UrbanUpdate November 2016 by Urban Update

Setting The Agenda For Tomorrow’s Cities

ISSN 2349-6266 RNI No DELENG/2014/57384

UrbanUpdate Volume III, Issue VII

November 2016

Rs 100

New Urban Agenda

invokes renewed thinking on cities Cities need to reject the defeatist view like ‘nothing can be done’ to resurrect themselves from the rubble of problems. Challenges abound, so are the opportunities. The recently adopted New Urban Agenda (NUA) has given cities a basic conceptual framework to set the right direction of urban development

jobs for all, equality crucial The New Urban Agenda is a visionary, concise, forward looking, actionable document which will guide governments during the next two decades in building better habitats for the world population

Indian Railways A Journey towards Swachh Bharat The railways has taken many initiatives to augment the pace and scope of clean India mission and make its operations sustainable

The project is funded by the European Union.

The project is implemented by the AIILSG.

Union Ministry of Urban Development has empanelled AIILSG on the list of consultants qualified to work for Smart City Mission. AIILSG has been selected to work for Punjab, Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Delhi, Chandigarh, Madhya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh.

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UrbanUpdate A monthly magazine published by the AIILSG — a project funded by European Union’s ‘Equi-City’ programme for India. Ranjit Chavan President-AIILSG Capt. Anant Modi Editor-In-Chief Director General-AIILSG, dg@aiilsg.org Ashok Wankhade Managing Editor Abhishek Pandey Editor Ravi Ranjan Guru Executive Editor

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The project is funded by the European Union.

The project is implemented by the AIILSG.

The views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Commission.

November 2016 | www.urbanupdate.in

EDITORIAL

New Urban Agenda for better cities

Capt. Anant Modi Editor-In-Chief dg@aiilsg.org

he adoption of the New Urban Agenda at the Habitat III Conference in Quito last month is a landmark event in the momentous journey of urbanisation. The document is conceived as a focused, forward-looking and actionable measure to renew world commitment towards more sustainable and inclusive urban development. While recognizing that the growing population in cities poses challenges of inequality, exclusion and environmental degradation, the document calls for addressing these through planning, design, finance, development, governance and management. Urging effective implementation, the document lays stress on actions by local governments in responding to the challenges. It points out to their key role in engaging with all stakeholders, strengthening participative processes and promoting contribution by all sections of society including the young, the aged, the specially abled, displaced persons, persons in formal as well as informal settlements which reflects our commitment to ensure that ‘our cities are for all’. The New Urban Agenda commits to ‘support local governments in determining their own administrative and management structures, in line with national legislation and policies, as appropriate, in order to adapt to local needs.” We at AIILSG believe that the New Urban Agenda is a transformative intervention of our times. The vision and scope outlined in the document give us great opportunity to contribute by working closely with state and local governments in building modern, efficient, inclusive and sustainable cities. We

are working to renew and refine our various capacity building, research, consulting and project activities to stay ahead of the curve and to continue our support for national objectives. We look forward with enthusiasm to the coming times and are sure that with such a focused approach at the international level combined with the thrust on ‘Urban Renaissance’ by our national government, we will together build more liveable urban spaces for our people. In the cover story, we look at the journey since the first Habitat Conference at Vancouver in 1976, the Habitat-II at Istanbul and to the recent HabitatIII. In other stories we look at some challenging components of the New Urban Agenda and the way forward. Back home, the Urban Mobility India (UMI) Conference held at Gandhinagar this month turned the spotlight on possibly the most challenging aspect of urbanization engaging all stakeholders. We look at the highlights of UMI too. The issue of the extremely poor air quality in Delhi during the last few weeks caused to a great extent by mobility issues, has set alarm bells ringing. There is need for dramatic new policy interventions along with strong focused implementation on the ground if we are save our capital city and prevent other cities going the same way. The piece ‘Smog in the air’ looks at the reasons and possible remedial actions to improve ambient air quality in our cities. As in the past, we have enjoyed putting together this issue of Urban Update. We have been receiving regular feedback and encouragement from readers and other well-wishers. These have inspired our editorial team to refine the contents and its presentation. We thank you all and look forward to your continued support.

www.urbanupdate.in | November 2016

Quotes

PIN POINT BUZZ

Kohima Smart City was given green signal that will further be built on the line of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Solid Waste Management, IT Connectivity and Transportation Issues shall assume centre stage M Venkaiah Naidu Union Minister for Urban Development, Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation

Trash is an inherent feature of cities and has become a norm of our speeches as well. Recycling plastic into designer clothes was a revolutionising venture. Because trashing our surroundings must stop. Because there is no planet B Javier Goyeneche President, EcoAlf

Terri Wills @teriwills1010 CEO, World Green Building Council

Ensuring all buildings are zero carbon is essential if we are to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees

Helen Clark @HelenClarkUNDP Administrator, UNDP

Sustainable development cannot be achieved w/o decisive action to adapt to & mitigate climate change

Devendra Fadnavis @CMO Maharashtra Chief Minister, Maharashtra

Swachh Bharat Abhiyan is a reality. Alongside rapid economic development, Gujarat and 10 others municipal corporations have become ‘Open-Defecation Free’ in urban areas. Public Health and Economic health both can be safeguarded Vijay Rupani Chief Minister (Gujarat)

November 2016 | www.urbanupdate.in

Renewable and judicious utilisation of energy is crucial. Surya Mitra programme has helped both as an instrument of providing employability to rural and urban youth and as a step towards clean energy availability to citizens Piyush Goyal Minister of State with Independent Charge for Power, Coal, New & Renewable Energy and Mines, Government of India

Marathwada will be on international map soon due to AURIC City; enough space & opportunities would be given to small scale industries too

Ashish Kothari @chikikothari Environmental Activist, Kalpavriksh, India

Festivals that kill, ‘let there be smoke’, that’s how we celebrate? Delhi’s air quality plunges to ‘severe’ category. Is pollution the cost of urbanisation and cosmopolitan living?

Inside

Volume 3, Issue 7

OPINION

Inside November 2016

New Urban Agenda; jobs for all, equality crucial The New Urban Agenda adopted at the Habitat-III in Quito last month is a visionary document which will guide national, sub-national and local governments during the next two decades in building better habitats

EVents

Indian cities envision sustainable mobility To discuss the cause of atmospheric pollution various aspects of the theme ‘Planning Mobility for City’s Sustainability’ the four-day long Urban Mobility India Conference and Expo took place in Gandhinagar, Gujarat from November 8, 2016 to November 12, 2016

article

Indian Railways: A Journey towards Swachh Bharat

The railways has taken many initiatives to augment the pace and scope of clean India mission and make its operations sustainable

Smog in the air

Burning eyes, choking lungs and other discomforts became a serious menace for residents of Delhi post Diwali. A look within to understand what is making the air smoggy and hazardous

RegularS

6 10

Pin Point Newscan

15 46

City Images Urban Agenda

Cover story

New Urban Agenda invokes renewed thinking on cities Cities need to reject the defeatist view like ‘nothing can be done’ to resurrect from the rubble of problems. Challenges abound, so are opportunities. The recently adopted New Urban Agenda (NUA) has given cities a basic conceptual framework to follow to set the right direction of urban development

LEADerspeak

It’s not all doom and gloom Leaders and activists worldwide are concerned about saving the environment from the hazards of industrial and human activities. People living in cities have a major responsibility as cities have larger carbon foot print than rural areas. We must think over and bring essential changes in our habits and consumption patterns to contribute our bit to sustainability and help national governments in achieving targets set under SDGs and drive urban development keeping New Urban Agenda in mind

Good reads

Knowing Bangalore a little better For cities like Mumbai and Delhi, we find plethora of books, both fiction and non-fiction, by well known Indian and foreign writers, but that cannot be said about many other historic cities, which too de serve good chronicling for posterity. One of them is Bangalore, an internationally known city, which was in the news recently over Cauvery river water dispute

www.urbanupdate.in | November 2016

feature | Equi-City

Strategic Planning for Equi-City “The objective of attaining ‘Unity in Diversity’ requires first an understanding of the nature of diversity, the processes that generate it and if and to what extent the lack of diversity reflects disparity and inequity. One can then attempt to identify the factors, institutions and vested interests responsible for that and design a system of redressal.” - Prof. Amitabh Kundu, Report of the Expert Group on Diversity Index A Step towards Diversity Report for NMC Team Equi-City

his activity seeks to create Diversity & Equality Framework which will enable NMC to assess their Human Resources structure from an equality and diversity perspective. It will be an internal assessment tool to ensure diversity within Local Authority. The Framework will not only seek to promote diversity in NMC, but also recognize the needs, values and contribution that employees from diverse backgrounds can make to local

government and thereby encourage their participation at all levels. It will seek to promote diversity in leadership and decision-making roles, including elected representatives and senior staff. Local bodies are subject to legislations aimed at ensuring open and transparent delivery of typical services besides best value to their citizens in addition to equality. There is a range of sector-specific equality frameworks to support attainment of such aims. These typically set out different standards or levels of performance, going beyond

minimum compliance to good and excellent practices. This section draws together the key equality frameworks within which local bodies are expected to operate and plan for Diversity and Inclusion. Under the Specific Objectives of the Equi-City Project, for the Preparation of Diversity and Equality Framework in the Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC), a survey was done. Drawing a sample of about 10 per cent of NMC staff from every department of the NMC, in total 829 employees were surveyed. The Diversity and Equality Survey questionnaire had three sections ♦♦ Personal and Socio-economic information, ♦♦ Facilities provided at work place, ♦♦ Status of Equality in the various departments of the Organisation. In order to maintain the wellbeing of the employees, any private or government organisation generally provides basic facilities to them varying across the size and class of the organisation and stages of development of the society concerned. These facilities include but are not limited to separate toilets for males and females, provision of vehicular parking, dedicated office space for sitting and proper light and ventilation for the employees, availability of computer systems for effective and timely work

November 2016 | www.urbanupdate.in

delivery, etc. The survey has focused on aspects of Cultural, Gender, Caste, Religion, Economic status diversity within the Organisation. The questions were asked in a fashion so as to establish a link with the desired level of equality within the Organisation for their employees working across different hierarchical positions.

Moving forward

As expected, the preliminary findings speak on existing inequalities regarding Promotion, Pay, Training, etc. to a certain extent. A holistic approach covering the key elements can be successfully built on the current findings and leveraging the path for better governance within the NMC. The equality and diversity framework is expected to be non-discriminatory in nature providing equitable opportunities to each employee for merit based promotion, irrespective of community affiliations, and promote a community oriented approach. The framework is expected to address equality concerns on job segregation and that of equal pay. Yearly organisational performance assessment of employees is expected to be based on the framework which will use the findings as a reference point for course correction. Based on the assessment, Diversity Committee will recommend remedial measures to strengthen diversity and equality in NMC.

India-EU Water Forum at World Sustainable Development Summit (WSDS, 2016)

WSDS is the new personification of TERI’s Delhi Sustainable Development Summit (DSDS) launched in 2001, inaugurated by the former Prime Minister of India, Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Over the past fifteen years, DSDS emerged as one of the foremost mechanism for bringing together various Heads of State and Government, thought leaders, policy makers and the crème de la crème of industry and academia to deliberate on myriad issues of sustainability. This year WSDS was inaugurated by the President of India,

Pranab Mukherjee. The summit was organized during 5th-8th October at the India Habitat Centre, New Delhi.

EQUI-CITY at WSDS, Delhi

The summit also showcased all the projects funded and run by the EU in India including EquiCity Project. A separate exhibit was setup for showcasing the EquiCity Project along with its objectives, activities and other details. All the relevant publications on urban issues (books, journals, etc.) were put on display in the stall. A presentation was made to explain the objectives and progress of the project at the event venue. The visitors to the exhibit News coverage in local newspaper were briefed about the project and their queries were addressed by the Equi-City Pravin Datke and discussed the team members present there. Since level of urban services, performance the summit had visitors and experts of various departments as well as from diverse fields, there were various the best practices adopted by the discussions on the possible outcomes of Nagpur Municipal Corporation. the project. Other members from NMC who were present in the above meeting Visit of Secretary General were Sudhir Rout (NMC Standing of UCLG-ASPAC to EquiCommittee Chairman), Narendra City in Nagpur: Borkar (Transport Chairman), Dr.Bernadia Tjandradewi (Secretary Rashmi Phadnawis (Women & Child General, UCLG-ASPAC) visited Nagpur Welfare Committee Chairperson) & in November, 2016. As UCLG-ASPAC is Divya Dhurde (Biological Diversity a partner for the Equi-City Project, this Chairperson). Dr Bernadia praised visit ensured better understanding and the award winning performance of review of the ground activities of the the water department of the NMC Project. Her visit to the Site boosted the (the 24x7 water supply). Dr Bernadia spirit of NMC as well as the Equi-City also met the Municipal Commissioner Team because she infused motivation Shravan Hardikar. Various programmes and inspiration in the project team related to urban development and urban with her valuable suggestions regarding services in Nagpur were discussed. the implementation of the Project. Major emphasis was laid on research Her suggestions mostly emphasized oriented action, availability of spatial on separately addressing all the project data of services, urban transportation modules which can bring significant and related issues. Dr Bernadia later changes at the ground level. visited the city to have a look at the Dr Bernadia also met the Mayor local landscape.

www.urbanupdate.in | November 2016

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Delhi resembles a gas chamber, Centre needs to intervene: Kejriwal

New Delhi: The Centre needs to intervene to mitigate the alarming levels of smog, which have virtually turned Delhi into a “gas chamber”, mainly due to farm fires in neighbouring Punjab and Haryana, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal today said. He said vehicle restriction measures like oddeven will not be able to bring down smog as initial studies suggest that the “large scale” influx of pollutant-laden smoke from Punjab and Haryana has aggravated the situation. “Pollution has increased to an extent that outdoors in Delhi are resembling a gas chamber. Prima facie the biggest reason seems to be burning of stubble in agricultural fields in Haryana and Punjab in huge quantity,” Kejriwal told a press conference. Shutting down

November 2016 | www.urbanupdate.in

of schools for a long time was not a feasible solution, he said, when asked about the decision of the civic bodies to keep schools run by it closed for a day in view of pollution. Kejriwal pitched for providing alternatives and incentives to farmers so that they discard the traditional practice. He said the Delhi government has very few methods at its disposal and the Centre needs to intervene. The Centre can sit with the Chief Ministers of these states and chalk out a solution. A few reports have put the volume of stubble being burned at around 16-20 million tonnes. “Fireworks during Diwali marginally added to the pollution. But other things inside Delhi did not drastically change. So the smog is mainly due to smoke

“

What are you doing to control crop burning in your states? 70 per cent of agricultural land is burning in Punjab. Don’t you owe some responsibility? People are dying out of air pollution and you are doing nothing. All the states are shifting burden from one to another. You people don’t worry about people’s health. Children are not able to go out of their houses due to the smog. See, what have you done to Delhi National Green Tribunal Bench to Delhi Government

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from farm fires,” he observed. Kejriwal identified the main sources of pollution inside Delhi as vehicles, dust and waste burning, which he said could not be responsible for the pall of smog across the city. “I saw smoke across Punjab, Haryana during my visits. We need Centre’s help. We are hiring an agency in a week or two to study the sources of pollution in Delhi afresh. The Centre needs to intervene,” he said. Meteorological scientists explain that lower level anticyclone—a weather phenomenon which prevented the dispersion of smog— developed around Delhi on November 2, 2016. There was virtually no wind in the vertical column. This situation is expected to persist for few more days.

