UrbanUpdate January 2022

ISSN 2349-6266 RNI No DELENG/2014/57384

Setting The Agenda For Tomorrow’s Cities

UrbanUpdate Volume VII, Issue IX

January 2022

Cities need strong local leadership

Key Trends to Steer Urban Story in

How ‘Pink City’ coloured lives during COVID-19 pandemic

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Ghaziabad Municipal Corporation India’s first municipal corporation to successfully list Green Municipal Bonds on the Bombay Stock Exchange

GMC generated `150 crore. The corporation will be using the funds for setting up tertiary water treatment plants and supplying piped water via water meters.

Ghaziabad Municipal Corporation Navyug Market, Ghaziabad, UP - 201001

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

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Setting The Agenda For Tomorrow’s Cities

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ISSN 2349-6266 RNI No DELENG/2014/57384

Setting The Agenda For Tomorrow’s Cities

UrbanUpdate UrbanUpdate 2021 ISSN 2349-6266 RNI No DELENG/2014/57384 Volume VII, Issue VIII

Setting The Agenda For Tomorrow’s Cities

Volume VII, Issue VI

UrbanUpdate Volume VII, Issue IX

Terrible, TumulTuous YeT TransformaTional Year for CiTies!

OctOber 2021

January 2022

December 2021

Cities need strong local leadership

Cities to lead ‘Race to Zero’ What 2021 taught us in ‘Urban Governance Class’?

‘Gazab Ghaziabad’ will be clean, green, & inclusive

Key Trends To sTeer Urban sTory in

AIILSG: Linking ULBs to good governance

Stop passing the buck on Climate CRiSiS aCtionS

How ‘Pink City’ coloured lives during COVID-19 pandemic

AIILSG

European Union

AIILSG

European Union

The project is funded by the European Union.

The project is implemented by the AIILSG.

The project is funded by the European Union.

The project is implemented by the AIILSG.

European Union The project is funded by the European Union.

AIILSG The project is implemented by the AIILSG.

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January 2022 | www.urbanupdate.in

Editorial

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

Towards just, fair and equitable cities s we step into the new year, as always, we wonder how our cities will fare in the coming year and beyond. Each new year is always a time to review the past and set fresh goals, adopt new approaches, and create better benchmarks for the future.

We believe that for Indian cities the coming times could be quite significant and transformative in many ways. Our cities will have to adjust and re-orient in order to meet the growing aspirations of the increasing millions that are migrating to our urban spaces looking for a better life for themselves and their families. There are some central themes which our cities and city-planners could pursue while crafting policies and designing cities of the future.

One among them would be sustainability. There is growing concern globally about climate change and the environment including in the context of urban spaces. The recent Glasgow Conference painted a rather grim picture of the current situation given the less than satisfactory progress by nations in cutting emissions. Cities account for the major share of economic activity, and therefore of energy consumption, of emissions, of waste generation, and so on. At the same time, cities are hubs of innovation and technology. It is thus necessary that cities rapidly roll out measures to heal the planet by reduction in energy consumption and emissions.

Another important theme is inclusivity. While most migrate to our cities in search of a better quality of life, many have to endure hardships living here. Sub-optimal informal housing, inadequate access to basic services such as water and sanitation, and uncertain incomes are issues that haunt the migrant workforce. While they work to build our cities, they seem to receive less than equitable rewards for their efforts.

Cities need to put in place initiatives to ensure affordable proper housing, equitable access to civic services, healthcare, and education to these migrants in a spirit of ‘leave no one behind’.

In their quest for more fair, just and equitable cities, administrations need to make greater efforts to reach out to various sections of its citizens, seek their views, and involve them in the process of city-building. We have seen some effort in this direction in recent urban missions. But more can be done. We are yet to build formal networks and create platforms for actively involving citizens in the city development processes. Here the use of digital technologies must become widespread for the purpose of reaching citizens as well as capturing their inputs and analysing them to generate meaningful inputs for city projects. In fact the use of digital technologies holds immense promise as a lever for delivering improved services in areas such as water supply, waste management, and power consumption. Many cities are already benefiting from technology led initiatives in these areas.

Local governments will be key players in each of these areas and they must embrace these principles whole heartedly. As a corollary we must move towards empowering city governments and creating strong city leadership structures (Mayors) so that cities can have transparent and accountable management. This too will be essential as we endeavour to build, fair, just and equitable cities.

www.urbanupdate.in | January 2022

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QUOTES

PIN POINT

BUZZ

Amina J Mohammed

@AminaJMohammed Deputy Secretary-

It’s time to go into emergency mode. The climate battle is the fight of our lives & that fight must be won

Antonio Guterres Secretary General, United Nations

General of the UN

99% of the population in #CostaRica has access to electricity and nearly all of it comes from renewable sources. Clean energy is key to protecting the planet, improving the lives of people and communities and it drives Lenni’s daily work at the geothermal plant of Las Pailas

Connect4Climate @Connect4Climate

India’s excellent track record of school feeding programmes and various associated initiatives can be of interest to other countries

Bishow Parajuli Director, WFP India

With rapid urbanisation, policymakers in developing countries have a unique opportunity to integrate land-use planning and transport to encourage low-emission, low-motorised mobility

Green Climate Fund

@theGCF

The world is facing so many challenges right now, they’re all interconnected, and you can’t solve them alone. So joining forces with strong, local partners who know what they’re doing becomes all the more important Mike Bloomberg Former Mayor of New York City

GCF’s USD 300 million investment in the ASEAN Green Recovery Program will reduce investment risks and catalyse public and private financing for green infrastructure projects that create jobs and bolster growth in the region

Global Covenant @Mayors4Climate

In many countries, youth represent over 50% of the population. They have ideas, they are innovative, and they see things through a different lens. The 2030 agenda is about the future—and the future generation Khaled Abdel Shafi Manager Regional Hub in Amman, UNDP Arab States

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January 2022 | www.urbanupdate.in

A #greenrecovery can transform our economy and build a better foundation for the future.

With a new year upon us, we must continue to advance a green and just recovery by investing in low-carbon infrastructure, millions of new jobs, and a better future for all urban residents

content

Leaderspeak

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Key trends to steer urban story in 2022

Articles

Inside Volume 7, Issue 9

January 2022

Numerograph

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26

Major urban CSPs how do they look now?

One on One Kishori Pednekar, Mayor, BMC

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Cities need strong local leadership

Sheel Dhabai, Mayor, JMC

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How ‘Pink City’ coloured lives during COVID-19 pandemic

E Dialogue

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Refresh and reset A new urban agenda

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Reimagining India’s urban future

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Democratise and empower the city governments for Sustainable Future

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Urban planning with young children at the center

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Adaptation with dignity: Let’s make 2022 a landmark year

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Connected & safe mobility

22

Reformed real estate to propel India’s growth

42

‘Need not ban it, but learn how to manage plastic’

44

Decentralisation of governance means power to the people

Regulars

6 25

Pin Point Girl Power Project

28 36

Newscan

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Urban Agenda

City Image

www.urbanupdate.in | January 2022

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Leaderspeak | 2022: Defining Key Urban Trends

Key Trends to Steer Urban Story in 2022 Cities in the last two consecutive years lived under the threat of Covid-19. Cities mainly focused on Pandemic management, building resilience to health disasters, adapting to digital technologies for better service delivery and efficient communication with their citizens. The Pandemic did slow down several urban agendas, but it accelerated efforts in some areas.

The Year 2022 has arrived with new hopes and aspirations. With India achieving over 150 cr vaccine doses, the threat of the virus is gradually fading, and cities are pulling up their socks to be back on track to achieve what they desired and envisioned in pre-Pandemic times

Ranjit S Chavan | President, AIILSG

ities are changing with the physical and social alterations in urban ecosystems.

So are citizens and their demands.

Their demands, needs and also operational mechanism are witnessing a major shift. India still majorly lives in its villages, about two-thirds of the total population. The situation will change in the coming decades. Despite global trends suggesting a decline in overall population growth, the number of people living in urban areas is bound to grow due to various social and economic factors. For this, cities need to be prepared.

Outcome of Smart Cities and SBM Projects

This year will be a defining moment for the success of the Smart Cities Mission

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launched in 2015 by the Government of India. A majority of the works proposed under the Mission will see the light of the day. It is to be noted that over 5000 projects worth `200,000 crore investment are proposed in 100 smart cities. While 6723 projects costing 188,735 cr have been tendered, 6123 projects costing 163,029 cr are in the work order stage. And, 3423 projects worth 58000 cr have already been completed. The successful smart cities will become lighthouses for other cities and towns which were not part of the project. The successful emulation and scale-up of such projects will trickle down to smaller towns and cities, which could lessen the burden on metropolitan cities like Delhi, Mumbai, and Bengaluru. Indian policymakers, planners, politicians and the public will

be able to understand the contours of a smart city. The government has also made an ambitious plan of making urban spaces garbage free and water plus. The garbage-free city aims to achieve cleanliness in Indian cities to a model 7-star rating level and water plus cities ensures adequate sanitation management by making sure no untreated water is discharged in the open. Since urban local bodies in India have performed well under the Swachh Bharat Mission and have taken a slew of measures to improve overall sanitation and waste management, the garbagefree tag will add another feather in the cap of our cities that are working well in the area of sanitation.

The higher funds allocation by the 15th Finance Commission to urban local bodies will also accelerate urban reforms. According to the report, it is a 78 per cent increase, from `87,143 crore in the 14th Finance Commission period to `1,55,628 crore in the 15th Finance Commission’s period.

Jal Jeevan Mission

The year will witness a significant thrust on improving water supply and management in urban and rural areas. The year will undoubtedly see a substantial jump in the number of Functional Household Tap Connections (FHTC) in all the cities and statutory towns of the country. At present, the gap is about 2.68 cr connections in urban areas.

It is encouraging to see that Jal Jeevan Mission has increased the FHTC coverage in rural households from 17 per cent to 46 per cent by connecting over 5.63 cr households with tap water supply. As the performance under the Mission is on track, urban water supply management could also improve. The Mission also aims to reduce Non-Revenue Water below 20 per cent by strengthening water supply management and increasing awareness on water conservation through IEC campaigns.

Since the roll-out of Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM), many states have taken a giant leap in providing household water taps. As many as six states have

achieved 100 per cent of the target, and another five have reached 80 per cent already. JJM could be a milestone mission for improving civic services in rural areas and can spiral a series of reforms in improving civic services in rural areas.

Demographic Shift

A significant demographic change is gradually emerging in the world.

The estimation of many research and academic institutions about the baby boom in the Pandemic era proved to be a false alert. In contrast, the available data and studies suggest a reversal trend. However, it does not mean that the urban population will decline. The proportion of people living in cities will still grow.

We all know that for many years, the population explosion has been a matter of concern in developing countries around the world, including in India, but the trend seems to be reversing recently. Globally, many studies suggest a consistent decline in the birth rate in many countries, including China.

China has registered a significant 15 per cent drop in the birth rate since the Pandemic hit the world. China, the most populous country today, has recorded the lowest birthrate and lowest population growth in the last sixty years. Other Asian countries like South Korea, Singapore and Taiwan are also facing the same challenge now.

The fertility rate in South Korea is 0.9, the lowest in the world. Taiwan and Singapore also have a fertility rates of around 1. China’s fertility rate is 1.3.

Empirical evidence suggests that the replacement rate is about 2.1. The study also underlines why the increasing housing and child care costs have impelled people to have fewer babies.

The trend is not exclusive to China and South Korea; many developed countries have recorded a decline in the last few years.

A report ‘Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA’ studied birth rates in 22 high-income countries from 2016 to 2021. It says as many as seven countries registered significant declines in birth rates in the final months of 2020

It is to be noted that over 5000 projects worth ` 200,000 crore investment are proposed in 100 smart cities. While 6723 projects costing 188,735 cr have been tendered, 6123 projects costing 163,029 cr are in the work order stage.

And, 3423 projects worth 58000 cr have already been completed. The successful smart cities will become lighthouses for other cities and towns which were not part of the project. The successful emulation and scale-up of such projects will trickle down to smaller towns and cities, which could lessen the burden on metropolitan cities like Delhi, Mumbai, and Bengaluru

and the first months of 2021, compared with the same period in previous years.

Hungary, Italy, Spain and Portugal had some of the most significant drops: reductions of 8.5, 9.1, 8.4 and 6.6 per cent, respectively. The United States of America saw a decline of 3.8 per cent. As per the National Family Health Survey 5, the situation in India is also similar. The fertility rate in most Indian states has touched or dropped below the replacement rate of 2.1.

The country’s Total Fertility Rate now stands at 20 children per 1000 woman.

These are some of the major urban trends which will decide the future course of action for cities in India. And, based on the renewed strengths of cities and more focus by the governments and other stakeholders, 2022 will define the new priorities and aspirations of cities in the post-pandemic era.

www.urbanupdate.in | January 2022

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aRTICLE | Learn & Grow

Refresh and Reset A New Urban Agenda We have reached a stage of history where we have scientists and activists agreeing that our prevailing system is putting us and our planet on the course of a real catastrophe. Cristina Dorador Ortiz, a microbiologist in Chile says: “We have to assume that human activity causes damage, so how much damage do we want to cause? What is enough damage to live well? That is the real question and we need to find answers.

Chile has declared a climate and ecological emergency and hence they have decided to rewrite their constitution. Almost never does the climate and ecological crisis play a central role.

This time it has happened. A wise move?

Raj Liberhan | Chairperson, Centre for Science and Environment

round the world climate change and warming are causing huge damages through floods and typhoons and cyclones. In Central America, in Africa, in Malaysia, Philippines and in our own backyard. We simply cannot repeat the mistakes of the past.

All our experts and sarkari planners tell us that our urban population will double its present size by 2050. We are about 35 per cent of the population

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in cities and peri-urban areas. Even if we do not double, we will certainly go upto 50-55 per cent of our population.

Are we ready and more importantly wanting to be ready? The past has not been really impressive, not because we have not made progress; we have made progress but by overlooking the vital ingredient of respect for Nature and its Environment. These two, Nature and Environment, have to be at the nucleus of our urban development for the next half century, if we are to redeem our cities, make them healthy spaces and start paying our debt to our future.

It does not make sense to dwell on what has gone wrong with our urban landscape. A combination of limitations have led to our cities being rank polluted, deficient in good quality drinking water, poor to non-existent waste management, coal dependent power supply. Our priorities have been askewed and planning of and in cities, a monumental casualty. How are we going to get out of this ever expanding circle of despair until we show determination to change our ethos of apathetic disinterest in and towards our future environment and well-being?

Setting a new agenda

Eric Lonergan and Corinne Sawers, two famous economists, have observed, ‘any serious attempt to curtail the climb in global temperatures requires junking the assets underpinning the carbon economy - oil rigs, coal fired power stations, and building a new infrastructure based on electric vehicles, wind and solar power and battery storage’. Future economy cannot take in any populism and must end. We are doing no favours by promising free power, free water and license to pollute rivers. The transition to green is not a walk in the park but a serious financial and strategic initiative. Politicians have to find another way to charm their voters. Promise healthy cities, pollution free cities, promise pure drinking water, promise green spaces, people can be swayed by the temptation of a better life too if governments actually deliver.

Urban development based on a

planned model is easy to outline but really needs institutional integrity to implement. More so, we need the integrity of the process of planning.

