was directed to bring forward potential solutions to tackle cities’ urban challenges in the water and sanitation, EWS and waste management sectors. The FGD was recorded, and the results were then analysed and utilised as a reference to design the framework of tools development.
Goyal allocates Goyal allocates `1000 crore `1000 crore
for 88 railway projects for 88 railway projects
NEW DELHI: Piyush Goyal, Minister of Railways, Government of India, on February 21, allocated a host of infrastructure projects related to passenger amenities and facilities at several railway stations in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, and Karnataka via video conferencing. The projects include various infrastructure projects and projects related to passenger amenities and facilities at various railway stations. Goyal launched the Rewa-Itwari train via video conferencing. He said that the inaugural of these projects demonstrates speed of execution of various service-oriented passenger and freight projects that Indian Railways is undertaking across the nation.
While launching the rail projects in Kerala, Goyal said that it is essential to enhance connectivity in the state that is a keeper of Indian heritage and for the railway passengers using the various conveniences in the state. He added that their effort is that they give a massive boost to the railway infrastructure in Kerala. They also aim to boost the facilities connecting Kerala with the rest of the country. The Centre also intend to ignite more economic activity in the area and transform the railway network through the state of Kerala. The budget being allocated for Kerala is continuously increasing year on year. As per Goyal, they are committed to having a vibrant railway network across the state in the days and months to come.
In Kerala, foot-over-bridges have been built at a total expense of Rs 9.56 crore at Kollam, Kundara and Kochuveli. In addition, lifts have been provided at Kanhangad and Aluva at a total cost of Rs 1.60 crore to facilitate ease of access to platforms and concourse areas, particularly for senior citizens, sick and disadvantaged ones. At two stations in Kerala, Thiruvananthapuram Central and Thrissur, airport type illumination of covered platforms has been provided at a total expense of Rs 42 lakh. According to the Ministry of Railways, platform raising works have been completed at Tanur at a cost of Rs 1.39 crore for convenience of boarding and deboarding of passengers, especially the elderly and divyang passengers. Under energy efficient and power saving measure, 100 kilowatts peak solar plants have been authorised in Thrissur and Thiruvananthapuram at a cost of Rs 42 lakh.
According to a statement by Ministry of Railways, Goyal, on February 21, also highlighted that railway tracks in West Bengal (WB) would be fully electrified in three years. He dedicated several infrastructure development and works related to passenger amenities in North Bengal. He said that Railways has taken up on itself to contribute tremendously to the mission of Sonar Bangla. He added that North Bengal is naturally beautiful; enhancement of this region would attract more tourists. Indian Railways is committed for holistic development of the region.
The railways ministry said that the 126 kilometre electrified section from New Jalpaiguri to New Coochbehar was among the dedicated projects in the state of West Bengal. It is part of the railway electrification work, which is aiming to achieve 100 per cent electrification of Indian Railways’ network. This section is vital for train movement towards northeastern states. The statement said that this project is estimated at Rs 287 crore and is said to lead to “huge savings” in consumption of fossil fuels. Railway electrification of the whole of Northeast Frontier Railway was sanctioned in the budget of 2018 and it is targeted to be completed by December 2023.
Trials underway to take all transport services online in Delhi
NEW DELHI: Kailash Gahlot, Minister of Transport, Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi, said on February 19 that the Delhi Government is working on a project to shift all the transport services in the capital to faceless or online service from April. The project is aimed at decongesting all the 13 Regional Transport Offices (RTOs) of the city and it will enable the people to get vital documents, including renewal of driving licenses or transfer of ownership, from the comfort of their homes. Gahlot said that the project for transformation to online services will be conducted in two phases. Once the programme is implemented, only people seeking the permanent driver’s license, learner’s license or vehicle fitness certificate will have to visit the RTO physically. 12 services will be made 100 per cent online in Phase 1. Trial and testing of the software is under progress. The second phase will make 58 services online. He mentioned, “Our aim is to shift all transport services online from April 1.” The Delhi government offers a total of 70 transport services among which, appointment booking facility is available online. The services which will be made online in the first phase include renewal of driver’s license and its change of address, duplicate driver’s license, transfer of registration certificate for resale of vehicles, etc. Services including permit transfer, no objection certificate for other states, and yearly authorization will be made online in the second phase.