Rise in asthma, allergy, breathlessness cases

Cases of severe breathlessness, asthma and allergy have sharply risen in Delhi as the city remains blanketed in thick layer of toxic air due to the worst smog in 17 years. “Earlier 15-20 per cent pollution-related ailment cases were reported at our hospital. But now these have gone up to 60 per cent. The most common problem is related to respiration. But this time we are seeing a rather large number of cases of severe breathlessness, coughing and sneezing

NGT raps Delhi government, directs to sprinkle water on roads Delhi: Lashing out at Delhi government for not taking timely preventive steps to tackle air pollution in the national capital, the National Green Tribunal today asked it to sprinkle water on roads to contain dust, even by using choppers. “What preventive steps did you take on air pollution in national capital? We want to know from you why didn’t your authorities sprinkle water on roads earlier? Why can’t you use helicopters to create artificial rain to control dust pollution. Are they only meant to carry your officials,” asked a bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar. The observations came as the bench was about to start the day’s proceedings, saying the smogwas affecting the health of people, especially children, and the AAP government should take some immediate steps to handle the situation. The tribunal also came down heavily on the neighbouring states of Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan over crop burning in their areas and asked them to take strict action against the violators.

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and bronchiolitis due to the smog,” says Dr S P Byotra, senior consultant and chairman of the department of medicine at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital (SGRH). Bronchiolitis is inflammation of the bronchioles, the smallest air passages of the lungs. “Children and elderly are the most vulnerable to infections and allergies due to smog and pollution. So, they should take extra care, and try not to venture during early morning and at dusk when the toxic level is highest,” Byotra says. Delhi is facing its worst smog in last 17 years, prompting the high court to observe that it was akin to “living in a gas chamber”. According to experts, it is estimated that over 20 per cent of the world’s population suffers from allergic diseases. “We are seeing a rise of 6070 per cent in ailment cases related to pollution. Breathlessness, asthma, eye and skin allergies case have jumped. We are getting patients as young as a two-month-old baby who had bronchiolitis. People who had a history of or are predisposed to such ailments, such cases have also risen. Children are getting affected more, as their immunological state is low. Besides, the infections are taking longer time to subside,” says Dr Rahul Nagpal, Director and Head, Pediatrics, at Fortis Hospital in Vasant Kunj. “Children should as far as possible avoid venturing out in the open early morning and late evening, and peak hours of the pollution. The number of cases have increased due to the smog in the last few days,” says Dr V K Paul, pediatrician at AIIMS. Says Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director (research and advocacy), CSE and head of CSE’s air pollution and sustainable mobility teams: “This demands emergency response to protect the vulnerable – those who are suffering from respiratory and heart diseases and children. The government should aggressively inform all and advise them to stay indoors and avoid outdoor exercises. At the same time, it should roll out stringent winter pollution control for all sources along with emergency action.”

www.urbanupdate.in | November 2016

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UD Secretary urges ULBs to become self-sufficient Union Ministry of Urban Development asked municipal corporations and municipalities in Gujarat to become selfsufficient in matters related to funding. Asking Gujarat to become a model state in creating wealth out of waste, Gauba asked representatives of the corporations and municipalities to not just depend on the state or centre for funds, stated an official release here. “Urban cities should become self-reliant for all services,” Gauba stated in a series of tweets about the review meeting.

Civic body launches Bhopal Plus App Bhopal Municipal Corporation (BMC) launched Bhopal Plus App for providing better services to its citizens. Developed by Bhopal Smart Development Corporation Limited, the App was launched by the Bhopal Mayor Alok Sharma. With the launch, the people of the city can now make payment of their property tax, water tax and electricity bill from their residences. Besides, the local residents can procure birth, death certificates and marriage certificates with the App. Sharma said Bhopalites are free to send their complaints via this App. This App can be easily downloaded from Google Play.

November 2016 | www.urbanupdate.in

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France lauds integration of climate concerns in India’s urban development initiatives DELHI: France has appreciated the initiatives of Indian Government for addressing climate change concerns as an integral part of new urban sector missions. The new urban sector initiatives and the possible areas of cooperation between the two countries were discussed in detail at a meeting between Minister of Urban Development M Venkaiah Naidu and the visiting French Minister of State for Industry Christophe Sirugue recently. Venkaiah Naidu stated that sustainable and climate friendly urban planning has been made the corner stone of new urban missions launched by the government over the last two years. Elaborating on this, he said that increased emphasis on reliable public transport and nonmotorised transport, technology based Intelligent Transport Systems, efficient water and power management for conservation of scarce resources, focus on New and Renewable Sources of energy like solar power, green construction, development of open and green spaces, conversion of municipal solid waste

into compost and energy, large scale replacement of old water pumps with energy efficient sets etc., were some of the climate friendly initiatives mandated under the new urban missions launched to enable urban renaissance. Appreciating India’s enabling role in concluding COP-21 Agreement at Paris, Sirugue noted that these initiatives go to prove the country’s commitment to address climate change concerns. He also said that urban renaissance is the appropriate word for the Indian Government’s initiatives to recast the urban landscape. Sirugue said that France which has already signed MoU for assisting in smart city development of Chandigarh, Nagpur and Puducherry, has the necessary expertise to assist in execution of new urban sector initiatives in India on a large scale. He informed that a French delegation would be visiting the Andhra Pradesh capital Amaravati on November 30, 2016 for exploring collaboration opportunities.

‘Complete Bhopal, Indore Metro rail in a phased manner’ Bhopal: Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has instructed officials concerned to expedite the work of metro rail projects in Bhopal and Indore, while ensuring economic viability of projects. Chouhan reviewed the progress of Metro Rail Projects and gave instructions to speed up the projects and complete them in a phased manner while making them economically viable, an official of Public Relation Department said. The Metro Rail projects will be administered and managed by Madhya Pradesh Metro Rail Company Limited. The CM will be its chairman while Urban Development minister, mayors of Bhopal and Indore will be its members. The company’s administrative structure will be approved by the State Cabinet, the official said. The review meeting also discussed about the routes to be included in the first phase of the project. Commissioner Urban Administration and Development and Secretary to the Chief Minister, Vivek Agrawal, while giving a detailed presentation on status of the projects, informed that a total cost of Bhopal Metro Rail Project will be Rs 22,504.25 crore. It will have seven routes. Its length will be 95.03 kms. Of this, 84.83 kms will be elevated. The first phase will have two routes, KarondAIIMS measuring 14.99 kilometres and Bhadbhada-Ratnagiri measuring 12.88 kilometres, the official said. The cost of first phase will be Rs 6962 crore. Chances of obtaining financial resources from Japan International Cooperation Agency and the Asian Development Bank were also discussed.

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Naidu asks NDMC to make Connaught Place, Khan Market ‘No Vehicle’ zones ♦♦ Airport –Connaught Place road to be made over for world class experience; all NDMC to be made smart ♦♦ Digital Screens to be set up to display information on weather, traffic flows New Delhi: Minister of Urban Development M Venkaiah Naidu today reviewed the progress of implementation of Smart City Plan of New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) and has given a set of directions for making a radical difference to the look and feel of the area so that NDMC area could act as a light house to other smart cities in the making. Venkaiah Naidu while expressing concern over air pollution and traffic congestion has asked NDMC to convert Connaught Place and Khan Market as ‘No vehicle’ zones through necessary planning for traffic management, parking and last mile connectivity. He suggested introduction of electric vehicles for the benefit of children, elderly and disabled persons. Expressing concern over poor maintenance, look and feel of road from airport to Connaught Place, Naidu directed that NDMC and South MCD should undertake necessary interventions to make this section a smart road with all necessary features like pathways and landscaping all along the road so that it looks world class. He stressed on the need for provision of quality pedestrian pathways and nonmotorised transport infrastructure. All roads in NDMC area should be made smart with smart poles, smart bus stops, smart parking, pedestrian crossings, pedestrian and cycle pathways, CCTV cameras, LED lighting, 3D Zebra crossings, steel furniture, etc. Naidu also suggested setting up digital display screens at all major locations to provide information on traffic flows including jams, suggested traffic diversions, weather, pollution and other public information. Similar information needs to be disseminated on a continuous basis through FM and Community Radio, he said, adding that

November 2016 | www.urbanupdate.in

Smarter NDMC NDMC has completed a few projects and about 25 projects would be completed by June next year. These include: ♦♦ Installation of solar panels for generation of 4.50 MW of solar power of which 2.90 MW capacity has already been installed; ♦♦ Setting up of one decentralized Sewerage Treatment Plant (STP) for providing water for horticultural use; ♦♦ Unified Command and Control Centre for monitoring all services; ♦♦ Iconic initiatives like Smart Public Toilet Units with facilities like Bank ATM, 60 Water ATM, vending machines, 59 open gyms, Charkha Museum at Connaught Place etc. ♦♦ Smart bus stops and Pedestrains, Pelican crossings, 3 D Zebra crossings, CCTV surveillance, LED street lighting, high quality street furniture; ♦♦ Provision of high speed wi-fi & open air cafeteria in Palika Bazar; ♦♦ Conversion of all 444 class rooms in NDMC areas into smart ones of which 138 have already been so converted and ten multipurpose sports play grounds for community after school hours; whole NDMC area should be provided with WiFi support. The Minister said that NDMC shall ensure a visible impact of smart city development by June next year and the whole smart city plan, approved with an estimated investment of Rs 1,900cr should be

implemented by June, 2018. Chairman of NDMC Naresh Kumar informed UD Minister Venkaiah Naidu that so far, smart city projects worth Rs 650 cr are already under implementation and work on the remaining would start in the next few months.

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City Images

Turning Air Pollution into Diamonds

Daan Roosegaarde, a Dutch artist, has come up with an out of the box solution to combat air pollution by turning smog into diamonds. The pilot ‘Smog Free Project’ has already run successfully in Rotterdam, Netherlands. The project consists of two parts. First, a 7m tall tower sucks up polluted air, and cleans it at a nano-level. The clean air is released in parks and playgrounds. Second, the carbon from smog particles is turned into diamonds. The idea was born in Beijing when he looked out of his hotel

window and saw smog all over the city. Roosegaarde started the project “with a dream. The dream of clean air for everyone”. The project will now be implemented in Beijing, China where the idea was born. The project is financially sustainable as the money raised by jewellery made with these diamonds will go towards supporting the development and building more Smog Free towers. Indian cities like New Delhi need to explore the possible solution to clear the air as post Diwali, the city has seen the worst air pollution in living memory.

www.urbanupdate.in | November 2016

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Ranchi Municipal Corporation hires marshals to identify rule-breakers Marshals will be appointed by Ranchi Municipal Corporation to identify and fine rule violators across the city. A total of 25 offences have been identified by RMC including urinating in the open and throwing building material on road and people found conducting any of such acts will be fined. Public relations officer of RMC, Naresh Sinha said, “The standing committee approved the proposal of appointing a company as marshal and the tender for this will be floated soon.”

BMC’s waste treatment plant to take on debris

In an effort to curb piling up of construction debris on the roads, the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) has decided to set up a waste treatment plant. BMC sources said around 200 metric tonnes of such waste everyday. BMC sources said the processed waste can be reused for construction purposes. Since the BMC is already spending money to carry the waste engaging tractors and manpower, it will be able to monetize the waste by establishing the plant. According to preliminary discussion, the plant will be set up on public-privatepartnership mode. “The BMC will sell the recycled waste, which will be used for different construction purposes,” said a BMC spokesperson.

November 2016 | www.urbanupdate.in

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Major Chinese cities release draft rules on car-hailing services Beijing: Four Chinese megacities – Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen – recently announced detailed draft regulations on internet car-hailing services. Under these plans, Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen will have requirements for the vehicle’s wheelbase and require that only local drivers enter the service; Guangzhou will also only allow drivers who hold at least a junior high school diploma and own vehicles bought within one year. The detailed plans are still being subjected to public scrutinising. The new rules have caused instant nationwide repercussions and doubts over their sustained operation. According to statistics released by DidiChuxing, the Chinese-based car-hailing company, only 1/5 of existing certified cars on its platform in Shanghai can meet the wheelbase requirement; of 410,000 Didi-drivers, less than 10,000 have Shanghai hukou, the required household registration certificates. This means that only 20 per cent of certified cars in Shanghai can meet the wheelbase requirement and only 2.5 percent drivers can meet the hukou requirement. Higher threshold and tougher regulations probably mean that the sharing economy will hit the skids and that hailing a taxi might be still difficult and expensive. Essentially, local government’s drafted measures will not only raise the operation costs but also the threshold for drivers to enter the service. China becomes the first country to

introduce national regulations covering the ride-hailing industry on November 1. The new measures, approved in August, require drivers to have at least three years of driving experience and no criminal convictions for dangerous or drunk driving, as well as for drug taking and violence. The drivers must also be licensed by a local taxi authority. The regulations issued by the Transportation Ministry set China apart from many other countries where ride-hailing operations such as Uber have been banned or are embroiled in lawsuits. However, the new legislation is unlikely to persuade major cities to stop rolling out more rigorous regulations on local ridehailing markets. Beijing and Shanghai announced separate rules on October 8 which allow only drivers with local residency permits and vehicles with local licenses to enter the market. Shenzhen, Guangzhou and some other second tier cities have followed suit since then. The general view in the industry is that the municipal rules will prevail. “The requirements for a local license are impossible to change, as is the local residency or residential permit,” said Lu Zhenwang, an independent e-commence analyst in a report by Xinhua News Agency. However, a relaxation of the rules on vehicle size and license insurance may be possible, he added. According to a 2015 report, Chinese ride-hailing services have the potential to cater for 90 million passengers a day, in a total transportation market of 2.8 billion passengers.

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To transform our world, we must transform its cities: UN Chief

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“Local action is essential to realizing the potential of these global agreements,” Ban said. “On World Cities Day, let us renew our resolve to confront urban problems and forge lasting solutions. Together, we can show how success in cities inspires change across the world.”