A plan that gets altered because of sectional or private interest will not get us the healthy city we long for.

Planned development is not only landscaped skyline. It is the respect given to the elements, direction of the seasonal winds, solar capacity, water rejuvenation and renewal, waste disposal and recycling, and more.

Above all and beyond everything, we have to have the will to heed these elements.

The single biggest thrust is needed to raise waste management to the level of a sacrosanct obligation of all citizens and the municipal agencies have to put all their energies into fulfillment of these obligations. The size of this challenge is huge. We have a waste management industry estimated at 1.3 billion dollars. We generated 54 million tonnes of solid waste in 2019, of which 3.3 million tonnes was plastic. We have guidelines for waste management of the Central Pollution Control Board which demands segregation of plastic.

Again, as per CPCB only 60 per cent was treated, and the rest ended up in land-fills, burnt or lost in nearby water bodies. Today, only 20 per cent of the waste is sorted and processed while 80 per cent is dumped as mixed waste in about 1684 land-fills that India currently has. Cumulatively, this waste is spawning diseases and epidemics

of unspeakable proportions affecting poorer segments of the population and adversely affecting all others too.

Land-fills are simply not an option as the ecological damage is far too severe because of methane and similar gas emissions which produce leachates poisoning. If we don’t address this, we might as well bid goodbye to all basic rights to breathe fresh air and drink clean water. Studies by IITs of Delhi and Mumbai, NEERI and CPCB have testified to the enormous costs of land-fills dumping of waste.

Cleanliness will flourish only when sustainable strategies are put in place for an enduring period of time to be read as always. Nature’s adaptations to a warming world offer us lessons in flexibility that should inform our own response, says Thor Hanson of the Hurricane Lizards and Plastic Squid fame. We have been putting off moving away from gas and diesel because of our mindset that electric options are not viable. Now with tech advances, every single effort to cut use of gas and diesel is a step up from its polluting predecessor. Gordon Orians, an American biologist, says simply, we must do everything we can. There is urgency, like we cannot imagine. To quote Thor Hanson again, “in nature, the responses of individual organisms determine the fate of populations...and entire ecological communities. True, we need stronger climate policies and strong leadership to take them ahead, but those things will be the result of cultural change and not the cause of it”.

Urban development based on a planned model is easy to outline but really needs institutional integrity to implement. More so, we need the integrity of the process of planning. A plan that gets altered because of sectional or private interest will not get us the healthy city we long for

Local governments’ role crucial

The pivotal role of local governments needs to be scripted and defined with clear mandates as they are really the only medium positioned to lead and navigate the ‘adjust and adapt’ missions.

At present, there is very little or no capacity in them to digest the scale of climate challenge before us. State governments and local governments have been and still are often working at cross purposes on critical issues of city management and even of regulation.

We should have an ICRA like agency to give ratings to these bodies and state government-municipality harmony should be a determinant in the awarded rating as all outcomes are dependent on their compatibility.

We need to see the onset of dramatic behavior changes in us. Here, perhaps the animal kingdom where the most flexible species have an edge. Bears are eating berries instead of salmon, brown pelicans now venture hundreds of miles north of their former habitats.

There are millions of examples where climate change is forcing change of lifestyles. Those who adapt well will prosper and those who don’t, will fade away into extinction. We have to start building our future habitat now.

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

www.urbanupdate.in | January 2022

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aRTICLE | Defining India’s Urban Future

Urban conundrum

Reimagining India’s Urban Future India’s urban future always had fascinated planners, policy makers and sociologists for decades. As a result, we have come a long way in the journey of urban development ever since independence. Now, India’s urban future would depend to a large extent on how the demographic and spatial growth of cities and the resultant challenges are managed in all their dimensions – physical, social, economic, environmental, and above all human

Dr P G Dhar Chakrabarti, IAS | Former Secretary, Govt of India

n the early sixties, Roy Turner wrote his pioneering book on the subject following an international conference on urbanisation in India that brought together scholars and policymakers from India and the United States in Berkeley. The study projected that by the year 2000 India’s urban population would swell to 274 million, mainly driven by migration from the rural areas, with each of the four metropolis of Calcutta, Bombay, Madras and Delhi growing as mega cities of 20 to 30 million each, and the resulting stress on housing, water, sanitation and transport system

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Unfortunately no serious policy interventions at the national and state levels were ever made for planning, directing and controlling urban growth in India. Such interventions were left largely to the initiatives of city development authorities, created under the State Development Acts, to use the instruments of master and zonal plans for planned urban development, without matching financial and administrative resources for the implementation of the plans.

The ideally constructed master plans were divorced from the realities on the ground and remained largely on paper, followed more in their breaches than in compliances. The emergence of parastatal authorities created wheels within wheels in urban governance resulting in serious problems of coordination and enforcement, adding to the urban chaos created by unmitigated migration, unplanned growth and breakdown of the civic services.

The recommendations of the National Commission of Urbanisation in the late eighties and the 74th Constitution (Amendment) Act in the early nineties opened up opportunities for a new era of urban planning and governance in the country, but such opportunities were largely wasted due to half-hearted and hackneyed implementation of the legal and policy frameworks, despite many well-meaning initiatives for municipal reforms and investment of sizeable resources through the urban renewal missions and smart city programmes.

Urban growth

Kingsley Davis’s projection of 274 million strong urban India in 2000 was prophetic as 2001 Census recorded a number 285 million, growing to 377 million in 2011 and further to 481 million in 2020. Hence during the past two decades almost 200 million people were added to our cities due to migration as well as natural growth. The trend would be further accelerated as it is projected that in the next three decades another 395 million would be adding to the number to spiral India’s urban population to 876 million in 2050. The

process of deceleration of urban growth is likely to start thereafter.

The urban growth of India is simply unprecedented as never before in history had such a massive shift in population taken place from the rural to the urban areas in such a short time.

The only parallel is that of China where urban population swelled from 460 to 875 million people during 2000 to 2020. China was able to manage this growth relatively well without much social unrest as China’s massive urban growth coincided with that of its double digit economic growth consistently over three decades. Further China’s single party rule and regimented style of governance did not permit any dissent and it could control migration to specific urban centres through regulations which is not possible in democratic India.

India’s economic growth has taken place mainly in the services sector in urban areas, mostly in metropolitan cities. This growth has been propelled

by India’s growing middle class that serviced the burgeoning IT, Communication, BPO and related industries attracting huge investments including foreign direct investments.

Relative affluence of the middle class created new demand for housing, transport, education, tourism, entertainment and other related industries creating opportunities for employment mainly in low paid informal sectors that were filled largely by migrant workers from impoverished rural areas. These have had two consequences for cities. First, urban housing markets expanded rapidly to meet the demand of the middle class leading to spatial expansion of existing cities and emergence of new satellite cities. Secondly, this has also proliferated growth of urban slums for housing the migrant workers despite several programmes implemented for resettlement and in-situ development of slum areas in almost every urban area of the country. Urban landscapes of India continue to be interspersed by pockets of affluence amidst areas of squalor that are symptomatic of both progress and poverty of the cities.

Increasing inequalities of wealth and income in the cities are creating new grounds for social unrest, crime and disharmony.

Urban challenges

The age old urban challenges of India – housing, water, sanitation, public health, mobility, poverty etc. – are bound to be further accentuated beyond imagination when urban population nearly doubles during the course of next thirty years. McKinsey Global Institute had conducted a study to estimate the projected gaps in urban basic services in 2030 at the current rate of investments. As per this study, water supply for the average citizen could drop from an average of 105 litres to only 65 litres a day with a large section of the population having no access to potable water at all. Cities could leave between 70 to 80 per cent of sewage untreated. While private car ownership would increase, shortcomings in the transportation infrastructure would create urban gridlock that would hamper mobility, reduce productivity and impair efficiency of the workforce.

The gaps would widen to unimaginable proportion by 2050 unless serious interventions are made to address each of these challenges.

Added to these challenges are the environmental issues of deteriorating quality of air, polluting rivers and water bodies, accumulated solid waste, rising air and water borne diseases. Climate change and the dangers of increasing frequencies and intensities of hydrometeorological disasters would add another dimension to the urban crisis.

Cities that never faced flood in the past would have to brace for such risks of disasters in an uncertain future. Large and densely populated cities in seismic zones V and IV would additionally face the risks of earthquakes.

Urban future

The UN Sustainable Goal 11 and the related goals and targets of making cities ‘inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable’ can provide a comprehensive framework for reimagining India’s urban future.

India’s economic growth has taken place mainly in the services sector in urban areas, mostly in metropolitan cities. This growth has been propelled by India’s growing middle class that serviced the burgeoning IT, Communication, BPO and related industries attracting huge investments including foreign direct investments

The tasks ahead are complex and challenging and would require long term interventions over a sustained period of time. There cannot be any quick fix solutions to the problem. The precise nature of interventions would vary in different scenarios depending on the nature of economic growth and political stability in the coming decades. These scenarios can be modelled in different spatial, temporal contexts in high, and middle growth scenarios in an increasingly globalised, inter connected and uncertain world.

Accordingly a dynamic and adaptive action plan and road map can be worked out at national, state and city level through a consultative process involving all stakeholders. These can be implemented, evaluated and revised on a continuing basis for achieving the goals of inclusive, resilient and sustainable cities. Probably a time has come to engage a second National Commission of Urbanisation in India for analysing the depth of the challenges in different scenarios, preparing the blueprint of a new vision of India’s urban future, and drafting the framework of an action plan and road map at the national level that would set the contexts of similar plans at the city and state levels.

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

www.urbanupdate.in | January 2022

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aRTICLE | Power To The People

Democratise and Empower the City governments for Sustainable Future The Reserve Bank of India in a report titled, ‘State Finances, Study of Budgets of 2021-22,’ released in November 2021, in the foreword wrote: “With the third-tier governments in India playing a frontline role in combating the pandemic by implementing containment strategies, healthcare, quarantining and testing facilities, organising vaccination camps and maintaining the supply of essential goods and services, their finances have come under severe strain, forcing them to cut down expenditures and mobilise funding from various sources.”

Tikender Singh Panwar | Former Deputy Mayor, Shimla

he RBI commented that the functional autonomy of the civic bodies must increase and their governance structure must strengthen. This can happen by empowering them financially through higher resource availability.

It is interesting that the RBI reverberated the recommendations of the 15th Finance Commission report on local bodies laying emphasis on city governance structures and financial empowerment. The addition in the RBI report is from the praxis and the objective reality existing during the pandemic and continuing even now.

What does the RBI Report say?

While correctly identifying the role of the city governments in meeting the challenges during the Covid-19 pandemic, the report also points to the draining out of resources. According to

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the report, a survey of 221 municipal corporations was conducted by the RBI for the year 2020-21. More than 70 per cent witnessed a decline in their revenues. The expenditures of these local bodies increased by almost 71.2 per cent. Even some of the local bodies that had revenue surplus, dipped by 38 per cent.

The report also highlights the limited coverage of property tax and its failure in shoring up revenues for the municipal corporations. According to the data from Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) ,India has the lowest property tax collection rate in the world. This percentage pertains to the property tax to GDP ratio. In the UK it is 4.1, Canada-4.0, US-3.0, Germany-1.1, Mexico-0.3 and India-0.15. But this explains only one part of the story.

Problem is old but continues to haunt

Let us approach the subject from a different angle. During the pandemic, we saw the Prime Minister, Chief Ministers and the District Magistrates taking the call on disaster mitigation strategies. Nowhere in this was the city Mayor seen. Why? Because under the disaster management plan of action, the cities were in the forefront to fight the pandemic, however, its elected leadership has been paralysed by the disaster plans as they find no place in them. This does not just happen at the disaster mitigation level. The old approach of treating the cities as adjuncts of the state governments continues to dominate the policy paradigm.

The general approach towards urban empowerment has remained piecemeal in the country. Urban Development is a state subject, which is more linked to the political and democratic movement in the states. The first intervention to understand the urban development (though there are references in the five-year plans) and plan with a pan Indian vision took place in 1985 when the first urban commission was formed with Charles Correa as its chairperson.

Rajiv Gandhi, Prime Minister of India

was instrumental in its formation. A comprehensive report was laid out which had manufacturing as a core element of sustainability in the cities.

Another important intervention was in the first half of the 90s when 73rd and 74th Amendments were brought to the Indian Constitution. The latter refers to urban reforms with a clear direction for the transfer of 18 subjects of governance to the cities. But this was also the period of neo-liberal reforms so generating own resources and a slow withdrawal of the State could be witnessed.

What is the situation?

The RBI report has rightly pointed out that functional autonomy of the city governments must be allowed. But this should happen with the three F’s: transferring of ‘functions, functionaries and finances’ to the city governments.

Without these, the functional autonomy would be empty rhetoric.

There are nearly 5,000 statutory towns and an equal number of census towns in India. Nearly 35 per cent of our population lives in urban centres.

Nearly two-thirds of the country’s GDP is contributed from the cities and almost 90 per cent of the government revenue comes from the urban centres.

The cities are also responsible for utilising most of the natural resources, high energy demand and very high waste generation. The argument that a low base of property tax is responsible for the poor financial strength of the urban centres would be one side of the story. There is a vicious circle of burdening people more with taxes and further privatisation/outsourcing of the services of the municipalities. This is a pan India phenomenon and grading of the cities is done based on who design and plan their infrastructure and urban policies according to this understanding. Many of the indices on sanitation, liveability, etc., are based on how well the city has performed in this direction, of course with fancy words like reducing the non-revenue water, benchmarks for solid waste collection, city sanitation plans and what not.

Now with GST the ability to tax is completely robbed; even the state governments are unable to align to this new tax system. For the cities, it is worse than the states. The major remaining head of revenue for city governments across cities is now property tax. Tourist destinations like Shimla, Srinagar, Leh in the North and other places are also unable to levy any tax on the tourists who enter the city and utilise its resources.

During the UPA II, a committee was formed under the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development to review the 74th Constitutional Amendment. This was chaired by K C Sivaramakrishnan (former urban development secretary) and I was also a member of this committee. One of the recommendations was to part 10 per cent of the income tax collected from the cities back to them as a direct revenue grant from the central government.

As the government changed in 2014, neither the deliberations of the committee were made public nor were the recommendations taken into consideration.

What needs to be done?

I think many things. But foremost is to treat cities as important centres of governance where democratic decentralisation can bring in amazing results as we see in Kerala. There will be transparency and adequate participation of the people.

Secondly, cities should not be considered as another set of entrepreneurship spaces where the sole driving force is to make them competitive to attract investments. We have seen how fallacious this argument is. This frequently reverberated even in Habitat III in Quito. They must be considered as spaces for planned development by giving adequate attention to resources.

Another big challenge for which our cities are hardly prepared is the impact of climate change and virtually no preparedness to address mitigation (though little is in the hands of the cities) and adaptive strategies. The

The general approach towards urban empowerment has remained piecemeal in the country. Urban Development is a state subject, which is more linked to the political and democratic movement in the states. The first intervention to understand the urban development and plan with a pan Indian vision took place in 1985 when the first urban commission was formed with Charles Correa as its chairperson resources required for quantitative and qualitative data must be immediately provided to the cities to ensure that they have a disaster risk reduction plan keeping in mind the vulnerable communities. Fourthly, piecemeal approaches like smart cities must be shunned altogether. This approach further widens the gap between different sets of people. Rather the grants from the centre must be enhanced and cities must be asked to draw their plans themselves based on priority seeking from the city residents. “Ultra-democracy is too bad for development,” is not the correct argument. Cities are people, as they say, people must be part of the decisionmaking process. Fifthly, leadership in the cities must be elected for a term of five years. In some cities like Delhi and Chandigarh, the term of the mayor is for a year. It is sheer mockery.