NEW DELHI: Dr Harsh Vardhan, Minister of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), Government of India, launched ‘Intensified Mission Indradhanush 3.0’ on February 19. The said mission will be conducted in two rounds across 250 districts/urban areas starting from February 22 and March 22, where each round will last for 15 days. He launched the IMI 3.0 portal as well at the event. Dr Vardhan introduced operational guidelines for IMI.30 and the awareness material, also called as IEC package, which has been developed as a part of the campaign. An official release stated that IMI3.0 has been launched in a bid to vaccinate children and pregnant women who missed their vaccine doses during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Dr Vardhan commented that implementing large campaigns like IMI 3.0 even during the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine clearly indicates that India’s health system is getting stronger day by day. He said that the importance of a vaccine has never been so strongly felt as the country carries the drive for two indigenous vaccines to contain COVID-19. He also informed that every year, Universal Immunisation Programme (UIP) vaccinates around 2.65 crore children and 2.9 crore pregnant women against 12 Vaccine Preventable Diseases (VPDs) known in the nation.
Dr Vardhan said that this programme will aim to reach the section of the population which has remained unreachable so far with all the available vaccines under UIP and will thereby accelerate full immunization and ensure complete wellbeing of children and pregnant women. He said that the aim of MoHFW is to have 100 per cent immunization coverage and ensure that not even one child or pregnant woman dies of VPDs.
Jal Survekshan launched under Jal Jeevan Mission
The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs launched the Pilot Pey Jal Survekshan under Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM-U) on February 16. Durga Shankar Mishra, Secretary of MoHUA, said that the survekshan will be conducted in ten cities including Bhubaneshwar, Agra, Kochi, Madurai, Surat, Tumkar and Patiala, to determine the unbiased distribution of water, reuse of wastewater and mapping of water bodies concerning quantity of water through a challenging process. The mission will be examined through a technology-based platform on which the beneficiary’s response will be tracked along with progress and outcome.
Circular economy can improve planet’s ecology
Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the inauguration of India-Australia Circular Economy Hackathon (I-ACE), jointly organised by Atal Innovation Mission, NITI Aayog, Government of India and Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Australia. PM Modi said that recycling and reusing things, eliminating waste and improving resource efficiency should become a part of our lifestyle. It was organised to enable start-ups and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises of both the nations in fostering innovative solutions for the development of circular economy to improve the ecological health and resilience of the planet.
BMC announces budget for FY 2021
MUMBAI: Iqbal Singh Chahal, Commissioner, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), presented the civic body’s budget for the financial year (FY) 2021-22 on February 17. BMC’s budget always causes a stir as it is the country’s richest civic body and its allocation is more than many states’ entire budget. The budgetary assessment for the present FY has been secured at Rs 39,038.83 crore, which is 16.74 per cent more than the Rs 33441.02 crore budget for FY 2020-21. Only 48 per cent of last year’s allocation could be spent on various development projects, attributable to the raging COVID-19 pandemic.
The state government has made infrastructure and transportation the two priority areas as the city of Mumbai gears up for civic polls in 2022. BMC has reserved Rs 200 crore for the beautification of footpaths, traffic island, spaces flyovers and the Mumbai Street Food Hub project. An amount of Rs 150 crore has been assigned for the emending of the flood spots in the city, a key promise made by the ruling Shiv Sena ahead of the February 2022 Mumbai civic polls.
Aditya Thackeray, Shiv Sena leader, has articulated his vision for a “sponge city, with aquifer recharge, rainwater percolation and holding tanks”. A total of Rs 961 crore have been allocated for the Bridges department. BMC has also made provision of Rs 750 crore for Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport undertaking, marking a decrease from the Rs 1500 crore reserved last year. Two major road projects, the Mumbai coastal road project and the Goregaon-Mulund Link Road, have been granted Rs 2000.07 crore and Rs 1300 crore, respectively. The Mumbai Fire Brigade has been allotted Rs 199 crore, which marks an increase from the Rs 104 crore allocated last year. Rs 627 crore have been assigned for the solid waste management department of Mumbai. BMC has also set aside Rs 100 crore as financial disbursement for people who will be affected by various infra projects.
The civic body has allocated Rs 4278 crore to Mumbai’s healthcare for the year 2021-22, with Rs 822.72 crore to be invested in healthcare infrastructure. This shows a minuscule increase from the Rs 4260 crore that had been granted last year. The corporation spends Rs 2840 per capita on health, much higher than the state at Rs 1266 per capita.
The BMC has spent Rs 1533 crore on COVID-19 treatment so far. Suresh Kakani, Additional Municipal Commissioner, BMC, said that the expenditure has been made using contingency funds, but the expenses will be eventually transferred to the health budget. The expenditure by the civic body had improved slightly, and the BMC is still way behind when it comes to using an enormous chunk of the budget to improve facilities. In the past five years, the actual money spent by the health department was 52 per cent of the actual allocation at Rs 293.99 crore only in 2017-18.
