UrbanUpdate May 2021

ISSN 2349-6266 RNI No DELENG/2014/57384

Setting The Agenda For Tomorrow’s Cities

UrbanUpdate Volume VII, Issue I

May 2021

Cities & the 2 Wave nd

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

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UrbanUpdate A monthly magazine published by the AIILSG. Ranjit Chavan President-AIILSG Rajiv Agarwal Editor-In-Chief Director General-AIILSG Ashok Wankhade Managing Editor Abhishek Pandey Editor Ravi Ranjan Guru Executive Editor Ashley Paul Senior Sub-Editor

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Setting The Agenda For Tomorrow’s Cities

Hitesh Nigam Reporter

ISSN 2349-6266 RNI No DELENG/2014/57384

Setting The Agenda For Tomorrow’s Cities

UrbanUpdate

UrbanUpdate

Volume VI, Issue XII

Pooja Upadhyay Trainee Reporter Arjun Singh Digital Marketing Associate Meenakshi Rajput Senior Graphic Designer

UrbanUpdate Volume VII, Issue I

May 2021

ISSN 2349-6266 RNI No DELENG/2014/57384

Setting The Agenda For Tomorrow’s Cities

Volume VI, Issue XI

APRIL 2021

March 2021

Phase Out COal Fast

Let’s commit to making an equal world

PM SVANidhi

Bringing Street VendorS into MainStreaM

Cities’ role primary in increasing uptake of RE

AIILSG

European Union AIILSG

European Union

project The project is implementedThe by the AIILSG.is funded by the European Union.

The project is funded by the European Union.

The project is implemented by the AIILSG.

Cities & the 2 Wave nd

European Union The project is funded by the European Union.

AIILSG

The project is implemented by the AIILSG.

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

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May 2021 | www.urbanupdate.in

Editorial

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

What is the city but the people India’s second COVID wave has overwhelmed the nation including its institutions and citizens. The unsparing nature of the pandemic’s spread can be gauged from the fact that the daily fresh infections crossed 4 lakh cases in early May as against the peak daily infections of about 85,000 in the first wave last year. While the first phase remained largely confined to India’s urban centres, this more aggressive version has marked its presence in rural India too.

And all this at a time when the country is rapidly rolling out the world’s largest vaccination drive. Though constrained by availability of vaccine doses while manufacturers ramp up output, over 180 million shots have already been administered; there were none during the first wave.

The bright spot has been the rapid response by our city managements in dealing with this more deadly phase. Rolling out temporary hospitals and other medical facilities, putting necessary restrictions on citizens’ movement (including limited lockdowns), surveys of households, are among early responses. During this wave, one is also seeing new problems – shortages of some medicines and reports of their black-marketing by some unscrupulous elements, and more importantly dearth of oxygen for critical patients. Local bodies are faced with new challenges here and the way out is not easy. While cities and their managers grapple with these, there have appeared related new health dangers such as mucormycosis or black fungus and white fungus in some infected patients. These cases call for coordinated action by health care professionals of various specialities; these infections have the potential to quickly turn serious and even fatal. In other words while the second wave is proving deadly in terms of numbers affected, it is posing severe challenges in other dimensions as well.

Therefore, one believes that cities’ responses must now go beyond ‘more of the same’. One plank could be deeper and wider roles for the community and its various groups. For several reasons – one is that the growing incidence of the pandemic, both in terms of volumes and complexities, will constrain authorities and their machinery; two, the communities are the ones feeling the impacts of the disease and therefore are best equipped and will be motivated to assist in mitigation of the risks and in recovery. Others are corporates. These have significant resources in terms of competence and manpower to support various local measures. We are already seeing vaccination drives beginning to happen in housing societies and corporate/ industry premises. These bonds of local government with the community must be strengthened progressively in order to develop a system to detect future dangers, alert both authorities and the community, and put in place remedial measures both at the administration level and the citizens. The youth in our cities are another force with potential to work alongside local administrations in such times. City managers must find innovative ways to engage with and harness the significant potential of these groups to build the resilience of our cities to future shocks. For as Shakespeare said, ‘What is the city but the people’.

www.urbanupdate.in | May 2021

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Quotes

The trillions of dollars needed for COVID-19 recovery is money we are borrowing from future generations.

We cannot use these resources to lock in policies that burden them with a mountain of debt on a broken planet

The Codes for Commercial Development on Railway Land formulated by IRSDC will lead to a systematic and scientific standardization of the development of railway stations, including commercial development on railway land

Anotnio Antonio Guterres Secretary General, United Nations

Amitabh Kant CEO, NITIiti Aayog

PIN POINT

Research shows that a lack of access to water and sanitation has an adverse impact on economic growth and job creation

For students to succeed, families need access to computers, and the ability for parents to participate.