Likewise, the third F, i.e., functionaries must be transferred to the cities by creating a permanent cadre for urban development. The good part in this entire exercise of RBI has been that at least a mention of cities/local bodies as important centres of governance has been acknowledged.

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

www.urbanupdate.in | January 2022

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aRTICLE | Inclusive Cities For Children the center.

Why is it important to focus on young children and their caregivers when planning and designing cities?

Urban Planning with Young Children at The Center Approximately 56.2 per cent of the population worldwide lives in cities – that is more than half of humanity. The numbers are expected to increase as urbanisation is a transformative trend today. Given this rapid change, prioritising urban planning is vital. But we often fail to take into consideration an important part of the population while planning cities, i.e., young children. For the most part, young children are not considered key stakeholders in city planning, likely because this group is unable to express its needs and desires clearly

Rushda Majeed | India Representative, Bernard van Leer Foundation

ince babies and toddlers are dependent on adults for fulfilling their needs, it becomes imperative for policy makers and other stakeholders in urban planning to consider their youngest citizens and focus on planning and designing urban spaces that can cater to their specific needs. Apart from imbibing international laws and norms – such as the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child-- there are several reasons to plan cities while keeping young children at

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January 2022 | www.urbanupdate.in

Right from the moment a baby is born, its learning and growth starts. While proper nutrition, health, and responsive care is critical, the environment around children plays a significant role in their holistic development. It becomes even more relevant in the case of younger children since the first five years of life is a vital period for their brain development and physical growth. Research findings show that the earliest experiences of a child can have a transformational influence in his or her future development. The course of this development can also determine a child’s contribution to society and the economy later in life. By providing nurturing, safe, and accessible public spaces to young children and their families, we can lay the foundation for the future well-being of societies while also encouraging economic development.

Several factors, however, can have a negative impact on the proper growth of young children. Apart from areas related to proper nutrition, health, safety and security, lack of access to nature, vibrant public spaces, air pollution, changing family structures and decrease in community around a child can adversely affect the child’s growth. In addition, the onslaught of the Covid-19 pandemic has taken a toll, restricting children’s access to pre-primary and primary schools, socialisation and outdoor activities, leading to severe decline in their physical and mental health. The pandemic has further highlighted the urgent need for cities to have safe outdoor areas for children and their caregivers. Cities that focus on the needs of young children and their caregivers are also inclusive, safe, and accessible for all. When urban spaces are planned and built keeping in mind for instance restricted mobility and slower pace of movement, the basic

needs of other vulnerable populations such as caregivers, the elderly, and people with disabilities are addressed as well, thus improving the overall quality of life for every resident.

Measures that can be taken by cities to enhance liveability

Young children and their families use the public realm more than any other group but design for them is least deliberate. Doing what’s best for children can help cities in reaching their liveability goals. Here are some suggestions for effective measures that cities can take to improve the quality of life for all:

Focusing on neighborhood scale

Urban families around the world, especially those living in poverty or in informal settlements, benefit in transformational ways from more — and more accessible — services, safe, clean, green spaces for small children to play and families to gather close to where they live. For maximizing the health and well-being of young children and their families, especially during Covid-19, neighbourhood scale for services and urban spaces matters. A focus from cities on walkable, mixeduse neighbourhoods that cater to the basics a young family needs within 15 minutes on foot would be beneficial for families, and ultimately all people.

Providing comfortable, convenient and active public transport options

Cities across the world that score high on the liveability index have excellent walking, cycling, and public transport networks in place since they promote the use of active and public transport among residents to reduce dependency on driving – this also helps in reducing vehicular traffic and pollution. Families with easy transport options can access early childhood services, such as health centers, daycares, and schools.

A conducive walking environment can encourage activity and mobility in young children and their caregivers

while also providing convenient access to public spaces and nurturing environments.

While close proximity to these services at neighborhood scale is preferable from an early childhood lens, it is also important to plan and place public transit stops at convenient walking distances from maximum residential areas and ensure that services are frequent enough to meet caregivers’ needs.

Create plenty of accessible green spaces

Regular outdoor activities and time spent amid soothing, natural surroundings is vital for young children for their mental and physical development. According to research published by the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), exposure to green surroundings in early childhood is linked with higher levels of physical activity. This lowers the risk of childhood obesity as well as neurodevelopmental problems like inattentiveness. Further, pregnant women spending time in green spaces had a reduced risk of delivering babies with a low birth weight. This works towards achieving the overall health and nutritional goals for a child during the crucial first 1,000 days of life.

Cities can ensure that every child and their caregivers have opportunities for physical activity in a safe environment by designing green spaces in neighborhoods and protecting existing open spaces. This also offers the additional benefit of providing a cooling effect on cities at a time when the world is plagued by the effects of global warming, further enhancing liveability.

Improving public safety

How safe and comfortable a person feels in public spaces is a strong indicator of the liveability of a city. This particularly applies to young children, women, and the elderly. Cities that are looking to boost their liveability score would do well by taking measures to ensure public safety, including road safety, across neighborhoods and public

Cities that focus on the needs of young children and their caregivers are also inclusive, safe, and accessible for all. When urban spaces are planned and built keeping in mind for instance restricted mobility and slower pace of movement, the basic needs of other vulnerable populations such as caregivers, the elderly, and people with disabilities are addressed as well, thus improving the overall quality of life for every resident spaces. City decision-makers’ focus on reducing crime, taking traffic into consideration to implement road safety measures, and working in collaboration with various government agencies, citizens, and other stakeholders will make cities more prepared and safer.

Governments, urban planners, and concerned local authorities would also do well to design infrastructure and low-speed zones that are safe for young children and their caregivers to walk or even to cycle in, particularly in areas near schools, community centers, parks, etc. that they frequently visit.

To conclude, it is safe to say that taking into account the needs and holistic development of young children and their caregivers during the process of urban planning can significantly influence not only the future development of children, but the society at large. Putting children at the center and taking conscious efforts to include their needs and comfort while planning, designing, and retrofitting cities and neighborhoods can go a long way in improving urban functioning and overall liveability for every resident.

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

www.urbanupdate.in | January 2022

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aRTICLE | Climate Refugees & Relocation

Adaptation with dignity Let’s make 2022 a landmark year Humans cope with climate change impacts according to their own situations and capacities. One of the ways people respond to climate change is by migrating out from their settlements. In normal conditions, humans tend to move only in search of better opportunities or to meet their aspirations.

However, migration due to climate change happens out of distress and by the most vulnerable communities

Ranjan K Panda | Convenor, Combat Climate Change Network

hen an area is regularly hit by rapid disasters such as floods and storms; or when a geography is constantly impacted by a slow onset disaster such as drought or sea level rise, the local communities are forced to be relocated. Some of these people can return to their homes after being temporarily displaced, while many have to permanently leave their histories and geographies behind since the area becomes completelyuninhabitable and livelihood opportunities get eroded.

Going up: internal displacement

‘Climate refugee’ is a common term being used world-wide to describe people forced to migrate due to climate change, disasters and other related environmental factors.

However, this term is used for people resorting to cross-border movement. Another problem that has already demanded huge humanitarian response is that of people who are moving inside their own countries, forced by climate change.

The number of such internally displaced

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people (IDP) caused by climate change has been growing exponentially. It is estimated that, of the 40.5 million new internal displacements in 2020 – the highest annual figure for 10 years – almost 30.7 million people were displaced due to weather related disasters. While that’s an increase of about 5.8 million over the previous year’s figure of 24.9 million, the same that year had jumped by almost 7.7 million over 2018. There was a lot of hope from COP26 that concluded in Glasgow, Scotland last month. Even though some experts claim that the 1.5 degree Celsius goal is still alive, going by the Net-Zero commitments made by countries, I would say the ‘pulse’ of this goal is weak. It is being asserted that the world governments need to double up their efforts as the emission reduction pledges for 2030 made so far would actually lead us to a 2.4oC temperature rise situation.

Various estimates are available for the number of internal migrants caused by climate change in the coming decades.

Even if the world keeps the 1.5oC commitment alive, climate change impacts are going to stay for centuries.

We therefore have to deal with the growing refugee and migrant crisis for a long time to come. The extent of migration estimated by various studies varies from tens of millions to about 1 billion people by 2050.

Such mass movements will pose huge and new challenges for the policy makers as the demand on certain geographies will increase creating more competition for the local livelihood opportunities and natural resources. In fact, as families and communities decide to relocate themselves en masse, this will transform the human geography of the planet. Some regions that are known as high population density centres may get uninhabitable, while regions with less resource support systems may have to host larger population than they can manage. This will give rise to new types of conflicts and poverty. It therefore calls for serious attention of policy makers who need to work towards proper resettlement of the migrants by respecting their human rights.

Moving beyond ad hoc measures

In countries like India, where most of the vulnerable communities – being forced to migrate to safer locations due to climate change impacts, lack the resources to relocate in new locations.

That’s the reason the governments – including Union, State and local governments (city and panchayats) – need to build robust plans backed by appropriate policy measures to support these migrants settle with dignity. In fact, proper rehabilitation of these populations should form a key component of the country’s resilience plan.

At present, no specific policy exists in the country to do this. What the state governments are doing is to help the communities with ad hoc provisions pulled in from various existing schemes such as house building assistance and food entitlements. Since no one can be attributed for the loss of land and displacement, as no one is yet officially responsible for climate change impacts, there is absolutely no compensation available for the people displaced by climate change.

While at the global level, various activists and groups are pushing for appropriate climate finance for all these loss and damage from the greenhouse gas emitters, not much has moved. The COP26 has moved just a step ahead from a non-existent commitment to establishment of a dialogue that would keep this issue alive. At the country level, however, we cannot wait for international finance to decide the fate of these vulnerable communities: our own people. As we keep pushing for finance from the global facilities, we should work to strengthen our national policies and plans, and make proper and possible budget allocations.

In a sequel to this piece, I shall write – based on our research - more about components of a desired rehabilitation policy. However, in this one, I am dwelling upon a few steps the governments should take prior to drafting a rehabilitation policy for people internally displaced due to climate change.

The steps ahead

With aggravated risks due to increased impacts of climate change, we need to step up our preparations with immediate effect. The government of India and many state governments are already preparing adaptation schemes and India’s climate change action plans are evolving over the years.

Planning for humane rehabilitation for the millions who are going to get permanently relocated due to climate change must begin now. And towards this, the following initial steps should be taken without any further delay. ♦♦ Identifying displacement hotspots The first task is to identify displacement hotspots from around the nation. This is definitely going to be a very complex exercise.

Especially when it comes to areas being impacted by drought, while people might migrate out, they may not like to be relocated permanently somewhere else since their land would still be existing as their own property. However, for areas being inundated by sea rise, as we have studied ourselves, people have no choice but to leave.

New methods are emerging to identify such areas with much more accuracy. To begin with, therefore, India should prepare a map and identify – with wider consultation with affected communities and other stakeholders – a timeline for relocation in areas where there is no hope for the people to stay in their existing places. ♦♦ Finding out resettlement locations Moving out is painful for people, especially those who are being forced by such conditions and are bound to lose out on the existing natural rights and livelihood opportunities they enjoy in a place they have been staying for generations.

However, when relocation is a compulsion, the state machinery should make every effort to resettle the communities in places that are not very far off.

Moving into nearby geographies will make it relatively easier for the people to adapt socio-culturally as

Moving out is painful for people, especially those who are being forced by such conditions and are bound to lose out on the existing natural rights and livelihood opportunities they enjoy in a place they have been staying for generations. The state machinery should make every effort to resettle the communities in places that are not very far off

well as to the ecology. This may also reduce the chances of conflict that normally emerge between new settlers and old ones. ♦♦ Scoping financial resources The first thing the governments need to do is to scope for financial allocations within existing schemes.

Then, they should prepare new proposals and seek resources from both national and international agencies. Along with this, India should join with organisations and governments who are pushing for the Loss and Damage finance facility at the global climate negotiations. If needed, collective pressure should be stepped up to make the emitters responsible for all these losses and damages, and resources should be sought from fossil fuel companies through the global climate finance facilities.

More and more adaptation fund should be demanded for so that vulnerable communities such as the above can be provided with a dignified life even in new locations.

Let 2022 be the year that symbolizes the beginning of a new rehabilitation policy framework for people displaced by climate change.

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

www.urbanupdate.in | January 2022

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aRTICLE | Sustainable Transport In New Normal

Connected & Safe Mobility Year 2020 and 2021 observed compressed and restricted mobility, year 2022 will be the transition year of released mobility and will set the foundation for complete mobility in 2023. India despite the odd situation because of COVID-19, registered phenomenal growth of expressway connectivity across length and width of the country. By 2025, another 10647 km length of expressway will be constructed and approximately 10537 km length will be under planning. It will at once provide fast connectivity between settlements, and will set the challenge for upgradation of secondary networks

Dr Sewa Ram | Professor, Transport Planning, SPA Delhi

imilar to the vision and benchmarking of Central Government, different State governments and local bodies should use the year 2022 for master planning of their local network so as to provide connectivity even to the least accessible areas. Where in the recent years people have demanded for improved

20 January 2022 | www.urbanupdate.in

connectivity, demand for better and safer roads will come up in the coming years.

Network of National Highway and State Highways comprises approximately 5 per cent of the network but it accounts for two thirds of accidents. Close to 51 accidents and 17 deaths every hour described the magnitude of the problem and draws attention of all towards making roads safer. Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target 3.6 talks of reducing deaths and injuries.

We need to have our vision and action plan for this goal. Our roads need to identify the requirements of vulnerable users. Vulnerable Road Users (VRUs) that comprises pedestrians, bicyclists and two-wheeler riders constitute 66 per cent of fatalities – this needs special attention. Our roads should be “SAFE FOR ALL AT ALL TIMES”.

2020 and 2021 taught us the need for accessibility and affordability, it drew our attention towards another important aspect “ACCESSIBILITY TO HEALTH INFRASTRUCTURE”.

India needs to have a road map for providing transport accessibility to health infrastructure of all levels of hierarchy,be it urban or rural.

EV MOMENTUM

Climate change - another subject that has been making headlines everywhere.

Being a signatory to the Paris Declaration and subsequent Summit, we have to see that our policy and actions are centered towards reducing our carbon footprint.

While the automobile sector is moving towards non fossil fuel mode, 2022 will also be the year of transition to Electric Vehicles (EVs). Governments, federal and States have introduced a host of incentives in order to encourage the purchase and use of EVs. This has been necessary in view of the higher initial purchase price of EVs. 2022 will see efforts to bring EVs within the reach of more and more numbers of the people.

Alongside there will be a big thrust on creating charging infrastructure in all parts of the country to ensure that this aspect does not become a stumbling block to faster adoption of electric mobility.

ZERO EMISSION ZONE AND CLEAN NEIGHBORHOOD

While government has provided thrust to EV Programme, more needs to be done for tapping other non-conventional sources of energy.

