Urban Update May 2022

ISSN 2349-6266 RNI No DELENG/2014/57384

Setting The Agenda For Tomorrow’s Cities

UrbanUpdate Volume VIII, Issue I

May 2022

CITIES ARE BRANDS TOO

Culture is a glue that binds cities, citizens European Union The project is funded by the European Union.

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Quality is just one of our strengths

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

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

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

UrbanUpdate A monthly magazine published by the AIILSG. Ranjit Chavan President-AIILSG Dr Jairaj Phatak Editor-In-Chief Director General-AIILSG Ashok Wankhade Managing Editor Abhishek Pandey Editor Ravi Ranjan Guru Executive Editor Hitesh Nigam Senior Sub-Editor

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Setting The Agenda For Tomorrow’s Cities

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UrbanUpdate Volume VIII, Issue I

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ISSN 2349-6266 RNI No DELENG/2014/57384 Volume VII, Issue XII

Setting The Agenda For Tomorrow’s Cities

Volume VII, Issue XI

Pushpender Singh Editorial Assistant

ISSN 2349-6266 RNI No DELENG/2014/57384

Setting The Agenda For Tomorrow’s Cities

AIILSG continues to work for robust local governance CITIES ARE BRANDS TOO

How to make Indian cities ‘AatmaNirbhar’

NdMc

EdMc

binds Cities, Citizens AIILSG

European Union

AIILSG

European Union

The project is funded by the European Union.

The project is implemented by the AIILSG.

The project is funded by the European Union.

Culture is a glue that

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The project is implemented by the AIILSG.

European Union The project is funded by the European Union.

AIILSG The project is implemented by the AIILSG.

Volume VIII - Issue I Printed and published by Ranjit Chavan on behalf of All India Institute of Local Self-Government.

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Editorial

Dr Jairaj Phatak Editor-In-Chief | dg@aiilsg.org

‘B

Culture, the soul of the city ut a city is more than a place in space, it is a drama in time’ said Patrick Geddes, the well-known Scottish sociologist and pioneering town planner. He authored several reports on town planning in the Indian subcontinent in the early 20th Century. What he possibly meant by these words is that a city is more than its buildings, roads, parks, and trains; every city has a human side, a soul too.

This could possibly be captured in one word – Culture. Indeed, most cities have over the years, acquired recognition for specific aspects of their lives. Mumbai for instance has been and is still known for its efficient and professional work culture attracting large corporations including leading multinationals to set up their offices in the metropolis inspite of its high real estate costs. Bengaluru, always known as the ‘garden city’ due to its vast gardens and green spaces has during the last three-four decades acquired the ‘IT hub of India’ tag. Given its tech orientation, the city also now supports a thriving start-up ecosystem. Pune has for decades been the seat of culture and the arts and also known for its fine educational/academic institutions which are still an inalienable part of the city. Almost every city, has its distinct cultural identity and a unique place of pride inscribed in the rich tapestry of India’s heritage.

Festivals such as the Durga Puja, though celebrated all over the country, are closely connected to a city; Kolkata in this case. There are many cities known for the remarkable talents of artisans with rare skills passed down generations – woodworkers, metalworkers, garment makers – the list is long. Then there are the unique, fabulous food and culinary wonders of so many of our cities. Or the unique traditional costumes and attires of the local populace.

Needless to say, cities need to preserve these intangible cultural assets – traditions, customs, lifestyles and rituals - of our cities just as they do to protect its architectural and archeological assets. There could be several possible ways to do this. One example is the organizing of special festivals such as the 10 day Pune Cultural festival which showcases performances by top artistes as well as some special events during the Ganesh festival in the city. The Rann Utsav in Kutch, Gujarat, or the Desert festival in the city of Jaisalmer, Rajasthan are other examples of such festivals. The Dasara Festival celebrated in Mysore of Karnataka State is a 10-day event marked by grandeur being celebrated reportedly from the 15th Century during the times of the Vijayanagara Empire Kings. There are many more examples from across the country. These events attract visitors from not only all over the country but also from overseas thus showcasing the city and its importance. In fact the city and the cultural festival become inseparable from each other.

Cities must bring together various stakeholders in this exercise to preserve and nurture their culture and showcase it to the world. Local governments, academia, civil society and indeed the common man, can all play meaningful roles. The city can then come alive and thereby improve livability by several notches.

www.urbanupdate.in | May 2022

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QUOTES

BUZZ

PIN POINT

Narendra Modi Prime Minister @PMOIndia

COVID-19 has interrupted immunization services, health systems have been overwhelmed, and we are now seeing a resurgence of deadly diseases including measles. For many other diseases, the impact of these disruptions to immunization services will be felt for decades to come

Jamnagar’s contributions towards wellness will get a global identity with @WHO’s Global Centre for Traditional Medicine

Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus Director-General, World Health Organization Hardeep Singh Puri Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs @HardeepSPuri

In nuclear law, the way people are introduced to the subject - whether they are introduced at all - will determine its future shape

Rafael Mariano Grossi Director General, International Atomic Energy Agency

Even as we expect 80 crore people to live in our urban areas by 2050, as PM Modi Ji says, this has to be viewed as an opportunity - not a problem. India has unleashed the world’s largest urban rejuvenation programme & the most comprehensive agenda for planned urbanisation ever

Brian Schatz

United States Senator

@brianschatz

Heat, temperature, and moisture combined will be the killers in South Asia. If there is anything that will genuinely force people to respond to the climate crisis, it is frequent heat waves, because unlike other episodic extreme events, it is widespread and will impact everyone Ajay Dixit Executive Director, Institute for Social and Environmental Transition, Nepal

Urban TRIVIA 6

May 2022 | www.urbanupdate.in

The environmental movement of the last generation was partly organized around stopping things. But to save the planet we are going to have to build things at an unprecedented speed and scale. We need to make it easier, not harder, to build big, planet saving projects

Trams came to India in the late 19th century. Kolkata, then capital of India, got horse-drawn trams in February 1873. Later, tram trains were introduced in 8 more cities including Mumbai, Nashik, Chennai, Kanpur, Kochi, Delhi, Patna, and Bhavnagar. Trams in Kanpur and Nashik closed down their operations in 1933 while other trams services were closed between 1950 and 1964 except in Kolkata that is still in operation.

content

Inside Volume 8, Issue 1

May 2022

Cover Story

Infograph

Leaderspeak

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32

34

Culture is a glue that binds cities, citizens

Cultural festivals and cities

Cities are brands too

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38

40

Vada Pav: Bombay invents, Mumbai keeps relishing

Delhi: Reflection of India

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44

The language Delhi speaks

One on One Shyam Sunder Aggarwal Mayor, EDMC

36 Micro-plastics in the fish I eat

Waste management: Balance of both community and administration

Regulars

6 8

Pin Point Girl Power Project

11 23

Newscan

46

Urban Agenda

City Image

www.urbanupdate.in | May 2022

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GIRL POWER Project

Promoting entrepreneurship in incense stick business TEAM GIRL POWER

anufacturing and production of joss sticks or incense sticks has been a traditional industry in India, which provides livelihood opportunities, especially in rural areas. Since ancient time, in India, there has been a practise of using aromatic incense sticks in religious ceremonies. Owing to this, incense sticks have always been in high demand in India, which surges during the festive season. India is instrumental in fulfilling more than half of the global demand of incense sticks as it has captured both Indian and international market. During Ancient era, it was believed that various vedic rituals were incomplete without agarbatti. It is also believed that agarbatti purifies the air.

There is a large user base for these incense sticks in India, with a market size of around `7500 crore, annually, with the involvement of about five lakh people. Moreover, almost `800 crore of this production is exported every year.

This business has huge opportunity and more chance to grow because of the low-cost investment and high return on investment.

The Girl Power Project funded by the European Union and implemented by the All India Institute of Local SelfGovernment, Jharkhand are playing the role of independent agents that bring transformative changes in the lives of 5000 women and girls of Jharkhand. Lighting incense sticks is a common practice in almost every Indian household, and in lieu of this the project team organised a three-day residential training program on making of incense sticks at Divyanan, Rama Krishna Mission Ashram, Ranchi.

Around 41 women beneficiaries of Vishnugarh Block, Hazaribagh District, Jharkhand learned the art of making and packaging the incense sticks.

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Objective of the training program

♦♦ To provide thorough knowledge of making and acquiring tools and equipment for Agarbatti making ♦♦ To increase local production capacity of incense sticks ♦♦ To upgrade the standard of living of local artisans involved in making Agarbatti manually or with the help of machinery ♦♦ To provide self-owned venture training.

At the opening of training program, women beneficiaries were briefed about the objective of the training program. After orientation about training, the trainer explained different aspects of Agarbatti making followed by the practical session. The training started right from the identification of quality raw materials to the manufacturing of sticks. Further, he explained different types of incense

sticks and how to maintain the quality of these sticks, the trainer guided the participants on how they should dry these sticks, i.e, under sunlight or shadow for how much duration before different fragrances are added to these sticks.

On the second and third day of the training program, the trainer demonstrated and taught the process of making incense sticks and discussed the importance of adding fragrance to them by dipping technique. He also briefed about the raw materials used in making the sticks namely, charcoal powder, jigatu, sandal wood powder, bamboo sticks, kuppam dust, white chips, fragrance and DEP (Di Ethyl Phthalate), and explained the complete process in detail. He also explained how the composition can be modified as per the requirement and how paste is prepared by mixing all the raw materials with water to get semi

solid paste. Then the paste is further wrapped in plastic paper from which it is taken in small quantities from rolling it on the bamboo sticks. Incense sticks are available in different sizes and colours. Its burn time depends from 15 minutes to 3 hours based on their quality and size. The trainer began the session by specifying the importance of the fragrance that must be added to the sticks to have a sweet smelling fragrance that lingers for a long time.

The trainer discussed the use of machines for making agarbatti in bulk.

It helps to increase the quantity as well as the quality. He briefed about different types of machinery available namely manual, semi-automatic and fully automatic in the market for the preparation of Agarbatti. The machinery helps to make the rolling part simpler and costs from `10,000 to `1 Lakh. Beneficiaries were also provided opportunity to work on machines.

During the training, beneficiaries prepared agarbatti manually as well as with using machinery. Most of the trainees were satisfied during hands-on training on machinery for manufacturing agarbatti.

Benefits of agarbatti

♦♦ It helps to purify the air around us, as per some studies ♦♦ It is also used as natural insect repellent in rural areas ♦♦ The fragrance has several therapeutic benefits for human minds ♦♦ It also helps to increase concentration

Branding and Packaging

Packing of the products is also an important factor as it is closely related to marketing. Women beneficiaries also learned the key points of packaging of these sticks in different boxes and packets, so that it could be directly supplied in the market. The packaging of the product should be cost-effective and appealing. The packaging should be distinct with logos, colours, and its fragrance from other brands already available in the market. It should clearly mention about product type, composition like handmade, made from recycled flowers and adopted naturefriendly process in manufacturing to attract more customers. The product can also be exported overseas resulting in higher margin of profit.

Outcome

Women (50) making incense sticks at RK Mission Ashram, Ranchi

This training program has created awareness and skill of buying good quality raw material at reasonable prices for Agarbatti manufacturing and making good quality incense stick adopting appropriate tools and machinery. Thus, the Girl Power project aims the creation of agarbatti based rural enterprises in Jharkhand, which will boost the confidence of rural women to become entrepreneurs and also pave the way for self-employment and promote women entrepreneurship.

www.urbanupdate.in | May 2022

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AIILSG Diary

Mayor of Surat Hemaliben Bodhwala inaugurating the 13th and 14th batches of Fireman’s Training Course by lighting the traditional lamp at Emergency Response Centre, Kamrej, Surat on April 26. Hansa Patel,Executive Adviser, AIILSG and Makhija, Deputy Chief Fire Officer, Surat, were also present on the occasion. Centre for Environment and Disaster Management conducts the Fireman’s Course for the Fire Marshals, and Watch and Ward Staff of Surat Municipal Corporation

Mayor of Surat Hemaliben Bodhwala inaugurating the 13th and 14th batches of Fireman’s Training Course by lighting the traditional lamp at Emergency Response Centre, Kamrej, Surat on April 26. Hansa Patel,Executive Adviser, AIILSG and Makhija, Deputy Chief Fire Officer, Surat, were also present on the occasion. Centre for Environment and Disaster Management conducts the Fireman’s Course for the Fire Marshals, and Watch and Ward Staff of Surat Municipal Corporation

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NEWSCAN

Indian states lacking in new initiatives, finds NITI Aayog’s SECI Report

NEW DELHI: NITI Aayog, in April 2022, released first of its kind report named ‘State Energy and Climate Index’ (SECI). The report has been created as a tool for policy-makers and the state authorities in identifying the leaders and the laggards in the energy sector, and fine-tuning the policies to promote better energy deployment.

Such indices are crucial as states and UTs have to play a pivotal role in implementing the policies and realising the goals set by India in the energy sector.

With a population of 1.3 billion, India has a massive demand for energy to run this growing economy. India’s ongoing industrialisation and urbanisation is expected to place enormous pressure on the energy sector, therefore, decarbonising the demand and supply of energy would be critical to reduce emissions in the country. India is one of the countries occupying the center stage in the world’s quest for clean energy transition and mitigation of climate change. Recently, India ranked 10th in the Climate Change Performance Index 2022.

The assessment in SECI Report is done on the basis of 27 indicators grouped into six parameters DISCOM’s (distribution company) performance; access, affordability and reliability

of energy; clean energy initiatives; energy efficiency; environmental sustainability; and new initiatives. The index is based on 2019-2020 data.

The report noted country-level scores of each parameter, which were calculated as an average of the state-wise score for their respective parameters. The overall score for India worked out to be 40.6. The average score at the national level for DISCOM’s performance is 56.8. The average scores of two parameters i.e., access, affordability & reliability, and environmental sustainability are 46.4 and 37.7 respectively. The report noted the need for improving performance in terms of clean energy initiatives and energy efficiency as the national level average score of these parameters are 22.2 and 29.1 respectively. The allIndia average score for new initiatives is 11.1 which is the lowest among all parameters.