BMC granted Rs 2945.78 crore to education, which is barely higher than last year’s, which stood at Rs 2,944.59 crore. A total of Rs 15.90 crore have been set aside by the civic body for supplying schools with soaps and hand sanitizers to help schools foster COVID-19 preventative behaviour as schools have started to reopen. A sum of Rs 2 crore has been set aside for opening 10 Central Board of Secondary Education schools in existing BMC buildings. According to officials, considering it to be an election year, neither new taxes would be imposed, nor will any increase in the existing taxes be witnessed.
In King Edward Memorial Hospital, a new building has been proposed; work is expected to begin this year. In Nair Hospital, work will be undertaken to create a comprehensive cancer centre, a building with new lecture rooms, canteens according to the Medical Council of India’s guidelines.
Surat City introduCeS Pink auto ServiCe for women
Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani has initiated a Pink Auto Service for women in Surat. Surat Municipal Corporation has trained 70 women drivers to operate the Pink Autos of which, 15 are already driving the autos. The other 55 will soon take up the role of auto drivers.
This initiative has been taken to promote women empowerment and to keep a check on cases of female harassment. A body has also been constituted to help women apply for driver’s licenses and also to apply for loans to purchase autos.
Rajasthan introduces healthcare schemes
Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot assured on February 24 that every family will get an insurance benefit of Rs 5 lakh under the Universal Healthcare Scheme. People covered under Ayushman Bharat Mahatama Gandhi Rajasthan Swasthya Bima Yojana can avail the benefits of this scheme for free, including contract workers, small and marginal farmers. He also announced a ‘Special COVID-19 Package’ where Rs 2000 each and an interest-free loan up to Rs 50,000 will be provided to 33 lakh families. Rs 50 crore of funds will be provided to entrepreneurs under Mukhyamantri Laghu Udyog Protsahan Yojna.
UP gets its third international airport
Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister of Civil Aviation, Government of India, on February 23, announced completion of construction of third international airport of Uttar Pradesh in Kushinagar. The minister added that it got the necessary clearances from Directorate General of Civil Aviation and that the move will boost tourism in the region. It is itself a Buddhist cultural site and this development will improve connectivity to the region and also provide wider choice of competitive cost to the air-travellers, the state government said. Last year, upgrade of Kushinagar airport to an international one was given the go ahead by the Centre.
NEW DELHI: Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) has shortlisted 25 cities for the ‘Nurturing Neighbourhood Challenge’ cohort including Agartala, Bengaluru, Coimbatore, Dharamshala, Erode, etc. This three-year challenge is aimed at supporting early childhood-friendly neighbourhoods under the Smart Cities Mission. The MoHUA had announced the ‘Nurturing Neighbourhood Challenge’ cohort in collaboration with Bernard van Leer Foundation (BvLF) and the World Resources Institute (WRI) India as the technical partner. The challenge was launched on November 4, 2020, inviting participation from all smart cities, capitals and cities with more than 5 lakh population. The cohort will be provided technical assistance, capacity building and scale-up support to experiment and implement the trials and pilots in the next six months. The first stage, which closed on February 7, involved an open call for applications from cities. 63 cities submitted the application from across the country. The cities have proposed the neighbourhood level pilot projects considering public space, mobility and access to services to enhance the physical and psychological health of young children.
Cities have proposed a diverse set of pilot projects which include creating childfriendly walking corridors in residential neighbourhoods, safe commute for related childhood services in urban slums, increasing opportunities for nature play and sensory stimulation and adapting open spaces in government school grounds for public play after school hours. Other proposed pilot projects include early childhood amenities in government offices, bus shelters and transit hubs, outdoor waiting areas for Primary Health Centres (PHCs) with shade, and seating and lactation cubicles.
MoRTH launches Go Electric campaign
NEW DELHI: Nitin Gadkari, Minister of Road Transport and Highways, Government of India, launched the ‘Go Electric’ campaign to spread awareness on the benefits of e-mobility and electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure as well as electric cooking on February 19. The programme was launched in the presence of R K Singh, Minister of State for Power and New and Renewable Energy, Government of India.
Gadkari said at the launch event that electric fuel is the most important alternative of fossil fuels which have an import bill of almost Rs 8 lakh crore. He added that power ministry should promote generation of green power from agriculture waste and biomass which can benefit farmers across the country. The goal of the programme is to sensitise people at pan-India level and it is also expected to boost the confidence of EV manufacturers. ‘Go Electric’ logo was also unveiled at the launch event which depicts the evolution of e-mobility ecosystem. An exhibition was also organised by the industry players to showcase different EV, including charging infrastructure such as fast chargers and slow chargers. The launch was attended by important delegates from state governments, public sector undertakings (PSUs), Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM), and other industry players from various sectors. Gadkari suggested that the use of electric vehicles should be made mandatory for all government officials. According to Gadkari, use of 10,000 electric vehicles in Delhi alone can save around Rs 30 crore per month. On this occasion, Singh also announced launch of a fuel cell bus service from Delhi to Agra and Delhi to Jaipur soon.