Shifting the urban paradigm

New York: With more than half of the global population now living in cities, Secretary-General of United Nations Ban Ki-moon said on World Cities Day that greater attention needs to be placed on the role of urbanisation. The theme of this year’s observance is ‘Inclusive Cities, Shared Development.’ “To transform our world, we must transform its cities” Ban said in a statement commemorating the Day, which is observed on October 31 around the globe. “They are central to climate action, global prosperity, peace and human rights,” he added. “Crime, pollution and poverty are taking their toll on hundreds of millions of city-dwellers. At the same time, urban areas are hubs of energy, innovation and economic dynamism. By investing in cities, we can advance progress across societies.” In a resolution adopted in February 2014, the UN General Assembly designated the Day in recognition of the significance of urban basic services as a foundation for the overall social and economic development. The Day also ties into the 11th Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) aiming to make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable.

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Crime, pollution and poverty are taking their toll on hundreds of millions of city-dwellers. At the same time, urban areas are hubs of energy, innovation and economic dynamism. By investing in cities, we can advance progress across societies. Ban Ki-moon UN Secretary-General

In his remarks, the Secretary-General noted that momentum is building on this issue in the wake of the recently concluded UN Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development, known as Habitat III, “This marked a milestone in setting global standards for sustainable urban development, sparking new thinking on how we plan, manage and live in cities,” the UN chief said in his message. He went on to flag that along with other new global framework agendas – such as the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the Agenda for Humanity, the Sendai Framework and the Addis Ababa Action Agenda.

Ban was joined in marking the Day by Joan Clos, the Executive Director of UN-Habitat, the UN agency charged with promoting socially and environmentally sustainable human settlements development and the achievement of adequate shelter for all. In his message for the occasion, Clos pointed to the Day as “an essential celebration on the calendar to greatly promote the international community’s interest in global urbanisation, push forward cooperation among countries in meeting opportunities and addressing challenges of urbanisation.” He said this year’s Day was particularly significant as it comes on the heels of Habitat III, which he referred to as, a “resounding success” in which 30,000 people participated in almost 1,000 events over the course of four days. “Such high turnout is a testimony of the strong world interest in urban development, and in taking part in the global conversation about our cities,” Clos said, flagging that planning and managing cities are core sustainable global development challenges that hold the key to achieving equal and inclusive societies. “This year the World Cities Day is happening within the framework of a New Urban Agenda, the first of this century to make possible the change of the current cities’ model for better urban life,” continued the Executive Director. “The New Urban Agenda shares a vision of cities for all, ensuring that all citizens are able to inhabit and produce just, safe, healthy, accessible, affordable an sustainable cities for foster prosperity and quality of life,” he added.

www.urbanupdate.in | November 2016

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Surat Municipal Corporation mulls groundwater mapping

Google Earth images shed light on where solar rooftops make sense

The Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) has decided to do ground water mapping (aquifer map) in the city. The map will be prepared by National Geo Physical Research Institute. The study will cost the civic body Rs 3.25 crore and will be completed in one year. However, 50% of funds will be provided by state government.K H Khatwani, additional city engineer of SMC said, “Mapping will be done in 21 km area in two phases. In first phase areas upstream from existing Causeway cum Weir to Guy Pagla would be undertaken. In the second phase downstream area of the river from Weir to Magdalla Bridge would be covered.If we have the information about the aquifers we can use the water during drought,”

Is your rooftop right for solar? A prize-winning website can tell you - in one second

Agra plans to be landfillfree by year end Under the Swachh Bharat Mission, Agra Municipal Corporation (AMC) is planning to make the city landfill free and is set to forward a proposal in this regard to the Union Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD). The cost of the project is estimated to be around Rs 10 crore. According to AMC officials, MoUD is working towards developing waste management system in cities. The ministry has sought work proposals from each of the cities selected under Swachh Bharat Mission as a pilot project. The ministry will release funds for landfill capping on the basis of the proposal. Landfill capping involves placing a cover over contaminated waste material or soil.

November 2016 | www.urbanupdate.in

NEW YORK: During his free time on the job as a Google employee, Carl Elkin began tinkering with the company’s 3D mapping program, wondering if it could identify rooftops that receive enough sunlight to make installing solar panels worthwhile. When months later the U.S.-based engineer showed a handful of colleagues the results of his labor, they had a eureka moment. “The lightbulb kind of went off,” said Joel Conkling, Elkin’s colleague at the California-based company. “It felt like intuitively it had some real potential.” Soon after, a team followed Elkin’s lead and designed Project Sunroof. The project website uses Google Earth’s highresolution aerial images to calculate any roof’s solar energy potential. Project Sunroof aims to make the decision easier - and speed up the adoption of solar energy, which today accounts for less than 1% of U.S. electricity generation. Homeowners interested in assessing their property’s solar potential can enter their address on Project Sunroof’s website, and in roughly a second get a calculation of how many hours of usable sunlight their roof receives, Conkling said. Thousands of lines of computer code

analyze factors such as the shade trees cast on a roof, its orientation and local weather patterns, he said. Project Sunroof then connects users whose roof is suitable for solar panels with companies that install them. “People can come in and very quickly and very easily get a pretty sophisticated understanding of their solar potential and whether it makes sense for them to go solar,” said Conkling, a product manager for Project Sunroof. The response has been encouraging, he said. “We were impressed by the scalability of the technology with more and more states and homes able to utilize it,” said Nick Nuttall, a spokesman for the Bonn-based U.N. Climate Change Secretariat, which presents the award. Since launching last year, Project Sunroof has expanded from offering analysis of rooftops in two states to 42 states, from New York to California. Nuttall, of the U.N. climate secretariat, agrees the system potentially could be used in many more places.” There seems no reason why one day it could not go global,” he said. In recent years, Google has invested nearly $2.5 billion in clean energy wind and solar projects, according to the company’s corporate website.

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Burning of municipal waste discolouring Taj Mahal: Study Washington: Burning of municipal solid waste in the vicinity of the iconic Taj Mahal is significantly contributing to the discolouring of the world heritage monument, an Indo-American research team has found. The research compared the impact of dung cake burning versus the burning of municipal solid waste (MSW) on browning of Taj Mahal and on the health of people living nearby. Using new field methods, researchers, including Ajay Nagpure from the University of Minnesota and Raj Lal of Georgia Institute of Technology in the US, provide scientific evidence that the burning of MSW in the vicinity of the monument could be contributing harmful levels of airborne particulate matter (PM). The scientists found that open MSW burning leads to about 150 milligramme per square metre (mg m-2) per year of PM2.5 (fine particulate matter) being deposited on the surface of the Taj Mahal compared to about 12 mg m-2 per year from dung cake burning. The researchers also highlight that

these two sources combined represent a serious health concern based on estimates of premature mortality associated with PM2.5 exposure. “Our early explorations find that just decreeing a blanket ban on MSW-burning is not effective as residents may have no other options,” said Armistead Russell, from Georgia Institute of Technology. “Instead, finding new ways to serve underserved and poor areas with waste pick up, potentially involving neighbourhood associations - appears to be a more promising route for authorities to pursue,” said Russell. The analysis involved characterising MSW burning and emissions in different neighbourhoods - wealthy, poor and middle-income - in multiple Indian cities. Airborne particulate matter in cities poses a range of problems including degradation in air quality leading to health concerns and also the discolouration of ancient buildings, said researchers including Sachchida Tripathi from IIT-Kanpur and Anu Ramaswami from University of Minnesota.

HC to set up special bench to hear street vendors’ pleas New Delhi: The Delhi High Court recently decided to set up a special bench to hear petitions against eviction of street vendors from vending zones in the national capital. A bench of Chief Justice G Rohini and Justice SangitaDhingra Sehgal said there were large numbers of petitions pending before different courts on the issue, which was creating problems in adjudication. It said every day fresh pleas were being filed in the high court against the authorities or the order of a single judge on the eviction issue. “We will constitute a special bench so that all these types of matters are dealt by one bench,” the court said. The court decided to set up the special bench after it was told that some matters were pending before the single judge and it has passed orders contrary to the division bench. Recently, a bench of the Chief Justice had granted protection to street vendors across Delhi from forcible eviction. The order was passed on pleas filed by Congress leader Ajay Maken and others, who said the Delhi government had failed to prepare a scheme in consultation with Town Vending Committee (TVC) as per Street Vendors Act, 2014 to conduct a survey to ascertain the number and location of vendors, even when the law clearly envisages that till a survey of all existing street vendors is completed, no street vendor shall be evicted or relocated. Maken and other petitioners had alleged that municipal bodies of central and south Delhi were “throwing out” street vendors from hawking zones, despite a court order protecting them from such action.

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PCMC to supply recycled water to 70 societies

The use of recycled sewage for watering trees at public places is a common practice, but the Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation(PCMC) has gone a step ahead by connecting a sewage treatment plant to 70 housing societies in Shahunagar. A 12 km specially laid pipeline will carry processed water to people’s flats for non-drinking purposes. As part of the project, the civic body hopes to process about 2 to 3 million litres per day(MLD). Executive Engineer (Environment department) Sanjay Kulkarni said, “The STP at Chikhali is located close to Shahunagar. The PCMC has laid down a network of water pipelines with a total length of 12 kms.”

Patna master plan ready, awaits cabinet approval The Patna Metropolitan Planning Committee (PMPC) on Monday passed the Patna Master Plan 2011-2031 amid high drama at its meeting presided over by urban development and housing department (UDHD) minister Maheshwar Hazari. UDHD principal secretary Chaitanya Prasad said the master plan would now be sent to the cabinet for its approval. The last plan was approved for 1961-1981 and those drafted for 1981-2001 and 2001-2021 were shelved. “We have created history today,” said Hazari.

www.urbanupdate.in | November 2016

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‘Unplanned development makes Srinagar vulnerable to multiple natural hazards’ Srinagar: Unplanned and illplanned developmental practices have enhanced vulnerability of Srinagar to floods and earthquakes especially in areas with high population density, a study ‘Sustainable and Disaster Resilent Urban Development—City report Srinagar’ states. The study was commissioned by Ministry of Urban Development through Integrated Research and Action for Development, Centre of Excellence Climate Change and Urban Development. “Srinagar city is vulnerable to multiple hazards viz. earthquakes, flash floods, cold waves and urban floods. The occurrence of the flash floods is not a very common phenomenon but the impact is very high as seen in the recent floods of September, 2014,” the study said. “Integrated Land Use and Hazard Assessment Map of Srinagar shows rampant conversion of natural land cover under water bodies, plantation and agriculture activities to other incompatible land uses,” it states. Srinagar is the most urbanised city and the summer capital of the state of Jammu and Kashmir. “The city is expanding fast with a population growth rate of 25% in last decade (2001-11). Due to

20 November 2016 | www.urbanupdate.in

accelerated growth rate without any planned directives, an unplanned and haphazard development has taken place; ultimately leading to growth of slums and acute problems of drainage. The city does not have a City Disaster Management Plan and the September, 2014 floods have clearly demonstrated the poor disaster resilience of the city,” it states. Pertinently, Srinagar city bore the brunt of last year’s floods as habitations on both sides of Jhelum were submerged for several weeks. On September 7 last year, the water level in Jhelum broke all records— crossing 33-feet at Sangam in Anantnag (Islamabad) and 23-feet at Ram MunshiBagh here. “Despite the fact that J&K Water Resources Regulation and Management Act 2010 strictly prohibits any encroachment on flood control land, a large number of illegal structures have mushroomed along the banks of the Jhelum in north and south Kashmir in Srinagar. There is also a rampant conversion of water bodies and marshy areas to agriculture, floating plantation and built up activities,” it states. “This has aggravated the issues of water logging and flooding as the area available to soak extra water is shrunk due to encroachments and

construction activities. Development in low-lying areas or river banks should not be permitted. Since the growth of the city is mostly horizontal, the planning is required to enable vertical growth as well to meet the demands of the growing population.” Using GIS assisted spatial analysis, the researchers have conducted vulnerability assessment of the city. “The Disaster Prone Areas map is prepared through superimposition of the hazard assessment layers (such as flood, cyclone or landslides prone areas) over the critical urban components; population, infrastructure, land use, land cover, transport network and critical support services, which are highly exposed and vulnerable in times of disasters. The critical infrastructure such as power stations, schools, hospitals and primary health centres are also located in flood prone areas.” The Service Level Benchmarks (SLBs) assessment of Srinagar shows that the city doesn’t have a minimum coverage of the basic services like water supply, sanitation, solid waste and storm water drainage. The study states that flood problem in Kashmir is largely attributed to inadequate carrying capacity of Jhelum length from Sangam to Khandanyar and uncontrolled land use conversion practices taking place in Srinagar. The researchers appreciated the role of Srinagar Municipal Corporation in saving Srinagar from an epidemic post floods in 2014. “SMC managed the crisis in a record time with no post flood diseases, connected with the unprecedented deluge, undesirable waste and huge number of dead animal carcasses reported. This along with rapid cleaning / sanitation of the entire flooded areas in record time was the success of the operation “Clean Srinagar” when floods rendered damages to every kind of social infrastructure,” the study added.

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SMC to increase number of wards to 35

Panel to decide fate of Beach Love Festival

Shimla: The number of wards in Shimla municipal Corporation (SMC) is likely to be increased from 25 to 35 for the next elections due in May 2017. Deputy Commissioner, Shimla, who is also the Returning Officer, has notified the draft proposals and afforded ten days time to people for filing objections against the proposal and giving suggestions. The Governor Acharya Devvrat had promulgated the ordinance on September 4 to amend the Himachal Pradesh Municipal Corporation Act providing for increasing the number of wards up to 37 in two Municipal Corporations of Shimla and Dharamsala. The delimitation of the wards is being done on the basis of 2011 census and effort is being made to have a new ward over 4000 average population. The population of the Corporation area has increased from 1,42,553 in 2001 census to 1,69,578 in 2011 census, an increase of 27,025 and there was no uniformity in carving out the wards and population criteria were ignored.

The AP government has constituted a committee to check the schedule and itinerary of the proposed Beach Love Festival that has drawn ire from women welfare organisations across the Vizag city. The festival has been proposed to be held from February 12 to 14. However, women activists are opposing the proposal as it would destroy cultural values of the youth. “Encouraging such kind of events in the name of promotion of tourism across the globe is not good for society. We should plan programmes according to the local conditions and traditions. The government should never encourage such events. We will soon plan a massive action plan by bringing together all women activists in the city to fight against the event,” RN Madhavi, Secretary of Greater Visakhapatnam City Committee of All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA), said.

As per the State Election Commissions draft proposals, most of the new wards are proposed in the merged areas where the population has swelled during past one decade while there is no significant change in demographic character in the wards in old Shimla. The number of wards is likely to increase from 10 to 18 or 19 in the areas under Shimla Rural and Kusumpti Assembly constituencies under SMC while one or two wards may be created in Old MC areas. At present there is glaring variation in population of wards, with some of the wards like Chhota Shimla and Patyog having population of 15,399 and 12,029.