The states have been listed in three categories- large states, smaller states and union territories. Gujarat topped the index with a SECI score of 50.1, followed by Kerala (49.1) and Punjab (48.6), amongst the larger states, while Goa has topped the list of smaller states followed by Tripura. Amongst the seven union territories, Chandigarh has the highest SECI score at 55.7

closely followed by Delhi at 55.6.

Punjab scored highest under the parameter of DISCOM’s Performance with 77.1 score. Kerala topped the list in the category of access, affordability & reliability. Chandigarh scored highest points in clean energy initiatives and environmental sustainability. Tamil Nadu, with score of 85.4, topped the category of energy efficiency and Tripura scored highest amongst all states in new initiatives.

Overall, among the larger states, the top three performers are Gujarat, Kerala, and Punjab; and the bottom three performers are Jharkhand, MP and Chhattisgarh. Among the smaller states, Goa, Tripura, and Manipur are the top performers while Meghalaya, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh are the bottom three states. Among UTs, Chandigarh, Delhi and Daman & Diu/Dadar & Nagar Haveli are the top three performers, and Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Jammu & Kashmir and Lakshadweep are the bottom three performers.

The report stated that even though India has achieved almost 100 per cent electrification, the national and subnational governments are still required to work towards ensuring a reliable supply of power, reducing losses, reducing regulatory assets, etc.

www.urbanupdate.in | May 2022

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NEWSCAN

Briefs

UP to launch 60-day drive to improve face of its cities LUCKNOW: In order to introduce changes in the way urban services are provided in Uttar Pradesh, the Department of Urban Development, Government of Uttar Pradesh is set to start a 60-day drive.

A 12-point to-do list has been sent to all the municipal commissioners and councils by Rajneesh Dube, Additional Chief Secretary, Urban Development Department, Government of Uttar Pradesh. The first task of the officials is to improve the condition of roundabouts and prominent crossings.

The order states that civic bodies can adopt public-private-partnership model to renovate crossings in cities.

Additionally, officials will develop

green belts and plant trees along roads and crossings.

The officials have been asked to consider putting up vertical gardens near prominent crossings. Wall murals and paintings that promote social messages, will also come up at strategic locations in all the cities.

The drive will include cleaning up of garbage dumps in a phased manner and bioremediation of drains and nullahs in view of approaching monsoon season.

Moreover, heads of urban local bodies have been directed to prepare an action plan of disposal of legacy waste in their cities. Heads of departments have also been asked to provide a weekly report to the Lucknow headquarters.

Premature mortality rising due to air pollution: Report NEW DELHI: A new report titled “Rapid rise in premature mortality due to anthropogenic air pollution in fast growing tropical cities from 2005 to 2018” was released in Science Advances, revealing rapid degeneration in air quality and increasing urban exposure to air pollutants, hazardous to health. The report prepared by an international team of scientists aimed to address data gaps in air quality in 46 future megacities of Africa, Asia

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and Middle East. The researchers used space-based observations from instruments onboard NASA and European Space Agency (ESA) satellites for 2005 to 2018.

The authors found significant annual increase in pollutants across all the cities. Increase in nitrogen dioxide was noted at 14 per cent, 8 per cent for fine particles (PM2.5), 12 per cent for ammonia, and up to 11 per cent for reactive volatile organic compounds.

The report attributed this rapid degeneration of air quality to emerging industries and residential sources like road traffic, waste burning, and use of charcoal and fuelwood.

The study established that the increase in the number of people dying prematurely due to exposure to air pollution was highest in cities in South Asia. The number was particularly high in Dhaka, Bangladesh (totaling 24,000 people), and the Indian cities of Mumbai, Bangalore, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Chennai, Surat, Pune and Ahmedabad (totaling 1,00,000 people).

High-level meet to discard 25 MT waste of Delhi

The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs organised a Review meeting, to address the waste management problem of Delhi.

Detailed discussion was held to deal with the piling of waste in landfill sites of Delhi. Right now, 3 MCDs generate 11,000 tonnes of solid waste per day, while, only 5900 tonnes is processed and turned into energy, via waste-toenergy plants at Narela, Bawana, Okhla and Ghazipur. Right now, three landfill sites in Delhi collectively hold 28 million tonnes of waste.

Maharashtra all set to launch ‘Water for all policy’

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) revised ‘Water Policy of Maharashtra’ to provide water to all slums on humanitarian grounds. The BMC has decided to provide water connections to all slum areas in the state including ones which are on private land and in the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) areas. Currently, the cumulative water demand of Maharashtra stands at 4250 million litres daily, while the supply stands at only 3850 million litres. The BMC has also clarified that this does not mean that the beneficiary slums of this policy will be getting legal status.

Briefs ADB to provide $2 million for Nagaland urban infra

The Government of India and Asian Development Bank signed a $2 million pact, for urban development, capacity building and mobilisation of resources by urban local bodies. Funds, under the project, will be utilised for the creation of climateresilient infrastructure, water supply, sanitation, solid waste management and to improve roads infrastructure in the urban landscape of Nagaland. It will also help in capacity building and resource mobilisation by ULBs in 16 district headquarter towns.

Bihar wants WHS status for Cyclopean Wall

The Government of Bihar has sent a fresh proposal to the Archaeological Survey of India aiming to include its Cyclopean Wall in UNESCO’s prestigious list of World Heritage Sites. The 40-km-long Cyclopean wall of Bihar was made 2500 years ago in the pre-Mauryan era, with an aim to protect the ancient city of Rajgir, which also happen to be the capital of Magadhan Empire.

The wall is made of undressed stones fitted together and has an average width of 14”, often compared to ancient Greek walls.

NEWSCAN

DDA ready with DMP of Delhi 2041; awaits approval NEW DELHI: The advisory council of Delhi Development Authority (DDA) has reviewed the Draft Master Plan (DMP) of Delhi 2041, which will soon be placed before the board for approval. The board which will review and approve the document will be headed by the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi Anil Baijal. The document has been put together after compiling people’s objections and suggestions.

This advisory panel is comprised of elected representatives of Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha, municipal councilors, officers from the Government of India and Government of NCT of Delhi, and experts from the field of urban development. After approval, the document will be sent to the central government for its approval.

The Master Plan of Delhi 2041, was initiated by DDA in 2021, and published in the gazette in June the same year, inviting suggestions and objections from general public.

Consequently, 33,000 suggestions and objections from general public, NGOs, civil societies, RWAs, market associations, federations, government agencies, etc. were received up until October 2021. Some of the issues discussed in the meetings were related to migrant labourers, regulation of unauthorised colonies, air and water pollution, cleaning of river Yamuna, traffic congestion, parking issues, city’s heritage and many other issues were discussed. The Master Plan of Delhi is a statutory document prepared by DDA under Delhi Development Act, 1957.

Punitive action for doctors prescribing branded drugs: Chhattisgarh CM RAIPUR: Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh Bhupesh Baghel has said that doctors in government hospitals will face punitive action if they prescribe branded drugs instead of generic drugs.

The CM chaired a review meeting of ‘Shri Dhanwanti Generic Medical Store’ scheme which was launched virtually in 2021, by the Urban Administration and Development Department. In this scheme, around 188 medical shops were planned in 169 cities providing low-cost generic medicines, for the benefit of poor and vulnerable population. They provide discounts ranging from 50 per cent to 71 per cent on MRP. Branded medicines are inaccessible to the majority of the population, since they are priced at

considerably higher costs than the generic drugs. But doctors continue to prescribe them, because of tie-ups with the pharmaceutical companies.

The CM has promised strict penalty for those doctors who do not budge, even after repeated instructions from the government. A directive was issued to district collectors and Chief Medical and Health Officers by the Principal Secretary of the Health department to ensure compliance.

www.urbanupdate.in | May 2022

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NEWSCAN

Steeper cuts needed in global coal plant capacity to achieve climate goals: Report

NEW DELHI: The Global Energy Monitor released its eighth annual survey of the coal plant pipeline. The report found that after witnessing a rise in 2020, for the first time since 2015, the total coal power capacity under development declined by 13 per cent in 2021. 34 countries were found to have coal plants under consideration, which is down from 41 countries in January 2021. China, South Korea and Japan have pledged to stop funding for new coal plants in other countries. However, the report noted that China continues to lead all countries in the domestic development of new coal plants, commissioning more coal capacity than the rest of the world combined. India followed China in the same.

Globally, more than half (56 per cent) of the 45 GW of newly commissioned capacity was in China.

Newly commissioned capacity in China (25.2 GW) nearly offsets coal plant retirements in the rest of the world (25.6 GW). Outside China, the global coal fleet shrank for the fourth year in a row, although at a slower rate than in 2020. The report also highlighted that in 2021, the operating coal fleet grew by a net 18.2 GW, a post-Covid rebound

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in a year that saw a slowdown in coal plant retirements. It noted that preconstruction coal capacity stands at 280 GW globally, equivalent to the current operating fleets of the United States and Japan combined.

In 2021, the amount of US coal capacity retired, declined for the second consecutive year, from 16.1 GW in 2019, to 11.6 GW in 2020, to an estimated 6.4 GW to 9 GW in 2021. Although, according to the report, in order to meet the national energy and climate goals, continued momentum away from coal needs to accelerate. The report stated that the European Union’s 27 member states retired a record 12.9 GW in 2021, with most retirements in Germany (5.8 GW), Spain (1.7 GW), and Portugal (1.9 GW). Moreover, Portugal became coal free in November 2021, nine years before its targeted 2030 phase-out date.

The report also noted that the amount of electricity generated from coal rose by 9 per cent in 2021, worldwide, to a record high. Although, progress was made in 2021, on establishing future retirement dates for operating plants, with the number of coal plants effectively given a close-by date nearly doubling to 750 coal plants.

The report released by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, this month, established that there is no carbon budget left to accommodate new coal plants, and that coal use needs to fall by 75 per cent by 2030 (from 2019 levels) to limit global temperature rise below 1.5 degrees Celsius. Cherelle Blazer, Senior Director, Sierra Club’s International Climate and Policy Campaign, said that the global coal pipeline continues to shrink, but it is still not shrinking fast enough.

Lauri Myllyvirta, Lead Analyst, Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air, commented that many emerging economies have cut back their plans for new coal-fired capacity, with the largest reductions happening in India, Vietnam, Bangladesh, and Egypt. He added that now countries with net-zero emission targets need to step up with a coal-phase out plan that aligns with those targets. Flora Champenois, Global Energy Monitor, said that in order to have a fighting chance at a livable climate, it is essential to stop building new coal plants and retire existing ones in the developed world by 2030, and the rest of the world soon after.

NEWSCAN

560 disasters expected around the world every year by 2030: UNDRR Report NEW DELHI: The United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) recently published the Global Assessment Report 2022, which established that the world is set to face 1.5 disasters a day – 560 a year – by 2030. It mentioned that this is happening because humans have put themselves on a spiral of selfdestruction by heating up the climate and ignoring risk, which UNDRR said can be attributed to a “broken perception of risk based on optimism, underestimation and invincibility”. The UNDRR released the report ahead of the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction scheduled in May 2022.

According to the report, somewhere between 350 and 500 medium-sized to major disasters have been recorded, annually, in the past two decades, but the governments across the world continue to underestimate their true impact on lives and livelihoods. It added that increasingly frequent and intense disasters have killed or affected more people in the last five years than in the previous five-year period.

The report mentioned that disasters around the world have cost roughly US $170 billion each year over the past decade. In comparison, annual

The report mentioned that disasters around the world have cost roughly US $170 billion each year over the past decade. In comparison, annual direct economic loss from disasters was $70 billion in the 1990s

direct economic loss from disasters was $70 billion in the 1990s. It noted that most of this loss is incurred in lowerincome countries, which on average lose one per cent of their national GDP to disasters, each year. Compared to that, wealthier nations lose just 0.1 to 0.2 per cent of their GDP. The region of Asia and Pacific were found to suffer the greatest economic losses due to the disasters. Africa has been found to be the second-most affected region, losing

an average of 0.6 per cent of GDP to disasters. The report said that since the number of disasters is expected to increase, the cost will as well.

The report said that frequent disasters will add to the poverty burden of the world. It stated that an additional 37.6 million people are estimated to be living in conditions of extreme poverty by 2030, due to the impacts of climate change and disasters. It added that worst case scenario of climate change and disasters will push an additional 100.7 million into poverty by 2030. Citing the INFORM Natural Hazard Risk Index, the report noted that the poorest across the world are most vulnerable and will bear the brunt of disasters because of inadequate financial means to adapt and their high dependency on outdoor work like in agriculture or reliability on natural capital, both of which are vulnerable to a changing climate.

According to the analysis, majority of countries that face a high disaster risk are also among those with the highest share of population living under the national poverty line. These include nations like Philippines, Bangladesh, Myanmar, India, Indonesia, Pakistan and Vietnam from the Asia-Pacific region. In comparison, the countries which are supposedly under “low risk” have a poverty rate of less than one per cent. The report also included suggestions that can assist governments in preparation for the expected onslaught of disasters. It said that insurance is a key tool to adapt for building back from disasters. It also called for doubling of finance to support developing countries in adapting to the impacts of climate change and building resilience.

Mami Mizutori, Chief, UNDRR, said that disasters can be prevented, but only if countries invest the time and resources to understand and reduce their risks.

www.urbanupdate.in | May 2022

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Briefs

Svanidhi se Samridhi scheme expanded to 126 more cities NEW DELHI: The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), Government of India expanded the scheme ‘Svanidhi se Samridhi’ to include 126 more cities across 14 states and union territories. Svanidhi se Samridhi is an additional scheme of PM Street Vendor’s AtmaNirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi) launched on January 4, 2021, which in its first phase, covered 125 cities and around 35 lakh street vendors and their families. After the success of phase-I, the scheme is now being expanded to cover 28 lakh street

vendors and their families, with the goal of 20 lakh plan approvals for 202223.