PUDUCHERRY: Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Tamil Nadu and Puducherry to inaugurate and lay the foundation stone of various centrally sponsored development projects on February 14. He also addressed a public meeting organised by the Bhartiya Janata Party in the state. The Prime Minister’s Office informed that the PM will lay the foundation stone for 4 laning of NH45-A - 56 km Sattanathapuram - Nagapattinam package of Villupuram to Nagapattinam project covering Karaikal district in Puducherry. The capital cost to be incurred in this project is estimated to be at `2426 crores. The Prime Minister had tweeted before his visit that the Government of India is honored to be working for Tamil Nadu’s growth.
Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone of the Medical College Building at Karaikal New Campus-Phase-I, Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research in Karaikal district, and Minor Port in Puducherry under the Sagarmala Scheme. The cost for the project of the Medical College Building at JIPMER has been estimated at `491 crore. Additionally, the PM also inaugurated the Blood Centre at the JIPMER, Puducherry, which is all set to function as a research laboratory and a training centre for short-term and continuous blood bank personnel training in all aspects of transfusion.
The PM also dedicated the Neyveli New Thermal Power Project to the nation. This thermal project is a lignitebased power plant designed for power generation capacity of 1000 MW. This plant has two units of 500 MW capacity each. According to an official release, the plant has been built at a cost of around `8000 crore; the pit head power plant will utilize lignite as fuel from the existing mines of Neyveli; and it has been designed for 100 per cent ash utilisation. Neyveli, the release added, has sufficient lignite reserves for meeting the lifetime requirement of the project. The plant is set to benefit Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Puducherry, where Tamil Nadu will have a major share of the power generated from the plant, amounting to 65 per cent of the total.
The PM also dedicated a 709 MW solar power project of NLCIL to the country, which has been set up over an area of about 2670 acres of land, covering the districts of Tirunelveli, Tuticorin, Ramanathapuram, and Virudhunagar. This project has been established at a cost of around `3000 crore. He also laid the foundation stone for the extension, renovation, and modernisation of the Lower Bhavani Project System. This project, comprising the Lower Bhavani Project Canal System, Arakankottai and Thadapalli Channels, and Kalingarayan Channel, has been taken up at a cost of `934 crore under the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development Infrastructure Development Assistance. Along with this, he inaugurated the 8-laning of Korampallam Bridge and rail over bridge (ROB) at VO Chidambaranar Port.
The foundation stone for design, supply, installation, and commissioning of a 5MW grid-connected groundbased solar power plant at VO Chidambaranar Port was also laid by Modi which is expected to cost `20 crore. He inaugurated the tenements constructed under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) scheme as well. Additionally, he laid foundation stone for the development of Integrated Command and Control Centres (ICCC) in nine Smart Cities including Salem, Thanjavur, Vellore, Madurai, Tiruppur, Tiruchirappali, Thoothukudi, and Tirunelveli.
Programme introduced to boost women entrepreneurship
Local commerce platform eSamudaay has set up a unique women entrepreneurship programme to enable dynamic and aspiring young women to launch and administer independent e-commerce marketplaces in small towns in India. The women entrepreneurs will be provided four months of enhancement, business mentorship, credit facilities, and free access to software worth Rs 1 lakh to empower them to set up horizontal e-commerce marketplaces in their home towns. It added that the applicants will go through a selection process and ten will be selected from among the ambitious entrepreneurs who apply for the project.
Bangladesh secures 2 million doses of SII
Bangladesh obtained two million doses of COVID-19 vaccine from the Serum Institute of India (SII) on February 23. This is the second batch of the vaccine from SII as part of the tripartite deal with Beximco Pharmaceuticals Limited and the Government of Bangladesh to supply 30 million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine produced by it. Previously, a consignment of five million doses of the vaccine was received by Bangladesh in January from the SII. India had also gifted 2 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine to Bangladesh.
Skill development university to be set up in Maharashtra
MUMBAI: The Government of Maharashtra approved a proposal on February 17 to set up the state’s first Public Skill Development University and six Centres of Excellence (CoE), which will offer degree and postgraduate courses. The approval came as a bid to increase skilled manpower and employment opportunities in the state.
The government is set to introduce a bill on this decision in the budget session of the state legislature, which is scheduled to start from March 1. Nawab Malik, Minister of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Government of Maharashtra, said that currently, courses on skill development are largely limited to diploma courses. According to him, the proposed university will provide courses in line with the requirement of the day and the future. Malik mentioned that there will be degree and postgraduate courses offered through the university and additionally, different colleges will be allowed to offer skill development courses.