Leaving commercial viability aside we need to tap green energy for the usage in all sectors particularly for mobility needs. It will be good to see if we use solar energy and hydrogen fuel energy for clean mobility.

Even the highest court of our country mentioned this. Quality of Life depends upon the environment that people experience for day-to-day mobility.

It is important that we identify “NO EMISSION ZONE” or “LOW TOLERENCE ZONE”. Local bodies through people’s participation should prepare plan for these types of zones wherein the mobility needs are met by walk or cycling or by clean energy modes.

This can easily be done by starting the concept of “Clean Neighborhood”.

Our neighborhood should forgive slow speeds. Neighborhood should have “STREET” and not ‘ROAD”.

Street provides accessibility to all whereas road provides mobility to vehicles. 2022 /2023 will certainly see momentum for realising this vision. It is important that local representative is taken into confidence while preparing plan of action for “SAFE, CLEAN, ACCESSIBLE NEIGHBORHOOD”.

SABKI AUR SURAKSHIT SADAK (SAFE ROAD FOR ALL)

Active street is sign of security, prosperity hence it is important to have “SABKI AUR SURAKSHIT SADAK “. As per a study done by SPA Delhi (2019), street having no users, no activity becomes “SUNI SADAK” and later converts to” KHUNI SADAK”. It is validated by crime records that such roads become hot spots of crime. It will be good to see that year of 2022 reduces crimes that otherwise happen because of transport negligence. Our roads and streets should be safer for women at all times. This objective needs to be converted into actionable plans. This

will further encourage walking.

INTEGRATED MOBILITY

In recent years it has been noticed that non integration of modes leads to inequitable supply of transport system which results in poor acceptance by people. 2022 and beyond will see that integrated mobility will be the focus of our planning. Centre has already identified need of “Multi Modal Transport Hub” so as to provide integration of different modes and systems. In the city, it is important to look at this as integrated mobility will improve level of service through reduced interchange time and reduced cost along with acceptable level of comfort.

CONGESTION PRICING

Year of 2020 and 2021 by the excuse of deadly COVID-19 provided relief from traffic congestion as the mobility was below peak levels. The second half of 2022 is likely to witness a release of the pressure and result in high traffic congestion. Therefore, there will be need to further step up public modes of transportation and discourage private modes. We may be able to bring about reduction in private vehicle use by creating ‘No parking’ zones or by imposing higher congestion charges.

PERI URBAN AREA AT NEGLECT TO BE BROUGHT TO MAINSTREAM

Peri urban areas generally lack in all services but prominently they suffer from poor public transport and are denied adequate connectivity. They also have poor first and last mile connectivity. It is important to bring them into the mainstream as those living here are generally those looking for low cost of living.

URBAN FREIGHT DISTRIBUTION AND E COMMERCE

COVID-19 taught us the value of e-commerce and innovative methods of urban freight distribution. We first time understood the potential of hyper

Quality of Life depends upon the environment that people experience for day-to-day mobility. It is important that we identify “NO EMISSION ZONE” or “LOW TOLERENCE ZONE”.

Local bodies through people’s participation should prepare plan for these types of zones wherein the mobility needs are met by walk or cycling or by clean energy modes.

This can easily be done by starting the concept of “Clean Neighborhood” local delivery system. While the system reduces the vehicle kms, vehicle hours, and above all energy and pollution, it provides the service at doorstep and at least cost. We need to recognise this service and plan infrastructure accordingly.

WORK FROM HOME AS MOBILITY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

Year 2020 and 2021 taught us different methods of mobility management.

2022 and the years beyond will see that this concept of “Work from home/ online methods” will continue in several sectors particularly IT. It will benefit the transport system and reduce traffic congestion. Another strategy of “Flexi-hours/staggering of activity” will also continue in the year 2022.

TOURISM TO REBOUND

Where transport provides mobility, it also binds us socially. Our social and recreational trips will come to the original levels with greater force..

Tourism sector that was hit due to the pandemic will bounce back in 2022.

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

www.urbanupdate.in | January 2022

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aRTICLE | Real Estate In New Urban India it is a determinant of national economic growth and poverty reduction.

Real Estate Sector

Reformed real estate to propel India’s growth India is aspiring to become a $5 trillion economy by 2024 and a $10 trillion economy by 2030. The real estate and infrastructure sector can help accelerate the growth to meet the demands in cities, between now and the year 2030, India would require constructing approximately 700 to 900 million square meters of urban space every year

Sameera Saurabh | Director, MoHUA, Government of India

ndia is heralding in an era of transformation, which has enormous prospects for growth. New India that is taking shape has humongous opportunities for large-scale development to meet the aspirations of the ‘Young India’. According to Census 2011, India’s urban population was 37.7 crore, which is projected to grow to about 60 crore by 2030. Urbanisation has become an irreversible process, and

22 January 2022 | www.urbanupdate.in

The Real Estate sector is one of the largest contributors to the economy and the second largest employer.

It contributed around 7 per cent to India’s GDP in 2018-19 and its share is expected to grow to around 13 per cent of India’s GDP in 2025. Besides, as per Economic Survey 2017-18 this sector employed around 4 crore people in 2013, which is estimated to be around 5.5 crore in 2020. Clearly, growth of the sector has serious socio-economic gains to offer. With strong forward and backward linkages, particularly with the core sectors of the economy, such as steel, cement and other buildings materials, it directly/ indirectly impacts 270 different industries.

“In 21st century India, the most important way to revive cities is the maximum use of technology… …. “The huge change in the urban sector in India in the last 6-7 years has been made possible only due to technology.”

Hon’ble Prime Minister Narendra Modi while inaugurating Azadi@75 Conference and Expo at Lucknow

Resurgence in post-Covid era

Due to the COVID-19 global pandemic, along with other sectors, the real estate sector was also affected. Pandemic has paved the way for innovation and change, necessitating a relook at the real estate portfolios by builder & buyers both. The first quarter of FY 2020-21 witnessed low sales/launches. However, the situation has improved significantly thereafter and sales are almost back to pre-Covid levels.

As indicated in various reports and surveys that there are positive signs of demand as market fundamentals continue to remain strong under transparent and accountable regulatory regime of RERA and due to various confidence-building measures by central government have supported the sector when most needed.

It has been observed that for

residential real estate, the change in buyer preferences such as the need for additional space, demand for amenities, and the sudden realization of owning a house in troubled times cemented the revival.

Sales trends

Due to various measures taken by the Government as result of learning from first wave and use of smart lockdown at local level, sales volumes during Q2 2021, though lower in absolute numbers, were still higher as compared to Q2 2020. V-shape recovery of the economy gives me confidence to say that sales figures for Q3 & Q4 of 2021 will be much better.

New launches trends

Similarly, launching of new projects in Q2 2021 was hit due to second wave of COVID-19. Even though, volumes in Q1 & Q2 of 2021 were 20 per cent higher than Q1 & Q2 of 2020 period.

It is expected that result of Q3 will more positive in comparison to Q2, as

80000 70000 60000 50000 40000 30000 20000 10000 0

Sales Trends: Pan India (No. of Units)

Q2 2020 Knight Frank Research

Q3 2020 Anarock Research

our vaccination drive has crossed 150 crore doses and economic activities are back on track.

Under the visionary leadership of Prime Minister, Central Government has taken various Reforms for the Real Estate Sector in last 6-7 years, including Regulatory, Fiscal & Financial measures. Amongst many such steps taken, the key steps are:

Regulatory Reforms Real Estate (Regulation and Development Act) [RERA]A game changer

In pre-RERA era, Indian Real Estate sector was largely unregulated till the year 2016, which led to many

Q4 2020

Q1 2021 Proptiger Research

Q2 2021 JLL Research

anomalies resulting in various unfair practices. RERA marked the beginning of a new era in the Indian real estate sector and a step towards reforming the real estate sector in India, encouraging greater transparency, citizen centricity, and financial discipline.

Transformation in Rental Segment Model Tenancy Act

The Technical Group on Urban Housing Shortage, submitted in the year 2012, estimated urban housing shortage of 187.8 lakh. On the other hand as per Census 2011, nearly 1.1 crore houses were lying vacant in urban areas across the country.

The existing rent control laws are restricting the growth of rental housing and discourage the owners from renting out their vacant houses due to fear of losing repossession. As a result, stakeholders are led towards black and uncontrolled rental housing markets.

Rental housing is preferred option for different segment of society.

Acknowledging the importance of requirements of rental housing, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Government of India drafted a Model Tenancy Act to balance the interests and rights of both landlords and tenants to promote rental housing.

MTA prescribes a speedy dispute resolution mechanism. It is hoped that MTA will enable unlocking of vacant premises for rental purposes and create a vibrant and sustainable rental market for housing. After approval of Union Cabinet on 2nd June 2021, MTA has been shared with the States/Union Territories (UTs) for adoption either by legislating a new law or by amending existing rental laws suitably. MoHUA is in constant touch with all the States and UTs to ensure adoption of MTA

www.urbanupdate.in | January 2022

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aRTICLE | Real Estate In New Urban India

Fiscal and Financial measures for Housing ♦♦ Reduction in GST from 8% to 1% (with no input tax credit) for Affordable housing and for other housing projects from 12% to 5% (with no input tax credit). ♦♦ Affordable Housing Fund established in National Housing Bank in 2018, with backlog of priority sector lending to reduce interest burden on Affordable Housing. ♦♦ National Urban Housing Fund: EBR of `60,000 Cr approved in February 2018, wherein `53,000 Cr has already been drawn. ♦♦ Benefits under Section 80 IBA of IT Act extended for one more year, till 31st March 2022. Also, size limit of Affordable Housing Unit for section 80-IBA has been increased from 30 to 60 sqmtr in Metropolitan regions and 60 to 90 sqmtr in non-metropolitan regions for affordable housing unit valued upto `45 lakh. ♦♦ Infrastructure status has been accorded to Affordable Housing by including it in Harmonised List of Infrastructure. ♦♦ 100% FDI allowed under automatic route in construction projects. ♦♦ Lower Repo Rate and Reverse Repo Rate: This will encourage the banks to deploy surplus funds in investments and loans in productive sectors of the economy. ♦♦ The issue of liquidity being faced by NBFCs, HFCs and MFIs will be largely addressed by infusion of `75,000 crore. ♦♦ `18,000 Crore Additional outlay of for PMAY (U): A sum of `18,000 Cr has been provided for PMAY- Urban over and above `8,000 Cr already allocated this year. This will help ground 12 Lakh houses and complete 18 Lakh houses, create additional 78 Lakh jobs and improve production and sale of steel and cement, resulting in multiplier effect on economy. ♦♦ Extension of Income Tax Exemption for Affordable Housing Project: The benefit of 100% exemption from income tax on profits earned from affordable housing projects has been extended by another year. ♦♦ Extension of additional deduction of `1.5 Lakh on Home Loan Interest: In The benefits of additional deduction of `1.5 Lakh for the homebuyers interest paid on home loan (over and above `2 Lakh under section 24 of Income Tax Act) has been extended for another year. ♦♦ And, to promote REITs (Real Estate Investment Trusts), Tax Deduction at Source (TDS) for dividend payments to holders of REITs has been exempted.

across the country by March 2024.

Affordable Rental Housing Complexes (ARHCs)

In the wake of COVID-19 pandemic, aligning to the vision of “AtmaNirbhar Bharat”, Ministry has initiated Affordable Rental Housing Complexes

24 January 2022 | www.urbanupdate.in

(ARHCs) for urban migrants/ poor.

This initiative will not only improve the living conditions of urban migrants and poor but also obviate the need for staying in informal settlements. ARHCs will play a vital role in wealth creation, development of infrastructure, and provide dignified living with all basic

amenities to the urban poor/migrants.

PROGRAMMATIC MEASURES

Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana- Urban: Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs is implementing the PMAY-U to fulfil the vision of Hon’ble Prime Minister‘Housing for All’ by 2022. PMAY-U adopts a cafeteria approach where a beneficiary can choose one out of the four verticals of the Mission: Beneficiary Led Construction (BLC), Affordable Housing in Partnership (AHP), Credit Linked Subsidy Scheme (CLSS) and Insitu Slum Redevelopment (ISSR).

The Mission has registered outstanding success as evident from the fact that so far, about 1.14 crore houses have been sanctioned for its beneficiaries, out of which around 89 lakh houses are grounded and around 52 lakh have been completed.

The houses sanctioned so far under the Mission involve an investment of `7.38 lakh crore with central assistance of `1.82 lakh crore. As of now, over `1.06 lakh crore of central assistance has already been released. Infusion of such a large amount of funding has propelled the economy. The current investment made by the Government in the sector has created an estimated 705 crore person days of employment translating into around 252 lakh jobs and led to consumption of 380 Lakh MT of cement and 86 Lakh MT of steel.

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): PMAY-U addresses the SDGs for Reduction for Poverty (Goal 1), Women Empowerment for Gender Equality (Goal 5), Ensuring Clean Water and Sanitation (Goal 6), Access to basic services, energy, housing for making Sustainable Cities and Communities (Goal 11) and investment in low carbon development through Technology SubMission for Climate Action (Goal 13).

With all these reformative steps (mentioned in box item), it is hoped that resurgence of Real Estate will lead to overall and cascading impact on economy.

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

Girl Power Project

Capacity building to promote women entrepreneurship Team Girl Power

irl Power Project organised seven days residential capacity building of the trainers from December 17 to 23, at Divyanan, Rama Krishna Mission Ashram, Ranchi. In the training program, representatives of 20 CSOs (Civil Society Organisations)/ service providers participated in the training, who were identified in the baseline survey made by the Girl Power Project. A total of 28 participants attended the program in which 11 technical and 3 non-technical sessions were covered.

The project is funded by the European Union and implemented by the All India Institute of Local Self Government (AIILSG) in Jharkhand. It aims to develop 5000 women entrepreneurs.

The program was aimed to train the representatives of 20 selected CSOs/ service providers who will become master trainers and will impart the training and skill building activity to women and girls in their respective areas of operation. During the training, participants were oriented on different technical and non-technical training modules with the objective of acquainting the trainers on different topics, understanding entrepreneurship opportunities on different products, and providing training to 80 CSOs/SHGs. The training session began with the welcome note by Dr RK Gupta, Project Director, Girl Power Project, after which the participants were briefed about the Girl Power Project activities and about the organisation, purpose of

the training program, and the process of designing the modules. There were a total of 14 lectures on different topics and were taken by different resource person. Swadhin Patnaik presided the discussion on lac cultivation. He extensively worked on the thematic area, i.e. lac cultivation with Jharkhand State Livelihood Promotion Society (JSLPS). JSLPS work as a nodal agency for effective implementation of livelihood promotion in the state.

JSLPS has developed a replicable and scalable model for tribal women to have sustainable earning through scientific lac cultivation.

Avik Gyan took over the session on bamboo craft and gave detailed direction as to how they can make various items like tray, pen-stand, lamp shades, boards, jewellery box, and home decorative items using bamboo. He also mentioned that bamboo is abundantly available in the forest of Jharkhand state and the locals are familiar with it but are unable to make proper use of it. The session was aimed to educate tribal women about easy and advance technique of the craft and to make them self-reliant on bamboo-based products manufacturing.