PM SVANidhi was launched by the central government on June 1, 2020, to provide micro-credit loans to street vendors, through lending institutions.

Manoj Joshi, Secretary, MoHUA in his address said that despite the challenge of the COVID-19, the scheme has successfully provided social security benefits to street vendors. Sanjay Kumar, Additional Secretary, MoHUA said that this scheme has helped in two ways. Firstly, a central database of street vendors has been created on the basis of socio-economic indicators.

This socio-economic profiling is done across the areas of housing, health coverage, education, women and child welfare, banking, migration status, etc. Secondly, it has helped the street vendors connect to existing welfare schemes.

‘2022-23 work plan’ approved by UNDP SECURE Himalaya project

GANGTOK: During the meeting of 5th State Steering Committee, chaired by the Minister of Environment Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC), Government of India, a ‘draft 2022-23 work plan’ worth `342.64 lakhs was approved. The committee consisting of the Government of India (GoI), Global Environment Facility (GEF) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) approved the plan under the SECURE Himalaya project. The total cost of ‘2022-23 work plan’ stands at `342.64 lakhs, out of which `142 lakhs is to be provided by UNDP Country Office Support and the remaining `200.64 lakhs will come through the State Grant-in-Aid budget. Draft work plan comprises of management of biodiversity sites, mobilisation after training, value addition of honey and nettle, and awareness programme for military and paramilitary forces etc. SECURE Himalaya was launched as a 6-year project that aims to protect and conserve the Himalayan biodiversity, while reducing the dependence of local communities on the biological resources of the region and protecting the habitat of some of the highly vulnerable species such as the Snow Leopard. The project is a joint initiative of MoEFCC and UNDP. Currently, the project covers the Himalayan landscape of Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Sikkim.

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Discrepancies in BBMP’s tender: UDD

The Urban Development Department (UDD), Government of Karnataka found discrepancies in the tender evaluation process of buying cleaning vehicles for Bruhat Bengaluru Mahangara Palike (BBMP). The BBMP has undertaken the project to clean the Central Business District (CBD) under the Swachh Bengaluru project. For this purpose, a tender was invited for the purchase of five pressure jet cleaners for a three-year period, and the entire cost came up to `12.40 crore. BBMP chose the lowest bidder, which is 24 per cent lesser than the BBMP’s estimated cost.

PMC to acquire MJP’s projects at cost of 18 cr

The Pune Municipal Corporation is going to acquire Warje and Shivane water supply projects from Maharashtra Jeevan Pradhikaran (MJP) at a total cost price of `18 crore, that is to be paid to the nodal agency. 4 years ago, Shivane, Uttamnagar, Kondhwe and Dhavade were merged into the PMC limits but PMC is yet to supply the water to these areas. Locals have been constantly raising the issue of inadequate water supply to their homes from MJP.

Briefs

NEWSCAN

Recover cost for oil spillage by Sahara’s cruise: NGT to Goa PCB

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has directed the Goa State Pollution Control Board to recover cost for environmental damage caused due to the oil spillage by the cruise ship ‘MV Qing’ owned by Sahara Group. The ship ‘MV Qing’ was chartered by Trinity Leisure Pvt Ltd and brought to Western India Shipyard to be converted into a hotel in 2014. In 2017, the NGT directed the Sahara Group to submit a remediation cost of `1 crore. A week later, the respondent was allowed to submit `30 lakh.

Landslide victory of BJP in Guwahati municipal polls

The Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) and its ally Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) won 58 seats out of total 60 seats in the local polls for Guwahati Municipal Corporations (GMC). BJP won 52 seats and its ally AGP won 6 seats in this election. The Congress party failed to secure even a single seat while, the Aam Aadmi Party and Assam Jatiya Party secured one seat each. This time around, 50 per cent of seats were reserved for women, and the voting percentage stood at 52.80 per cent.

Tripura to provide tap water supply to all rural households AGARTALA: Sushanta Chowdhury, Minister of Drinking Water and Sanitation, Government of Tripura has declared that all the 7,60,052 rural households of the state will get water connection by 2022.

Till date, only 3,82,475 households have been covered under the umbrella scheme of the Government of India, namely, the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM).

Tripura stands at 5th position among all the north-eastern states with 50 per cent coverage under JJM, which is just above the national average of 48.81 per cent. Along with rural households, all the schools and Anganwadi centres will also be covered as mandated under JJM.

Currently, as the dry spell continues in the state, 205 tankers have been assigned the task of supplying water to 463 habitations with no active tap connection.

JJM is the flagship scheme of the Ministry of Jal Shakti, Government of India, launched in 2019. It aims to provide functional tap water connections and 55 liters of water per person per day to all rural households by 2024. The mission also focuses on the functionality of the existing water supply system, testing and monitoring of water quality, source augmentation and conservation, along with greywater treatment.

Sikkim government asked to ban plastic bags GANGTOK: Sikkim Pollution Control Board has recommended the Government of Sikkim to ban plastic bags of less than 75 microns thickness by the end of 2022, and make preparations to phase out plastic bags of 120 microns thickness.

The board, in a meeting, has recommended banning the plastic bags of less than 75 microns thickness and to introduce a complete ban on single-use plastic items such as plastic bags, candy sticks, earbuds ice-cream sticks, thermocol cutlery, wrappers, and packing films by July 1. The board recommended the state to make preparations to phase out plastic bags of 120 microns thickness and allow only those that have labels on them, describing their specifications.

The meeting was attended by the officials from the Sikkim Pollution Control Board, representatives from the seven civic bodies in the state and the other elected representatives of state. Proposed recommendations are in compliance with the Plastic Waste Management Rules 2016, which were amended in 2021 by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government of India, while CPCB is the implementing body at the national level.

www.urbanupdate.in | May 2022

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Smart Cities, Smart Urbanisation Conference held in Surat

SURAT: The three-day “Smart City, Smart Urbanization” conference was held in Surat from April 18-20, 2022. The event was organised by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Government of India, in collaboration with Surat Smart City Corporation Development Ltd, as a part of the year long celebrations of India’s 75th independence year ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’. Many dignitaries from the Center and various states were present at the event.

Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs, Government of India, was the chief guest and spoke at length on the first day about Smart Cities Mission and India’s urbanisation journey of the last

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few years and what is the next step.

Others speakers at the inaugural event included Kaushal Kishore, Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs, Darshana Jardosh, Minister of State for Railways, Vinod Moradiya, Minister of Urban Development and Urban Housing, Government of Gujarat, Dr Audimulapu Suresh, Minister of Education, Andhra Pradesh, CR Patil, MP, and Hemali Kalpeshkumar Boghavala, Mayor, Surat.

During the awards ceremony, winners for the India Smart Cities Awards Contest (ISAC) 2020, were felicitated. Some of the awards and their winners are: Best City – Indore and Surat (joint winners)

Best State – Uttar Pradesh Best Union Territory - Chandigarh Best Governance – Vadodara for GIS Best Urban Environment – Bhopal for Clean Energy and Chennai for Restoration of Water Bodies (joint winners) Best Sanitation – Tirupati for Bioremediation and bio-mining and Indore for Municipal Waste Management System (joint winners) Best Economy – Indore for Carbon Credit Financing Mechanism Best Water Management – Dehradun for Smart Water Metering and Varanasi for Eco-Restoration of Assi River Best Urban Mobility – Aurangabad for Majhi Smart Bus On the second day, concurrent

sessions were held on five thematic areas of the urban sector- Reimagining Public Spaces, Digital Governance, Climate Smart Cities, Innovation and Smart Finance. Additionally, a central ‘chowk’ area was also built to conduct panel discussions of key urban issues being dealt by the Smart Cities Mission. A pavilion was also set up by the Government of Gujarat to display models of their key projects and some textile products of Surat.

Details of the Pavilions

Many urban stakeholders from the Center and states partook in the conference sessions and participated in the pavilion activities. These included officers of the Central Government, Principal Secretaries of States/UTs, Municipal Commissioners of Cities, MDs/CEOs of 100 Smart Cities, State Level Nodal Agencies/Mission Directorates, along with their officials and team members, professionals, industry representatives, global partners and experts, media, and members of academia.

The ‘Innovation Bazaar’ pavilion had sessions on City Innovation Exchange and Smart Procure Guidelines of MoHUA. There were discussions on the use of modern technologies like Augmented Reality and AI for devising innovative solutions for urban issues. A participatory game ‘Polaris’ was played to explain Smart Procure Guidelines in order to procure smart solutions from start ups.

A mobile app developed by the Surat Municipal Corporation showed the real time air quality and purification and energy and carbon footprint of the conference.

‘Finance ka Adda’ pavilion discussed issues of urban finance and identifying untapped revenue sources. Subjects of municipal bonds, Public Private Partnership (PPP) projects, land monetisation and Value Capture Finance were discussed by 29 global/ nation experts on urban finance.

Successful PPP projects of Smart Cities Mission were also displayed in the pavilion.

‘Climate Café’ was the pavilion

for discussing climate related issues and initiatives for creating a climate resilient and sustainable future. Puri put up a message on the ‘Tree of Life’ display in the pavilion emphasising India’s climate commitments. Various interactive games and activities were done based on climate issues and climate related disasters.

‘Digital Duniya’ was the digital governance pavilion, showcasing technology driven initiatives being implemented in cities. A robot ‘Sayabot’ welcomed the guests and advised them on COVID appropriate behavior. A model of Integrated Command and Control Center was placed at the pavilion. Here also, many interactive games were hosted. Exciting subjects such as AI transforming mobility through India Urban Data Exchange (IUDX), Wastewater Intelligence Network, success stories from cities under Smart Cities Mission, etc were discussed. Winners of the Urban Geospatial Data Stories Challenge 2022 and Open Data Week held in January were announced and felicitated at the pavilion.

Under the ‘Reimagining Public Spaces’ theme, discussions were held on how to make our cities safer for children and their caregivers. A session on ‘Human-scaling the Public Realm’ was held in the central chowk area wherein the speakers discussed on ways the ULBs can build cities that better accommodate the needs of the people.

Open Data Week Awards

The top performing cities were Pimpri Chinchwad, Thane, New Town Kolkata, Pune, Jabalpur, Satna, Surat, Kohima, Sagar, and Chandigarh.

♦♦ Team Urbane (Kastury Biswas, Priyanshu Raj, Satarupa Roy and Upama Ghosh) -Varanasi City Lights, Mapping the dark spots.

Special mention for the awards ♦♦ Team Urban Nomads (Sachchidanand Singh & Ankit Kumar) - Identifying Mosquitos Hotspots in Dehradun City: A Geospatial Approach (Sector – Health) ♦♦ Team GEOGEEKS (Vikhyat Gupta, Shalu, Sruthika John) Understanding Sewage Generation of Varanasi (Sector – WASH, Solid Waste Management) ♦♦ Team Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai, IT dept (Sharad Ughade, Meenal Shetya & Pankaj Warwadekar)- BMC on Map & WhatsApp Chatbot, Discover Amenities Near Me (Sector - Social Infrastructure Mapping) ♦♦ Dr Preethi Balaji - Mapping Changes in Water Bodies of Bengaluru City using Sentinel-1 Imagery (Sector – Environment) ♦♦ Himanshu Kumar- Explaining bus transport service levels in Delhi’s wards (Sector – Mobility)

Top 3 Placemaking Marathon 1.0 winners (held on SeptemberOctober 2021) ♦♦ Imphal for Dumpsite to Micro Park at New Checkon Youth Club Traffic Point ♦♦ Kohima for Pocket park and slow street at Forest Colony ♦♦ Srinagar for Pop-up plaza at Sher-eKashmir Park junction

Top 3 Placemaking Urban Geospatial Data Marathon 2.0 winners Stories Challenge 2022 (held on JanuaryAward winners February 20222) ♦♦ B Prasanna - Planning for Climate Change, A Case of Solapur Smart City ♦♦ Team The Green, The Blue and The Grey (Vinaya Thakur, Titiksha Bhatia) - Urban Blue & Green, A case of Bangalore, India

♦♦ Bhubaneswar for Maa Mangla Pokhari rejuvenation ♦♦ Greater Warangal for dumpsite to child-friendly park at MH Nagar slum ♦♦ Pimpri Chinchwad for 8 to 80 Park at Sudarshan Chowk.

www.urbanupdate.in | May 2022

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Briefs

Centre to set up MMLH in Tripura: MoS Railways AGARTALA: Raosaheb Patil Danve, Minister of State for Railways, Coals and Mines, Government of India announced the construction of a Multi-Modal Logistic Hub (MMLH) in Sabroom, Tripura.

The project aims to reduce the travel time between Kolkata and Agartala from 36 hours to 16 hours, via the Kolkata-Chittagong-Sabroom route.

Last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the ‘MaitriSetu’ bridge constructed over the Feni River in Sabroom, which gives access to the landlocked north-eastern region of India, to the Chittagong port of Bangladesh. Danve added, “The central government is keen to establish a multi-model transport hub at Sabroom

to enable smooth inter-state freight movement and offer multiple facilities.

In this regard, the central government is in discussion with Bangladesh.

Once, the transport hub is established, it would be highly beneficial for the Indian Railways.”

The MMLH project of Tripura is part of PM Gati Shakti Master plan, a flagship scheme of the Centre, which aims to create world-class infrastructure in India to bring down the logistic cost.

Under the Gati Shakti master plan, the central government is planning to improve the cargo handling capacity and turn-around time of Indian ports.

Along with it, 11 industrial corridors, 2 defence corridors and 17,000 km gas pipeline will also be built.

UP gets its first ‘Amrit Sarovar’

The Government of Uttar Pradesh has declared a local pond in Patwai village of Rampur district as the state’s first ‘Amrit Sarovar’, as per Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s initiative to encourage water conservation.