He added that these courses will be designed keeping in mind the requirement of the industries so that more and more people get trained and can get jobs. He informed that the state will also have six CoEs, which will be sub-centres of the university, and campus training and courses will be conducted at these sub-centres. The CoEs are to be set up in each of the six revenue divisions of the state.
According to Nawab, the government will provide annual funding of `50 crore to the university for the first 10 years, following which it will become a selfsustainable university. He added that the government is still deliberating on locations where the university will be set up and has so far listed Thane, Pune, and Mumbai.
DISPUR: Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched Mahabahu-Brahmaputra, laid the foundation stone of Dhubri-Phulbari Bridge and performed Bhoomi Poojan for construction of Majuli Bridge in Assam on February 18 through video conferencing. Modi remarked in his tweet that it was a landmark day for development journey of Assam because the Mahabahu-Brahmaputra initiative was to be launched.
Nitin Gadkari, Minister of Road Transport and Highways, Government of India; and other dignitaries were present at the occasion.The launch of Mahabahu-Brahmaputra was marked by the inauguration of the Ro-Pax vessel operations between Neematighat and Majuli, North and South Guwahati and Dhubri-Hatsingimari. In order to boost employment and tourism, it is set to include shilanyas for construction of tourist jetties at four locations. It will also include various development activities for the people living around River Brahmaputra and River Barak. The Ro-Pax services, by providing connectivity between banks, will help in reducing the time taken to travel and thus reduce the distance to be travelled by road. The Prime Minister also laid the foundation stone of the longest river bridge in India. The bridge will be built over the Brahmaputra river between Dhubri in Assam and Phulbari in Meghalaya. The planned bridge will be 19 kilometers long with 4 lanes, and will thus reduce the distance of 205 km to be travelled by road, to 19 km only. Narendra Modi also performed Bhumi-pujan for the much awaited 8 km long JorhatMajuli Bridge today, which will connect the river island Majuli with mainland Assam.
Outdoor air-purifier installed by CSIR
Council of Scientific and Industrial Research-Central Mechanical Engineering Research Institute (CSIRCMERI), Durgapur installed an Outdoor Air Purifier with a radial range of 5 metres at its residential campus in Durgapur. Dr Harish Hirani, Director, CSIR-CMERI, said that emissions from industries and automobiles are the major contributor to air pollution. He mentioned that the machine is cheap and has a low maintenance cost which can be easily cleaned by a vacuum cleaner. They have been installed on the street poles focusing on the narrow lanes of the campus and it can run on solar power, he added.
56,368 new houses approved under PMAY(U)
Construction of 56,368 new houses has been approved under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana - Urban (PMAY-U) at the 53rd Central Sanctioning and Monitoring Committee Meeting held on February 22. Durga Shanker Mishra, Secretary, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, said that the nation has to go into the mode of execution and implementation and also urged the states and UTs to ensure 100 per cent construction and delivery of PMAY-U houses. Mishra also reviewed the progress of Light House Projects (LHPs) and Demonstration House Projects.
PMC allocates `1,500 cr budget
PATNA: Patna Municipal Corporation (PMC), on February 17, authorised a budget incorporating a disbursement of approximately `1500 crore in the fiscal year 2021-22, which includes `780 crore on infrastructure development alone. The budget was presented in a special meeting of the PMC’s board comprising of all 75 ward-councilors, including Sita Sahu, Mayor of PMC, and senior officials of the civic body, including Himanshu Sharma, Commissioner, PMC.
While the aggregate estimated expense in the ongoing fiscal year has been valued at `1499.85 crore, the revenue of the civic body from different sources has been estimated at `1359.23 crore. According to the budget document, the PMC is targeting to spend `256.80 crore on solid waste management works, including garbage removal and drainage cleaning. The salient feature of this year’s PMC budget is air pollution control disbursements, under which the civic body has targeted to expend `204 crore. Financial resources to the tune of `102 crore are intended to be spent on composting and recycling plants, waste to energy, road pavement, footpath, green buffering and other expenses for reducing air pollution. Another `14.4 crore will be spent on operations and maintenance of sweeping machines. `110 crore is being estimated to be spent on construction of roads and drains in the state’s capital. The budget has specifically allocated `10 crore for prevention of waterlogging and mitigation works. The PMC has also allocated an amount of `1.5 crore for purchase of boats, which will ply on river Ganga along the city.
Addressing the occasion, Sahu said that the budget is dedicated to sanitation workers who worked in a dedicated manner at a time of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. She added that the sanitation workers ensured that our city remained clean for a better fight against the pandemic.
Development projects launched for Ludhiana Smart City
LUDHIANA: Under the Smart City Mission and Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) Programmes, three development projects were launched in Ludhiana on February 22. The mega projects worth `64.6 crore aim at paving way into a new era of world-class infrastructure in the industrial hub of Punjab. These projects are part of the municipal projects worth `1078 crore, which were recently launched by Captain Amarinder Singh, Chief Minister of Punjab, via videoconferencing.