85% houses on Yamuna floodplains worth razing: NGT

Delhi: The National Green Tribunal today hit out at the Uttar Pradesh government and public authorities in Agra for “improper” demarcation of Yamuna floodplains and fixation of pillars, saying that 85 per cent of the buildings on the riverbed were liable to be demolished. A bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar directed the lawyer appearing for UP government to take clear instructions whether they would like to demarcate

the floodplains afresh or not. “Local commissioner’s report has found severe violations in functioning of government departments in Agra as there is improper demarcation of floodplains. According to the report there appears to be malafide in measuring the distance of various real estate projects from the flood plains of river Yamuna in Agra. Contrary to claims, 85 per cent of buildings on Yamuna floodplains are liable to be demolished,” the bench observed. The tribunal asked various real estate developers and other parties in the case to file their replies on the local commissioner’s report within two weeks. The bench was hearing a plea filed by Agra resident D K Joshi, who passed away recently. The plea had alleged that many buildings have been built right in the flood plain and even in the river itself.

GAC report on Manipur pollution control released Manipur Pollution Control Board (MPCB) did not take proactive steps, according to the latest report of Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG). “Schemes/Project implementation was not a priority as indicated by financial resource allocation of only 19% of the total expenditure of the Board for it,” says the Accountant General Dr Jay Shankar. “The Board (MPCB) failed in its role as the custodian for identification, prevention, control and abatement of pollution as basic functions like monitoring of water quality, air pollution, treatment of effluent etc were either not taken up or efforts were inadequate.”

www.urbanupdate.in | November 2016

COVER STORY | New Urban Agenda

New Urban Agenda

invokes renewed thinking on cities

22 November 2016 | www.urbanupdate.in

Cities need to reject the defeatist view like ‘nothing can be done’ to resurrect themselves from the rubble of problems. Challenges abound, so are opportunities and solutions. Local bodies and city leaders need to be empowered financially and otherwise to ensure they can fight and resolve problems their citizens face in daily lives. The recently adopted New Urban Agenda (NUA) has given cities a basic conceptual framework to follow to set the right direction of urban development

Abhishek Pandey | Editor ap.urbanupdate@gmail.com

rom Barcelona to Bareilly, cities are facing plenteous problems emanating from unplanned urbanisation trends. The scale of problems may vary as the city management systems differ from one city to another. But a common thread connects them all. Uncontrolled urbanisation trends, dwindling natural resources and negative impacts of development on urban ecosystem is starkly visible everywhere. New cities are coming up; existing ones are getting over crowded; urban services are already overstrained with no respite in sight, and no ‘one size fits all’ solution seems to be working. Cities represent a colossal system that consists of numerous sub-systems. And, each of them needs a fix to overhaul the complete mechanism that can enable governments to achieve the objectives as announced in the recently held Habitat III conference in Quito. It is important to mention that the Habitat III conference is the first Habitat conference to occur when the world population is majorly urban. To set the right course of development for cities that addresses the problems

cities are facing today, UN Habitat held Habitat III conference in Quito, Ecuador from October 17-21. The New Urban Agenda has been adopted at the conference; also known as Quito Declaration on Sustainable Cities. The 168-point Agenda was adopted unanimously. People, governments and civil society organisations have contributed to the Agenda that was prepared after discussing issues related to the futures of cities. The discussion was largely on upcoming challenges in the quest for a better urban future. Considering the viewpoints from science, NGOs, industry and civic organizations, the Agenda has been drafted to address most of the pressing challenges and inequality issues and augment the implementation of Sustainable Development Goals envisioned by the United Nations. All the value-pillars in each declaration will decide the route of development cities will take and also direct cities how they will shape their future sustainably. Governments and civil society organisations have praised the Agenda for promoting certain values and principles required to build better cities.

www.urbanupdate.in | November 2016

COVER STORY | New Urban Agenda

We, Heads of State and Government, ministers and High Representatives, have gathered at the United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development (Habitat III) from 17 to 20 October 2016 in Quito, with the participation of sub-national and local governments, parliamentarians, civil society, indigenous peoples and local communities, the private sector, professionals and practitioners, the scientific and academic community, and other relevant stakeholders, to adopt a New Urban Agenda. Key Declaration Points of New Urban Agenda

♦♦ By 2050, the world’s urban population is expected to nearly double, making urbanization one of the twenty-first century’s most transformative trends. Populations, economic activities, social and cultural interactions, as well as environmental and humanitarian impacts are increasingly concentrated in cities, and this poses massive sustainability challenges in terms of housing, infrastructure, basic services, food security, health, education, decent jobs, safety and natural resources, among others. ♦♦ By readdressing the way cities and human settlements are planned, designed, financed, developed, governed and managed, the New Urban Agenda will help to end poverty and hunger in all its forms and dimensions; reduce inequalities; promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth; achieve gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls in order to fully harness their vital contribution to sustainable development; improve human health and well-being; foster resilience; and protect the environment. ♦♦ The New Urban Agenda reaffirms our global commitment to sustainable urban development as a critical step for realizing sustainable development in an integrated and coordinated manner at the global, regional, national,

24 November 2016 | www.urbanupdate.in

sub-national and local levels, with the participation of all relevant actors. The implementation of the New Urban Agenda contributes to the implementation and localisation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in an integrated manner, and to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals and targets, including Goal 11 of making cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable. ♦♦ We aim to achieve cities and human settlements where all persons are able to enjoy equal rights and opportunities, as well as their fundamental freedoms, guided by the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations, including full respect for international law. In this regard, the New Urban Agenda is grounded in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, international human rights treaties, the Millennium Declaration and the 2005 World Summit Outcome. It is informed by other instruments such as the Declaration on the Right to Development. ♦♦ We adopt this New Urban Agenda as a collective vision and political commitment to promote and realize sustainable urban development, and as a historic opportunity to leverage the key role of cities and human settlements as drivers of sustainable development in an increasingly urbanised world. ♦♦ We commit ourselves to promoting

safe, inclusive, accessible, green and quality public spaces, including streets, sidewalks and cycling lanes, squares, waterfront areas, gardens and parks, that are multifunctional areas for social interaction and inclusion, human health and well-being, economic exchange, and cultural expression and dialogue among a wide diversity of people and cultures, and that are designed and managed to ensure human development and build peaceful, inclusive and participatory societies, as well as to promote living together, connectivity and social inclusion. ♦♦ We commit ourselves to facilitating the sustainable management of natural resources in cities and human settlements in a manner that protects and improves the urban ecosystem and environmental services, reduces greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution, and promotes disaster risk reduction and management, by supporting the development of disaster risk reduction strategies and periodical assessments of disaster risk caused by natural and human-made hazards, standards for risk levels, while fostering sustainable economic development and ensuring quality of life through environmentally sound urban and territorial planning, infrastructure and basic services. ♦♦ We will support local governments in determining their own administrative and management structures, in line with national

legislation and policies, as appropriate, in order to adapt to local needs. We will encourage appropriate regulatory frameworks and support to local governments in partnering with communities, civil society and the private sector to develop and manage basic services and infrastructure, ensuring that the public interest is preserved and concise goals, responsibilities and accountability mechanisms are clearly defined ♦♦ We will support science, research and innovation, including a focus on social, technological, digital and nature-based innovation, robust sciencepolicy interfaces in urban and territorial planning and policy formulation and institutionalised mechanisms for sharing and exchanging information, knowledge and expertise, including the collection, analysis, standardisation and dissemination of geographically based, community-collected, high-quality, timely and reliable data disaggregated by income, sex, age, race, ethnicity, migration status, disability, geographic location and other characteristics relevant in national, subnational and local contexts. ♦♦ We will foster the creation, promotion and enhancement of open, user-friendly and participatory data platforms using technological and social tools available to transfer and share knowledge among national, subnational and local governments and relevant stakeholders, including nonState actors and people, to enhance effective urban planning and management, efficiency and transparency through e-governance, approaches assisted by information and communications technologies, and geospatial information management.

Historical significance

When we look back at the history of Habitat I that was called Global Cities Summit back in 1976, the third edition has evolved in terms of significance and enormity of its role. The first general principle in the Habitat I outcome was: “The improvement of the quality of life of human beings is the first and most important objective of every human settlement policy. These policies must facilitate the rapid and continuous improvement in the quality of life of all people, beginning with the basic needs of food, shelter, clean water, employment, health, education, training, social security without any discrimination as to race, colour, sex, language, religion, national or social origin or other cause, in a frame of freedom, dignity and social justice.” The Vancouver conference also talked about giving adequate importance to rural areas while planning. The participants in the debate on urbanisationor human settlements were limited back then. Even major stakeholders like urban local bodies had limited or no role. The main priority in Habitat I was national government and the role of urban local bodies was limited to implementing the policies and projects envisioned by the national or state governments. They had little role in policy making. Realising that the formal process cannot be successful unless local players and all stakeholders are engaged, civil society groups and representatives of local bodies were engaged in the Habitat II that took place in 1996 in Istanbul. One of the key declaration points of Istanbul Declaration or Habitat II declaration in 1996 was: “To improve the quality of life within human settlements, we must combat the deterioration of conditions that in most cases, particularly in developing countries, have reached crisis proportions. To this end, we must address comprehensively, inter alia, unsustainable consumption and production patterns, particularly in industrialized countries; unsustainable population changes, including changes in structure and distribution,

giving priority consideration to the tendency towards excessive population concentration; homelessness; increasing poverty; unemployment; social exclusion; family instability; inadequate resources; lack of basic infrastructure and services; lack of adequate planning; growing insecurity and violence; environmental degradation; and increased vulnerability to disasters.” The conference also highlighted the significance of region specific solutions to address particular problems. It also talked about building cities as “places where human beings lead fulfilling lives in dignity, good health, safety, happiness and hope.” The outcomes and declarations of the first two conferences signify that the problems in human settlements were similar even in those times but the scale of the problems has become bigger now. Migration of people to cities poses challenges for sustainable development goals related to inequalities, social and economic exclusion and environmental degradation. Yet cities being hubs of technological innovation, economic and industrial activities offer opportunities for economic growth, social and cultural development, and environmental protection. From the internet to proposed new modes of mobility and energy sources and distribution, sustainable urban development can be supported by new technological innovations and collaborations between stakeholders. Many of these opportunities are embodied in the socalled “smart city”. Many principles now outlined in the Agenda address urbanisation challenges and suggest solutions through planning, design, finance, development, governance and management mechanisms as guided by the New Urban Agenda.

Follow the writer on Twitter @abhishekpandey

www.urbanupdate.in | November 2016

Leaderspeak | Sustainable Living

Ranjit S Chavan President, AIILSG

ustainable consumption and production has been at the centre of discussion in promoting development on the right trajectory. The concept of sustainable consumption is not new. Indian ethos has always promoted frugal and sustainable consumption. Cultural and religious believes in India have supported the concept in many ways. Underlining the fact, in the recent climate conference COP22 in Marrakech, India has cited Mahatma Gandhi’s ideal and underlined the significance of “sustainable consumption and production patterns” for healthy urban future, saving environment and preserving fast depleting natural resources. Developed nations must support the developing

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countries like India and many others by sharing technology and extending financial support to build a green growth model also takes care of climate change concerns.

Sustainable living

The recently released documentary film by celebrated Hollywood actor and climate crusader Leonardo DiCaprio raises many issues related to climate change and environmental degradation across the globe. In the film, he has interacted with many renowned political leaders and celebrities including US President Barrack Obama, Pope Francis, India-based environmentalist Sunita Narain, Kiribati President Anote Tong, United States Secretary of State John Kerry, Canadian entrepreneur Elon Musk, Mexican film director Alejandro Inarritu,

astronaut Piers Sellers and sustainability expert Johan Rockström. DiCaprio’s interaction with the Indian environmentalist focuses on over-consumption pattern of citizens of the USA while poor countries are told to embrace renewable energy. She insists: “Your consumption is going to really put a hole in the planet. We need to put the issue of lifestyle and consumption at the center of climate negotiations.” In the documentary, Narain is left shaking her head as DiCaprio argues ruefully that Americans will probably never accept a change to their “standard of living”, a concept that is unavoidably linked to consumption. It is expected of developed nations to set an example by bringing change in the consumption patterns and

adoption of sustainable lifestyle among their citizens. Experts have suggested that sustainable consumption doesn’t mean a lower standard of living, just a higher level of intentionality about more sustainable products, systems and services. There have been a couple of initiatives by multi- national companies to promote sustainable products among people. These companies are reducing emissions, improving efficiency, saving water and eliminating packaging material and waste. According to findings and predictions from research agencies, global population would reach 9.6 billion by 2050. And, the equivalent of almost three planets could be required to provide the natural resources needed to sustain current lifestyles. For example, if people worldwide switched to energy efficient light bulbs the world would save US$120 billion annually. If we turn our focus on existing water resources, the data suggests that less than 3 per cent of the world’s water is fresh (drinkable), of which 2.5 per cent is frozen in the Antarctica, Arctic and glaciers. Humanity must therefore rely on 0.5 per cent for all of man’s ecosystems and fresh water needs. This is worrying because humans are polluting water faster than nature can recycle and purify water in rivers and lakes.

Global initiatives

The Rio Earth Summit (1992) identified for the first time ‘unsustainable patterns of consumption and production’ as the major cause of the continued deterioration of the global environment. The Johannesburg Summit (2002) called for the development of a global framework in support of national and regional initiatives to accelerate the shift towards sustainable consumption and production. The 10- Year Framework of Programmes on Sustainable Consumption and Production Patterns (10YFP), developed through consultative process, was adopted at the Rio+20 Summit (2012). The five initial programmes under 10YFP include— consumer information; sustainable lifestyles and education; sustainable public procurement; sustainable buildings and construction; and sustainable tourism, including ecotourism. The Paris Climate Agreement (2016) recognized that sustainable lifestyles and sustainable patterns of consumption and production will play an important role in addressing climate change and that developed countries have to take the lead in this direction. Habitat III, the conference that is held once in every 20 years, gathers governments, urban stakeholders, local authorities, civil societies, the

private sector and academic institutions, and has as an objective: a discussion on the challenges of urbanisation on a global scale, while trying to offer solutions and ways to implement the SDG. One of the declarations adopted in the Summit reads: “We recognize that cities and human settlements face unprecedented threats from unsustainable consumption and production patterns, loss of biodiversity, pressure on ecosystems, pollution, natural and human-made disasters, and climate change and its related risks, undermining the efforts to end poverty in all its forms and dimensions and to achieve sustainable development. Given cities’ demographic trends and their central role in the global economy, in the mitigation and adaptation efforts related to climate change, and in the use of resources and ecosystems, the way they are planned, financed, developed, built, governed and managed has a direct impact on sustainability and resilience well beyond urban boundaries.” This underlines the importance of cities in promoting sustainable consumption and production. Since more and more people are moving to cities, it becomes the responsibility of city leaders to encourage the urban dweller to adopt sustainable life style and use natural resources optimally and play their role in building a sustainable future.

www.urbanupdate.in | November 2016

Numerographs

CITIES VISUALISED Urban complexity is contributed largely by poor city planning and lack of data analysis which amounts to the further problems. For a better understanding, data visualisation is an important tool. It works as an analyser, explorer and communication resource between the core conditions of the cities and the decision makers. This concept is useful for improvising the conditions as well as enhancing the transparency. Visualising Cities headed for an open call submissions of the best visualisation created by designers, researchers and practitioners around the world. The Habitat III Visualizing Cities competition attracted over 100 submissions from around the world. The five entries selected as CityVis winners were just announced in Quito at the Habitat III Compiled By Arzoo Arora, Editorial Assistant Designed By Meenakshi Rajput, Graphic Designer

Five Winning Entries are:

1. Inclusive Maps Area: Urban Development Team: Ute Benz, Sylvia Kautz, Sebastian Rauer 1.

2015, University of Applied Sciences Potsdam

In our system, maps are generally designed for all, which means it does not, caters any array. The team believes to have such inclusive map which inculcates specific needs. The project illustrates that every map is specific and no map is universally useful. For proving this approach appropriately the team has come up with some real examples and a reference system for designs. The reference system will be useful for cities with cultural diversity.