As part of ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’- a year-long initiative to celebrate 75 years of India’s independence - each district would get 75 ‘Amrit Sarovars’ or ponds. The state government has planned 1000 ‘amritsarovars’ across the state with the first one in Rampur. PM Modi said in his program that each drop of water is like ‘amrit’ (elixir).

Ganga Quest to be organised by GOI

Digitisation of land records within two years: UP LUCKNOW: Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Yogi Adityanath has said that all land records in the state including nazul land and urban ceiling will be digitised within the next two years. He added that a master plan for each city will be developed, wherein only urban planners will be involved in the planning process by the Urban Development Department. A major challenge for the Urban Development authorities is unplanned development.

During a presentation made on the urban development sector, the CM asked the Urban Development Department to prepare building bye-laws. He said that the urban population constitute 24 per cent of the state’s total population, while they contribute 65 per cent to the GSDP (Gross State Domestic Product).

CM Adityanath asked the officials to speed up the construction of 2.52 lakh houses in urban areas under the PM AwasYojna. In keeping with the trend of electronic vehicles in the country, the CM announced that battery or electronic buses should be used as public transport in major cities as well as the fleet of e-buses should be doubled in cities in the next 100 days. The department was also tasked with building 10,000 pink toilets for women in the next 100 days.

20 May 2022 | www.urbanupdate.in

The Ministry of Jal Shakti, Government of India is going to organise Ganga Quest, an international bilingual (Hindi & English) online quiz on Ganga.

The aim of the program is to spread awareness about Ganga, water conservation, biodiversity and environment. The only eligibility criteria are that the participant should be at least 10 years of age categorised into three groups students up to class VIII, students from 9th to 12th, and anyone after 12th class. The final quest will be held on June 5 (World Environment Day).

Briefs Nagaland says no to single-use plastic items

Through an official notification, the Government of Nagaland introduced a complete ban on single-use plastic items in the state w.e.f. July 1, 2022. The state government, through an official notification, has declared that manufacturing, import, stockpiling, distribution, sale and use of single-use plastic items such as polystyrene, expanded polystyrene, plastic sticks, plastic sticks for balloons, plastic flags, candy sticks, ice-cream sticks, thermocol items for decorations, plastic and poly-vinyl banners of than more than 100-micron thickness will be banned w.e.f. from July 1, 2022.

Mizoram to give `50,000 to beneficiaries of SEDP

Tawnluia, Deputy Chief Minister of Mizoram, announced that the Government of Mizoram will provide assistance of `50,000 to the 60,000 identified beneficiaries under Phase I of the Socio-Economic Development Policy of Mizoram. Under this flagship scheme, the state government has identified 1500 families from each assembly constituency in the state. They will be provided `50,000 under Phase I as assistance to set up their own businesses. State government has plans to increase this assistance to `3 lakh to improve the economic standing of its people.

NEWSCAN

Indore launches drive to conserve rain water INDORE: The Indore Municipal Corporation launched a drive to increase ground water level of the city by conserving rainwater. The urban local body has set a target of at least one lakh structures for setting up of rooftop rain water harvesting systems before this monsoon.

Currently in Indore, around 16,000 residential, commercial and other structures have rainwater harvesting systems. The IMC aims to install such systems in at least one lakh buildings in the city before the monsoon. Pratibha Pal, Commissioner, IMC, informed during the launch that the residents of Indore would be able to apply for installing water harvesting systems on their residential or commercial structures through civic body’s 311 application. She added that the systems

would be geotagged.

Pal commented that the corporation will ensure that all the residential structures covering over 1500 square foot area and all commercial and government buildings in the city will have rainwater harvesting systems.

Moreover, IMC has shortlisted five wards to ensure 100 per cent implementation of the project on priority.

A gazette notification of the Government of Madhya Pradesh – Indore Municipal Corporation (Rainwater Harvesting) Bylaws, 2022 – has now made water conservation system mandatory in all the nonresidential and government structures along with all the residential buildings – existing and upcoming – with an area of 1500 square feet – in Indore.

Arunachal Pradesh best performer in Malaria Elimination ITANAGAR: On World Malaria Day, Arunachal Pradesh received a certificate from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), Government of India for its efforts to achieve Malaria elimination.

Arunachal Pradesh received the certificate from MoHFW for the efforts it made to achieve the goal of making India Malaria free by 2030. The data shows that the number of cases in Arunachal was 13,950 in 2011, it was 3128 in 2016 and in 2021, it is 8. Due to its efforts, Arunachal Pradesh moved from category 3 to category 1.

National Framework for Malaria Elimination in India 2016-30, is a flagship programme of the Government of India, which aims to make India Malaria free by 2030. Under this programme, states and union territories are categorised based on Annual Parasite Incidence (API) per thousand in four categories. (i) Category 0 – prevention of re-establishment phase, (ii) Category 1 – Elimination Phase, (iii) Category 2 – Pre-elimination Phase (iv) Category 3 – Intensified

Control Programme. World Malaria Day was adopted by the World Health Organisation (WHO) in the World Health Assembly of 2007, to highlight the need and create awareness for a sustained political effort for malaria elimination. This year’s theme of Malaria Day is “Harness Innovation to Reduce the Malaria Disease Burden and Save Lives”.

www.urbanupdate.in | May 2022

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Briefs

Exclusive township for dairy farmers in Kota

KOTA: A township, exclusively for dairy farmers, has been planned by the Government of Rajasthan in Kota, Rajasthan. This township will have 738 houses, fodder stores and a single cattle shade with a capacity for at least 28 cattle.

It’s a unique township built by the Kota Urban Infrastructure Trust (UIT) under the `300 crore-worth Devnarayan Integrated Housing Scheme (DIHS). It is located outside the busy urban center of the city, over a 105.09-hectare land in Dharmpura and Bandha village.

The township will be equipped with all the required amenities like schools, health centre, veterinary

hospital, community hall, police check post, water tanks, sewer line, parks, drains, STP, milk mandi and theatre.

A commercial activity zone for dairy units, straw (Bhusa) and ‘Khal–Churi’ (fodder) will also be there. Apart from these, a biogas plant for the disposal of cow dung has also been built. This will allow for the cattle rearers to earn additional income from selling the cow dung to the plant.

Commenting on this initiative, Shanti Dhariwal, Minister of Urban Development & Housing, Government of Rajasthan said that this will improve the quality of life of cattle rearers and also provide relief to the city residents from the stray cattle menace.

Ladakh starts workshop series for entrepreneurs

LEH: The Department of Industries and Commerce, Government of Ladakh organised first event in the series of workshops on ‘Enterprising Ladakh’. Teams from three centres of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur, Delhi and Bombay were invited to interact with various agencies and budding entrepreneurs and assist in the development of entrepreneurship and incubation eco-system for the entrepreneurs of Ladakh. In his opening remarks, Saugat Biswas, Secretary, Industries and Commerce Department, said that the purpose of the workshop is to assist the youth of Ladakh in becoming successful entrepreneurs, who would generate employment by sustainable utilization of resources in the union territory.

He emphasised on the need of technology interventions, training and capacity building for the youth to understand the mechanism of entrepreneurship on a deeper level and plug all identified gaps. Over 40 active and aspiring entrepreneurs from various domains participated in the workshop. The participants asked the forum for assistance in developing harvesting techniques and machinery that would be conscious of the fragile ecosystem of the land and not harm the wildlife dependent on the resources. Various challenges were posed before the experts for development of solutions.

22 May 2022 | www.urbanupdate.in

Workshop on building community resilience to disaster risk Two-day workshop on ‘Strengthening Community Resilience to Climate Change and Disaster Risk’ was organised

by Nagaland State Disaster Management Authority (NSDMA). NSDMA, organised a two-day workshop to strengthen community resilience and bring about plans that can be approved and adopted by the administrative heads of the state.

The workshop also aims to create awareness and understand the 10-point agenda suggested by Prime Minister Narendra Modi under the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030, and to inculcate the principles of Disaster Risk Reduction in policymaking.

Largest network of cancer care hospitals to come up in Assam

The Tata Trust Foundation will provide one of the largest networks of cancer care facilities, 17 in total, to Assam that can also cater for the needs of entire north-east region. In 2018, a memorandum of understanding was signed between the Government of Assam and Tata Trust Foundation, during Advantage Assam, global investment summit held in the same year, to construct a network of hospitals under distributed cancer care model in Assam. The plan is to build 17 such medical facilities in total.

CITY IMAGE

Denmark: Raising Benches for Rising Sea Levels

TV2 Denmark, the Danish Broadcasting Company, launched the campaign ‘Our Earth – Our Responsibility’ in Copenhagen to make people talk about the climate change and rising sea levels in the city. Some benches have been raised by one meter and are setup at some of the prominent places in an effort to show the people how the city benches might look due to climate crisis and resultant sea level increase. Copper plates have been put on the benches which read: “Flooding will become part of everyday life unless we start doing something about our climate.

According to the latest UN Climate Report, sea-levels are expected to rise up to one meter before 2100, if global warming continues.”

www.urbanupdate.in | May 2022

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MP CM releases `931.5 crore to urban local bodies BHOPAL: Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh Shivraj Singh Chauhan on Monday, released `931.5 crore to urban local bodies of the state, as per the recommendation of the 15th Finance Commission.

Of this, `432.5 crore has been allotted to million plus cities of Bhopal, Gwalior, Indore and Jabalpur. These are performance-based grants to improve sanitation, water management, air quality, solid waste management, etc. To be specific, `131.5 crore has been reserved for air quality improvement, `301 crore for drinking water, sewerage and sanitation.

While `499 crore has been given to non-million plus cities with a population of less than 10 lakhs, within which 199.6 crore is for local development works and `299.4 crore for sanitation, sewerage, drinking water and conservation.

A special focus was laid on Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna and PM Street Vendors’ Scheme. He also applauded the efforts of cities in revenue collection, as municipal bodies have managed to earn 35 per cent more revenue than last year.

Bhupendra Singh, Minister for Urban Development and Housing, Government of Madhya Pradesh was also present on the occasion. He said that Madhya Pradesh has done well in the field of urban development, as a result it is getting many awards and accolades.

SC expresses concern over growing menace of illegal colonies NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court of India addressed the issue of growing illegal colonies in cities, on Monday. A bench of Justices L Nageswara Rao and B R Gavai appointed Gopal Sankaranarayanan, Senior Advocate, as amicus curiae in the matter, to suggest ways for the states to tackle this problem. The bench expressed concern over the grave consequences of illegal colonies, even causing floods in Hyderabad and Kerala.

The state governments were directed to take cognizance of the matter and come up with a comprehensive action plan. They also directed to take punitive action against officers who allowed illegal constructions. One of the suggestions made by the bench in this regard was stopping the registrations so that the people cannot claim equities. The apex court has stipulated that the amicus curiae submit its suggestions to the court in two weeks’ time, for the purpose of which it is permitted to send questionnaires to the states and union territories. It also directed the state governments to furnish all records and information to the amicus curiae.

A petition was filed in the Supreme Court by social worker Juvvadi Sagar Rao alleging that the Government of Telangana, Tamil Nadu, and Andhra Pradesh have been regularising illegal colonies in their respective states causing unregulated growth, traffic jams, urban flooding, etc.

24 May 2022 | www.urbanupdate.in

Briefs GWMC planning waste-tofuel plant in Panaji

Goa Waste Management Corporation (GWMC) plans to make a facility for converting waste into fuel at the Verna Industrial Estate. This waste will primarily be non-recyclable plastic waste. Goa generates 3000 tons of waste, which is transported to cement factories in Karnataka and burnt. Each truck carrying 15 tons of RDF costs about `12,000 to `15,000.

GWMC now plans to build a plant on 50,000 square meter land at Verna, which will generate steam or fuel to be used by factories and industries.

JICA to sponsor ‘Assam Health System Strengthening Project’ Chief Minister of Assam Hemant Biswa Sarma chaired a cabinet meeting to discuss the issue of improving access to tertiary healthcare facility projects with the help of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

Cabinet approved the plan, sponsored by JICA, to improve the health infrastructure facility of the state. Currently, the estimated cost of the entire project stands at `3800 crores.

This Project also includes 6 super speciality wings in medical colleges of Silchar, Tezpur, Jorhat, Bapeta, Diphu and Lakhimpur.

Additionally, 580 crores were also sanctioned for developing 3 medical colleges.

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Setting The Agenda For Tomorrow’s Cities

Setting The Agenda For Tomorrow’s Cities

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Setting The Agenda For Tomorrow’s Cities

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NEWSCAN

Experts discuss Maternal and Child Healthcare during COVID-19 JAKARTA: A webinar titled ‘Maternal, Neonatal and Child Health Services during the COVID-19 pandemic’ was conducted by the United Cities and Local Governments Asia Pacific (UCLG ASPAC) on April 22, 2022. UCLG ASPAC is a regional subset of the United Cities and Local Governments, which aims to promote and strengthen local governments of cities in Asia Pacific region.

The webinar started with welcoming remarks from Zhang Yajie, Chair of Standing Committee of Women in Local Governments, UCLG ASPAC. She emphasised the significance of the discussion. Since women and children are the most vulnerable populations of the world, they were far adversely affected during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This was followed by the panel discussion, which was moderated by Dr Makhyan Jibril, Consultant, London Strategic Consulting and digital expert,

East Java COVID-19 Task Force.

Prof QiuXiu MD, PhD, Department of Woman Health, Guangzhou Women and Children’s Medical Center talked about how her team approached pregnant women during the time of lockdown and partial lockdown. She started with assessing the differentstages of lockdown in Guangdong province (lockdown, partial lockdown and restricted zones) and discussed how different approaches were taken to access patients in these areas. They created an App where the women could register their medical information. More than 2,50,000 women got registered on the app. Depending upon the risk involved (calculated via Risk Management Strategy) a treatment plan would be devised. Guangzhou was the first city to make three people groups with a policeman, a doctor and a volunteer.