The announced projects include establishment of Municipal Corporation control centre, beautification and refurbishment of Mini Rose Garden, development of a 29 million litres per day sewage treatment plant (STP), and augmentation of Ludhiana Safe City project. The Ludhiana Safe City Project has been allocated `35.96 crore. Bharat Bhushan Ashu, Minister of Food & Civil Supplie, Government of Punjab, mentioned that 300 more such surveillance cameras would be installed at garbage dumping sites, critical and vantage points in the city, and STPs. Besides this, he said, 30 vehicle-mounted camera systems and 600 external IR illuminators, having a range of 200 m for better monitoring during zero visibility, would be installed for municipal monitoring of encroachments and garbage dumps in the city. The beautification and refurbishment of the Mini Rose Garden project will involve work on soft-scaping, plantation, grass, amphitheatre, fountains, badminton court, pergolas, canopy, kids play, open gym and other areas. The minister said that all this would be carried out in the next 12 month at an estimated cost of `3.48 crore.
70% decline in COVID cases after Pfizer shots
LONDON: British health officials said on February 22 that there has been a drop of around 70 per cent in infections among healthcare workers who were administered with their first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. According to data analysis by Public Health England (PHE), the Pfizer vaccine provided a high level of protection against infection with even a single dose. The analysis also said that hospitalisation and death from COVID-19 will be reduced by more than 75 per cent in elderly people who have had their first dose. Findings of the PHE study came from two different analysis conducted by their team – one is an ongoing analysis of cases among healthcare workers and the other is an assessment of testing data in people above 80 years of age. The assessment on elderly people showed that one shot of the Pfizer vaccine is 57 per cent effective against symptomatic COVID-19 cases, and according to an early data, the second dose improves protection to more than 85 per cent against the infection.
Susan Hopkins, Strategic Response Director, PHE, said that overall, the nation is seeing a really strong effect in terms of reducing any infection, be it asymptomatic and symptomatic, and that the vaccine campaign is significantly reducing cases of COVID-19. An official statement from PHE said that hospitalisations and death rates have been falling in all age groups and the vaccine also provides protection against the new variant of SARS-CoV-2 found in Britain.
COP26 President visits India to advance talks on climate change
NEW DELHI: Alok Sharma, the United Kingdom’s minister responsible for the United Nations Climate Change Conference 2021 or COP26, arrived in India on February 15 for a two-day visit for climate discussions with Indian leaders. Sharma is also the President of COP26. In his first visit to Asia as COP President, Sharma welcomed India’s significant progress on climate action and clean energy transition. He will also focussed on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s global leadership in establishing the International Solar Alliance and Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure, which is co-chaired by the UK. The statement also read that India’s proficiency is expected to be of great significance to global discussions on clean energy transition as part of COP preparations. Sharma highlighted opportunities in the low carbon economy, celebrate current commitments to achieve net-zero emissions and motivate influential businesses to promote the growing movement of corporate climate action throughout their sector and supply chain. He also met civil society experts and young thinkers to talk about the challenges and possible solutions to climate change.
In accordance with the statement, Sharma’s visit indicates a step-change in momentum to COP26 preparations and reinforces his ambition to run a comprehensive negotiating process that incorporates the views of all countries. Sharma said that when it comes to climate action, India is an important partner and a global leader.
MoU signed for transportation of LPG through inland waterways
The Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) and Mitsui O.S.K Lines (MOT) (Asia Oceania) Pte Limited, inked a memorandum of understanding on February 25 for the transportation of Liquified Natural Gas (LPG) via inland waterways. As part of the agreement, IWAI will accommodate adequate fairway and handling of LPG cargo on IWAI terminals and Multimodal Terminals at Haldia, Sahibganj and Varanasi according to notified provisions and rates on the request of MOL. MOL Group, the world’s largest gas carrier company, will invest in the construction and operation of dedicated LPG barges under the Centre’s Make in India initiative.
Delhi to face water crisis in March-April
Raghav Chadha, Vice Chairman, Delhi Jal Board (DJB), said on February 26 that closure of Nangla hydel channel for repair work will stop the water supply to Delhi, causing a water crisis in the Capital. He said that the Government of NCT of Delhi, Government of Haryana and Bhakra Beas Management Board had written to the Government of India requesting them to postpone the repair work. Raghav informed that the sudden closure of this channel will affect the supply of 232 million gallons per day of water supply from the Beas river to Delhi for one month in MarchApril. The channel accounts for almost 25 per cent of the water supply in Delhi.