2. Chennai Flood Map

Area: Civic Team: Arun Ganesh, Sajjad Anwar, Sanjay Bhangar, Prasanna Loganathar, Aruna Sankaranarayanan

India: During the monsoon of 2015, Chennai suffered heavy rainfall and an estimated economic loss of $3 billion. Driven by the need for the information, a small group of open source activists launched a mobile friendly app to crowd source the location of affected roads. During the 2 week course of the rainfall, the tool had over 1 million views and collected over 15,000 reports of inundated street segments.

28 November 2016 | www.urbanupdate.in

2. Chennai Flood Map

2015, OpenStreetMap India

3. Conflict Urbanism: Colombia

4. London Data Streams Area: Culture Team: Jacopo Hirschstein, Amanda Taylor (Tekja Data Visualisation)

Through exploration of sentiment analysis on twitter posts and Instagram, the map aims to provide a real-time experience of people’s notions in London city. The realisation of stories from huge data analysis provides an overview of city for the city decision makers. The London Situation room was exhibited at the Big Bang Data Exhibition. 4. London Data Streams

2016, Columbia University

Area: Migration Team: Laura Kurgan, Juan Francisco Saldarriaga, Dare Brawley, Anjali Singhvi (Center for Spatial Research, Columbia University)

The inevitable migration of people to urban areas is a major resultant of socio-political battles at some places. This map represents the internal displacements of people during Colombian conflicts. It resulted into massive urbanisation from year 1985 to 2015. Each line’s thickness represents the density of displaced people, where white marks and orange marks represent origin and destinations respectively. Zooming in and out will highlight specific events and their consequences.

2015, Tekja Data Visualisation

5. Visualizing The Racial Divide Area: Journalistic Team: Jim Vallandingham (Bocoup)

With the help of 2010 Census, racial divide in 14 U.S. cities is represented in “Visualizing the Racial Divide” which gives viewer a provoking impact. Based on differing proportions of white and black populations, shapes representing the urban districts are gradually pushed away from each other in the map. This project only offers a limited view of urban inequalities, but is still a powerful reminder of the realities of the unevenness of city population distributions.

5. Visualizing The Racial Divide Source: cityvis.io

3. Conflict Urbanism: Colombia

2012, Bocoup

www.urbanupdate.in | November 2016

Article | New Urban Agenda

New Urban Agenda; jobs for all, equality crucial The New Urban Agenda adopted at the Habitat-III in Quito last month is a visionary, concise, forward looking, actionable document which will guide national, sub-national and local governments during the next two decades in building better habitats for the world population

V Vijaykumar Sr Advisor, AIILSG v.vijaykumar@aiilsg.org

30 November 2016 | www.urbanupdate.in

t aims to ‘readdress the way we plan, finance, develop, govern and manage cities and human settlements…’. The document strives and commits to work towards inclusive, sustainable cities with rights for all to a safe and prosperous life. It realises that as a means to this end, all need to have adequate, regular incomes. This realisation is reflected in a number of points and sub-points across the document. For example, under ‘Our principles and commitments’ at serial no. 14 (b) it says “…by promoting full and productive employment and decent work for all by ensuring the creation of decent jobs and equal access for all to

economic and productive resources and opportunities…”. This commitment, while indeed laudable, may prove the greatest challenge because while it is central to the theme of equity, inclusion and sustainability, the economic forces of the free world are loaded against it. The challenge is starker in the context of the developing countries where poverty and inequalities are grinding and widely prevalent. It is not because this objective is not well chosen or articulated, or because we are incapable of working towards it. It is simply because new forces of technology and digitisation are pulling in the opposite direction. Jobs for all is a crucial narrative receiving sharper focus in view of the demographic dynamic of our population. With about 50% of the country’s population below the age of 25 and nearly 65% below 35 there is an urgent need to effectively harness the energies of this vast population. They need jobs and incomes. Let’s look at the macro trends. India’s share of agriculture in the GDP (15%) and in employment (61%) remains higher than world averages but continues to decline, displacing many farm and farm-related jobs.Globally, the share of agriculture in the economy fell from 6.4% in 1995 to 3.0% in 2010. Its share in employment fell, while still very high, from 41.8% to 33.1%. In India, government is pushing

manufacturing through initiatives such as ‘Make in India’. Organised manufacturing however is now being overwhelmed by a huge technological onslaught which hinges on automation of processes on the shopfloor. Robots are increasingly taking over repetitive, precision operations and the trend will continue. Nearly 1.5 million such robots are estimated to have been deployed in 2015 worldwide. As per a May 2016 BBC News report a large electronics assembler replaced 60000 workers by robots in its China factory. Digital transformation, calls for rapidly enhancing productivity and cost-cutting imperatives in an ever competitive market place are resulting in a race to the bottom as far as lowering production costs is concerned. Manufacturing, it seems presents few prospects for absorbing workforce in large numbers. What about services? World over and in India, the share of services in manufacturing and employment is the highest. But what are the prospects for employment? In the case of banking, rapid technological advances-internet banking and the proliferation of ATMs means fewer branches (and therefore fewer employees) will be required. Large numbers of accountants who filled out our tax returns are no more required, thanks to many apps in the digital marketplace. Net enabled distance learning and online computer

based testing in exams can over time get rid of many teaching jobs. Policy makers chase economic growth in order to provide jobs and livelihoods to the struggling millions. But what is the reality? Sidharth Birla former President of FICCI writing in the Hindu Business Line says, “despite the economy growing at a good pace, employment seems to have grown meagerly, at 4.1% and 0.3% in FY 14 and FY 15…core sectors had negative employment growth in FY 15.” So economic growth seems no guarantee for more jobs. Another well-meaning objective of the NUA is inclusive development where the benefits and opportunities are shared by all equitably thus reducing inequalities. But what is the reality? Digitisation and technological advances are resulting in an increasing gap or disparity among various classes of citizens; in income, wealth and other determinants of well-being. In simple terms, the rich are getting richer. The poor may or may not be getting poorer. A very recent Credit Suisse Report quoted in Live Mint says that in 2016, the top 1% of India’s population has 58.4% of the country’s wealth up from 53% last year. In 2000 the top 1% had just 36.8% of the wealth. Globally too, China’s top 1% account for 43.8% of wealth and in Russia a whopping 74.5%. Why? Take the example of the tax filing app. The entire income

from this activity is now acquired by the developer/s of the app and his few employees rather than the thousands of accountants. In this manner, technology is redistributing income and wealth and enriching a few (app developer) in place of several thousands (accountants). In other cases, new technologies may re-distribute wealth from one set market participants to others; for example in the e-commerce space, brick and mortar retailers may lose out to logistics providers. Some say that technology, innovation and productivity gains have ensured that all are better off. Households spend a smaller proportion of income on essentials like food, clothing, footwear and gadgets than before and hence are better off. So what if the rich are much better off? However, one needs to consider that other vital needs like education, entertainment and healthcare are far more expensive now. Housing is the most glaring example of a vital need gone out of the reach of many. Disruptive technological advances driven by entrepreneurship, innovation and emerging opportunities will be sustained and relentless. A Deloitte report London Futures on the subject argues “A widening gap between ‘haves’ and ‘have-nots’ is also a risk as lower skill jobs continue to disappear…Deloitte has called for the appointment of a city-level Chief Talent Officer to coordinate a strategic response.” It further adds “Looking forward, agility seems to be the key; an agile workforce with the skills to adapt to fast-changing job requirements.” Policy makers need to ensure sustained and sharper focus on education and skilling/re-skilling, using contemporary methods and content so that large populations remain relevant and employable. Innovation and complex problem-solving and higher level skills are to be imbibed. Adequate and well targeted allocations for basic services like affordable housing and healthcare in addition to education will protect vulnerable sections in times of stress. These and more proactive measures will help realise the vision of the New Urban Agenda and the SDGs.

www.urbanupdate.in | November 2016

Events | 9th Urban Mobility India

To discuss the cause of atmospheric pollution and congestion in urban areas, the fourday long Urban Mobility India Conference and Expo took place in Gandhinagar, Gujarat from November 8, 2016 to November 12, 2016. After eight UMI conferences held in Delhi since 2008, this was the first time UMI conference took place outside Delhi. About 2500 delegates from India and 25 from foreign countries participated in the conference and discussed various aspects of the theme â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Planning Mobility for Cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Sustainabilityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Team Urban Update

andhinagar: Minister of Urban Development, Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation and Information & Broadcasting M Venkaiah Naidu inaugurated the Urban Mobility India conference in Gandhinagar, Gujarat. The Conference aimed at enhancing the knowledge of state and city governments on various aspects of low carbon climate friendly urban transport and the other issues discussed were: improving city bus service, financing metro systems, multi-modal Transport solutions, Intelligent Transport

Systems (ITS) for smart mobility, road safety, smart urban mobility planning, ensuring access for common man to urban transport, smart mobility solutions in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, etc. After inaugurating the conference Naidu spoke on the inadequate & inefficient public transport infrastructure. He said that the new initiatives under consideration include Green Urban Transport Scheme, new Metro Rail Policy, revision of Metro Acts and Standardisation and Indigenisation of Metro systems, aimed at increased private sector participation.

Indian cities envision sustainable mobility

32 November 2016 | www.urbanupdate.in

The Minister informed that the Green Urban Transport Scheme seeks to encourage growth of urban transport along low carbon path for substantial and measurable reduction in pollution, provide a permanent and sustainable framework for funding urban mobility projects at National, State and City level with minimum recourse to budgetary support by encouraging innovative financing of projects. Under this Scheme, provision of non-motorised Transport infrastructure, increasing access to public transport, use of clean technologies, adoption of Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) and private

sector participation in urban transport projects will be increased. He said this scheme is being considered for implementation in cities each with a population of five lakhs and above and all capital cities, central assistance of about Rs.25,000 crore is estimated to be required which would in turn trigger private investments to meet the resource needs, over the next five years. Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel, Minister of State for urban Development Shankar Chaudhari and Minister of State for Urban Housing Vallabh Vaghasiya also attended the inaugural session. Rupani addressed the gathering by highlighting the problems, issues and programmes of urban transport in Gujarat which are in line with the national perspective. Gujarat being a highly urbanised State, has taken up urban transport programmes on large scale to strengthen and upgrade the transport infrastructure in cities. A Keynote Address was delivered by Chang Woon Lee, President Korea Transport Institute (KOTI) highlighting the latest innovations in terms of ICT advancement and its applications in urban transport operation and management in Korea which could be considered in planning and operation of public transport system in Indian cities. Earlier in his welcome address Rajiv Gauba, Secretary, Ministry of Urban Development, highlighted the significance of Urban Mobility India Conference. He said that the importance of this year’s theme on “Planning Mobility for City’s Sustainability” assumes greater importance when the Ministry is in the midst of implementing Smart City and AMRUT programmes. Naidu said that in view of the growing demand for metro rail systems in urban areas, a new Metro Policy would soon be unveiled to meet the demand through increased private sector participation. This Policy mandates preparation of Comprehensive Mobility Plans of cities mandatory to ensure last mile connectivity with metro

stations. It also seeks to bring in more innovative models of implementation besides increased standardisation and indigenization to induce competition. The Minister said new Metro policy seeks to ensure integration of metro projects with overall mobility needs in urban areas. He informed that the Central government has so far provided an assistance of over Rs 65,000 crore including sovereign debt to metro projects in different cities of the country. As of now, 325 kms of metro rail is in operation in Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru, Mumbai and Jaipur. About 517 kms of metro rail projects are under execution and another 449 kms under planning stage, the Minister informed. The Minister said that the existing two Metro Acts made in the context of Kolkata and Delhi Metros are being integrated envisaging more delegation of powers to State Governments besides promoting PPP and private initiatives. Stressing on the need for holistic planning to improve the city’s mobility, liveability and sustainability, Naidu said: “Urban transport planning shall be people centric and aim at moving people instead of moving cars. All sections of people shall be ensured access to efficient public transport through inclusive planning.” Expressing concern over one road accident every minute and one accident death every four minutes in urban areas and half of the victims being pedestrians, cyclists and those using two wheelers, Naidu called for affordable, comfortable, reliable and safe public transport to reduce demand for private motorized vehicles. He stressed on the need for promotion of non-motorised Transport infrastructure for encouraging walking and cycling. NMT as a viable alternative mode of mobility would be effective if there is a close relationship between work and living place, he noted and called for proper land use zoning, development control and building regulations to ensure success of public transport system in cities.

Expressing concern over one road accident every minute and one accident death every four minutes in urban areas and half of the victims being pedestrians, cyclists and those using two wheelers, Naidu called for affordable, comfortable, reliable and safe public transport to reduce demand for private motorized vehicles. He stressed on the need for promotion of Non-Motorised Transport infrastructure for encouraging walking and cycling

The Minister stated that under new urban sector initiatives of Smart Cities Mission and Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT), Non-Motorised Transport is being encouraged on a large scale.