The participants were also briefed on backyard poultry, fisheries, and dairy by different trainers. The respective experts took a session and explained about the breeding process, disease management and marketing benefits.

In Jharkhand, women are gradually venturing into these sectors as they have an opportunity to break the circle of poverty.

Shehali Hembrom, Trainer from Rural Self-Employment Training Institute (RSETI) and National Bank for Agricultural and Rural Development (NABARD) deliberated on mushroom and mahua cultivation and its venture

scope for the farmers of Jharkhand. She explained the technique of mushroom cultivation practices, different types of mushrooms and its origin, nutritional, dietary and medicinal values. In the next session, she explained how mahua can act as a game changer, which can make you an entrepreneur from a roadside liquor-seller. Mahua flowers can be used for making value added products like laddoos, oil, and various medicines instead of preparing liquor which can cause adverse health effect.

Manrakhan Mahto, Trainer from Amar Sanjeevani Natural Bee Product Private Limited, explained the vast potential for beekeeping. He explained that beekeeping doesn’t require much time and the returns are highly gratifying.

The trainer further explained types of bees, its scope, and the nutrition value of honey. In Jharkhand, the beekeeping business has tremendous growth due to its inexhaustible floral resources and diverse environment, obtained from natural vegetation and cultivated crops.

A session on sericulture training was taken by Mohsina Khatoon, Trainer from Jharkhand Silk Development Institute.

She explained the rearing of silkworm to produce cocoon, which further helps to produce saw silk. The production of silkworm involves tasks like spin silk cocoons, silkworm feed cultivation and reeling of cocoons. Sericulture plays an important role in the industry as it generates rural employment and also helps in earning foreign exchange. It is a women friendly low investment and high returns business setup.

Apart from the commodity based technical trainings, sessions on nontechnical aspects namely; government schemes, social entrepreneurship and gender were also held. In these sessions, various issues pertaining to rural women entrepreneurship were discussed. Ajit Singh, Director, Visvesvaraya Sanitation and Water Academy (VISWA) took the session on government schemes related to women entrepreneurship. He briefed about Mudra Yojana Scheme, Udoyogini Scheme, Bharatiya Mahila Bank Business Loan and others, which may promote women entrepreneurship in Jharkhand.

www.urbanupdate.in | January 2022

25

Numerograph | Probing Urban Development

Major Urban CSPs How do they look now?

Schemes and programmes of the Government of India for urban regions are aimed at development of society in the areas of housing, infrastructure, health, etc. Multiple schemes like Swachh Bharat Mission have seen tremendous implementation growth since its inception. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has presented itself as a major roadblock for the growth curve of such schemes.

The government is in dire need of adjusting to the ‘new reality’; and giving a much-needed push to the welfare schemes Hitesh Nigam | Reporter

% of funds used under SBM-U

100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0

Key Progress SCM

26 January 2022 | www.urbanupdate.in

PMAY (U)

6074 projects are under progress

Houses sanctioned 114.02 lakh

3371 projects completed out of 5151 proposed

Houses grounded 91.47 lakh

Allocated funds vs Released funds 4586 (by GoI) 4371 4316 200000

4586

4371

4586

4371

4316

180000

4316

3339

160000

3339

3339

140000

Fund Value

ODF Status of cities

120000 100000 80000

961

60000

961

961

40000 20000 0 SCM

AMRUT

Total Cities Allocated Funds Certified ODF+

PMAY Urban

Total Cities

SBM Urban

Schemes

ODF Declared Released Funds Certified ODF+

ODF Declared

ODF Verified Certified ODF++

ODF Verified Total Cities

Certified ODF++

Certified ODF+

ODF Declared

ODF Verified

Certified ODF++

Source:

AMRUT

SBM (U)

Projects completed 3988

Constructed CT/PT 6,20,979 (22% over the target)

Water connections given - 114 lakh+

Constructed IHHL 62,64,238 (6% over the target)

sdgindiaindex. niti.gov.in data. unhabitat.org, unstats.un.org unstats.un.org

27 www.urbanupdate.in | January 2022 27

NEWSCAN

Briefs

Visakhapatnam to stretch itself for better performance in SS Survey VIZAG: The Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) is considering conducting a survey in the corporation’s 98 wards to measure cleanliness in wards in the New Year, similar to the Swachh Survekshan Survey (SSS), stated G. Lakshmisha, Municipal Commissioner, GVMC. Such projects will provide an overview of the cleanliness in the wards, suggest ways to improve sanitation and encourage officials to compete to maintain the localities clean, informed Lakshmisha. During the

annual news conference, Lakshmisha spoke about his plans for 2022.

Lakshmisha stated that he intends to be available to the public every day from 4 AM to 6 PM. In each zone, plans were being made to build a park dedicated solely to women.

He also directed the Sachivalayam/Secretariat personnel to hold New Year celebrations in the office with all employees and sanitary workers, as well as to make a New Year commitment to work hard and make efforts to make Visakhapatnam the cleanest city in

the upcoming Swachh Survekshan Survey 2022.

He stated that medical camps for sanitary staff will be held in all of the wards very soon. Mayor G Hari Venkata Kumari had earlier given out the corporation’s progress for the year. With a budget of Rs 40,969 lakh, the civic body had undertaken 2703 development projects. There were 1554 works finished and 231 works under progress.

While 306 projects were about to begin, 612 were still in the tender stage.

In the first phase of Clean Andhra Pradesh, the GVMC received roughly 361 waste collection vehicles, she noted. Below poverty line families in the city received around 2.10 lakh dustbins. The GVMC has allocated around Rs 1.50 crore to each ward as part of its ward development plan.

IIT-M most innovative for third time NEW DELHI: Innovation cell of the Ministry of Education, Government of India, released the Atal Ranking of Institutions on Innovation Achievements (ARRIA) 2021, on December 29. Participating institutions are divided into two groups by ARIIA 2021, namely Technical and Non-Technical. The Indian Institute of Technology-Madras (IIT-Madras) has been named India’s ‘Most Innovative Educational Institute’ in the technical category. IIT Madras has won the top spot for the third time in a row. The IITs of Bombay and Delhi were ranked second and third, respectively. In a virtual event, Subhas Sarkar, Minister of State for Education, Government of India, declared the ranking. He urged higher educational institutions to instill a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship among students and to equip faculty members as innovators, out-of-the-box thinkers, creative problem solvers, entrepreneurs, and job creators. Dr Sarkar stated that India has one of the world’s largest higher education institutions in reference to the country’s continuous rise in innovation and start-ups. He believes that higher education institutions have numerous chances to serve as enablers in the Indian innovation and start-up ecosystem.

28 January 2022 | www.urbanupdate.in

NTPC signs MoU with GNIDA to foster sustainable energy

NTPC Ltd (National Thermal Power Corporation Limited) announced signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Greater Noida Industrial Development Authority (GNIDA) for facilitating the supply of Refused Derived Fuel (RDF) which is the combustible fraction of solid waste. The MoU is a significant step towards sustainable development and GNIDA will provide 20 tonnes per day of RDF to NTPC for the next ten years, as per the company in a statement. NTPC has a larger aim attached to this initiative, which is to demonstrate environment-friendly technology in the production of green power.

Bihar government approves formation of 3 new municipal bodies The Bihar cabinet approved the formation of three new municipal bodies on Tuesday, December 28, namely Ghorashan (East Champaran), Itadhi (Buxar) and Sangrampur (Munger).

The cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister of Bihar Nitish Kumar, also decided to upgrade seven municipal bodies and expand the area of two bodies.

Now, Bihar has 19 municipal corporations, 89 nagar parishads and 154 nagar panchayats. The cabinet approved the fund of Rs 389 crore to upgrade 89 state industrial training institutes. It also approved formation of the eco-tourism division and creation of 22 posts in order to promote tourism in the state. 38 posts have also been approved for the operation of Rajgir Nature Safari.

Briefs Defense minister unravels border infrastructure Rajnath Singh, Minister of Defense, Government of India, listed two critical border infrastructures on December 29, ensuring that it is a key priority to boost India’s military readiness.

While addressing the nation, Singh mentioned 24 bridges and three roads, built by Border Roads Organisation (BRO) in four states and two union territories.

The main attraction was the inauguration of a 140-ft double lane modular bridge, which is built at the height of 11,000 ft in Sikkim’s Dokala at Flag Hill, and the Chisumle-Demchok Road at Umling La Pass in Ladakh.

Tata & Bihar govt to improve & modernise ITIs

The Government of Bihar on December 28, approved a `4606 crore worth project for upgrading over 149 state-owned Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs).

According to Sanjay Kumar, Additional Chief Secretariat, Government of Bihar, the project will be handled in conjunction with Tata Technologies. An official informed that the state government will be signing a Memorandum of Association (MoA) with Tata Technologies for this project. He further stated that over 88 per cent of the cost will be funded by the company and the rest will be borne by the state government. The first phase of the project would emphasise on 60 centers whose existing infrastructure will be modernised

by March 2022. The remaining 89 will be worked upon and finished by March 2023.

NEWSCAN

Two vaccines and a pill for COVID-19 approved for use in India NEW DELHI: Two more vaccines for the COVID-19 and a new pill to treat people with mild-to-moderate symptoms were approved by Drugs Controller General of India on Tuesday, December 29, bolstering the country’s tools to combat the pandemic at a time when fears are growing that the new Omicron variant of the SARS-CoV-2 could spark a new wave.

The news came right after the announcement for expanding vaccination drive to cover children aged 15 and above, starting from January 2022. India now has eight COVID-19 vaccines approved for emergency use, including Serum Institute’s (SII) Covishield, Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin, Zydus’s ZyCoV-D, Russia’s Sputnik V, and Moderna and Johnson & Johnson dosages. To be sure, only Covishied, Covaxin, and Sputnik have been administered, so far. Covovax by SII has a license to produce around two billion doses with an efficacy rate of 90 per cent in curbing symptomatic infection. Corbevax on the other hand is being manufactured by Biological E, under a partnership with Texas-based Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children’s Hospital Centre for Vaccine Development.

Besides this, an anti-viral drug Molnupiravir has also been approved with similar prescriptions as the vaccines. “The more options we have, the better; and when it comes to vaccines, indigenous vaccines will undoubtedly have a storage and transit advantage over other vaccines. We now have five vaccines manufactured in India, three of which are WHO-approved, which is fantastic”, said Dr Sandeep Budhiraja, Group Medical Director, Max Healthcare and Senior Director at the Institute of Internal Medicine.

‘Jan Bhagidari’ essential for a city’s development: PM Modi VARANASI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on December 17, chaired the inauguration ceremony of All India Mayors’ Conference via video conferencing. The conference is happening in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh. Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs, Government of India and Yogi Adityanath, Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, also attended the ceremony.

Referring to the conference theme ‘New Urban India’, he said that the nation should develop its cities into a vibrant economy. He urged the mayors to make their cities clean, vibrant and beautiful.

PM Modi asked the mayors to localise the work of making a city clean by organising competitions between the wards. He said that development of the city of Kashi will be a roadmap for the development of other cities in the

nation. The Prime Minister insisted on the rejuvenation and preservation of the cities and not destroy its antiquity in the era of modernisation. He asked the mayors to find out the birthdate of their cities and celebrate its anniversary to celebrate the place, its people, and its uniqueness. Stressing on the importance of citizen participation, PM Modi said that ‘Jan Bhagidari’ can take the nation forward towards newer heights. He further talked about empowering Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises while working out the development model of cities.

He also asked the mayors to focus on waste management revenue model. He said that converting waste to wealth can immensely benefit cities. He said that it will not only lead to ‘Swachh Bharat’ but also a ‘Swasth Bharat’. Modi called upon the mayors to make their cities better and future-ready.

www.urbanupdate.in | January 2022

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NEWSCAN

Briefs

NMCG & TERI launch Centre of Excellence on Water reuse NEW DELHI: The NMCG-TERI Centre of Excellence (CoE) on Water Reuse was launched by the Director General, National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) and the Director General, The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) at the TERI Headquarters in New Delhi. Through collaboration between NMCG and TERI, the CoE on Water Reuse is the first of its type in the country.

The CoE is a four-way partnership involving NMCG, TERI, industrial partners, and trade associations. It will achieve the Ganga Knowledge Centre’s (GKC) goals of designing and fostering research and innovation. The goal is to identify knowledge gaps for research, and the need for new ideas to support targeted research and drive and nurture essential innovation. For example, low-cost, effective and integrated treatment technologies that could fill the gaps in current treatment, increase capacity, and deliver safe treated water for reuse. As a result, this CoE is the first of its kind that will correspond to the GKC activities. Rajiv Ranjan Mishra, DG, NMCG, said at the event that wastewater after treatment should be used as much as possible.

The goal of cleaning the Ganga, or a river, or a city, is to make them sustainable in the long run. Sustainability in the sense of viewing it as a resource that can be reused rather than rejecting it as garbage. To effectively handle water reuse, he stressed the importance of collaborations with stakeholders, particularly research institutes and enterprises.

Cities should be like Kashi: CM Yogi VARANASI: Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Yogi Adityanath stated that Kashi exemplifies how India’s rich heritage can be combined with modernity on Friday, December 17, at the All India Mayors conference.

He added that the city provides for all modern facilities while preserving the city’s age-old tale, all have been due to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s efforts. The conference, organised by the Department of Urban Development, Government of Uttar Pradesh, invited mayors from various states across the country. On the sidelines of the event, from December 17 to 19, an exhibition will be held to highlight the significant achievements of the Government of India and the Government of Uttar Pradesh in urban development.

“Seven years ago, Kashi was extremely different from what it appears today,” CM Yogi stated. In practically every neighborhood, the lanes were tiny and

30 January 2022 | www.urbanupdate.in

filthy, and live electric wires dangling from poles posed a danger to people’s lives. Open defecation along railway tracks was widespread at the time.

The picture of Kashi has altered now that lakhs of dwellings with toilets and community toilets have been built.

Because of the efforts of the honorable Prime Minister, the city has been transformed.”

According to CM Yogi, sustainable urban development is critical to a state’s economic development and will play a significant role in India’s goal of being a $5 trillion economy by 2025. According to CM Yogi, Kashi has set new development standards. He stressed on the significance of having an Integrated Control and Command Center (ICCC) as well as integrated traffic management. He noted the ICCC’s responsibility in security management during the Kumbh fair in this context.

Drinking water project launched in Shorapur

On December 28, BA Basavaraj (Byrati), Minister for Urban Development, Government of Karnataka, laid the foundation stone for a drinking water project. From Krishnanagar to Shorapur city and three villages along the way, the project will offer drinkable water. The Karnataka Urban Water Supply and Drainage Board and the City Municipal Council, Shorapur, will work together on the project, which would cost Rs 158.80 crore. It is expected to meet the drinking water demands of people until 2055, based on population growth. The project is expected to complete by the end of 2022, according to Basavaraj.

Kerala emerges on top in NITI Aayog Health Index Niti Aayog, the Government of India’s think tank, released the Fourth Health Index on December 27. As per the report, Kerala kept its top rank in terms of overall health performance.

Kerala has won this round for the fourth time in a row in terms of overall performance. Tamil Nadu came in second and Telangana came in third. Among smaller states, Mizoram emerged as a top performer in both overall and incremental performance.