That participation involves close communication with teachers, and monitoring their child’s progress

Pearl Tiwari President, Ambuja Cement Foundation

Prof Hernan Galperin Associate Professor, University of South Carolina Aiken

BUZZ UN DESA

Smart Cities India

Asian Development Bank

Piyush Goyal

Sustainable Development

@smartcitiesind

@ADB_HQ

Minister of Railways, Gol

@SustDev

We can better understand and predict the effects of #ClimateChange when we understand the links between #Oceans and climate!

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@PiyushGoyal

Let’s make everyday #EarthDay and focus on restoring global ecosystems through natural means, green technology and innovation. #EarthDay2021 #earthdayeveryday

Economic growth in developing Asia is expected to rebound to 7.3% this year, supported by a healthy global recovery and progress on COVID-19 vaccines. However, while growth is regaining momentum, renewed COVID-19 outbreaks could still undermine the recovery. #ADO2021

#OxygenExpress is ensuring smooth, quick & uninterrupted movement of Liquid Medical Oxygen across the nation for COVID-19 patients.

Indian Railways is on a mission to fulfil India’s Oxygen requirements & win our collective battle against the pandemic

Content

Inside Volume 7, Issue 1

Newscan

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Numerograph Urban Agenda

City Image

LEADERSPEAK

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Encouraging women to become entrepreneurs, self-dependent

Cities & the 2nd wave The Coronavirus spread from India’s biggest cities to suburbs and rural areas in the second wave. Cities that were already overwhelmed with the number of infected patients and facing a shortage of hospital beds, oxygen and other essentials witnessed the virtual collapse of their health infrastructure. The sliver of hope was an army of community groups and individuals who emerged to help the needy. Local Governments have a chance to build on this, learn, join hands with local communities and promote participatory governance for building local resilience to fight any imminent danger

Articles

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WI-FI

40

LOCATION

ENERGY

PROTECTION MOBILITY

SHOPPING

Covid-19 reasserts need for strong local governments

As cities wade through the ravages of the Covid-19 pandemic and try finding ways to manage the spiralling impacts of the crisis, it has become clear that local governments have to become stronger than ever for keeping their citizens healthy, safe, and making city systems—cutting across governance, economic development, administration and technology integration domains—more resilient and sustainable

Cover Story

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Pin Point

May 2021

Girl Power Project

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6 10 13

The underutilised potential of sister cities in India Challenge of information dissemination and ensuring inclusion

Heroic deeds of community help in the second wave

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What makes new cities successful?

HEALTH

44 Infograph

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Coronavirus: Myths & facts Amidst growing uncertainity regarding COVID-19, various myths are being circulated on different social media platforms, which is only adding to the confusion. To tackle this, Team Urban Update has compiled a list of some of the most widely spread myths related to COVID-19 and the truth behind them

36 www.urbanupdate.in | May 2021

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Girl Power Project

Encouraging women to become entrepreneurs, self-dependent Team girl power project

T

he role of gender in economic development process has been increasingly recognized as crucial, both in terms of potential for success and in the nature of the impact of particular development strategies and programs. Gender becomes especially important to consider in case of micro-enterprise approach, as the traditional homecentred roles of women can make it far easier for women to participate in such programs as opposed to the more traditional, large and medium scale enterprises.

Jharkhand is rich in mineral resources like coal, iron ore, copper ore, uranium, mica, bauxite, granite, limestone, silver, graphite, magnetite, and dolomite. 80 per cent of the rural population of Jharkhand depends upon agriculture for their livelihood.

The effective literacy rate for Jharkhand in Census 2011 works out to 67.63 per cent, with corresponding figures for males and females being 78.45 and 56.21 per cent respectively, with at least 10 districts being below 50 per cent. It is estimated that 56 per cent of young women (ages 1524) are neither engaged in education, nor employment nor training. This is further accentuated by the lack of female education. It is estimated that beyond schooling, only 8 per cent of young women of age 18-24 ever participated in some form of training, and less than 0.1 per cent had secured a vocational training diploma. Given the above context, the gaps in educational status in girls, mainly due to marriage

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and domestic pressures, have contributed to fewer opportunities.