Dr Yan Hu, Director of Department of Children Healthcare, Guangzhou

Women and Children Medical Center spoke about how the hospital successfully provided neonatal healthcare services for families with children during the pandemic. It took a collective effort from all stakeholders like family, nursery, healthcare facilities and the government to develop an efficient management system. Support services, like specialised, targeted and common support services were curated according to the risk assessment of children. For instance, during the worst phase of the pandemic, the hospital provided neonatal home visits.

Incorporating AI technology to detect, diagnose health issues has been an innovative and effective approach, especially during the pandemic, when people didn’t have unhindered access to hospitals. AI applications allowed people to self-monitor the children’s health at different developmental stages and suggest appropriate interventions as and when needed.

Ozone crosses safe limit in Delhi’s air: DPCC NEW DELHI: Recent data from the Delhi Pollution Control Board Committee (DPCC) showed that the level of ground level ozone crossed the safe limit in many parts of Delhi, owing to the heat-wave conditions in the capital city. It pushed the temperature to unusually high levels. The DPCC had recorded temperature rising up to 43-47 degree Celsius during the last week of April.

The highest values of ground level ozone were recorded at JLN stadium. According to DPCC, the hourly values of gas touched 251 micrograms per cubic metre (one hour standard), close to noon every day at JLN stadium during the last week of April. That is also the time when there is substantial traffic at the place and the temperature is high.

Areas including Dr Karni Singh Shooting Range, Nehru Nagar, Mandir Marg, Rk Puram, and Narela also witnessed breach in the safe limit of ground level ozone. Unlike PM 2.5, PM 10, or NO2, which have 24-hour set standards, ozone levels are measured by eight-hour and one-hour standards, because the gas can be very dangerous in a short amount of time. At Mundka, the level of gas breached the limit on five of the seven days. At Nehru Nagar, it reached

26 May 2022 | www.urbanupdate.in

238 micrograms per cubic metre (one hour standard).

Ozone is a highly reactive gas that is especially toxic to people who have asthma or respiratory problems. A combination of heat and gases such as nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds produces the gas. Thus, it largely occurs during the day in areas with traffic congestion or industries.

EVENT

Local governments and development co-operations are key to achieve SDGs: UCLG & CIB NEW DELHI: CIB Working Group and the UCLG Learning team organised a dialogue on “Conversation on Development Co-operation with Associations of Local Governments UCLG ASPAC & UCLG MEWA” on April 29. The Dialogue aimed to discuss the recommendations for the CIB new policy paper on development cooperation of local governments that will include recommendations and calls for action reflecting the main challenges and opportunities in the field of local government development cooperation. Introduction to the Dialogue session, which was third in series of the sessions being organised, was given by Sara Hoeflich, Director, UCLG Learning.

Hendra Adi, Training coordinator – Localise SDGs Project, UCLG ASPAC, was the first speaker of the session. He said that Asia-Pacific region consists of most populous countries like China and India. These regions face the challenges of poverty, economic disparity, and incapacity of government authorities to make economies fair. However, he added that there lies a great potential of economic growth in these regions.

He mentioned how Indonesia is cooperating with the Ministry of Home Affairs to achieve the SDGs. They are currently trying to set priority goals for decentralised cooperatives with cooperation from local governments.

UCLG is advocating the need for increased capacity of local governments for successful achievement of SDGs. Moreover, they are trying to link international cooperation and also trying to expand their initiatives to other countries as well. He said that development cooperation needs to be at the heart of climate response.

He mentioned how the UCLG aims to connect local governments with the development actors to explore partnership that will enable them to learn and adapt from global and

regional platform.

Adi’s presentation showed that in a survey in ASPAC region, 65 per cent of all the participants felt that they had a sound understanding of development cooperation, wherein only 36 per cent rated their understanding as low or very low. An assessment of state of readiness to roll out development cooperation showed that whilst having many (although not often documented) examples of active development cooperation projects in the ASPAC region, nearly 65 per cent of the survey participants felt that not enough energy was currently being spent on development cooperation activities.

Jessie Post, CIB secretariat gave a brief introduction to CIB and gave a presentation of the draft policy paper and calls to action. CIB, she quoted, is a technical platform for professionals from Local Government Associations and individual local governments active in the field of capacity development and local development cooperation. The CIB aims to advance the effectiveness and quality of international policy and programmes of local and regional governments and their associations through knowledge exchange, coordination, and advocacy.

Her presentation went on to explain the contents of the draft policy paper. It consisted of 6 major points under call to action – push for a continuous recognition of the role of local and regional governments in

addressing global challenges; promote decentralised cooperation as an essential development cooperation modality; make decentralised cooperation more effective, professional, and innovative; further engage decentralised cooperation in the financing sphere; help create more integrated and coordinated development cooperation between all countries and actors; and foster stronger public support for decentralised cooperation.

The next speaker, Salim Korkmaz, General Coordinator, UCLG-MEWA, talked about how disparities within the ASPAC region, a unified model for the region as a whole is not possible.

He said that SDG framework has the potential to create a balance between development and sustainability.

He quoted major challenges to be limited number of local government organisations in the regions and their incapacity to cater to these projects. He said that decentralised co-operations have more potential to act, as they proved so during the worst times of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The next session involved an open discussion on the calls for action and if anything needed to be added to the list. Sara Hoeflich, while concluding the session, said that decentralised cooperations need to be more professional and active. She added that cities would be able to attract private investments in their path to achieve the SDGs if they are further decentralised.

www.urbanupdate.in | May 2022

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COVER STORY | City Culture

Culture is a glue that binds cities, citizens 28 May 2022 | www.urbanupdate.in

Every city has its own culture. City culture is an amalgamation of the way of life of its citizens, language variation they use, the unique food they eat, a particular sport they enjoy, distinctive clothes they wear, the festivals they celebrate, and overall, how do they go about their daily life in a city. The culture of a city unifies its citizens and gives them a shared identity. Indian cities are indeed working to improve service delivery and infrastructure. Alongside, cities are working on embellishing their cultural image with tactical interventions. As iterated by urban experts on several platforms, keeping city culture alive is essential for sustainable urban development

Abhishek Pandey | Editor

www.urbanupdate.in | May 2022

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COVER STORY | City Culture hat makes a city? Its people, places, businesses, buildings, food, and urban policies contribute to the making of a city. The physical form of a city results from urban planning, infrastructure development, and projects. But cities are not just streets and buildings. Cities are made up of their people, the hustlebustle of their activities, their historical monuments and vibrant public places.

The culture of a city germinates from all.

Almost every component of urban life contributes to building a city’s unique culture. Ultimately, the culture of a city makes and remakes its identity again and again.

Culture has not been at the centre of urbanisation discussions. It was first given due importance at the Habitat II conference in Istanbul in 1996. At this conference, global leaders and urban stakeholders recognised culture as an integral part of people’s well being. Apart from making several commitments for sustainable development and conserving the environment, representatives of countries and cities committed “to provide all people, in particular those belonging to vulnerable and disadvantaged groups, equal opportunities for a healthy, safe, and productive life in harmony with nature and their cultural heritage, and their spiritual and cultural values; and a life that ensures economic and social development and environmental protection, thereby contributing to the achievement of national sustainable development.”

Despite getting importance on the world stage, the role of culture in sustainable development has been put on the backburners. But many research institutions kept highlighting the importance of culture in urban development. A report Culture 21: Agenda 21 for culture published by United Cities and Local Governments answers why culture must be at the heart of sustainable urban development.

It says, “To create a new culturally sensitive urban development model, the role of cultural practices and values in sustainable development must be explicitly recognised, supported, and integrated into planning and policy in

30 May 2022 | www.urbanupdate.in

a systematic and comprehensive way.”

Even the Global Taskforce of Local and Regional Governments has made strong statements saying that there is no future for cities without culture. It says, “Cities need vitality, meaning, identity and innovation, and citizens need to widen their freedoms.”

People need to connect to their cities.

And culture is a significant linkage. If the cultural component in planning is neglected, people start disassociating themselves, making a city dull and dreary. In research studies and urban development conferences, it has been rightly put that urban development should be culturally informed. It would further the cause of participatory development and community building.

Urban Culture

City culture is not a definitive thing.

It is ever-evolving. For example, the way people travel in a city becomes part of its culture. But the mobility options are not constant. They keep changing. Take the example of Delhi; residents of the national capital used Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) buses for several decades until the Delhi metro came in 2002. It changed the way people travelled from one place to other. Rashmi Sadana, a cultural anthropologist, quotes E Sreedharan, popularly known as the Metro Man of India, in one of her articles ‘On Delhi Metro: An ethnographic View’.

“The Metro will transform our social culture, giving us a sense of discipline and cleanliness and enhance multifold development of this cosmopolitan city.”

His statement holds. Delhi metro has brought a sense of discipline to daily commuters. Delhi metro stations are clean. You will hardly find anyone spitting or throwing trash inside metro trains or stations. However, there are still instances of people getting in or out of metro trains in a disorderly manner.

Largely, Metro has brought a culture of keeping things in order in a city which had experienced heat, uncomfortable seats and litter in public transportation.

People now travel fast and comfortably in air-conditioned coaches. Their interaction and shared experience with

their fellow passengers are different now. When outsiders think about travelling in Delhi, their imagery of Delhi has changed. But the change in mobility pattern and, in turn, change in travel culture of the national capital did not happen in isolation. It was very much integrated with other changes happening in Delhi. The coming of the Metro in other cities did not make such a sweeping change. For Example, Kolkata, also called the cultural capital of India, got the underground Metro in 1984, and it was the country’s first. Delhi managed to have a functional metro in 2002. Still, the travel experience in Kolkata Metro is different. Of course, the Delhi metro is one of the longest and quickest ones to spread to over 350 km in just 20 years, while the Kolkata metro was restricted to less than 40 km for decades. So it covered only a part of the city, not the whole city. The mobility culture did not change much for a large population. The same is true for Mumbai Metro, which covers only a few parts of the city; thus, the mobility culture of local trains is still dominant there.

The same is valid for urban public places. Citizens share familiar public places and develop a shared experience that unifies them as one community.

Urban Local Governments can take a cue from the public about their expectations from the local government and plan local development in sync with people’s aspirations. It depends on whether it is about maintaining parks and beaches or working for riverfront development.

For example, many cities have improved their riverfronts and water bodies to cater to the community’s needs that celebrate Chathh Puja.

Diversity in city culture

India is a diverse country so are its metropolises. If we take metropolises of India such as Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, and Chennai, culturally, each one is different from the other.

Kolkata, the cultural capital of India, is a city of trams, Howrah Bridge and yellow-black taxis. The city was the capital city until 1912 during the British reign. It was the centre of political and

industrial activities and is now known for its colonial architecture, Pujo festivities, and sweet shops. The city holds on to its roots firmly, unlike many other metropolises. Despite the metro being functional in the city for over 30 years now, the city runs at the speed of trams. Of late, owing to the decline in economic opportunities in the city and poor civic services, people started moving out of the city. Still, the émigrés have a strong connection with the city.

Compare this with Mumbai; the financial capital of India is popularly known as the city of dreams, where everyone can get what they want in their life. The city is known for its fastpaced lifestyle, high rise buildings, small apartments and slums; over 50 per cent of Greater Mumbai’s population lives in slums. The celebration of Ganesh Puja brings people together. Walking on the sidewalks of Marine Drive or spending evenings at Juhu beach is the city’s favourite pass time. The city’s lifeline is its local trains. Understanding the needs of the city’s residents, the government of Maharashtra proposed making Mumbai a 24x7 city that will allow select shopping complexes, eateries, and other places to open even at night.

Similarly, Delhi is known for its Mughal-time heritage places such as the Red Fort, Qutab Minar, and Humayun’s Tomb. Dussehra and Diwali festivities are prominently celebrated together.

Walking around Connaught Place’s inner and outer circles is a favourite activity of Delhi’s young crowd. However, the place is continuously evolving. Earlier, it was a preferred shopping destination for the city’s elite (British and Indian elites). Now, it has gradually become everyone’s favourite with Palika Bazaar opening and roadside stores offering affordable clothes and electronic accessories. Hence, the area around it was refurbished time and again to cater to the population’s changing needs.

Bengaluru, the IT Capital of India, is known for inhibiting most Indian unicorn companies and the national headquarters of multi-national companies. The pub-going culture after working hours in cities like Bengaluru and Gurugram is catching up. This

People need to connect to their cities. And culture is a significant linkage. If the cultural component in planning is neglected, people start disassociating themselves, making a city dull and dreary. In research studies and urban development conferences, it has been rightly put that urban development should be culturally informed. It would further the cause of participatory development and community building

has resulted in different needs for a specific population. Based on these requirements, local governments need to act.

If we dive deep into cities and understand diversity in local culture, we will find each city has multiple cultural layers that contribute to forming a city’s culture. Cities are melting pots of culture. Generally, popular culture becomes the dominant culture of a city, but it always has multiple layers.

Culturally-sensitive planning and programs cater for the needs of all and help make cities inclusive.

The government of India launched an excellent scheme called the National Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana (HRIDAY) in 2015. It supports the development of core heritage infrastructure projects, including revitalising urban infrastructure for areas around heritage assets identified. Though the scope was limited, the Mission is a step in the right direction. Cities need localised Mission to transform their cultural places, support cultural activities in cities, build supportive infrastructure, and ensure culturally sensitive urban planning to keep the soul of cities intact.

www.urbanupdate.in | May 2022

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Infograph | Celebrating Diversity

Cultural Festivals & Cities Kumbh Mela Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh

Held during Jan-Feb It is the largest religious congregation in the country, which is the site of confluence of three rivers - Ganga, Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati. It happens after every 12 years.