Briefs AAP no 1 in CMC elections In Chandigarh Municipal Corporation (CMC) elections, the new entrant Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) emerged as leading contestant. The AAP bagged 14 out of 35 wards in the results announced on December 27. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came a close second by registering win in 12 wards. The Indian National Congress bagged 8 seats and the Shiromani Akali Dal settled with one. The Congress secured highest votes amongst the three leading parties amounting to 29.79 per cent of the votes. The BJP secured 29.30 per cent votes and AAP got 27.08 per cent of the total votes.

Online services launched for urban regions in Leh

In Leh, Umang Narula, Advisor to Lieutenant Governor (LG), Administration of Union Territory of Ladakh, established e-services for the Departments of Housing, Urban Development, Social and Tribal Welfare. He launched online registration and issue of birth and death certificates, as well as online rent collection and digitalised payment services of the Housing and Urban Development Departments, as part of Ladakh’s e-Governance Week celebrations.

Website of Social and Tribal Welfare Department and portal of REWA Scheme were also launched by the Advisor. Its goal is to provide financial support to deserving Ladakh students who wish to attend coaching sessions.

LG of Ladakh RK Muthur inaugurated the Rewa scheme in June, this year.

NEWSCAN

PM Modi lays key stone for 22 projects in Varanasi VARANASI: Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi on his visit to Varanasi today, December 23, will be inaugurating multiple development projects, which will be worth over Rs 850 crores. Further, he will also flag development initiatives.

Following is the list of projects that will be launched by PM Modi1. He will be laying a setting stone for ‘Banas Dairy Sankul’ at Uttar Pradesh State Industrial Development Authority Food Park.

2. A biogas- based electricity generation plant would be located in Ramnagar in Varanasi.

3. He will launch a portal along with its logo, dedicated to the Conformity Assessment Scheme of milk products.

4. PM Modi will also distribute the rural residential rights record, ‘Ghaurani’ under the Swamitva scheme.

5. In health sector, PM Modi will

6.

7.

8.

dedicate a project at Mahamana Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya Cancer Center that includes a nurses’ hostel, a doctors’ hostel and a shelter home. A 50-bed integrated Ayush hospital will be inaugurated in Bhadrasi. The Government Homeopathic Medical College’s foundation stone will also be laid.

The foundation stone for two ‘fourto-six-lane’ road-widening projects in Bhadohi & Prayagraj will be laid.

The first phase of the tourism development project is related to Shri Guru Ravidas Ji Temple, Seer Govardhan, Varanasi, to encourage tourism in the holy city.

The South Asia Regional Center, a speed breeding facility at the International Rice Research Institute, and an advocate building in Pindra Tehsil are among the other development projects to be inaugurated by PM Modi in Varanasi.

India added 1.3 GW of rooftop solar in nine months of 2021 NEW DELHI: Mercom India Research released its third-quarter report on Rooftop Solar Market 2021. The report stated that India had added 1.3 GW of rooftop solar infrastructure in the first nine months of 2021. It is a 202 per cent increase in comparison to the same period, last year. It established that solar installations are the highest ever recorded in the first nine months of a year. Rooftop solar installations in Q3 of 2021 were up 189 per cent year-over-year (YoY).

According to the report, residential installations were the highest for the second quarter in a row. In Q3 2021, 54 per cent of rooftop solar was installed in the residential sector. It was followed by commercial and industrial, and government sectors, with 44 per cent and 2 per cent, respectively. By the end of third quarter of 2021, total rooftop solar installations had reached 6.7 GW. Raj Prabhu, Chief Executive Officer, Mercom Capital Group, said that the rooftop solar installation market is showing signs of recovery and is back to pre-COVID-19 levels. With 26 per cent of all, Gujarat is the state with most rooftop solar installations. Gujarat is followed by Maharashtra and Rajasthan, which each added 14 per cent and 10 per cent, respectively. The top ten states accounted for almost 83 per cent of total rooftop solar installations in Q3 2021. Installers are receiving a rising number of enquiries from consumers who recognise the financial and environmental benefits of going solar, according to the research. The paper also includes a complete review of net metering policies in all Indian states and union territories.

www.urbanupdate.in | January 2022

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NEWSCAN

Briefs

Solar-based irrigation panel to be installed in Jharkhand RANCHI: Incorporating renewable energy-based schemes into the agricultural sector is the pathway for institutionalising synergies towards sustainable growth. Abu Bakar Siddiqui, Agriculture Secretary, Government of Jharkhand stated on Tuesday, December 7, that the state government has launched a number of initiatives to promote the agriculture industry, including a lift irrigation system.

Farmers who cannot afford diesel pumps or other traditional technologies are the primary beneficiaries of lift irrigation.

Siddiqui visited Simdega, an impoverished district of Jharkhand, to participate in the ‘Kisan Samvad Karyakram’. He said that various programmes are being implemented after listening to farmers’ experiences.

He explained, “Irrigation powered

by renewable energy projects will contribute to the development of a robust agro-based economy. Solar-based lift irrigation, based on programmes by the Simdega district administration and farmer experiences, has the potential to be a game-changer for farmers across the state. And we’ll be implementing this project across the state very soon.”A solar-powered lift irrigation system has been created in Simdega and is now delivering irrigation facilities to farmers, according to a statement from the state administration.

More than 250 solar-based irrigation schemes have been introduced in various regions of the district, according to the report, with more than 175 solarlift irrigation plans being considered.

A single solar lift irrigation system can irrigate ten acres of land.

PM inaugurates development projects on Goa Liberation Day PANAJI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Goa on December 19, to attend Goa Liberation Day celebrations. The celebrations happened at Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Stadium at around 3 PM. PM Modi honoured the liberation warriors and veterans of ‘Operation Vijay’ at the ceremony. Every year on December 19, Goa Liberation Day commemorates the success of the Indian Armed Forces’ ‘Operation Vijay,’ which liberated Goa from Portuguese rule.

During the event, PM Modi launched various development projects for the state.

The rebuilt Fort Aguada Jail Museum, Goa Medical College’s Super Speciality Block, the New South Goa District Hospital, Mopa Airport’s Aviation Skill Development Center, and the Dabolim-Navelim, Margao Gas-insulated substation were all inaugurated. He also laid foundation for the India International University of Legal Education and Research, which is being built in Goa by the Bar Council of India Trust. The Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana scheme was used to fund construction of the Super Speciality Block at Goa Medical College and Hospital, which costs around Rs 380 crore. It is the only ultra-modern super speciality hospital in the entire state.

32 January 2022 | www.urbanupdate.in

TN launches ‘Meendum Manjappai’ scheme

Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu M K Stalin launched ‘Meendum Manjappai’ scheme on December 23, to promote the use of cloth bag instead of plastic ones. He called upon the people to discourage the growing use of plastic in the state as it is harmful to the environment. CM Stalin listed the harmful effects of single-use plastic products and added that there is a need to replace them with cloth bags. He added that if plastics are thrown away, it takes several years to decompose.

Till now, 130 factories have been fined for violating the ban on single-use plastic.

New urban development authority for Madurai The Government of Tamil Nadu has announced the foundation of a new Madurai Urban Development Authority.

V Irai Anbu, Chief Secretary, Government of Tamil Nadu, issued the government order.

According to the order, sustainable development is becoming increasingly important as the urban population grows.

As a result, a separate authority would allow urban planners to concentrate on the city’s growth.

The District Collector of Madurai will serve as Vice-Chairman, Urban Development Authority, which will be chaired by the Principal Secretary, Housing and Urban Development. Ex-officio members would be the heads of the departments of finance, transportation, industries, public works, municipal administration and water supply, and rural development, among others.

Briefs Firhad Hakim appointed the new mayor of Kolkata Firhad Hakim, West Bengal Minister, will be the newly appointed Mayor of Kolkata, announced the Trinamool Congress (TMC) party on December 23. The TMC has named Hakim as the next Mayor of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC), four days after getting a landslide victory in the KMC elections. Atin Ghosh will be Deputy Mayor, while Mala Roy, Member of Parliament, South Kolkata, would be the next Chairperson of KMC, according to the TMC party.

NEWSCAN

Maharashtra to spend maximum clean air funds on e-transport MUMBAI: The Government of Maharashtra has planned to spend its bulk of funds under Clean Air initiative for electrifying public transport under Electric Vehicle (EV) Policy 2021.

Clean air funding was obtained under the 15th Finance Commission. The EV policy aims to include around 1,46,000 new battery-operated electric vehicles on the roads of Maharashtra by 2025, which will be 10 per cent of all new vehicles registrations by the time.

The state has been allocated a total of `2981 crore to address the

climate woes in the state, as per the recommendations of 15th Finance Commission.

Out of the total `2773 crore of funds that the state is planning to spend by 2025, 80 per cent of it will be utilised for EV policy, specifically electric buses in urban clusters. The rest `555 crore will be used for local interventions, for improving the air quality of state, such as implementing dust control measures (8 per cent), regulating construction (4 per cent), and regulating industries (2 per cent), etc.

MP: No Panchayat polls sans OBC reservation Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly passed a resolution in complete accord, stating that the state will not have panchayat polls without reservation for other backward classes (OBCs).

The decision came after Supreme Court stay put on the poll process on seats that are reserved for OBCs in panchayats and demanded denotification of these seats as general category.

Pey Jal Survekshan launched under AMRUT 2.0 As per the latest press release by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Government of India, Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation 2.0 (AMRUT 2.0) would conduct a challenge process named ‘Pey Jal Survekshan’. The challenge will analyse service level benchmarks related to quality, quantity and coverage of water supply in the cities. It will also assess the steps taken towards the reduction of non-revenue water through water clusters, rejuvenation of water bodies, and skill development.

Pey Jal Survekshan will cover 500 cities selected under AMRUT 2.0.

Omicron: Third wave to peak in February, says COVID expert panel NEW DELHI: According to the National COVID-19 Supermodel Committee, the third wave of COVID-19 is projected to peak in early next year, but it will be milder than the second wave.

Members of the national COVID-19 Supermodel Committee were advised that the daily caseload in India is projected to increase until the Omicron replaces Delta as the prevalent type. According to M Vidyasagar, the Committee’s Chairman, India will experience Omicron’s third wave although it will be milder than the second wave due to the country’s current high level of immunity. In worst-case scenario, if the country is attacked by the third wave, he believes India will not see more than two lakh cases, each day. He also advised people to be vaccinated because the number of infections in the country is slowly increasing. “These are projections, not predictions, as I emphasise. Once we understand how the virus is behaving in the Indian population, we may begin making predictions. According to our stipulations, the number of cases per day remains below 1.7 to 1.8 lakh in worst-case scenario, which includes the entire loss of vaccine-induced immunity and maximum loss of naturally produced immunity. This is less than half of the second wave’s peak,” he stated.

Meanwhile, despite a dramatic surge in Omicron cases across the country, the central government encouraged people to keep new year celebrations low-key and avoid non-essential travel. The need to scale up public health is critical.

www.urbanupdate.in | January 2022

33

NEWSCAN

Make urban areas litter-free by 2022: J&K Chief Sec to H&UDD JAMMU & KASHMIR: Chief Secretary of the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir Dr Arun Kumar Mehta, reviewed the functioning of the Department of Housing & Urban Development, Government of Jammu and Kashmir, on December 17. He assessed the progress made under various development programs and initiatives. The meeting was attended by the Principal Secretary, Department of Housing & Urban Development; Commissioner/Secretary, Jal Shakti Department; Commissioners of Jammu Municipal Corporation and Srinagar Municipal Corporation; Directors of Urban Local Bodies of Jammu and Kashmir; and other important officers.

During the two-day event, 553 developmental projects were identified, 345 of which have already been completed, and the rest will be finished

by March 2022. The department was mandated by the Chief Secretary to ensure ‘litter-free’ metropolitan areas by 2022. He also directed the deployment of scientific waste management procedures, such as safe landfill disposal.

The department was recommended to use appropriate interventions to turn all legacy dumpsites into green zones.

Dr Mehta emphasised the importance

34 January 2022 | www.urbanupdate.in

of year-round de-weeding drives in Dal and Nigeen lakes for overall cleanliness and preservation of the surroundings.

This has to be done along with ensuring the implementation of the sewerage treatment protocols in a time-bound manner.

To further boost development in the urban areas, AMRUT 2.0 is being launched in the union territory. The goal is to provide water tap connections to all statutory towns; sewerage connections in 3 AMRUT mission cities; and rejuvenation of water bodies, green spaces and parks. Under the Swachh Bharat Mission (URBAN) 2.0, the department will endeavour to make all cities and towns “garbage-free” by focusing on solid waste segregation and door-to-door collection in all urban local bodies. The department was also instructed to encourage rainwater harvesting techniques in urban areas in order to make the best use of rainwater and supplement the dwindling water supply.

It was revealed that the Department held the first-ever ‘My Town My Pride’ (MRTS) program in October 2020, with the three-fold goal of improving public outreach across J&K’s urban regions and towns, offering door-to-door service

delivery, and strengthening grass-root democracy. It was revealed that the two MRTS projects currently under construction in the twin capital cities will provide a safe, dependable, convenient, cost-effective and sustainable way of urban transportation, once completed.

In Jammu, the Metrolite corridors would run from Bantalab to Bari Brahmana (23 km), Indra Nagar to HMT Junction (12.50 km), and Hazuri Bagh to Osmanabad (12.50 km). In Srinagar, the Metrolite corridors will run from Bantalab to Bari Brahmana (23 km). When fully operational, MRTS will boost public transit while also reducing traffic congestion by lowering per capita vehicle ownership and traffic accidents.

Furthermore, the Chief Secretary stressed the financial and environmental viability of development projects/models being implemented by various local government organisations, and oversaw the development of guiding principles and framework. He urged that the department place a specific emphasis on capacity building and training for both elected officials and workers of all metropolitan local governments.

Additionally, the department has been mandated to promote IT-enabled citizen services by upgrading IT infrastructure and back-end service support in order to make existing government services more accessible.

Taranjit Singh Tony, Member, District Development Council, Suchetgarh, has been actively campaigning to involve the youth in government programs and help them set up businesses and become employment suppliers rather than job seekers. Tony, while speaking at a Kissan Loan Mela, urged the youth to pursue business opportunities, noting that the authorities have introduced a variety of initiatives aimed at encouraging entrepreneurship in Jammu and Kashmir.

NEWSCAN

India’s urban unemployment rate rises to double digits In January-March 2021, the urban unemployment rate for all ages reached 9.3 per cent, up from 9.1 per cent in the same period of 2020. According to the National Statistical Office’s (NSO) Periodic Labour Force Survey, the unemployment rate for men of all ages was 8.6 per cent during the time, while it was 11.8 per cent for women NEW DELHI: India has been running out of jobs. But the news is, how low can we go?

The urban unemployment rate stood at a nine-week high of 8.53 per cent on December 13, stated the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE).

Last week, the rural jobless rate was also at a nine-week high of 7.42 per cent. The high unemployment rate in India highlights the economy’s ability to provide jobs in an adequate amount, stated Mahesh Vyas, Chief Executive Officer, CMIE. November saw a fall in employment opportunities in cities by 0.9 million even though it increased in rural areas by 2.3 million in October.

Employment in cities and towns fell by 9 lakh in November, while employment in rural areas increased by 23 lakh from October levels. “Urban employment surely delivers greater earnings and a higher share in the organised sector,” Vyas stated in a recent piece. Their deterioration reflects a general decline in the quality of occupations in India.