Outcomes

Expressing serious concern over growing inequity in sharing of public spaces in urban areas and declining share of public transport, all the stakeholders who attended the Conference recommended restoration of the first right of pedestrians to use road spaces besides speedy promotion of Non-Motorised Transport infrastructure like footpaths, walkways and cycle ways. Rejecting the myth that people don’t like to travel by bus, the Conference called for provision of efficient and comfortable bus services including inter-city services connecting satellite towns. In view of the poor record of only few cities having formulated Comprehensive Mobility Plans, the

www.urbanupdate.in | November 2016

Events | 9th Urban Mobility India

UD Ministry awards cities for best projects in mobility

rban Development ministry awarded the urban transport initiatives with Awards of Excellence to the eight cities in five states (Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan). A total of 33 entries were received. Ministry declared Surat as the Best in Integrated Mass Transit. Indore was awarded for handling Simhastha traffic while Dharwad-Hubli (Karnataka) got Best City Bus Service Award. Gandhinagar & Karnal commended for Cycle Sharing initiatives. Gangtok and Jabalpur commended for Intelligent Transport Systems initiatives and the Union Territory of Chandigarh for ‘Best’ and ‘Commendable’ initiatives towards promotion of public transport, Non-Motorised Transport and Road Safety. These Awards for ‘Best’ and ‘Commendable Initiatives’ for urban transport projects was presented by the Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Planning and Minister of State for Urban Development and Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation Rao Inderjit Singh on the last day of the Urban Mobility Conference in Gandhinagar. Singh expressed his concerns over the unprecedented atmospheric pollution in Delhi and said, “Delhi should be taken as a serious warning to the future of urban India and all concerned should wake up in time not to meet the same fate. “Aspirational India does not have the luxury of time and needs to quickly fix the problems in urban areas to enable country’s transformation to realise its potential. Urban mobility decides how our cities will grow and thrive as effective engines of economic growth.”

34 November 2016 | www.urbanupdate.in

various concerns, which would serve as inputs for further policy, planning and implementation initiatives. Aspirational India does not have the luxury of time and needs to quickly fix the problems in urban areas to enable country’s transformation to realise its potential. Urban mobility decides how our cities will grow and thrive as effective engines of economic growth Rao Inderjit Singh MoS (I/C) for Ministry of Planning, MoS for Urban Development and Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation

He said that during the four day Conference all stakeholders including policy makers and officials from State and city governments including Mayors and Municipal Councilors, experts, academia, students and others intensely deliberated on various aspects of urban mobility challenges and have come out with common positions on

Best City Bus Service, Dharwad (NWKRTC)

The North West Karnataka Road Transport Corporation (NWKRTC) has been the pioneer in providing need based transport services to the common public. The city service project submitted for the award is one amongst them. In modern times, especially changed economic scenario after India signed the GATT agreement, the growth of urban centers became enormous. This has led to the pressure on the existing urban infrastructure. NWKRTC addressed this problem with a different perspective. Urbanisation means not migration of the people to urban centers but providing the services available in urban areas to the two tier cities & villages located in the urban agglomeration. Sustainability of the transport operation is a big challenge because of the nature of business. The vehicle and bus stations constitute the important public transport infrastructure. The onetime capital invested in it, will yield result for a long period. NWKRTC conducted a survey to

City

Awards

Surat Indore Dharwad-Hubli Gandhinagar & Karnal Chandigarh

Best in Integrated Mass Transit Admired for handling Simhastha traffic Best City Bus Service Award Cycle Sharing initiatives ‘Best’ and ‘Commendable’ initiatives towards promotion of public transport, Non-Motorised Transport and Road Safety Commended for Intelligent Transport Systems initiatives

Gangtok and Jabalpur

identify the two tier cities which have the potential to become the commercial and economic hubs and planned to introduce the city services in these areas. Thereby these cities can absorb the pressure on the urban centers. Most of these cities are District head quarters / in the list of to be declared district HQs. The city services operation was started with the assistance of Government of Karnataka and Government of India under the Sustainable Urban Transport Fund (SUTF) & Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewable Mission (JnNURM) scheme respectively. 48 buses are in operation under SUTF. Knowing the result of the scheme, the Government of India sanctioned 280 buses with 80% funding under JnNURM scheme. Now 69 buses have been deployed in the city operation and remaining are scheduled to be deployed by 31st March 2017. This delay is due to deployment of India Norm IV vehicles at urban centers in order to conserve the environment. The construction of one city bus depot under this scheme helped to improve the maintenance of vehicles and reduced the breakdown rate. The project has brought about a revolutionary change in the standard of living of the people living in the area through easy accessibility to health and urban facilities. The labour can easily move to the nearby cities to work for their livelihood. The girl child can continue higher education with the availability of city connectivity. This project has good features to be emulated elsewhere in two-tier cities near the capital centers. The Awards Selection Committee selected this out of 7 entries as an award winner based on the excellent initiative for connecting twin towns (Hubli and Dharwad) by city bus services and also by connecting economic nodes, in the process creating a sustainable public transport system.

Conference suggested mandatory preparation of CMPs to ensure optimal use of all modes of transport based on peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s choices and city needs. Financing of metro projects may be considered only after comprehensive evaluation of other alternatives and metro fares need to be revised every year. Metro projects need to be looked at as urban transformation projects rather than merely as transport interventions, given the impact of metros on socio-economic transformation of urban landscape. Effective Multi Modal Integration has been called for to incentivise people to shift to public transport including regulation of Intermediate Public Transport systems like e-rickshaws. Further to Paris Agreement on Climate Change, city mobility plans need to promote environment friendly transport solutions like walking and

cycling, electric and hybrid vehicles, use of clean fuels including bio-fuels. Stating that there is a vast potential for private investment in urban mobility projects, the Conference underscored the need to create an enabling environment for more effective use of PPP (Public Private Partnership) as a tool of resource mobilization by enabling risk sharing as against the present scenario of only the private investor bearing all risks. Taking serious note of chaotic mobility scenario in large cities, the Conference has strongly advocated attention to be focused on transport issues in small and medium cities so as to prevent the situation from getting out of hand as they expand. Rao Inderjit Singh announced that the 10th UMI Conference and Expo will be held in Hyderabad during 4-6, November 2017.

www.urbanupdate.in | November 2016

Article | Pet Waste

Pet-ty Issue? The Brihanmumbai Mahanagar Palika initiated a fine of Rs 500 on the pet owners who fail to clean the excreta of their pets while walking them on the city’s iconic Marine Drive promenade. Though this fine is applicable only on the beautiful tourist spot of Mumbai, it might even start being imposed all over India given the initiatives like Swachh Bharat Mission

36 November 2016 | www.urbanupdate.in

Poorva Chhatre Comunication Assistant, AIILSG pchhatre.aiilsg@gmail.com

his rule has got mixed reactions from citizens. Some pet owners have warmly accepted the decision. Others think that in a country where even people defecate in the open, it is not the duty of the pet owner to clean up behind their pets. This is not the first time that an Indian city has addressed this ‘pickingup’ problem. In fact, this issue has seen some rantings by the pet owners from around India. In 2015, there was a case in Delhi when a meagre fight over dog poop turned into a rampage and injured an innocent citizen. Concern: The beautiful promenade of the city has a huge tourist value, hence keeping it clean is an important task. Besides, the pet waste contains various bacteria that contaminate water, thus leading to several health hazards for the people. So, as the number of pet owners is on a rise, the pet waste management can be a major concern soon and hence needs to be addressed seriously. Scenes Worldwide: Many countries abroad have realised the importance of pet waste management and are taking steps to curb it. This was first addressed in New York, USA, in the 1970s when the city went bankrupt with no funds

for the sanitation workers to pick up the pet waste. This issue was further aggravated as the city had equal amount of passionate pet lovers and pick-up promoters. After Mayor Ed Koch came into power, he realised the importance of this issue and encouraged inventions like poop scoops and introduced the dog parks concept. Brooklyn treats non-pickers by revealing their identity on social media. In fact, Spain punishes the offenders by mailing them their pet’s waste. Mexico City encourages its pet owners to deposit their pets’ poop and gain free WiFi minutes. While Taipei used to give away lottery tickets in exchange of the pet poop. However, this technique has been discontinued now. Seema Redkar, a former officer on special duty for Solid Waste Management Unit, BMC, says: “The initiative will only be a success when it is supported by the citizens. Brihanmumbai Mahanagar Palika may impose rules, but they will only be abided for a long time if the citizens support the initiative. In India, people often think that it is not their job to clean up behind their pets and hence do not do it. So, it is very important for the people to take such initiatives for keeping our city clean and hygienic.” Besides, this still won’t be a proper solution as India has a substantial population of stray dogs (95,172 in Greater Mumbai as per Mumbai Dog Census Report) and the question of cleaning behind these strays largely remains unanswered. In addition, in tier two cities and small towns, we can even see waste by other domestic animals like cows and buffaloes which the law doesn’t cover.

Demonetisation | Article

Demonetisation Augments Tax Revenue The demonetisation move by the Government of India has proved to be a boon for the financial health of the Urban Local Bodies as within a few days, many municipalities have received huge sum of deposits in their accounts as people paid taxes against service rendered in old Rs 500 and Rs 1000 denomination currency notes Arzoo Arora Editorial Assistant a2.urbanupdate@gmail.com

rime Minister Narendra Modi surprisingly scrapped the highest denomination currency notes on November 8, 2016. This was a heart failing news for the unaccounted wealth owners but the Local bodies are happier than ever. The reason behind it is the acceptance of defunct currency in Municipalities and Municipal Corporations. Within four days time after the scrapping of notes, Municipalities are filling their revenue treasury by allowing payment property tax, water tax and other dues in out of circulation currency notes. Civic Body of Navi Mumbai has collected more than Rs 16 crore since November 9, 2016. As per the data of Brihan mumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), the body has received Rs 49.45 crore till 6pm on November 13, which is the second highest collection in the country. A senior government official from BMC said that citizens are now motivated to pay their taxes. “Most citizens stash a certain amount of cash at home. It is a win-win situation for both of the citizens and the civic body. People should take full advantage of the situation”. Besides that, Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) and KalyanDombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC) were at the first and third position in the list with a collection of Rs 53.13 crore and Rs 24.15 crore respectively. Rs 14.88 crore in taxes are recovered by the Nashik Municipal Corporation (NMC) in just three days after the centre announced withdrawal

of high denomination currency notes. More than 55% was deposited by cash according to the municipality officials. In every financial year, the municipalities collect huge amount in June and July while NovemberDecember used to be a dry period for revenue generation. But this year outstanding increase in tax collection in the middle of the financial year has stunned tax officials. Maharashtra has a long list to be still counting, Cantonment Board of Dehu Road and Khadki have mopped up nearly Rs 27.4 lakh and Rs 10 lakh respectively since November 9. “Maharashtra Government is reaping all the benefits of the Central Government’s decision of demonetisation”, CM Fadnavis told the banks at a meeting to deploy mobile vans across the state for exchange of old notes. He said that the government would support the deployment.

For defaulter’s safety and security!

Not enough! Officials will step into

tax payers’ houses to collect Rs5 lakh or more taxes if they so request. Ulhasnagar Municipal Corporation (UMC) has launched this initiative for the easy collections of the property tax and water bill dues. Till November 14, UMC has netted Rs 17 crore dues. “Such property owners have to just send a message to the Municipal Commissioner and our team will visit the location and collect the dues. A receipt of the amount on the spot will also be given,” he says. Maharashtra ULBs have netted over Rs 650 crore till November 14, 2016. The time period for the collection of taxes with old currency notes has been extended till November 24, 2016. The targets for collection during this period are significantly high at Rs 1000 crore for Maharashtra. People are facing some problems in long serpentine queues outside banks, but demonetisation is boosting the finances of our Urban Local Bodies. Demonetisation may seem unfair for a few; but it is certainly helping support ULBs in their developmental works.

www.urbanupdate.in | November 2016

Article | Inclusivity

AIILSG launches MAMTA movement for disadvantaged populations EQUI-T cell of the All India Institute of Local Self-Government launched the Movement Against Malnutrition with Transformative Actions (MAMTA). The program would address health related issues of the children from disadvantaged populations living in tribal, rural and urban areas and children of nomadic tribes

Shweta Gupta Executive Director, International Center of EQUI-T, AIILSG

IILSG’s ‘International Center of Equity and Inclusion for Transformation’ recently launched its MAMTA Movement at the hands of Capt Anant Modi, Director General of AIILSG. The innovation of MAMTA Movement is developed by Dr Mukesh Kanaskar, Professor & Director- International Center of EQUI-T, AIILSG and the Author Shweta Gupta. Considering the difference between the malnutrition related contexts and issues in urban and tribal & rural areas, two separate streams of movement are initiated which are organically related with each other. ‘MAMTA- Urban’ was launched on October 26, 2016 in the presence of UNICEF delegates from across the globe at ‘Ramnagar’ slum in Thane city-one of the urban slums field action areas of International Center of EQUI-T. ‘MAMTA-Tribal &Rural’ was launched on October 22, 2016 in Kalampada tribal village in Palghar district, a tribal field action area of

38 November 2016 | www.urbanupdate.in

Launch of MAMTA-tribal and rural movement in Palghar District, Maharashtra

International Center of EQUI-T. Apart from its literal meaning, symbolising our affection & sensitivity of AIILSG towards the children from the disadvantaged sections, “MAMTA” also stands for ‘Movement Against Malnutrition with Transformative Actions’. Vision of the MAMTA movement is “Enabling Nutrition for Disadvantaged Children to Ensure their Best Start in Life”. The movement ‘MAMTA’ has a special significance vis-à-vis fulfilment of Goal 2 from the Sustainable Development Goals 2030-vying to end hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition. Genesis of ‘MAMTA’ lies in the precarious malnourishment status of the children in India and many developing countries, especially the children from the disadvantaged sections. The recent ‘Global Hunger Index Report 2016’ by International Food Policy Research Institute pegs India very lowly at 97th rank among 118 developing countries assessed. A staggering 215 mn (15.2%) Indians are undernourished which

is unmatched by the respective total country populations in 209 countries out of total 214 enumerated countries on this earth. A matter of grave concern is that India accounts for the highest number of stunted children in the world (61 million children) representing 33% of the global total of stunted children under the age of five. Child survival and growth is inextricably linked to the nutrition status. The under-5 mortality rate is 4.8% partially reflecting the fatal synergy of inadequate nutrition, unhealthy environments and lack of access to healthcare. There has been a realisation from AIILSG’s International Center of EQUI-T’s hard-core grassroots field actions with more than 1780 disadvantaged children that its social innovations being practiced in field are directly relevant to address this issue of malnutrition. This forms the origin of the movement ‘MAMTA’anchored at AIILSG’s ‘International Center of Equity and Inclusion for Transformation’. To address the malnutrition amongst

disadvantaged children in rural and tribal areas a dedicated movement ‘MAMTA-Tribal & Rural’ was launched at the hands of Capt. Anant Modi, Director General of AIILSG on 22nd October 2016. The movement was aptly inaugurated at our tribal field action area in Kalampada tribal villagein Palghar district with whole hearted participation of the tribal communities. The launch of the movement was anchored by, apart from the Author of this note, the other team members of AIILSG’s International Center of EQUIT: Prof. Dr. Mukesh Kanaskar, Mr. Shriniwas Indapurkar, Program Director, Mr. Gulab Rade, Project Coordinator (of tribal field actions), Ms. Swati Sonawane, Project Manager and the Palghar district tribal development field team. As the configuration & factors associated with this phenomenon differ for Tribal/Rural areas & Urban areas, a dedicated movement ‘MAMTA- Urban’ was inaugurated on October 26, 2016 in the presence of UNICEF delegates from across the globe at one of our field actionslums- ‘Ramnagar’ in Thane city. Both the movements initiated strive to address the core issue of malnutrition amongst disadvantaged populations with special emphasis on improving nutrition status of children. The core strategy of AIILSG’s International Center of EQUI-T’s work is two-fold: undertake community level interventions and bridging the gap between the crucial government health services & the disadvantaged communities. The key innovations fosteredthrough community level interventions are ‘VegetableGardens’ to enable better nutritional statusof children, promoting ‘Basic Health, Hygiene & Nutritional’ practices through creative medium of ‘Street Plays’ & ‘Puppet Shows’; encouraging dietary diversity through consumption of locally grown nutrition rich food. In the context of MAMTA-Tribal & Rural, some of the long term measures include improving Food Security by enhancing crop productivity, cropping intensity, enriching cropping pattern and livestock interventions.