Konark Dance Festival Odisha

5 Bharat Rang Mahotsav Delhi

Held during Jan-Feb Mandi House area becomes a bustling hub of theatre lovers, when the National School of Drama organizes Bharat Rang Mahotsav (National Theatre festival).

Ajmer Urs Ajmer Rajasthan

Held in February Most famous urs festival in the country, celebrated on the 6th of Rajab (Islamic calender), death anniversary of saint Hazrat Khwaja Moinud-Din Chishti Ajmeri.

Held in December Celebrated at Konark Natya Mandir, the festival showcases dance forms like Odissi, Chau, etc. Classical dancers from across India collect to pay tribute to Sun Temple.

Pune Cultural Fest Maharashtra

Held during August-September The festival begins on Bhadrapad (Indian calender), and includes classical dance, musicals, recitals, etc. It begins with installation of Lord Ganesh idol and ends with ceremonial immersion of the idol.

3 32 May 2022 | www.urbanupdate.in

Cities are fragmented spaces- multicultural, multilingual, pluralistic by nature, but people have a way of bridging gaps and creating spaces of mingling. Cultural festivals are important aspects of city life for this reason. By bringing together people from diverse social groups, festivals engender harmony and impart a sense of belonging among urban community. With globalisation shrinking the world, cultural festivals woo people from across the state, country and even internationally.

Here are a few famous cultural festivals in India which have become embedded in the identities of cities they’re held in Compiled by Ayesha Saeed | Reporter

Kochi-Muziris Biennale in Kochi, Kerala

Jaipur Literature Fest Jaipur, Rajasthan

Held in January Inviting audiences from across the country with its line-up of celebrated authors, it has become a success amongst readers and non-readers alike.

Mumbai Film Fest Mumbai, Maharashtra

Held in October An international film festival hosted by MAMI (Mumbai Academy of Moving Image), which provides a platform for diverse films, and offers a curated experience of world cinema to Indian viewers.

5 Kala Ghoda Arts Fest Mumbai, Maharashtra

Held during Jan-Feb A much awaited event for art lovers in the country, known as the largest street art festival in India and showcaeses visual arts, cinema, literature and music.

Held during Dec-March An international exhibition of contemporary art, it seeks to invoke the cosmopolitanism of the pre-colonial city of Kochi (Kochi’s predecessor Muziris was an ancient port city)

Surajkund Mela in Faridabad, Haryana

Held in February International arts and crafts fair hosted by Haryana Tourism Department. It provides a platform to artisans from all over India and attracts visitors in large numbers every year.

3 www.urbanupdate.in | May 2022

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Leaderspeak | Marketing Cities

Cities are brands too We are increasingly seeing signboards such as ‘I Love Delhi’, ‘I love Mumbai’, ‘I Love Bhopal’ and many similar ones in various Indian cities which are trying to connect with their citizens and branding themselves to attract investment and people. Is it a successful branding strategy for cities? Or, the similar approach of every city will not help them in long run and these insignias will remain selfie-points for millennials. An analysis…

Ranjit S Chavan | President, AIILSG

any cities around the world have tried to position and reposition themselves to attract investment, skilled talent, tourists and others for their overall development, promoting their culture, and heritage. Few cities have been able to develop a unique identity but many remain a general urban agglomeration.

Though every city has their unique characteristics and culture but they have failed to make it a brand. Take the example of Varanasi, the city is wellknown globally as the spiritual capital of the world. Local governments in Varanasi have not made any specific effort to build that brand but it was built over decades. The experiences of local citizens and tourists helped in the making of that brand. It proves a point that the branding exercise of the city is not limited to making colourful logos, and running advertising campaigns.

It requires a lot more. There are many things which help cities build a brand and these include their history, monuments, geographical and demographic features, cultural practices, tourists’ attractions,

34 May 2022 | www.urbanupdate.in

cultural events, business or industrial activities, quality of life in the city, climatic conditions etc. All these collectively give cities a distinctive positioning among others.

Branding of modern cities

The branding of modern cities generally revolves around the quality of life, the standard of infrastructure and facilities in the city. The branding of a city based on its strengths can make it desirable.

Since the social media has become a strong communication tool. The experiences of people living in the city or visiting the city matter a lot. Their interaction with cities and their people creates a perception in their minds and they share it openly on digital media.

In general advertising and marketing language, the branding exercise of any product depends on its fundamental properties. So what are cities? Cities are places where people come for opportunities and good quality of life. A good city must offer equitable economic

If one city can change their image, others in a similar situation can also do it. Whenever we discuss the issue of air quality with colleagues in India and abroad, the image of the most polluted city has stuck with Delhi. Many people think twice before coming to the national capital in the winter season; especially those having some health condition. A friend working in an academic institute told me that they had to face difficulty in arranging student exchange programs with European countries because the faculty in the institutions worry about the health of their students. Delhi cannot become a healthy city unless the issue of air quality is addressed. The functionality of the city and their brand image go hand in hand.

Learning from the best

opportunities, considerably good health and academic facilities, pleasant climatic conditions, an efficient public transportation system, recreational facilities, adequate housing facilities, and well-organized civic services. Every city should continuously work to update the standard of its services.

The second step in making a city brand is to market its positive features through various modes of communication. Not every city needs to have, though they must strive, all the essential characteristics of a desirable city. Many cities also need to change the perception of people. Take the example of Beijing, the city was known for poor air quality for many years. The local government and other government agencies worked on solving the issue.

With visible changes in air quality, Beijing has been able to change its image. Cities can only make themselves a brand only when they have worked on improving their quality of life and other fundamental features for running cities with ease.

New York is among the few cities which have been successful in building a brand. According to a Guide to Branding a City by Dan Salganik, “As the old saying goes, ‘If I can make it here, I can make it anywhere – a saying which has drawn millions of people to the bright lights of New York City. The spirit of success is one that’s a fundamental pull of New York, the idea that with enough drive, hard work, and determination, anything is possible. This message is everywhere you look – branded on coffee mugs, snow globes, and T-shirts sold on curbside stalls, written into the very concrete of Fifth Avenue and on the walls of the Empire State building.

It’s an integral part of the city itself.

“While New York City has no competition in this area, as no other city comes close to the can-do vibrancy of the city and the people, there is constant branding reinforcing the idea that success is within reach, no matter where you start. From songs by popular artists to references in movies and novels, New York City easily maintains its position as the place to achieve your dreams.”

The city worked on building its brand in late 1970 by designing its “I ❤ NY” logo. The logo was designed by American Graphic Designer Milton Glaser to

Cities are places where people come for opportunities and good quality of life. A good city must offer equitable economic opportunities, considerably good health and academic facilities, pleasant climatic conditions, an efficient public transportation system, recreational facilities, adequate housing facilities, and well-organized civic services. Every city should continuously work to update the standard of its services

reposition New York State and city as a happening city and attract tourists and make it desirable for people. The main intent was to boost tourism. This exercise was so impactful that many cities around the world blindly aped the idea. However, every city was not able to make it a success. The major reason for the success of New York City’s branding strategy was its engagement with people and highlighting the key features of the city’s life. The city does not just brand its urban imagery but lives up to the expectation of the people. The success of their city branding can be gauged by the spiralling effect of their strategy in many cities mimicking their strategy.

There are many Indian cities which can create unique brands but it requires consistent efforts. Cities will have to work on their branding strategy which should be in sync with their development plans. Both things will go hand in hand and cannot be done in silos. A city like Bengaluru has done it. It has become the centre of IT activities by attracting major global conglomerates.

It has positioned itself as the Silicon Valley of India by producing most of the Indian unicorn companies. Every city needs to study their demographic, economic, geographical and industrial strengths and build a brand image around them.

www.urbanupdate.in | May 2022

35

One on One | Shyam Sunder Aggarwal, Mayor, EDMC

Waste management has been a point of concern for the local administration of Delhi for a long time and it is growing with every passing day. The three landfill sites of Bhalswa, Okhla and Ghazipur had breached their carrying capacity in 2008.

Additionally, these landfill sites are not built according to specifications prescribed under the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016. In addition to that, the problem of electronic waste is also raising its head. Considering the ever-growing problem of waste management, Pooja Upadhyay, Reporter, Urban Update interviewed Shyam Sunder Aggarwal, Mayor, East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC), to know more about the region and his views on the merger of three municipal corporations of Delhi Excerpts from the interview…………

Waste management: Balance of both community and administration Currently, under the jurisdiction of EDMC, 2600 tonnes of waste is generated every day out of which only 1300 tonnes is processed in the plant at Ghazipur and the proposal made by EDMC to install a new waste processing plant near the Yamuna has been halted

by National Green Tribunal (NGT).

So, how are you planning to address this problem of shortage of land for waste management in your area?

I think you are a little short on the information. We collect waste from every household. In our area, 2000 – 2100 tonne of waste is generated every day, which is sent to the Ghazipur landfill site. Earlier we used to have garbage piled up on the roads but we have done significant work to address this problem. We have closed nearly 140 landfill sites. Earlier the garbage used to drop from the trucks

36 May 2022 | www.urbanupdate.in

during transportation but now these carrier trucks are closed and garbage is directly dumped into it and later compacted. As far as the processing of waste is concerned, we have called for proposals to process 50 lakhs tonnes of waste and it will be given to the lowest bidder. Right now, we have 25 trommel machines out of which 18 are old and seven are new. Moreover, 10 new machines will be added soon which will have six times more capacity than the old ones. Through these machines, we will be able to do away with an average of 9000 tonnes of waste every day, and in two and a half years, 83 lakhs tonnes of waste will be processed. Right now, 132 lakh tonnes of waste is stored in the landfill sites and we are targeting 133 lakh tonne of waste disposal by December 2024. We have asked for 12 acres of land to store fresh waste collected by the EDMC as fresh waste cannot be processed.

overhead wires. How are you planning to deal with this?

As far as the situation at Gandhinagar is concerned, the responsibility rests with shopkeepers as well. They have started to encroach upon the road, which reduces the width of the road. As for the cleaning of road, our cleaning staffs sweep the road at somewhere around 7 am, but when the market opens, shopkeepers dump all the garbage on the roads which is main reason of waste lying on the streets. We have requested them not to continue this practice, we even distributed dustbins and have taken actions as well.

Shyam Sunder Aggarwal Mayor, EDMC

did you get in touch with the unions regarding this issue?

We are in contact with the unions. The case is very similar to the Sadar Bazar area, there as well the shopkeepers have encroached upon the road. These shopkeepers should cooperate among themselves by taking turns to use the road and reduce the extra space they occupy on the road, along with that the market associations should play an active role.

Illustrated by: Arjun Singh, Digital Marketing Associate

Last year, you initiated a plan under which you collected electronic waste from the people. So, what is your learning from this initiative and are you planning to resume it this year?

Under the initiative, people used to call, and then the team would reach their house to collect their old electronic devices and if they are not satisfied with the price offered, they could refuse to sell it to the agent. The collected e-waste is transported to the Bahadurgarh plant where it is processed. This waste does not generate any pollution inside Delhi and the owner also gets a decent price for their old device so it is a win-win situation for all.

In Gandhinagar market, which is also the largest textile market in Asia, often customers complain about congestion, open drains, traffic, and loose hanging

Your plastic exchange policy has been appreciated by the people but even after the ban on singleuse plastic bags, they are widely used. So how successful do you think your initiative has been?

To be honest, we haven’t achieved much success in it but we are working to create awareness, and have requested the people to not use the single-use plastic bags. We have even penalised the violators. The majority of users are street vendors and we don’t want to penalise them as the fine is far more than what they earn on daily basis. We are working in the field of awareness among the street vendors and right now 90 per cent of the shopkeepers are fully aware of the ban.

An initiative of licensing the food stalls has also been taken by the corporation, keeping the health of the customers in mind, but a majority of these food stalls are already covered under the

Street Vendors Act, 2014. So, how this policy can ensure proper implementation running parallel to the act?

The Government of India will provide training to these vendors on how to manage the cleanliness and their food stalls. We have also asked these stall vendors to wear a distinct dress that will give them a different identity, always using gloves while serving, and using electronic payment methods. Many of them are already aware of these steps.

As we know, all three municipal corporations of Delhi are up for merger in coming time. So, what will be the effect of this merger on initiatives taken by you for waste management?

Currently, the civic bodies of Delhi are going through an economic crunch, many of the doctors, teachers, and cleaning staffs have not received their salaries for 4 to 5 months. This merger will save a lot of money as there will only be one place to maintain, instead of three, and we will get a lot of help from the central government which will increase the pace of development.

We have requested for this merger, and we would like to thank Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah for adhering to our requests.

Right now, as there are three MCDs so people can have easy access to these offices but when there will only be one body, don’t you think it will adversely affect this ease of access for people?

That will not be the case, as Delhi may have a very big population but the area is very small and people will not have to travel more than 20 kms to reach the central office of the civic body.

The ease of access is not related to the number of Mayors, but it depends on the willingness of the mayor in office.

However, the work will continue through chairmen of different zones, even after the merger, and they will have similar powers and functions as of the mayor.

Transcribed by Pushpender Singh, Editorial Assistant

www.urbanupdate.in | May 2022

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aRTICLE | Legacy of Vada Pav

Vada Pav

Bombay Invents, Mumbai Keeps Relishing A city is defined and identified by numerous elements as part of the dowry of Catherine of associated with it, whether topography, language, heritage, etc. Braganza, daughter of King John IV of Portugal. However, it is just the name Along with this, food is a significant aspect. What people eat that signifies Portuguese culture; tells a lot about the lineage and culture of a region. For instance, everything else about the dish is as Indian as possible.

Galouti Kabab of Lucknow depicts the Mughal influence on the city, while Delhi’s Chole Bhature narrates the story of spicyphile As Legend has it Punjabis. Vada Pav of Mumbai is one such delicacy which defines As per Census 2011, Mumbai is one the culture and lifestyle of Mumbaikars of the most diverse cities, with a Hitesh Nigam | Reporter

ore than the dish, it is the people who make a food item synonymous with a city. Mumbai’s Vada Pav is one such tale of heavenly amalgamation between the lifestyle of Mumbaikars and its quick to eat feature. As it is fondly called, Batata Vada Pav is named after the Portuguese word ‘batata’, which means potato.