Industrial output remained unchanged in October, according to official figures. During the weekend, the Ministry of Finance stated that the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which increased by 8.4 per cent in the September quarter, will continue

to rise in the future quarters of this fiscal year. In January-March 2021, the urban unemployment rate for all ages reached 9.3 per cent, up from 9.1 per cent in the same period of 2020.

According to the National Statistical Office’s (NSO) Periodic Labour Force Survey, the unemployment rate for men of all ages was 8.6 per cent during the time, while it was 11.8 per cent for women. The unemployment rate was 10.3 per cent in the previous quarter. The unemployment rate, which is defined as the percentage of unemployed people in the labour force, has improved since April-June 2020, when it was 20.8 per cent during the first lockdown. It increased to 13.2 per cent in July-September 2020.

According to the study, the labor force is defined as the portion of the population that supplies or proposes to supply labor for economic activities such as the production of goods and services, and includes both employed and unemployed individuals. “A total of 5601 first-stage sampling units (FSUs) were surveyed in metropolitan areas across India from January to March 2021. The ministry claimed in a statement that “the number of urban houses surveyed was 44,000, and the number of people surveyed was 1.72

lakh in urban regions.”

In a new report, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) stated that while the world’s nations “will emerge” from the ongoing health crisis, “five years of progress towards the eradication of working poverty have been undone.” Vyas stated that the urban jobs are directly related to the organised sector and its decline means an overall decline in the quality of jobs provided in India. The Finance Ministry assured that the gross domestic product would gain traction in the remaining quarters of the fiscal year. According to the Department of Economic Affairs’ November report, 19 of 22 highfrequency indicators in September, October and November crossed preCOVID (the corresponding months of FY20) levels, indicating a significant recovery. The CMIE figure, which the ministry has disputed, does not exactly match the government’s optimistic portrayal of the economy. Job losses in the travel and hospitality sectors appear to be behind the recent surge in urban unemployment rates, according to Rachit Mathur, Founder and CEO, Avenue Growth, an on-demand labor platform. The information technology sector, on the other hand, has been booming.

www.urbanupdate.in | January 2022

35

CITY IMAGE

Satellite Dish: A sustainable way to tasty ‘Sunny Meals’ Machanents Centre is a popular Armenian cuisine restaurant in Armenia, with a list of dishes, but its ‘Sunny Meals’ section has become a hit. This delicacy is prepared in a special ‘Satellite Dish’ installed in the restaurant’s backyard, where it is cooked by sunlight. The meal is prepared in a glass pan, which fits into a cradle with two rotating arms of the dish.

The arms adjust the pan in front of the Sun, and the food gets ready in 20 minutes or less on a sunny day.

36 January 2022 | www.urbanupdate.in

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One on One | Kishori Pednekar, Mayor, BMC be disposed responsibly. One thing that I really appreciate is the contribution of residents and welfare associations.

Besides cleanliness, Mumbai is one of the most populated cities where infrastructure development holds a very special position in placing the city at the most ‘looked up to’ position. This is probably why Mumbai is confronted with ample number of challenges like any densely populated city.

Cities need strong local leadership “Women mayors should execute their roles with complete ownership as politicians when elected and should not delegate their powers to their husbands or male relatives. I have heard the cases of dummy mayors. I am the boss in Mayors’s office.

No one can interfere,” says Kishori Pednekar, Mumbai Mayor as she firmly puts forward her views on women in politics. In this conversation, she opens up about the role of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) in handling Covid-19 and explains what is required to make cities resilient to pandemics

Abhishek Pandey | Editor

How did Mumbai bag the award for Innovation and best practices?

What were these best practices?

I would like to mention about the 600 tons of waste produced in Mumbai and how it is disposed; it is a very tedious task but plays a pivotal role in making Mumbai Swachh. Waste produced from the houses, and bio-medical waste has to

38 January 2022 | www.urbanupdate.in

So, how is Mumbai maintaining a steady pace with its development activities and what are the crucial components to this development plan, and what areas are more focused upon?

The Coastal Road project is a 10.58 km stretch starting from the Marine Drive promenade to the Worli-end of the Bandra-Worli Sea Link, and is based on the promise to ease up traffic in one of the most congested cities. It is picking up pace and is an integral part of this master plan.It is a dream project because it will facilitate connectivity within the city, and mitigate the traffic related issues.

In Mumbai, having lined up many infrastructure development projects, air pollution is still not a major concern and it remains at the moderate level. What is the secret behind the good air pollution management?

Since Mumbai is a hub of infrastructure development projects, construction sites become one of the major sources for dust pollution but this is monitored on a regular basis by the municipal corporation. Besides this, being a coastal city proves to be beneficial in curbing the dust and air pollution. However, Mumbai takes pride in its formation as a saucer and is always being compared with not only other cities and states, but countries.

I would further like to elaborate about how Mumbai has been positioned.

Whenever a scenario of high tide arises, water from the city does not enter the water body and water from the water body also stays away from entering the city. Mumbai has equipped itself to collect the run-off water in the city.

Mumbai is a city that never sleeps, and Aaditya Uddhav Thackeray, Minister of Tourism and Environment, Government of Maharashtra, introduced the plan ‘24/7 Mumbai’. So, what are the intricacies of this plan?

Mumbai is a city where people from across the country and outside keep pouring in, especially bringing a boom in information technology (IT) industry.

They serve duty shifts of around 14-15 hours so their food and miscellaneous needs have to be catered. So, under this 24/7 plan, we tend to keep hotels and restaurants running where they can meet their food and shelter needs.

Mumbai is a city that stays on its toes with its police taking rounds in the city on an hourly basis to keep the city under surveillance. Maharashtra Cabinet approved a plan to allow Mumbai malls, restaurants and multiplexes to stay open round the clock from January 27,2021, on a pilot basis. Extending the city’s nightlife will help turn India’s commercial capital into a global city and give its economy a boost by generating more jobs and tourist income, as per the government.

Climate change is a result of numerous factors and components that add up to the crisis, be it the rise or drop in sea levels, air pollution, or how green cover is declining. So, we are indeed looking at a larger-than-life crisis; how is Mumbai’s preparedness to battle this?

In the process of developing infrastructure, we ensure that the green coverage is intact and we carry out regular surveys in the areas with thick green cover to prevent any sort of illegal encroachments of lands in such lush areas. Tax collection in Mumbai is comparatively higher than what is collected from Delhi. So, we make sure that it is utilised in sustainable development of projects, keeping climate crisis in mind.

There is a reason that Mumbai is called the Financial Capital of India and Greater Mumbai Municipal Corporation is self-equipped in monetary terms

to keep up with any adversity and is self-reliant in undertaking any sort of project.

My next question is how is Mumbai Municipal Corporation making itself more financially sustainable and resilient?

The work on land that comes under the jurisdiction of Greater Mumbai Municipal Corporation has been increased so that revenue can be earned.

Also, the co-operation from citizens of Mumbai has been commendable. We run on a motto of “MAJHE KUTUMB MAJHI JABABDARI” which means “My community, My responsibility” and it very well fosters responsibility in the community.

Moving towards the end of the discussion, the question arises of the distribution of powers adhering to the 73rd and 74th Amendments of Constitution. Across the country different mayors have complained that they don’t have enough powers to function and take action. So, how is Mumbai placed in such a scenario?

Power is like melted mercury and to lay hands on it, one has to apply different techniques to use it in the most judicious manner. Power is always beneficial where it is being utilised for the benefit of other people. In terms of power, the mayor is overshadowed by the Chair of the Standing Committee of the Municipal Corporation. In essence, the question of municipal leadership remains open-ended, guided more by the prevailing political compulsions of the state government The government representatives and the respective public are like two wheels of a Rath and if either of them does not move at the same pace, the system would not function properly.

If we talk about the management, you are running the entire city.

We also behold that women are taking head charge and assuming administrative roles. What are your views on this new era of women reigning?

Power is like melted mercury and to lay hands on it, one has to apply different techniques to use it in the most judicious manner.

Power is always beneficial where it is being utilised for the benefit of other people. In terms of power, the mayor is overshadowed by the Chair of the Standing Committee of the Municipal Corporation We women should assume all the roles with a head held high. There should not be any hue or cry over the fact that we are women. Having said that, I would also like to mention that women and men may vary on term of anatomical differences but we read the same laws, and manner of delivering the work is also same. If a male can do it, we can do it as well. Women mayors should execute their roles with complete ownership as politicians when elected and should not delegate their powers to their husbands or male relatives. I have heard the cases of dummy mayors. I am the boss in Mayors’s office. No one can interfere.

What are the lessons for other mayors and people in authority?

After the implementation of the 73rd and 74th Amendments, women are being involved at authoritative positions so they should keep up with this. The responsibilities that come our way should be discharged responsibly, irrespective of the gender. Be it a male or female representative, there should always be a feeling that it is the work of the community. Once a mayor is elected, he /she has to come down and work among the community to redress their grievances and take action accordingly.

Women empowerment is a good step further and it will definitely foster the feeling of gender sensitisation across the city and the country as a whole.

Transcribed by | Radhika Matta, Editorial Assistant

www.urbanupdate.in | January 2022

39

One on One | Sheel Dhabai, Mayor, JMC jewellery, forts, etc. which attract the tourists. Dividing the civic body into two parts was the need of the hour due to increasing population of the city.

With an increase in population, the city became big, and the representatives and municipal body officials faced a lot of problems as they had to manage a big area. The city had 92 wards which was a huge area to govern. In order to take the development to people and connect with them directly, it was essential to divide the body. It has been a year since the division was done and till now, the results are good.

How ‘Pink City’coloured lives during COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic delivered a devastating blow to some infrastructure and services in India, particularly in cities.

In such difficult times, Jaipur Municipal Corporation (JMC) (Greater) presented an example in managing the pandemic and promoting the vaccination drive. “During the second wave, there were dead bodies in hospitals and other places, abandoned by the families, which were managed by the councillors and staff members. They also arranged dry ration, necessary household items, medicines, and ambulance services wherever it was needed”, said Sheel Dhabai, Mayor, JMC (Greater) during an interview with Hitesh Nigam, Reporter, Urban Update as she spoke about the culture of Jaipur and what makes the city emotionally connected with its community Jaipur is a famous tourist destination and recently the civic body of Jaipur has been divided into Jaipur Municipal Corporation (JMC) Greater and JMC Heritage.

How has this division affected the floating population of the city?

Did it enhance their experience?

Jaipur is known as ‘Pink City’, it is known for its heritage, for its food,

40 January 2022 | www.urbanupdate.in

My second question to you is about the cleanliness.

Recently, the results of Swachh Survekshan 2021, were released and JMC (Greater) was ranked 36th among cleanest cities.

According to you what are the challenges that Jaipur is facing related to cleanliness? And how has JMC planned to tackle the issues?

Every city has its challenges but then I would also like to tell you that BVG India Private Limited, the company which has been assigned the work of cleanliness in the city, is not doing its work properly. Secondly, after the division of the local body, the employees of the municipal corporation were also divided between both the bodies, which resulted in the shortage of staff in civic body. The JMC (Heritage) was given a bigger share of workers and employees as compared to JMC (Greater). Another reason was that JMC (Heritage) has been made the nodal agency to oversee the works, however, we believe that the division of authority should have been in the ratio of 60:40 between JMC (Greater) and JMC (Heritage). They were also provided with an extra budget of 400 crore from the Government of India in addition to the fund provided by the Smart Cities Mission.

However, the major roadblock has been the performance of BVG India company and it was a heated issue recently. The workers of the company are not doing the work as expected, even various engineers were also

appointed to oversee their functioning but there were little results. The High Court has also intervened in the matter and has advised to end the contract with the company. We have requested to the board as well to remove them and give the authority to the civic body itself.

Municipal corporations work for the people at ground level.

My next question to you is - how JMC takes the citizen feedback?

How does the civic body work on them and how people in the area connect to the local body?

First of all, the municipal councillors are directly connected with the people in Jaipur. Secondly, other staff members such as Sanitary Inspectors and Chief Sanitary Inspectors are also present on the ground in order to connect with people. We also organise events and reward the staff members and sanitary inspectors, who are doing good work on ground, in the presence of local community which helps them to identify the key persons and encourages the representatives as well to do better.

Whereas, in case of door-to-door waste collection, the civic body has made sure that the collection of waste is done from the doorsteps, and a toll free

complaint number is also circulated, in case the collection vehicle is not coming or in case of any discrepancies.

People are also free to contact the office of councillors in case of any issue and if the complaints are not duly addressed or no action is taken, the provision for levying fine on the staff members has been made.

In times of the COVID-19 pandemic, contact between the municipal body and community has increased as the councillors were directed to visit the places and make people aware of the situation and protocols. During the COVID-19 vaccination, the staff of civic body was present in all the centres to ensure smooth process, which also gave us an opportunity to come close to people and connect with them directly.

During the second wave, there were dead bodies in hospitals and other places, abandoned by the families,which were managed by the councillors and staff members. They also arranged dry ration, necessary household items, medicines, and ambulance services wherever it was needed. The civic body was present among the community during the tough times of the pandemic which enabled us connect with them at all levels.

I congratulate you for the amazing work that Jaipur has done during the time of COVID-19 pandemic. Coming to my last question for this interview, every local body in urban region is provided with a specific funds by the Government of India as well as the respective state government. However, the local policies formulated by the local bodies have to be managed by themselves with their own funds. So, how is Jaipur managing those local policies in terms of funds? How does JMC (Greater) generateits own funds for local level policies?

We get 15 per cent from the sale of any property under Jaipur Development Authority or Housing Board, which has not yet been released to the municipal corporation after various demands.

The local body is working on the model of ‘Vocal for Local’ under which we have identified 350 more sites in Jaipur, where advertisement banners are installed telling the tourists about local delicacies and famous food joints of the city. It also informs tourists about the local sightseeing options and shopping centres where people can buy famous local stuff associated with the cultural heritage of the city, folk and local art related products Apart from this, the local body is working on the model of ‘Vocal for Local’ under which we have identified 350 more sites in Jaipur, where advertisement banners are installed telling the tourists about local delicacies and famous food joints of the city. It also informs tourists about the local sightseeing options and shopping centres where people can buy famous local stuff associated with the cultural heritage of the city, folk and local art related products. This will result in the eradication of middlemen between tourists and local people;those who bring the tourists and charge commission from both sides. This will help the corporation to encourage the local market and also generate funds for themselves.

Apart from this, there are planning cells, house designs are also made, fee is also levied for commercials use of any land under the body, and there are various other ways by which we generate revenue for the local body.

In commercial locations, the nalas and unused land are cleared up and rented to shops which generates revenue for the corporation. Apart from this, parking is a major source of finance as there are big vehicle parking in public areas in melas, etc.

www.urbanupdate.in | January 2022

41

Report

‘Need not ban it, but learn how to manage plastic’ 3R WASTE Foundation in partnership with the United Nations Centre for Regional Development (UNCRD) Japan and All India Institute of Local Self Government, organised a preevent webinar for the 11th Regional 3R and Circular Economy Forum 2022. The webinar was organised on December 8,2021.