UNICEF officials visit EQUI-T project site

NICEF held its Global Urban Climate Consultation in Mumbai, India from October 24 to October 28, 2016. The consultation aimed at agreeing on a Global Urban Strategic Framework for UNICEF& on a Plan of Implementation on Climate and Environment, and articulating Country and Regional Offices Learning Opportunities for Climate and Environment. As a part of this process, it had organised 3 field visits and sharing of learnings. All India Institute of Local SelfGovernment-International Center of EQUI-T’s work in Ramnagar Slum in Thane city, a part of Mumbai Metropolitan Region, was visited by one of the three groups on October 26, 2016. The slum is located at the base of ‘Mama Bhache’ hill abutting to it at one end making it highly prone to landslides and urban flooding during monsoons every year. From AIILSG, those present included Director General Capt. Anant Modi and Senior Executive Director Ravi Guru. On behalf of AIILSG, the program was anchored by Prof. Dr Mukesh Kanaskar, Director, AIILSG’s International Center of Equity & Inclusion for Transformation;

Shweta Gupta, Executive Director, ICEQUI-T; Shriniwas Indapurkar, Program Director, ICEQUI-T, Swati Sonawane, Project Manager, ICEQUI-T and Ramnagar (Thane) Slum team of ICEQUI-T. The UNICEF visitors to AIILSG’s work included its Disaster Risk Reduction specialists from New York headquarters and India, UNICEF country representatives from various countries, dignitaries from UNICEF New York headquarters e.g. Policy Specialist, Senior Learning Advisor, etc. AIILSG’s keen efforts to mobilise participation of the community, those of the local government and the wide array of stakeholders were highlighted by the local municipal elected representative Asha Kamble during her address. The UNICEF dignitaries interacted with the community and children, and traversed through the lanes & by-lanes of the slum to understand this grassroots effort of AIILSG’s International Center of EQUI-T. Various innovations of AIILSG on education, protection & Disaster Risk Reduction vis-à-vis disadvantaged populations, especially children were elucidated to the UNICEF delegation by the team, the slum dwellers &the participant children.

Launch of MAMTA-urban movement in Thane City, Maharashtra

www.urbanupdate.in | November 2016

Article | Clean India

Indian Railways A Journey towards Swachh Bharat The railways has taken many initiatives to augment the pace and scope of clean India mission and make its operations sustainable HC Kunwar Independent Journalist

ith its green initiatives, Indian Railways is reinforcing its commitment to environmental sustainability and steadily proceed on a greener path. Indian Railways has taken several initiatives which reaffirm its obligation towards minimising the impact of its operations on the environment.

Bio-toilets in trains

In order to contribute to â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Swachh Bharatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; mission launched by Prime

40 November 2016 | www.urbanupdate.in

Minister, Ministry of Railways have taken up a mammoth task of providing human discharge free bio-toilets in all its coaches and this task would be completed by September 2019. With the provision of bio-toilets in all its coaches, discharge of human waste from trains on to the ground would be completely stopped which in turn would help in improving cleanliness and hygiene. Indian Railways have already provided 40,750 bio-toilets in its coaches till middle of this year and in the current financial year, it plans to fit additional 30,000 bio-toilets. After extensive research and field level experimentation, Indian Railways have introduced Bio-toilets in trains that will contribute cleaner, environment friendly and more efficient discharge of human waste. The under slung tanks below the coach toilets have specially developed inoculums which continuously keep on decomposing the waste and regenerate itself. As a result no replenishment of bacteria is required and toilets are totally maintenance free. The technology has been developed jointly by Indian Railways and Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) for railway passenger coaches. This environment friendly, low cost and robust technology is the first of its kind in Railway Systems in the world.

First Green Train Corridor

To mark the beginning of this journey towards ‘Swachh Bharat’, Ministry of Railways recently started 114 Kms long First Green Train Corridor Rameswaram-Manamadurai track, free from human waste discharge from trains. Accordingly, 10 passenger trains consisting of 286 coaches moving over this section have been provided with bio-toilets. After Rameswarm-Manamadurai, Okha-Kanalas Junction (141 Kms), Porbandar-Wansjaliya (34 Kms) and Jammu-Katra (78 Kms) would also be taken up for making them free from human waste discharge from trains. For this around 35 trains consisting of nearly 1110 coaches would be further provided with bio toilets and the work is underway. These sections and stations were chosen, because the number of trains originating and terminating at these stations and sections are few, thus making it operationally easier and faster to make them human-discharge free. In order to carry out efficient disposal of waste, Indian Railways has decided to provide separate dustbins for collections of biodegradable (wet waste) and non-biodegradable (dry waste) on the platforms and all passenger interface areas in A1 & A category stations apart from vending stalls. Indian Railways had already instructed for efficient disposal of waste arising out of pantry car services and static units as also to provide adequate dustbins on platforms. Indian Railways will provide different coloured dustbins and polythene liner bags. Green for bio-degradable and Black for non-biodegradable. In the first phase, Zonal Railways will ensure provision of separate dustbins for segregated collection of garbage at all A1 category stations immediately, followed by ‘A’ category stations on or before the end of this year.

Mass mobilisation on cleanliness

To commemorate the second anniversary of the country’s Swachh Bharat Mission, countrywide mass mobilisation activities were carried out

on cleanliness and for Open Defecation Free communities. In keeping pace with the programme, Indian Railways undertook intensive cleanliness drives on all stations. All stations wore the ceremonial look with posters and banners spelling the message loud and clear to the travelling public that the Railway is their travelling home. Railway officers and staff donned the ceremonial caps interacting with the travelling public and conducting inspections at station premises. Anti-littering slogans were posted at various locations. Dustbins for garbage were provided and awareness programmes were undertaken. All major stations on the Northern Railway were inspected by all levels of hierarchy from top executives and supervisory cadres. A drive on garbage handling and disposal was also undertaken at railway stations, trains and depots. Tree plantation ceremonies were held at various places. Earmarking each day with specific focus area for spruce-up, the cleanliness programme has certain defined themes like Swachh Stations (Clean Stations), Swachh Rail Gaadi (Clean Train), SwachhNeer (Clean Water), SwachhParisar (Clean Complex), SwachhSamarpan (Dedication for ensuring Cleanliness), SwachhAahar (Clean Food) etc. Indian Railways is committed to continue this cleanliness drive on sustained basis. The Indian Railways has been constantly appealing to all rail users to express their solidarity through greater public support and an active public co-operation to make the Railways a place of pride and rail journey a pleasant experience.

Clean energy

A Memorandum of Understanding between Ministry of Railways and Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) to evaluate the Green Initiatives and rate the performance of Industrial Units of Indian Railways which are pursuing environmentally sustainable practices was signed in July this year. CII will extend technical cooperation for various Green initiatives in three Railway’s Industrial

establishments, with an objective to make Indian Railways a leading Government organisation in the field of Environment. Indian Railways envisages sourcing at least 10% of its energy requirements through new and renewable energy sources, achieving 15% enhanced energy through improved energy efficiency in both traction as well as non traction use. Towards this end, solar panels at stations, level crossing gates, are being installed. A 10 MW windmill has been set up at Integral Coach Factory (ICF), Chennai which is expected to earn about 20,000 CERs (Carbon Emission Reduction) per annum. Two more windmill plants of 10.5 MW capacity have been sanctioned for Southern and North Western Railways through Public Private Participation. In addition, new trains introduced in Mumbai suburban section with IGBT based propulsion system have been equipped with regenerative braking features which have recorded energy regeneration while braking to the tune of 35-40% of energy used for hauling these trains. Indian Railways has also brought in annual reduction of 0.14 million tonnes of CO2 emissions through free distribution of 26 million CFLs (4 CFLs per family) to Railway employees in replacement of energy inefficient incandescent lamps. The project is entirely financed with the carbon credits earned under CDM framework.

An alternative fuel: bio-diesel

Bio-diesel is an environment friendly, fuel used to replace petro-diesel. This viable and indigenous alternative to fuel the railways is derived from multi feed stock like fresh and used vegetable oils of both non-edible & edible types, animal fats, grease etc. Indian Railways have decided to use bio-diesel extensively in its diesel locomotives and road vehicles. This environment friendly oil is free from sulphur and does not emit any sulphur dioxide. It combusts releasing little carbon monoxide.

www.urbanupdate.in | November 2016

News FEATURE | Air Pollution in Delhi

cars ran on odd days and even number registered cars on even days. There was hope that this would reduce vehicular traffic but its short period of run didn’t have the desired effect of making people more sensitive to pollution. The penalty of Rs 2000 did serve as a deterrent but ecological consciousness didn’t turn into a norm. The policy failed also because two-wheelers and women were exempted from this rule. A common rule for all that is at least gender neutral, would lead to better results and more breathable air.

PUC Violations and remedies

Smog in the air Burning eyes, choking lungs and other discomforts became a serious menace for residents of Delhi post Diwali. Reason: the national capital has witnessed the worst smog in 17 years, says the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE). A look within to understand what is making Delhi air smoggy and hazardous… Pinaki Das Editorial Assistant pd.urbanupdate@gmail.com

n light of increased vehicular traffic growing to about 90 lakh vehicles as per the Delhi Statistical Handbook 2014-15, air pollution has become a public health crisis. Not only has this led to Delhi experiencing its worst smog but has led to increase in lung, heart and eye related diseases. At this juncture it becomes important to understand how government agencies along with corporate and statutory bodiesare combining their efforts to address this evil.

Transport and Delhi

Delhi started with the odd-even formula under which odd number registered

42 November 2016 | www.urbanupdate.in

Statistically, trucks and 2-wheelers contribute to almost 80% of air pollution which becomes worse when majority vehicles lack a Pollution Under Control (PUC) certificate. According to a Delhi Transport Department report in November 2016, over 500 pollution centers are going unchecked and this has led to further deterioration of PUC standards with only 12 pollution control officers monitoring 500 PUC centers. Delhi Traffic Police observed that almost 600 vehicles didn’t carry valid PUC certificates. With diesel SUVs and trucks constituting almost 23% of vehicular traffic, it’s a bad situation. Startups, such as Ola and Uber and many more, can be mobilised on a wider basis to counter this situation.

Lack of parking and solutions

Shambhavi Shukla, Research Associate, Department of Clean Air and Mobility, Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), Delhi, makes an interesting point, “A critical reason why Delhi experiences increasing pollution is because parking spaces are rapidly becoming scarce. Delhi witnesses on an average, 1000 cars being registered at the Regional Transport Office (RTO) which puts great stress on parking space. A smart way to combat this menace is issuing Registration Certificates (RC) to owners who have given evidence that they have adequate and designated parking space.” Noida has implemented the

above procedure and has seen marked decrease in fights over parking and air pollution. As per IBM Global Parking Index 2011, an average urban motorist spends 20 minutes more on road due to parking problems. This is not only a waste of time but loss of productivity. Interestingly, Get My Parking (GMP), a Delhi based venture started by IITDelhi and FMS Delhi Alumni has been instrumental in providing real time information of available parking spots in Delhi-NCR via GMP App for commuter vehicles.

Alternative transportation systems

E-Rickshaws and cycle rickshaws in Delhi can lead to drastic reduction of air pollution but they face major hurdles. Advanced Structures India Report 2010 shows that, despite CO2 from E-Rickshaws amounting to 19.1 gm per passenger km (gm/p/km) due to use of electricity for charging in comparison to CNG Auto Rickshaws generating 23.6 gm/p/km, e-rickshaws and cycle-rickshaws face hurdles. Issues such as time consuming issuance of ‘Road Worthiness Certificate’, improper maintenance and violation of safety regulations, improper fare chart and inadequate coverage of crucial roads need remediation. Though the Delhi government has relaxed Value Added Tax (VAT) and issued subsidy of almost Rs 20000 as per Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) records, implementation is a problem.

C&D and solutions

With Delhi investing more in building infrastructure, construction waste has led to generation of road dust which upon mixing with air pollutants has led to smog generation. According to a recent report by The Hindu, Delhi on an average generated 5000 Metric Tonnes (MT) of Construction and Demolition Waste (C&D) everyday out of which waste processing capacity amounted to just 2500 MT. The Burari Plant in Delhi under the Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services (IL&FS) converts almost 1500 tonnes of C&D waste into tiles, pavement blocks,

hollow bricks and manufactured sand. This is still low considering that less than half of C&D waste is treated and that the Burari plant is the only C&D Waste Recycling Plant in India despite the Urban Development Ministry having advised all state governments to establish such plants in their respective states. Startups are of importance here. Green Cement such as pollution eating concrete developed by Ital Cementi used in the Palazzo Italia in Italy has led to reduced carbon emissions. Though green cement is more expensive than traditional types in the initial stage, it improves building life and prevents dulling of colors. ‘Green Subsidies’ in this regard from concerned ministries can help real estate sector to reduce their carbon footprint too. Green paint such as Knoxout used as part of Graffiti Paintings in Philippines, is of particular interest. It contains Ultrafine Titanium Dioxide that reacts with incoming greenhouse gases such as NO2, CO and SO2 and converts them into harmless substances that can easily be washed away by the next rainfall.