Interestingly, the word pav is also a Portuguese word which means ‘sweet bread’. Wrapped in paper, the city of dreams still carries the Portuguese legacy, which began in 1534 when the Portuguese took control of the city to 1661 when it was gifted to Britishers

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migrant population of more than 43 per cent. People from various places in India travel and settle in the city of dreams, searching for better livelihood opportunities. In the middle of the twentieth century, textile mills were in full swing in the city, and most of the people, who moved to the city in search of work, used to work in these mills.

This was when a famous politician of Maharashtra and founder of Shiv Sena Balasaheb Thackeray appealed to the people of Mumbai to become entrepreneurs, which inspired a person named Ashok Vaidya to come up with the concept of Vada Pav. Vaidya chose Dadar railway station for this, which was the central hub of people travelling to textile mills situated mostly in Worli

and Parel. As per Anil Kumar, a local cab driver in Mumbai, “This was the turning point in the story of Vada Pav. It quickly became one of the most loved delicacies for people who regularly travelled for work.”

The next chapter of Vada Pav unfurled in the 1970s and 80s when Mumbai suffered significant textile strikes in the city, and large numbers of these textile mills were shut. Amidst this crisis, many workers chose the path of Ashok Vaidya, and those who lost their jobs began selling Batata Vada Pav at local railway stations in Mumbai.

Hidden in Portuguese nomenclature, the city found a dish which would go on to become its soul.

Still fresh and famous

Even half a century post its inception, the dish holds the same place in the hearts of Mumbaikars. Kumar, who moved to Mumbai from Uttar Pradesh searching for work, told Team Urban Update that Vada Pav still holds the

same value because it is still probably the most inexpensive food in the city.

He added that people who come to the city in search of work don’t have enough resources, and due to its topography, local trains are the only way to reach work on time. This is the primary reason people are in love with Vada Pav. It is readily available at almost every local railway station of Mumbai and at a very reasonable price (currently `15 to `50).

Vada Pav has gradually become the go-to food of locals as it is easy and quick to make, which enables people to save money and time. The balls of mashed boiled potato with add-ons of onion, green chilli, green coriander, etc., dipped in chickpea batter and fried to perfection, is the key ingredient. Mashed potatoes are the major source of carbohydrates which energises people and prepares them for the day. However, as per the locals, the secret ingredient, which differentiates the dish’s taste at different locations, is a type of powder masala (tastemaker)

JumboKing: Vada Pav with a twist In 2001, a man named Dheeraj Gupta, Founder, JumboKing, saw an opportunity in the growing market for Vada Pav. He introduced a quick-service restaurant chain for Vada Pav to become the desi alternative to brands such as McDonald’s and Burger King. JumboKing gave options such as Schezwan Vada Pav and Achari Vada Pav, giving the local dish a different flavour. However, when the brand decided to scale the business in 2008 and introduce this in other 13-15 cities in India, the plan failed as it did not resonate with consumers the same way in Delhi, Hyderabad, Bangalore, etc.

Vada Pav is a staple food of Mumbai, but JumboKing failed to instil the same excitement amidst people of other cities.

In 2015, the brand repositioned itself and introduced Indian burgers with international appeal. Vada Pav is still the entrylevel product of the brand and is a hit in stores in Mumbai.

Mumbai is the home of Vada Pav, and the journey of JumboKing proved that even if everybody rejects the dish, it will still be a favourite of Mumbaikars.

Even after undergoing several changes, the traditional Vada Pav is still the first love of Mumbaikars. This love is evident among people from all walks; Bollywood celebrities, ministers, etc., have openly talked about the dish and their love for it. It is not just a “fast food”; it is almost a necessity of the city for those who leave home early for work and need the energy to work through the day with which the Batata Vada is garnished. Interestingly, the local dish has undergone evolutionary changes in 40-50 years. People have experimented with the recipe and formulated different versions of the dish, such as Samosa Pav, and Kheema Pav. Even after undergoing several changes, the traditional Vada Pav is still the first love of Mumbaikars. This love is evident among people from all walks; Bollywood celebrities, ministers, etc., have openly talked about the dish and their love for it. It is not just a “fast food”; it is almost a necessity of the city for those who leave home early for work and need the energy to work through the day. Even after the arrival of burgers (mainly McDonald’s) in Indian market in the 1990s, Vada Pav did not lose its charm and is still the first love of Mumbaikars.

It is interesting how a local dish can become the identity of a city at such a level that life without it is hard to imagine. Vada Pav is the daily routine of Mumbai, and this is not it. The country also celebrates World Vada Pav Day on August 23 every year. People from all walks of life get out of their homes and celebrate their love for the dish. The local delicacy has carried the legacy of Portuguese and taste of India for many years and will continue to tickle the taste buds of Mumbaikars and others alike.

www.urbanupdate.in | May 2022

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aRTICLE | Culture of Delhi

Delhi: Reflection of India Known to be named after Raja Dhilu, a king who reigned in the region in the 1st century BCE, the city of Delhi wears many titles – the City of Djinns, DilwalonkiDilli, Life of the world. Although, dust and smog have taken space of sparrows and stars, the city continues to charm people with its rich heritage, history, culture, and opportunities Pooja Upadhyay| Reporter

t was during 8th to 12th Century, under the rule of TomaraRajputs, that Delhi first became the capital of a kingdom.

British colonisers, after redesigning a part of the city, named it ‘New Delhi’ and declared it as the capital of Imperial India in 1911. It was formally inaugurated in 1931. Since then, there remains an obscure division of the city between old and new, which also reflects the architectural and cultural aspects. The trials and tribulations of the city, however, began from 1947, after being declared as the capital of independent India – with a major influx of population from the entire subcontinent. Thus, Delhi is a fusion of religions and cultures from across India along with coalescence of old traditional values and strong forces of modernisation.

Lutyen’s Delhi

The Rajpath, India Gate, RashtrapatiBhawan remain major attractions for tourists, students, and architects, for its history and unique hybrid-design (Indo and western classic) in the part of Delhi that was famously designed by Edward Lutyens, nearly a century ago. The parks around the India Gate, however are one of the favorite places for locals. They turn into a picnic place for residents and tourists by evening and one can spot children and elders playing all kinds of games, mingling with each other, enjoying the open horizon, the monuments, and the street food. Early morning rides

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to India Gate is a popularly treasured experience amongst high school and bachelor students for freshly brewed, hot tea from local stalls and beautiful sunrise.

Home to plenty of well-developed, large parks like Lodhi Garden, Sunder Nursery, Nehru Park, and reserved forest areas like Sanjay Van, the city has witnessed a rapid rise in development of small parks across various colonies and areas. Such small parks, now equipped with open gyms are managed by municipal corporations and have created a new culture of children visiting parks daily for play, and elders getting together for exercise, gossip and laughter.

There is much more to New Delhi than large complexes, malls, fivestar hotels, government offices, and politicians’ residences. Famous for its Georgian-style architecture, the buildings of ConnaughtPlace in New Delhi, a sprawling circular market is a shoppers’ paradise, and a foodie’s haven, and receives fairly large footfallsevery day. Central Park in Connaught Place, where there was a time when movies and live cricket matches were displayed on screen, is now a place for college musicians and theatre groups.

Old Delhi

Old Delhi, with its origins dating back to the time of the Mughals,is not only home to incredible sites like Red Fort or Jama Masjid, but also busy lanes that lead one to ages old housing structures, shops and eateries. The hustle bustle in the interconnected lanes of old Delhi is different from that of usual city traffic.

Although, canals and tree-lined passageways of ‘PuraniDilli’ have disappeared and all that now remains are windowless hovels and dangling power cables, the place still offers a glimpse of its early days with the help of the names of areas and multiple lanes, such as Behram Khan Tiraha, GaliTanras Khan, and GaliBaradari Sher Afghan.

Each name has its own story, dating as long back as to Tughlaqs and Mughals.

One of such lanes in Chawri Bazaar is a lane called ‘Galli QasimJaan’ in area known as ‘Ballimaran’, which dearly

Taste of Delhi Streets of Chandni Chowk, Old Delhi

holds the memories of the revered Hakim Ajmal Khan in form of famed HindustaniDawakhana and Sharif Manzil. Majorly lost in history pages as a co-founder of Indian National Congress and leader of Khilafat movement, Ajmal Khan remains alive in the stories of locals who have resided there for generations. Entitled ‘Massiha-e-Hind’, stories dictate that Khan would diagnose illness with only a look on the patient’s face. Perhaps, it is in remembrance of Khan that Ballimaran houses multiple medical clinics and diagnostics centres.

This part of Delhi is old not only in terms of its architecture, lane names, but also in its traditions and culture.

Afzal Zabi, a resident of Chawri Bazaar for over 20 years now, said that he sees a reflection of pre-partition India in old Delhi. He notes that religion in the area is only for sake of their names, for every family and individual celebrates Diwali, Eid-ul-fitr, and Gurunanak Jayanti together, with equal pomp and show. During Dusshera-Diwali and Eidul-fitr, ‘Mela’ is hosted on the grounds of Red Fort and each and every lane of old Delhi turns into a festival spot for residents as they are lined with food stalls, toy sellers, and small rides for children. He says, “Independence Day,

which has now turned to a holiday for most, is celebrated as a festival in their area – sweets are distributed, patriotic songs are played on speaker, sky is overcrowded with kites.”Even though, the streets of Chandni Chowk and Chawri Bazar are over-run with stores of different kinds, locals remain in touch with its history, heritage and tradition.

Currently, Chandni Chowk in Old Delhi houses India’s biggest wholesale market where a shopper or a retailer will find anything and everything at dirt-cheap prices. On the surface, the place seems convoluted and difficult to navigate, but the market is meticulously divided into different sections in accordance with the products. Even inside the cloth market in Chandni Chowk, separate areas house shops selling different kinds of clothing or related products. Separate markets lie in the larger area for electronic items, medical equipment, books, spices, etc. One would see retailers carrying goods from the market in their trucks, vans, or by themselves through metro or bus. The crowd of Chandni Chowk market is an apt representation of the demography of Delhi – people of every age group, class, religion, region in large numbers.

The city is inhabited by people from all religions and regions of India, who brought their own unique sets of history, culture and cuisines, making it the ‘mini-India’. Being the capital of India, the city houses administrative centres of each and every state for administrative purposes. These centres, mainly located in the Chanakyapuri region, have canteens that serve dishes exclusive to that particular state.From LadakhiLaphing at MajnukaTeela to Lucknowi and Hyderabadi Biryani near Jama Masjid, from Dosai at SaravanaBhavan to Rajbhog at Bengali Sweet House, Delhi offers it all.

A walk through old Delhi is incomplete without treasuring different kinds of delicious food that it offers. A shop named ‘Old Famous Jalebi Wala’ in Dariba Kalan in Chandni Chowk serves one of the most loved desserts of India, Jalebi, with sweet sugary syrup and fresh rabri. Daulat ki Chaat in Kinari Bazaar, Natraj Dahi Bhalla in Kucha Mahajani, Qureshi Kebab Corner near Jama Masjid, all kinds of stuffed paranthas in Parathewaligalli, etc. Inspite of the unending varieties, Delhiites majorly survive on shikanji, golgappe, kulhad lassi, kachori, pakode, chole bhature, and momos.

In a peculiar, yet enthralling manner, foods served in Delhi are known to be a combination of its authentic flavor and the flavor of Delhi. Throughout history, Delhi is known to have been bruised seven times and rebuilt eight times. The City continued surviving against all odds and now stands as the main political, cultural and commercial empire of India. There were a total of 14 walled gates that protected the cityin the beginning. Five of them, Ajmeri Gate, Lahori Gate, Kashmiri Gate, Delhi Gate, and Turkman Gate still stand tall bearing evidence to the resilience and strength of the city. The people here have created a culture of their own from the bits of culture brought into the city from across the nation, and this culture is continuously evolving because it remains exposed to modernisation, new architecture, and globalisation as it is the centre of India.

www.urbanupdate.in | May 2022

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aRTICLE | MetroLinguism in Delhi

The Language Delhi Speaks You must have heard the famous biblical lore of ‘The tower of Babel’. The story goes that the king Nimrod decided to make a magnificent city with a tower so high that it would reach the heavens. The tower would be a symbol of their progress and grandeur. God was infuriated with the people. He utterly disliked their hubris. How dare these humans compete with God! In order to teach them a lesson, God cursed the city with multiple languages. The workers couldn’t understand each other’s language and abandoned the tower Ayesha Saeed | Reporter

T

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his is a seemingly harmless fable explaining the origin of multiple languages. Popular myths have their own way of interpreting the world around us. But more importantly, they implicitly convey norms and worldview of a culture. Whether one believes them or not is immaterial to this received knowledge within us. Embedded within this myth is the idea of monolingualism as being the ideal scenario; the existence of multiple languages then becomes a metaphor for the fragmented city and its anarchy. Like Bible, for a long time even philologists believed that all languages of the world originated from a single source. This theory does not hold steam in modern day linguistics, but a general perception that a single language engenders unity among people, still persists. Not just monotheism, but the language debate has been an important aspect of nationalism as well. The idea of one language, one nation (borrowed from Europe) trickled down into Indian consciousness during the 20th century movement of nationalism, when scattered provinces of India were coming together to form a national identity.

In a country where states are defined linguistically, Delhi, a city and a union territory, is a metaphorical island unto itself. While other metro cities have one dominant language, the language

of Delhi is a confusing mix of as many cultures as it hosts. Sure, there is Hindi, the lingua franca of the city. But this is how it seems ostensibly; if you scratch the surface, the answer is not as simple.