Dr Kulwant Singh, Chief Executive Officer, 3R Foundation moderated the conversation and introduced the topic of discussion - “Circular economic utilisation of plastic waste in India and the Asian Region” ingh welcomed the esteemed panel of speakers including Dr AnupamKhajuria, Researcher, UNCRD Japan; Dr NB Mazumdar, Chairman, International Academy of Environmental Sanitation and Public Health; Dr Roshan Miranda, Co-Founder and Director, Waste Ventures; Dr SushmaPardesi, Senior Project Associate,Council Of Scientific And Industrial Research–National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (CSIR–NEERI); Mr Prashant Nigam, Senior Project Officer, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP); Dr Trish Hyde, Director,

42 January 2022 | www.urbanupdate.in

Plasticity Australia and; Mr Amit Jain, Managing Director, IRG Systems South Asia Private Limited (IRG-SSA).

Introducingthe theme of the webinar, Singh stated that plastic waste is a major challenge owing to its increasing production rate and unavailability of a method for its treatment, management and disposal. According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), India generated over 3 million metric tons of plastic waste in 2021, or 9200 tonnes per day.

The first speaker of the webinar, Dr SushmaPardesimade her presentation on “Plastic Waste Recycling Options: An Indian perspective.” She highlighted that plastic can be largely beneficial to humans if there were better ways to manage it post use. Dr Pardesi emphasised on the urgent need of a plastic circular economy: making sure that plastic remains in use and out of the environment. “Maximise plastic waste utilisation and minimising the generation of plastic waste should be the goal.Most of India’s plastic waste is recycled and managed by the informal sector”, Dr Pardesi informed. She stated that 94 per cent of the plastic waste in India goes through mechanical recycling, 5 per cent goes through energy recovery and alternate use and 0.8 per cent is chemically recycled.

Dr Roshan Miranda elaborated on how Waste Ventures is providing a professional, digital and environmental waste management solution for corporates and businesses which is efficient, reliable, transparent and cost effective. Drawing from a case study, Dr Miranda informed that Waste Ventures provided a waste management solution to Google by increasing their recycling by 47 per cent. He pointed out that the flexible plastic such as wrappers, chips packets, carry bags form the biggest problem in India since they are not recyclable. “Its collection and ensuring a clean end point is crucial. One of the solutions to this problem is EPR or End Person Responsibility. If a company is producing bulk of plastic, then it is their responsibility to pull back the same amount.

Waste Ventures works with

corporations in ensuring their EPR.”, Dr Miranda added. Another solution is to provide plastic credits which works on the similar principle as carbon credits. He emphasised on the need to rethink the existing solutions and rework the economics, especially for flexible plastics. He wrapped up his talk by underlining the need for more economically backed recycle solutions in the future.

Prashant Nigam informed the session about work done under the Plastic Waste Management Project, started by the UNDP in 2018. The multi-donor project comprises UNDP scouting for local NGOs and partnering with them for the program’s implementation.

The physical infrastructure is built in the Urban Local Body (ULB)’s campus and according to their specified requirements. The larger goal of the programme is to construct a sustainable framework which then the partnered NGO can take forward once UNDP pulls out from the location.

On an average, the programme is processing over 50,000 metric ton (MT) of plastic waste annually. The programme aims at improving the socio-economic and living conditions of over 38,500 SafaiSathis or the waste pickers involved in the process. “The process focuses on collecting all of area’s waste at the UNDP centres or the SwachhtaKendras.”

Dr Trish Hyde said that Asian countries are applying the global North’s advanced recycling systems into their countries which has very little recycling infrastructure. She opined that the only similarity between the two frameworks is the corporate commitment to use more post-consumer recyclable plastic. Dr Hyde informed the session that till 2017, Asia was the global dumping ground for scrap plastic from the West. As 2018-2019 rolled around, the Basel Convention and the Chinese “National Sword” discouraged the western nations to traffic their plastic into Asia. She said that the issue in the plastic recycling ecosystem of Asia is owing to inefficient supply chain and poor infrastructure.

“However, brands operating in the area have a demand for plastic but they are not interested in paying a good cost for the same”,she said.She introduced her initiative ‘PlastX’, a supply-chain recycling platform for the responsible sourcing of quality plastic in Asia. The PlastX venture cuts out the middle men thereby fixing the post-consumerrecyclable plastic supply chain.

“Talking about the Asian context, the material consumption has increased sharply over the last four decades,” Amit Jain stated in his talk.

He elaborated that now Asia accounts for 50 per cent of the world plastic consumption while the material productivity has not been improved.

He opined that the Asia Pacific will witness a trend of increased municipal solid waste generation and that will have a direct influence on the plastic management. Jain explained that the biggest challenge in the plastic recycling industry in India is the lack of cost-effective alternatives and business models for their market penetration. He stated that there is an urgent need for strengthening the existing infrastructure for the collection, transportation and recycling processes. Most of the recycling in India is done in the informal sector which also needs to be integrated with the organised sector.

He suggested that the aforementioned could be achieved with the use of technology. He further stated that the issue of plastic waste and its recycling could be handled through better information dissemination by the stakeholders.

Dr NB Mazumdar, in his talk, addressed the issue of optimising plastic waste for achieving the ambitions of a circular economy by questioning its possibility. He started his presentation by mentioning the increasing number of dumpsites in the Asia Pacific. He said, “Lot of research and investigation would be required to realise the full impact and a lot more to find out effective techno-economic solutions for tackling the everincreasing waste.” For establishing

Dr Miranda pointed out that the flexible plastic such as wrappers, chips packets, carry bags form the biggest problems in India since they are not recyclable. “Its collection and ensuring a clean end point is crucial.

One of the solutions to this problem is EPR or End Person Responsibility. If a company is producing bulk of plastic, then it is their responsibility to pull back the same amount a circular economy, Dr Mazumdar suggested the reduction, collection and recycling of plastic waste while searching for alternative materials with minimal environmental footprint.

While talking about the available recycling options, he suggested making of liquid fuel by gasification of plastic waste material.

The final speaker, Dr AnupamKhajuria informed that the world plastic production is skyrocketing because 50 per cent of all plastic produced is designed to be used only once. She stated that the future plastics production is projected to double by 2035, and almost quadruple by 2050. Talking about the plastic collected in water bodies, she said that the amount has become so large that new islands have formed which are now floating on the surface of the sea. She then referred to reports concluding that marine plastic pollution costs the world up to $2.5 trillion per year. Dr Khajuria pointed out that the circular economy has strong promises for reduced pressure on the environment, enhanced security of raw materials with innovative technologies. However, to establish a circular economy, Dr Khajuria said that there is inadequate knowledge and capacity for implementation and suggested considerations of plastics in key legislations.

www.urbanupdate.in | January 2022

43

E-Dialogues

Decentralisation of governance means power to the people Urban Update along with All India Institute of Local Self-Government organised the 24th edition of E-Dialogues on December 22, on ‘Deliberation on 74th Constitutional Amendment Act - Decentralisation of Democratic Governance’.

The esteemed panel of speakers included Sheel Dhabhai, Mayor, Jaipur Municipal Corporation (Greater); Tikender Singh Panwar, Former Deputy Mayor, Shimla; Manoj Kumar Teotia, Assistant Professor, CRRID, Chandigarh; Sunil Kumar Singh, IAS (Retd.), Member Administrative/Technical Real Estate Appellate Tribunal, Bihar. Abhishek Pandey, Editor, Urban Update moderated the discussion he webinar began as Pandey said that the AIILSG has been helping local governments across the nation in delivering what citizens aspire since 1926. The 74th Amendment Act was introduced in June 1993, and over the years, the nation has witnessed many changes in local governance due to the Act. He mentioned how one such transformational change has been

44 January 2022 | www.urbanupdate.in

holding elections to select people’s representatives as Mayor of a city, thereby democratising the governance.

Moreover, the Act mandates the state government to devolve financial and decision making authority to local governments.

The first speaker of the webinar was Sheel Dhabhai, current Mayor of Jaipur Municipal Corporation (Greater). She said that even though the idea of the amendment was very noble, its implementation in the nation has been very patchy. Even today, there are municipal corporations, like Jaipur, she added, who are yet to receive their financial and administrative freedom and authority.

According to her, coordination among a mayor, commissioner and CEO is extremely important for smooth local governance, but since commissioners and CEOs are directly answerable to the state governments, it makes things difficult for the representative of the people; namely the Mayor. She added that the relation between the state and the municipal corporation is much like mother-in-law and daughter-inlaw, where the state is very hesitant to share its administrative and financial powers.

She was of the opinion that a Nagar Nigam should have control over the departments of water, transportation, construction, etc. She said that if it is not so,confusion leads to loss of resources and work. For example, if the municipal corporation has just finished the work of a construction of a road, PWD arrives and digs it to lay pipelines. She said that even though the mayors and municipal corporations have number of rights, according to the amendment, the state government is not willing in many regions to devolve them completely which hinders the development work of a city.

Moreover, lack of freedom and lack of devolution of power chains the mayorsand stops them from taking initiatives to improve urban services.

She also mentioned that even though the amendment mandates formation of ward committees to enable citizen

participation in the governance and development, such ward committees are non-existent in India. Dhabhai said that proper implementation of the amendment is yet to be seen throughout Indian states. States need to willingly delegate powers and finances to Nagar Nigams to enable people’s representatives to work for citizens’ development.

Pandey mentioned a report by CAG on the audit of implementation of 74thAmendment of Constitution in the state of Karnataka. Out of the 18 kinds of powers listed in the 12thSchedule of theAmendment, only 3 to 4 were actually being devolved to the municipal corporations. He asked Dhabhai about the situation of those 18 listed powers of municipal corporations in Jaipur. To this question, Dhabhai replied that the state of Jaipur is very similar to most city corporations in India. Jaipur Municipal Corporation barely has 4 to 5 roles or powers devolved out of the 18 listed and the rest lies with either the states or different departments or institutes.

Next speaker,Manoj Kumar Teotia, said that the amendments were introduced to challenge power structure and power concentration at higher levels. He said that the 73rd and 74thAmendments have changed certain things in the governance like women participation.

He said that he himself has seen transformation happening in terms of women participation at the governance level, at decision making positions, etc. He also believed that 74thAmendment has ensured the continuity of the municipalities and the three-tier system of governance.

These amendments have also been successful in terms of making governance participatory in India, he added.

Teotia said that even though change is visible, it is slow. The game of power bargaining between tiers of governments is still going on and the local governments will have to continue their struggle. He gave the example of Kerala where the system

of local governments was strong even before the introduction of the 73rd and 74thAmendments. He mentioned how Kerala has introduced many initiatives to make corporations financially sustainable and other states can learn from it. He said that stronger the ward committees, stronger will be the local governments in terms of finances. ‘Planning from below’ is the need of the hour in cities.

Sunil Kumar Singh mentioned how the amendments listing devolution of powers to local governments is pointless until local governments are actually strengthened with finances.

He referred to the example of China where the money flows in opposite direction in comparison to India. In China, the local government transfers money to the state and state to the central. Whereas, in India, mostly the power of finances lies in the hands of states and Central government.

Moreover, most money is expended by state governments only. Therefore, there is no use of constitutional right unless local governments are empowered in terms of funds, functions and functionaries.

He mentioned his worry about the trend going on in India where the role of people’s representatives has been weakening in terms of functionaries.

He said that if Commonwealth Local Government Forum constitutes a Financial Devolution Index which lists what portion of country’s GDP is devolved to local government, it will indicate that the nations where local governments have received more funds and functionaries, the more those cities/nations have developed as the quality of governance has improved there. He suggested that some NGO or National Institute of Urban Affairs(NIUA) can form similar National Financial Devolution Index, which might give a bargaining power to local government bodies to ask for more funds, functions and functionaries from their state governments.

Tikendra Singh Panwarsaid that people view cities as places where there is huge amount of money being

In China, the local government transfers money to the state and state to the central.

Whereas, in India, mostly the power of finances lies in the hands of states and Central government.

Moreover, most money is expended by state governments only.

Therefore, there is no use of constitutional right unless local governments are empowered in terms of funds, functions and functionaries generated, which is true because 90 per cent of the state government revenues are generated by cities. But why is this revenue not coming back to the people, for their development and progress was his question. He said that the decentralisation should not end at councils, as it should come back to people. The first thing that we have to fight for is that the planning and design of a city should be devolved to the people’s representatives, and hence the people themselves. For him, the decentralisation of democratic governance is power to the people.

He added that there is a need to create additional tools like ward sabhas to improve the democratic decentralisation. The designs of cities have led to inequalities in our cities.

Municipal corporations will have to be financially empowered, he added, to be able to transform the cities.

The webinar concluded on two major takeaways - all mayors need to unite despite their political differences to bargain for funds, functions, and functionaries from their respective states and they need to be aware and have data to prove their case of asking for more devolution of power and finances.

www.urbanupdate.in | January 2022

45

URBAN AGENDA

Ashok Wankhade Managing Editor

Cities in 2022: Time to evolve, emerge stronger s we welcome the new year with open arms, there is a lot to learn from the preceding year. After two years of the devastating pandemic, cities are now finding new ways to adapt, learn and emerge stronger and more resilient. Adversities come in varied sizes and types. There is a crucial lesson to learn for Indian cities that no matter how prepared you think you are, you never know what will hit you. The condition of healthcare and level of preparedness for such future scenarios has no doubt improved, yet there is a lot of scopefor improving infra and health service delivery.

The discussion around climate change impact and mitigation has gained ground, and now countries are more serious about it. Renewed commitments of India and other countries towards mitigation of emissions has given new hope to the world.Cities in India were fighting and addressing issues like pollution, housing, waste management, and education. The pandemic has opened one more front with new challenges,including reverse migration, healthcare, essential services, and hygiene. The need for sustainable development of urban regions has become more critical if cities want to win battles onmultiple fronts. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s commitment to achieving net-zero emissions by 2070 is a positive push for the world in its efforts to build vibrant cities without harming the environment.

India is well on track to fight the COVID-19 pandemic with itsaccelerated vaccination drive. The third wave, which hit the country with a new variant of the novel coronavirus (Omicron), has again led to the surge in cases of the COVID-19 infection. However, as per Dr SoumyaSwaminathan, Chief Scientist ofthe World Health Organisation, the vaccines are effective against the new variant. Probably, this is why the increasing rate of infection has not increased the severity of the disease, thanks tothe timely implementation of vaccination drive in the country. With the promise of cleanliness and hygiene, through Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban) 2.0, the community is ready to fight new challenges.

The fast adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) leadsgovernments’ efforts in sustainable urban transport. Cities are taking charge of this with the increased adoption of EVs and related infrastructure. The world needs to keep in mind the 17 sustainable development goals while going ahead with itsdevelopment plans. Sustainable development is the only option if people want to sustain themselves in urban spaces for a long period. In India,governments are taking various initiatives to include EVs in public and private transport, but a report from Bloomberg, says that India’s share of EVs will be just 8 per cent of new cars by 2030, which is not very encouraging. In a country like India, which is one of the highest greenhouse gas emitters in the world, taking a few initiatives in metropolitan cities will not be enough. The effort of all stakeholders must be combined to achieve what is desired.

Cities will have to imbibe learnings from both, theirsuccesses and shortcomings, as well as those of others, as they enter a new year and possibly a new era of sustainable development even as they equip themselves to fight new challenges along the way, ones like the recent pandemic. The path will not be easy, but there is no other path.

46 January 2022 | www.urbanupdate.in

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