Solid waste and bio-remediation

Population boom in Delhi has led to more solid waste being generated and has reached about 10000 Metric Tonnes per Day (MTPD). Conversion of Solid Waste-to-Energy (WTE) can serve as a means to reduce land and air pollution. As per a recent survey by Firstpost with support from Chintan NGO and CSE, Delhi, theTimarpur-OkhlaWaste Management Company recycled only 1300 MTPD of solid waste compared to waste generation of almost 10000 MTPD. Majority of unprocessed waste was burnt to save space and time leading to further air pollution particularly the deadly winter smog. Ministry of New And Renewable Energy (MNRE) estimates put WTE generation at just 130 MegaWatt which can increase if waste generated is recycled and reused. Bio-remediation techniques such as these need constant funding and support to increase share of renewable energy towards sustainable electricity generation. Shambhavi mentions the

case study of Tihar Jail, Delhi “One of the most notorious but green jails of India, Tihar Jail got a bio-gas plant which can process 750 kg of waste per day and produce bio-gas in 15-20 days for cooking purposes. This novel idea can be implemented by RWAs as well who can demarcate a small area wherein solid organic wastes, which households produce in huge amounts, can be processed and used for cooking.”

Idling and fuel expenses

A major feature of Delhi roads is that most vehicles would be seen needlessly idling at traffic signals. As per a recent survey under ‘Transportation Research and Injury Prevention Program’ conducted by IIT Delhi and Desert Research Institute Reno, majority cars were running at less than 4 Kmph for 24% of the time. Though the life of modern cars is almost 15-25 years with proper maintenance and intelligent driving practices, the study revealed that the life of vehicles with idling went down to just 4-4.5 years. Imagine a million cars plying on Delhi roads and engaging in idling. IIT-Delhi put fuel wastage worth 2.5 lakh liters per day. That multiplied with our petrol budget would be mind boggling. No wonder India needs to increase its oil budget every year in fact every quarter. Creating dispatch teams towards assessing ‘Driver Performance’ on a randombasis can make drivers sensitive towards optimal fuel usage. This proposal has been suggested in Bengaluru Road Transport Corporation (BRTC) and estimates put fuel savings at Rs 3 Crore annually for the entire Bengaluru bus fleet. Extreme measures can include hefty fines ranging from Rs 2000-5000, to declaring specific zones as ‘No Idling Zones’ and deflating tires of idling vehicles.In most cases, social ridicule and humiliation serve as effective remedies to invoke public conscience. Ultimately, ‘Sustainable and Green living’ needs to be transformed into a choice to make a real difference. Of course, the transition is tough but a synthesis with nature is certainly worth aspiring for.

www.urbanupdate.in | November 2016

Good reads | Bangalore

Knowing Bangalore a little better Abhilash Khandekar National Political Editor Dainik Bhaskar kabhilash59@gmail.com

iographies of cities or cityspecific books are the in thing in India for some time now. In the West you do get to read a lot about different aspects of a city, its history, anecdotes, architecture, gardens, social aspects and so on but in India this genre of writing is picking up only recently and very gradually. Yes, there are some cities like Mumbai and Delhi about which we find plethora of books, both fiction and non-fiction, by well known Indian and foreign writers, but that cannot be said about many other historic cities, which too deserve good chronicling for posterity. With that in mind I have picked up this book for the current issue. Bangalore, an internationally known city, was in the news recently for arson and tension over Cauvery river water dispute with TN. And a few weeks before that it hit the headlines for Government’s drive of mass demolitions of buildings on lakes and waterbodies, they being illegal. I was thus reminded of a book on the city in my library, which is quite a scholarly work, I must say at the outset. Bangalore or Bengaluru, as it is now called (on the lines of Bombay becoming Marathi Mumbai) is known more for the global information technology industry’s strong presence there. About a decade ago, a saying got quite popular in the US that “their jobs had been Bangalored” meaning thereby the significant shift of job market from Silicon Valley to this southern city in India. That is the significance of this city! While the book does take into consideration the major challenges in governing the emerging megacity of

November 2016 | www.urbanupdate.in

Bangalore and details the metamorphosis of the city after the advent of IT industry in a big way, the select set of authors also provide us deep historical perspective of the city since the sixteenth century. Some of the articles have been picked up from various sources and not written for this book, including a small one by Mahatma Gandhi who was recuperating from a bout of illness and had spent some time in 1927 at Bangalore and nearby Nandi Hills. Bangalore was once known as a fortress town, a fact which got erased long ago from public memory. Bangalore’s tragedy is that it has more ‘outsiders’ living there as the naturalised Kannadiga than the original citizens of the historic city of Vijayanagara dynasty, thanks to IT industry driven migration of software engineers and their families, that came to settle here in the last three decades.

A peep into history When Krisnhadevaraya came to the throne in 1509, he faced the challenge of political consolidation. At one end it involved protecting the kingdom from invaders across its northern and eastern frontiers and at other extreme, it meant keeping in check the ambitious chiefs in the southern fringes of the kingdom. The most ambitious of the southern chiefs was Gangaraja who controlled two strong fortresses in Srirangapatna and Shivanasamudram in the agriculturally rich sections of northern Kaveri basin. Taking readers back into history of wars being fought for retaining regional supremacy, Narendra Panimentions in the first chapter that in 1512 Gangaraja was killed and his fortress at Shivanasamudram razed to the ground. Among those who led the campaign against Gangaraja was a young Kempe Gowda. Belonging to the chiefly family from Yelakanda or what is now known as Yelahanka in the northern parts of Greater Bengaluru, Kempe Gowda was to have a major impact on the region for half a century. In the second decade of the 16th century, the family was more powerful than the Odeyars who were to later grow into the

Wadiyar dynasty that ruled Mysore state till Indian independence in 1947. The book talks of Portuguese traveler Domingo Paes whose chronicles between 1520 and 1522 are being recognised as reliable narratives of the times on the Vijayanagara kingdom. The King allowed towns to be surrounded only by earthen walls for fear of their becoming too strong. Kempe Gowda needed to use other means to strengthen his fort. His task was then to find an area that was large enough and had sufficient water to build a large town, even as it had points that would serve as effective watch towers. And the high ground to the south of Yelahanka, with its hillocks and lakes must have seemed ideally suited for this purpose. Seven miles south of Yelahanka was old Bengaluru, near what is now the urban village of Kodigehalli. By 1537, Kempe Gowda had built his fortress town and borrowed the name of Bengaluru for it. It was a town, and later a city, that was a home for a while for Shahji, father of Maratha King Shivaji Bhosale. In the local Kannada language and imagination, the city’s name has always been Bengaluru. The coming of British in 1799 saw their version of the city’s name as Bangalore. And it became Bengaluru all over again, a few years ago. Therefore the title of the book. I deliberately delved deeper into the history (although much more can be written) of this interesting city to help capture the imaginations of the young readers who may have the impression firmly embedded in their minds as an IT City and nothing else. Tipu Sultan’s strong Bengaluru (Mysore) connection, the four Mysore wars fought three-four centuries ago there, the status of the city as a military center and so on. Within military city was a thriving textile economy, organised along caste lines. Today’s citizens may not know but the Cantonment was set up there in 1809. The book is interesting from the point of view that its editors have roped in old and new authors with varied degrees of experience and background to contribute to this book on aspects which were little

Book Bengaluru, Bangalore, Bengaluru: Imaginations and Their Times Editors Narendar Pani, Sindhu Radhakrishna, Kishor G Bhat Publishers Sage Publications, New Delhi Pages 290 Price 796 Rating Borrow from friend and return!

Good

Reads

known about the city. With the gripping historical introduction, the book exposes the reader chapter by chapter to industrial issues, labour, public health, education and other such facets of the city with inclusion of the Hindustan Aircraft Limited (HAL), as it was then called, general manager’s address on first anniversary (December 1941) of the company. India had not been freed yet and the then Mysore State had a role in helping set up the first aircraft manufacturing facility there. Curiously enough, setting up of the modern plant to produce bombers, was in fact a way of competing with America which had a well settled modern aircraft industry

of the world. Yet it was criticised then in India. People thought India and those men associated with HAL like Walchand Hirachand, were not capable and that aircraft could not be successfully, economically and efficiently manufactured in India in any reasonable time. Needless to say, HAL is today a premier company of India and showcases the country’s sound technological strength. It has been a great decision to have it set up there. The book also traces the birth of Infosys saga (which we all know and does not need repetition) and then takes us to the social side of the city where reservations were made compulsory much earlier in government jobs in 1921 to balance the Brahmin supremacy in the bureaucracy. Bangalore city was the capital town of Bangalore district of Mysore Province (State) and the authors have written about its geographical features and beautiful weather conditions that were well suited for horticulture. Those interested in pure urbanisation issues may be slightly disillusioned with the contents of the book and my selection of the same for review (I normally prefer to use Book Introduction for readers) but let me tell you the collection of articles in this book is very thoughtful and provides the entire gamut of subjects related to the growth of a small town into an international city including brief reference to the two different imaginations people (author says it was kind of peaceful mutual contempt among residents of these two areas) had about the Cantonment area and the city of Bangalore. Bangalore’s modernism began in early 19th century. Sir M Visvesvaraya, the celebrated engineer and former bureaucrat with the British Indian Service, was made the Dewan of Mysore in 1912 and he was expected to give a modern and technological direction to Bangalore. Visvesvaraya was later credited with the creation of Krishnarajasagar dam that showed his extraordinary engineering accomplishment, among other achievements. The book has articles by him sharing his own vision of development, of education system, governance and so on.

Modern times Bangalore city, with its historical and geographical benefits kept progressing while clearing hurdles on social and economic front. It became almost the first city of its

kind in recent years with the government setting up a task force to guide its infrastructure and education development. The then Chief Minister SM Krishna formed Bangalore Agenda Task Force (BATF) headed by Nandan Nilekani of Infosys. The task force had, among many other objectives, one important goal of making Bangalore the best city in India by 2004. After the four mega cities in four directions of India-Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai, Bangalore is the 5th most populated city of India. It’s over a decade when the agenda was to be completed. Both Nilekani and Chief Minister Krishna are away from public eye and government offices. Bangalore is taking its strides of progress; it is indeed the real IT Capital of India and has many pluses compared to other urban centers. But as urbanisation grows it brings with it the ills which are there to be seen in abundance in this otherwise beautiful city. The book deals with the problems being faced today and does take note of shrinking green belt around the city with each revision of Comprehensive Development Plan (CDP). City’s sustainable growth and green architecture have also been discussed by authors. Bangalore and its 10 satellite towns are rapidly growing as never before. Housing has almost gone out of bounds for ordinary citizens. Lakes and gardens are being encroached upon, like in many other cities. I would end the introduction of this book with an angle that would leave us worried and another that gives some hope. First, the worry: “Bangalore’s tremendous population growth, the extensive urban sprawl and the authorities’ policy and development priorities towards the ICT sector have induced profound changes in settlement patterns and in urban social setting, creating new disparities and a highly fragmented and polarised society” writes Christoph Dittrich (a lecturer in a German university) under the chapter Governing Change (page 238). The motivating fact, as noted by other authors, is as under: The most encouraging sign for Bangalore is the active interest of its citizenry in the affairs of its development. Only an alert and informed citizenry can ensure that, in the long run, the environment in and around the city is not compromised. For, as Lewis Mumford once said, “The cities and mansions that people dream of are those in which they finally live.”

www.urbanupdate.in | November 2016

URBAN AGENDA | New Urban Agenda

Countries need to execute NUA earnestly Cities have evolved and the urban arena has changed for good in the last forty years since Habitat I in 1976. The challenges are new. Our city leaders need to bring about a change in how policy makers and citizens look at cities. This exercise could be expedited by focusing on collection and analytical evaluation of urban data

he United Nations describes the New Urban Agenda (NUA) as an ‘inclusive, action-oriented, and concise document intended to guide the next twenty years of sustainable and transformative urban development worldwide’. It calls on city authorities to take into account the needs of women, youth and children, people with disabilities, marginalised groups, older persons, indigenous people, among other groups. However, the NUA is not intended to be legally binding and will only provide guidance - as such it seems unlikely to have any real power. Every country needs to find its own solutions to achieve the goals. Unlike other programmes backed by the UN such as COP 21, the NUA does not offer deliverable and measurable metrics upon which its success can be measured. There is no doubt that the developing countries or underdeveloped countries do not have resources for monitoring progress of numerous initiatives and programmes envisaged under the Agenda. Even rich countries will struggle to monitor progress due to lack of data and proper evaluation or assessment mechanism. Most of the cities lack urban data in making informed policies for its citizens. If they do not know what the specific requirements of the city dwellers are, they will never be able to build liveable cities for them. Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) may end up

46 November 2016 | www.urbanupdate.in

building redundant infrastructure and providing unneeded services which could be of little use to citizens. In later stages, government can think of the solutions to provide open data to communities to provide innovative solutions to urban challenges. Such experiments have been successful in many global cities and it can be implemented in major Indian cities too. In one of the sessions organised at Habitat III, Claudio Acioly, head of UN-Habitat’s Capacity Development Unit, said: “The issue of data is fundamental. We are promoting the idea of having evidence-based policies. In the world of today, we should [no longer] allow policies to be decided and implemented based on assumptions that have no ground[ing].” Indian government has taken the initiative to engage people in developing plans and policies for their respective cities under the Smart Cities Mission. Similar initiatives can be helpful in making policies keeping in mind the objectives of the Agenda too. The role of public involvement and collection and analysis of urban data would play an important role in achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and other goals in NUA. For cities to work efficiently and develop sustainably, policymakers need to create urban policies that are based on accuratedata. This point was raised consistently during the Habitat III.

Ashok Wankhade Managing Editor bhau1008@gmail.com

Most of the cities lack urban data in making informed policies for its citizens. If they do not know what the specific requirements of the city dwellers are, they will never be able to build liveable cities for them. Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) may end up building redundant infrastructure and providing unneeded services which could be of little use to citizens

All India Institute of Local Self-Government AIILSG conducts Online Assessment Testing and Training Programmes. * Online centres are equipped with state-of-the-art AC Labs with requisite support infrastructure facilities to conduct Online Programmes. * Centres are CAT certified Testing Centres and presently conducting many prestigious Online Programmes with reputed clients like Prometric, MeritTrac, TCS, SIFY, IIBF, JNU, Satvat Infosol Pvt Ltd, Manipal University, Staff Selection Commission (SSC) and others. * Regional Centres - Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Delhi and Trivandrum are presently having facility for Online Testing Programme.

A I I L SG ON L I N E CE N T RE S

For specific requirement, please contact AIILSG HO Mumbai | E-mail: onlinemumbai@aiilsg.org | Phone: 022-26571713/14/15 Delhi Centre | E-mail: delhi@aiilsg.org | Phone: 011 - 2852 1783/ 5473

All India Institute of Local Self-Government (AIILSG) whole heartedly supports Swachh Bharat Mission and is committed to play a proactive role to realise its objectives. The institute is organising regular orientation workshops on SBM to augment the capacity of ULBs and also generating public awareness on cleanliness

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