Language of Delhi

Ask anyone about the language of Delhi, and they will tell you without batting an eyelid that it’s ‘Hindi’. Simple. But this simplicity is deceptive as well as exclusive. Delhi is part of what is known as the Hindi-speaking belt. Hindi is merely an umbrella term used to refer to numerous variations and styles of Hindi spoken in different regions of Northern India. There’s Delhi Hindi with a generous use of slangs, Lucknow Hindi peppered with Urdu vocabulary, Bihari Hindi with its characteristic lilt, Awadhi and many more such variations. The way one speaks Hindi marks their place of origin. Not just city or region, but also social class, caste and sometimes even religion.

Linguist William Labov conducted an experiment in New York City wherein he proved that people belonging to different classes pronounced the -r syllable differently. Subsequently, many such studies were done in different cities to corroborate the fact that social markers like class can create variation within speakers of the same language itself.

Delhi was a capital throughout much of its pre-modern history. In a way, it was a meeting point of cultures long before the advent of globalisation. At different points in history, Delhi has been inhabited by occupants of different cultures and social groups. The Partition of India in 1947 brutally changed its geography and demography. Refugees from the newly created Pakistan started coming to Delhi, amongst other places.

Given its proximity to Delhi, most of the refugees were from Punjab. As they worked, prospered and found a home in Delhi, the tag of ‘refugee’ washed away

with time. Punjabi became a prominent aspect of Delhi’s identity and remains so till date. Such was it’s influence that in 2000, Delhi Official Language Act 2000 was enacted, which made Punjabi and Urdu the official languages of Delhi, in addition to Hindi.

Languages belong to communities.

They do not belong to a place, a country or a state but to the people who inhabit those places. But people migrate. And when they do, their cultures, including languages, migrate with them. Being resting stops for itinerant population is what grants cities their characteristic transience.

Cities, especially metropolitan ones, are like sentient beings, ever-changing and transforming. And so is language.

At some point, the massive influence of Punjabi on Delhi’s linguistic culture diminished with demographic changes. An example from Journalist Vir Sanghvi’s memoir The Rude Life illustrates this shift. He describes the overhaul of Hindustan Times in 1997 when The Times of India entered the Delhi market and immediately became popular with the readers because of its content and affordable rates. The declining popularity of The Hindustan Times had its owners worried about its future. What is interesting is Vir Sanghvi’s evaluation of the cause of this change. In the years following Partition, Delhi had become a Punjabi dominated city. The Hindustan Times was primarily a paper for this generation which was okay with putting a ‘the’ before Delhi;

the quality of writing was of secondary importance to the editors of HT. Many language purists beleived that it was a Punjabi newspaper written in English.

But, the younger generation was more cosmopolitan and English-oriented.

They were part of the post-liberalization world who were interested in reading correct English and diverse content from round the world. And thus, owing to the tastes and linguistic choices of the newer generation, Hindustan Times had to revamp the paper to stay relevant.

English: Providing Universality

Delhi has a prominent culture of speaking English. The elitist connotations attached to the English language viz-a-viz vernacular Indian languages are common knowledge.

“The soundscape of Delhi’s Street life is typified by a mix of Hindi, Urdu, and, post-Partition, Punjabi to boot…

How did the linguistic diversity of the street get transmuted into monolingual literary texts, especially in a language that the vast majority of Indians don’t speak?” says anthropologist Rashmi Sadana in her article ‘The City as Literary Field’. In an attempt to answer this question, she elucidates that in the case of English, the number of speakers isn’t important, but rather who speaks it and where. Today, English is the language of bureaucracy, higher education, and the judiciary and is Jama Masjid, Old Delhi

In a country where states are defined linguistically, Delhi, a city and a union territory, is a metaphorical island unto itself. While other metro cities have one dominant language, the language of Delhi is a confusing mix of as many cultures as it hosts.

Sure, there is Hindi, the lingua franca of the city. But this is how it seems ostensibly; if you scratch the surface, the answer is not as simple used for all official purposes. English is indispensable to our cultural milieu because it is a connecting link amongst all the Indian states, a role which Hindi hasn’t succeeded in doing. The southern states have time and again opposed the imposition of Hindi. English offers neutrality, a liberation from regionality to its speakers, and perhaps that is why it is more acceptable to Indians from all parts of the country. With its three major central universities, an IIT and a gamut of colleges and educational institutes scattered across town, Delhi becomes a ripe spot for a flourishing community of intellectual elites. This coterie of intellectuals has most access to all the institutions where English is the common language of communication.

Writing and speaking English allows people to transcend the boundaries of state and even nation. Multilingualism is deeply embedded in the social fabric of the entire Indian subcontinent. The politics of language form the identities of individuals and their communities.

It is time we understand that linguistic eclecticism is the norm, rather than a curse. The tower of Babel may have caused havoc and confusion with introduction of linguistic diversity, but therein lies an opportunity to celebrate different cultures. And rest assured, human beings will always find a way to communicate, be it rock art in the caves, morse code, music and the like.

www.urbanupdate.in | May 2022

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aRTICLE | Marine Pollution & Plastic Ingestion

Micro-plastics in the fish I eat The other day, as I stepped out of my car to buy fish from a fisher folk on the bank of River Mahanadi, a waste carrier vehicle engaged by the local municipality rushed towards me at high speed. It would have killed me had the fish seller not shouted to warn me about the incoming danger. Saved from the road accident, as I walked on to buy my favourite Rohu fish, fresh from River Mahanadi, I hardly had any idea of another danger that stared at me: micro-plastics in the body of the fish

Ranjan K Panda | Convenor, Combat Climate Change Network

his might not be an immediate danger to my life but is surely a slow-onset disaster posing a lot of threat to not only human health but that of other species, and the ecosystems they are part of. Of course, micro-plastic is not the only pollutant that invades a fish or waterbody. They could be contaminated by heavy metals and other pollutants. In this piece, I am touching upon the micro-plastic menace, that’s growing out of bounds and already poses a great challenge before all of us.

Fish from the reservoir

A latest scientific study has got me especially worried particularly because my family and I love to have river fishes.

Researchers from the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) have, in this study, found out that pollutants like micro-plastics may be causing growth defects in fish, including skeletal deformities, in the Cauvery River. An important aspect of this study was to find out pollution of water from different locations at the KRS Dam with varying speeds of water flow: fast-flowing, slow-flowing, and stagnant. Water speed is known to affect the concentration of pollutants. Such pollutants, including micro-plastics, could impact the health of people and

44 May 2022 | www.urbanupdate.in

planet. A researcher involved in the above study opines, polluted water can cause diseases including cancer.

We have all observed that our rivers have changed over the decades, but there is hardly any data to show all the dimensions of these changes. This study, led by Prof.UpendraNongthaomba, throws a completely new dimension of the change our rivers have faced. He is a worried man as his favourite fish destination gives him shockers. Reports published about this study quotes the professor saying how he cherished going to the backwaters of the Krishna Raja Sagara [KRS] Dam and having fried fish on the Cauvery River bank.

Things have changed now as physical deformities have been noticed in fishes, which could be due to the degraded quality of water. Hence the study.

Dammed rivers, unhealthy fishes

What Prof.Nongthaomba worries about his favourite fish and its habitat is something that worries me as well: about my favourite fish and its habitat.

It concerns me more because the kind of deformities that the professor can see in his favourite fish may not be visible to me. I am not an expert on that, neither are other people who relish the fish from my river. More so because movement of the fish is restricted by a dam and thus chances of pollutants affecting the fish are greater.

The fish I bought was sourced from the HirakudDam. This is the only large dam on the lifeline river of two states – Odisha and Chhattisgarh – which has submerged an area of 746 square kilometres thus creating one of the largest human-made lakes in the world.

Besides being used for other purposes, the water in this reservoir has created a huge fish reserve for both fisher folks and traders in Odisha. Thousands of people eke out a living by fishing in this reservoir on a daily basis. Pollution from coal mines, thermal power plants, steel and sponge iron industries, cities and towns – from the upstream locations in both Odisha and Chhattisgarh enter into this reservoir. There is hardly any study available on the impact of all these

pollutants on the water of the reservoir, let alone that on the health of the fishes we eat. That’s the reason the study in the KRS dam worries me further.

The speed of the flow, which could make a lot of difference to contamination of the fishes, is to be noted specifically. In the first part of the study that Prof.Nongthomba and team did, and in which they analysed the physical and chemical parameters of water samples, the slow-flowing and stagnant sites threw more worrisome results than the other two types of sites.

In the places water was flowing too slow or was stagnant, the dissolved oxygen (DO) levels were much lower than they needed to be. Further, water in such sites had well-known bio-indictors of water contamination such as Cyclops, Daphnia, Spirogyra, Spirochaeta and E. coli. The study went beyond this to find out that the wild fishes exposed to slow and stagnant waters were found with skeletal deformities, DNA damage, early cell death, heart damage, and increased mortality. The researchers found out that these problems in the fishes occurred mostly due to micro-

plastics and chemicals. Micro-plastics, used in our households as well as in industrial activities have already penetrated deep into our freshwater and marine ecosystems.Chemicals such as the cyclohexyl isocyanate that are commonly used in both agriculture and pharmaceutical industries, were the other form of pollutant that have impacted the fish samples studied.

The impact of eating these fishes for us humans is not yet known fully. The researchers however say long term impacts cannot be ruled out.

Big dangers of slow moving microplastics

Studies have confirmed that dammed rivers post many threats to fish health and diversity. This new study sends new signals to worry about. Earlier, in this column, I have written how our rivers carry huge loads of plastic pollution to the oceans. Globally there has been much talks on the plastics in the oceans. Contamination of freshwater ecosystems due to plastics, especially micro-plastics, is yet not

fully understood. That is perhaps because people think these ecosystems, especially rivers, have worked more as carriers of micro-plastics into the sea rather than being polluted at their own flow and sediment levels. This perception has to change. A new study compels us to do so.

In what’s being called the first of its kind study, researchers from the Northwestern University and the University of Birmingham in England dug out something called hyporheic exchange. This is a process in which surface water mixes with water in the riverbed and thus can trap lightweight micro-plastics that otherwise might be expected to float. Trying to find out where a lot of these plastics from the urban sewer systems and waste dumps go, the researchers have found out that in headwaters, micro-plastic particles moved at an average rate of five hours per kilometer. But during low-flow conditions, these could take up to seven years just to move only one kilometre. That means, during this time, and in these areas, the fishes and other species in the water may ingest micro-plastics and this might degrade ecosystem health.

Both the above studies try to warn us at least one thing: don’t contaminate the freshwater ecosystems with plastics and other wastes.

Micro-plastics contamination of the fishes we eat is certainly not worrying us a lot at the moment because we don’t see a disaster happening to our own health due to this anytime soon. Human brains are tuned to respond fast and get pained more by rapid disasters rather than slow onset ones such as this. However, the slow onset disasters such as consumption of fishes, contaminated by micro-plastics or chemicals, destroy us by a bit on a daily basis. This weakens our resilience to health and environmental hazards, including the ones caused due to climate change. We need to wake up to the deadly cocktail of reducing water in our rivers – due to dams or otherwise – and increasing pollution.

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

www.urbanupdate.in | May 2022

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URBAN AGENDA

Ashok Wankhade Managing Editor

Defining aesthetics quotient of cities rban Aesthetics is an important feature of a city in the sense that it provides a unique characteristic to the place and also makes it liveable. In some of the cities like Bhubaneswar, where the houses are built with some open space called setbacks, this feature of urban aesthetics becomes the identity of the city. Open and green spaces in urban regions are often ignored, but it is high time that we begin to inculcate this aspect while planning a city.

Urban Aesthetics is not just about green spaces, open parks, boulevards, etc. and is even not limited to some buildings or skyscrapers. It is a crucial part of almost every aspect of a city including infrastructure, and mobility.In India, most of the cities are overcrowded making the region chaotic, and monotonous for the community inhabiting the area. Proper implementation of urban aesthetics in such conditions is difficult but needed. Urban design and aesthetics go together but are different in some aspects. Urban design directs how the elements will be designed in a city for instance what will the building look like or what will be the spacing among buildings or how will the park be. Urban aesthetics, on the other hand, is more of a wider vision, it directs what the city will look like placing all the elements together, today and in the coming years.

Urban design also plays an important part in making a city beautiful in the right sense. The amalgamation of green and open spaces with design elements, which suits the region and the demography, is the crux of a unique urban design.One of the examples of this is the cycle paths in Poland, which glow in dark due to a synthetic material called Phosphor. It absorbs the sunlight in the day time and glows for 10 hours at night. Such small initiatives of urban designs not only add to the sustainability of a region but also improve the aesthetics quotient of a city.

A city is identified by a number of elements including food, for example Vada Pav of Mumbai which has become synonymous with the city since its inception in the 1960s. These characteristics of different cities in India tell a lot about the culture of these urban regions.Culture in some cities depict the ancestral influence on them who used to inhabit the place, some others make a culture for their own which evolves in a period of time, while some are identified for their infrastructure, planning, design, etc. such as Chandigarh. Whatever culture or lineage a city follows, if we look closely, every region has a distinct aesthetic.

In cities, especially in India, when we talk about sustainable living, it is important that people and experts try to design a unique and creative way to incorporate sustainability in such a way that it becomes homogenous with the culture and lifestyle of the place.

This is the reason why urban design and aesthetics are an important aspect when experts talk about planning sustainable and liveable cities.

46 May 2022 | www.urbanupdate.in

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Urban Update is a leading magazine on sustainable development of cities brought out by All India Institute of Local Self-Government (AIILSG). Bringing together the experience of the multilateral sector with that of the private sector and the local governments themselves, the magazine focuses on the challenges and solutions for city leaders and local governments.

Urban Update plays a special role — that of a primary, indispensable link among stakeholders that nurtures community. A wellspring of writing and imagery reinforces our vision of evangelizing Urban Infrastructure, Governance, Culture and Sustainability.

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