All Delhi govt vehicles to switch to EV by August’21
An order by Arvind Kejriwal, Chief Minister of Delhi, said that all the vehicles of the Government of Delhi will be replaced by electric vehicles (EV) within the next six months. Any department or autonomous body of the Delhi government can hire an EV for the first time with the permission of the Department of Finance. The Department of Transport will oversee the switch to EVs and all departments will have to submit the report to the transport department on how the transition of vehicles to EVs is going on, identify the gaps and give suggestions to complete the target within six months.
Odisha only Indian state in Top 15 urban initiatives
Odisha became the only state from India with two initiatives to come in the Top 15 deserving interventions for Global Award. The state’s two urban innovations include Urban Wage Employment Initiative, implemented in all the 114 Urban Local Bodies, and Faecal Sludge and Septage Management in Berhampur. These have been shortlisted in the Top 15 Prestigious 2020 Guangzhou International Award for urban innovations exceptional models of innovative policies and practices. Moreover, one more innovative and people-centric model of Government of Odisha, ‘Drink from Tap Mission’ in Puri, has been selected in the Top 30 list of deserving innovations.
India added lowest solar capacity in 2020
NEW DELHI: A report by Mercom India Research said that India added only 3239 megawatt (MW) of solar capacity in 2020, which is down by 56 per cent in comparison to the solar capacity added in previous year, which was 7346 MW. The report established that this year’s addition to solar capacity was the lowest in the last five years.
According to the report, rooftop installation of remaining the 719 MW panels was also down by 22 per cent in comparison to the installations in 2019. It showed that Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Gujarat emerged as top three states for large-scale solar capacity additions and represented around 51 per cent of India’s total installations in 2020. Raj Prabhu, Chief Executive Officer, Mercom Capital Group, commented that India’s solar installations in 2020 were the lowest in five years. He said that other top solar markets in the world have experienced positive growth in comparison to India, which experienced one of the most stringent lockdowns in response to the pandemic. However, he added that the industry in India is expected to experience significant positive growth in 2021, with over 10 gigawatt (GW) of solar installations due to take place. The report outlined difficulty faced by government agencies in getting distribution companies to sign power sale agreements (PSAs) as an additional challenge in the market besides the COVID-19 pandemic. This bottleneck in the market has left about 17-18 GW of projects without a PSA. Other short-term challenges mentioned in Mercom India’s analysis included rise in module prices, increased shipping and freight charges, which have increased to the range of 500 per cent to 800 per cent, and a surge in costs of raw materials. The report added that as a result, the average large-scale solar project costs have increased by 2 per cent quarter-over-quarter in OctoberNovember 2020.
WASHINGTON DC: The United States of America and India have collaborated for research on natural gas, renewable energy, nuclear energy, clean coal technologies, smart grids, and unconventional and clean energy sources. On this, Ned Price, Spokesperson, United States Department of State, at a news conference on February 22 commented that this collaboration has been made for the benefit of ‘our people’, now and in the future. He said that this energy cooperation supports sustainable development, promotes regional and international stability, protects national security, and harnesses sources to meet power needs of the 21st century.
Price, responding to a question on current state of cooperation between India and US on energy, said that the strategic partnership between the two countries is strong and it will continue growing, especially because of the administration prioritizing climate change issues. He mentioned how both the nations have worked closely with each other on the challenges of climate change and how in December 2015, when the Paris Climate Agreement was consummated, US and India worked closely to usher in the Paris Agreement. He said, “We will continue to work closely with India on the challenges of climate change.”
AIILSG celebrated International Women’s Day. Urban Update team member Arjun Singh, on behalf of the team, presented a token of appreciation ‘Digital Vector Art’ to female colleagues
Puri launches NUDM, other digital initiatives
NEW DELHI: The Government of India launched the National Urban Digital Mission (NUDM) and various other digital initiatives on February 23, with an aim to transform urban governance. Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), Government of India said that the NUDM will build an ideal space to channel immense synergies from the domain of technology towards creating citizen–centric governance reflecting Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of ‘minimum government and maximum governance’.
NUDM has been initiated by MoHUA along with the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY). Addressing the launch of NUDM and other initiatives in the national capital, Puri said that the MoHUA must work with and support all urban local bodies, from the largest to the smallest, to deliver on the promise of serving all the citizens. He added that this is what ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas’ denotes for urban India presently. Ravi Shankar Prasad, Minister of Electronics and Information Technology, who was also a part of the event virtually, said that the cities will become smarter only if digital technology is properly established. Prasad added that an important message of this launch is that convergence is a must to ensure good governance through a digital mode. He further stated that the goal of Digital India can be achieved through technology that is domestic, developmental, cost effective and inclusive. A statement from MoHUA said that various other digital initiatives like the India Urban Data Exchange, Smart Code, Smart Cities 2.0 website, and Geo-spatial Management Information System, have also been launched. M o H U A mentioned that this will institutionalise a citizen-centric and ecosystem-driven approach to urban governance and service delivery in 2022 cities by 2022, and across all cities and towns in India by 2024.
Delhi Metro to go contactless
The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has decided to introduce cashless and touchless transaction for its passengers. The DMRC had introduced Quick Response codes and other digital payment methods initially during the COVID-19 pandemic. The DMRC has invited Expression of Interest from some private firms to upgrade its Automatic Fare Collection (AFC) system to enable QR code, bank account and RuPay based ticketing. Currently, the passengers are allowed to use RuPay debit cards issued in the last 20 months by nearly 23 banks only at the Airport Express Line and this facility will be soon introduced across several different modes of public transport.
Gujarat spends highest on UDD
A five-year budget analysis between 2015 and 2021 revealed that Gujarat spends 6.4 per cent of its budget on projects of the state’s Urban Development Department (UDD). New Delhi and West Bengal have been found to spend 5.7 per cent and 4.5 per cent of their budget respectively on UDD. The report claimed that West Bengal spends the highest share of their budget on social security schemes, amounting to 9 per cent. It stated that Arunachal Pradesh had spent 16 per cent of its budget on roads and bridges, and New Delhi recorded spending 26 per cent of its budget on education.
Learnings for Smart Cities while defining the role of ULBs
The 5th Annual Smart Cities International Virtual Symposium was held on February 23 and 24, 2021, to bring together practitioners and leaders from around the world to analyse the recent developments and technological advances in realising the goal of Smart Cities. It provided a platform for discussion on the new business models and discuss the lessons learned till now in the development of Smart Cities
The speakers at the event discussed the experiences of municipal corporations who are doing exceptional jobs at pushing the envelope and moving towards the implementation of the Smart Cities mission. Emphasis was on implementation strategy, case studies, best practices, and the development of innovative business models.
On day one of the event, the session began with discussion on ‘Envisioning the Smart City in Challenging Times”. Panelists suggested ways to adjust the Smart City vision with respect to the new challenges in the present world. They also talked about the key challenges and issues in the evolution of Smart City. The speakers of the session included Monali Shah, Head of Industry Solutions, Google; and Dan Hoffman, City Manager, City of Winchester, Virginia.
The Second session was conducted on ‘Smart City lessons learned till date and the directions forward’ which included the case studies of Smart Cities, implementation strategies and best practices of various municipal corporations. David Graham, Chief Innovation Officer, City of Carlsbad; and Michael Hess, Director, Future Ready, City of Orlando were part of the session’s panel.
The next session discussed about ‘Smart City Solutions for a Riskier World’ and the speakers discussed about the key findings from the study of ESI ThoughtLab examining the social, environmental and economic impact of investments in smart technologies. The goal was to provide evidence based roadmap to resilience and sustainability. The speakers of the session included Lou Celi, Chief Executive Officer, ESI ThoughtLab; and Rana Sen, Managing Director and Smart City Initiative Lead, Deloitte.
The last session on day one was on the ‘Future of Mobility’ as the success of Smart Cities relies on various factors including transportation, energy, communications and people. The mobility transformations will impact the businesses as usual for many industries including energy and utilities, insurance, IT, etc.
Second day of the event began with the session on ‘Smart Cities, TIF Districts and Pursuing a TIF Project’. Tax Increment Financing (TIF) is used as a financing tool to assist the municipal corporations and development works. Speakers discussed about intelligent infrastructure and its need as a foundation of TIF districts. The speakers of the session included Keith Moran, Founder, Moran Economic Development; and James Carlini, President, Carlini and Associates.
‘Leveraging Smart City and Utility Infrastructure to Build Agile Communities’ was the theme of the next session for the day. The COVID-19 pandemic has presented an example of the community challenge and the discussion was on the new arising situations to which communities should adapt quickly. The panelists discussed about the role of smart infrastructures in creating agile communities that can adapt to quickly evolving situations. Jason Anderson, President, Cleantech San Diego; and Brian Dillard, Chief Innovation Officer, City of San Antonio, were part of the session’s panel.
The last session of the event was on ‘Adaptive Reuse and Renewable Energy Strategies’. The speakers discussed about the need to have renewable sources of energy and how it can assist the smart cities in their work towards a sustainable urban space. The speakers in the session included Erika Allen, CoFounder and Chief Executive Officer, Urban Growers Collective; and Sarah Coulter, Executive Director, Calumet Collaborative.
The 5th Annual Smart Cities International Virtual Symposium presented a platform for experts and researchers in the field to share the experiences and address the limitations in developing Smart Cities. The event was attended by industry experts from across the world and various deductions were made for municipal corporations to improve the strategy for implementation of policies.