Within the larger context of social entrepreneurship, Jharkhand has limited success in creating womenbased social entrepreneurship. First, the above lack of education has been a major barrier. Secondly, there is a lack of supportive ecosystems that can enable women to become social entrepreneurs. Most communitybased organizations and civil society organizations working on a rightbased approach focus on the objective of getting one employed rather than instilling a sense of entrepreneurship Girl Power initiated a baseline study of 5000 women to assess the livelihoods of the 10 districts of Jharkhand. The study also aimed to identify and explore the availability of raw materials, potential for entrepreneurship, current entrepreneurial activities and market access and environmental sustainability. With the larger project objective to promote entrepreneurship through a bundle of work packages of network building, capacity building, market connect, skill-building and policy dialogues, over the past year of project implementation, the community resource persons at the ground level have been rigorously working in 10 districts of the state of Jharkhand, gathering information and collecting data of 5000 potential women beneficiaries of the project.

The baseline survey studied the potential of rural entrepreneurship among women and the current entrepreneurial activities that add to the larger livelihood generational activities of the household, and their market access for products and services to be sold. Entrepreneurial

activities range from women involved in the selling of agricultural and non-agricultural produce, to nontimber forest produce that is so richly available in the state of Jharkhand.

Covering four zones of the state, the survey analysis concluded that 30 per cent of the respondents are already engaged in small entrepreneurial activities that include agricultural and non-agricultural produce. The respondents agreed on the feasibility of various other sectors - handicrafts, mushroom cultivation, organic farming, leaf plate production, candle, incense stick making and running a beauty salon, being a few among others that can be established within the village area.

Rural markets have been growing faster than the urban sector, resulting in overall balanced economic and social development. For consumer durables and services, the rural market has more potential than the urban market.

Also, since the rural population largely depends on agriculture, it contributes to nearly 50 per cent of the total national income. Operating a business comes with its own advantages and disadvantages. Women establishing and operating businesses come with added responsibilities and obstacles.

During the baseline survey, it was visible that there were a lot of obstacles that existing women entrepreneurs had to face on a daily basis in the dayto-day operation of their enterprise.

Major obstacles faced by women lie in the marketing of goods or services.

Lack of knowledge of new products in the urban market and technical skills of running an enterprise are two of the major obstacles, coupled with the hiked transportation prices

Assessment of entrepreneurial opportunities with beneficiaries

for the long distance between the village and the market. The Girl Power Project will focus on a critical element of market-led enterprisebuilding, which is identifying gaps in already functioning value chains so that one knows where the maximum margins can be made to benefit the informally employed poor, create quality entrepreneurs for growing the business, laying emphasis to serve a variety of market segments and women with varying levels of capacities and social constraints. The integration aims to support women to move ahead confidently in new market situations.

Integration allows for linking women’s roles in enterprise, their needs and therefore their rights, and hence builds perspective; it is less threatening for the ecosystem than directly addressing violence against women; it is novel to have mainstreamed domestic violence issues into core business-oriented training and hence has strategic value in many contexts.

The project aims at developing the capacity of the women beneficiaries turned entrepreneurs to contribute towards benefit and well being of their families. It tries to enhance the purchasing power, decision making, and dignity of women.

Girl Power strongly believes in

the transformative approach to economic empowerment in new market conditions, while empowering women to adopt differential roles the market expects, and internalize and manage the competition that market causes. It is imperative to realize that training and handholding in women’s microenterprise promotion would need to address life-cycle issues that are crosscutting along a spectrum of women’s market engagement because they affect women’s confidence and motivation, ultimately impacting sustainability of women’s empowerment through enterprise.

It is necessary for gender sensitiveresponsive women enterprise promotion.

Indeed, gender-related issues such as traditional patriarchal norms have relegated women to a secondary status within the household and community.

Women are commonly married young, quickly become mothers, and are then burdened by stringent domestic and financial responsibilities. They are frequently malnourished since women typically are the last member of a household to eat and the last to receive medical attention. Women receive little schooling, and suffer from unfair and biased inheritance and divorce laws. These laws prevent

women from accumulating substantial financial assets, making it difficult for women to establish their own security and autonomy. These issues have rarely been addressed in these contexts. Civil Society Organisations deem such integration as imperative.

Hence, implementing it if we want women to move ahead confidently in new market situations. Integration allowed for linking women’s roles in enterprise, their needs and therefore their rights and hence builds perspective; it’s less threatening for the eco-system than directly addressing violence against women; it is novel to mainstream domestic violence issues into core business-oriented training (consisting of topics such as production management, costing, pricing, feasibility and business planning) and hence has strategic value in many contexts. Integrating gender throughout the business model and engaging both women and men throughout the enterprise value chain has the potential to increase customers’ perceived value of products/services, as well as their adoption and use. Innovations that contribute to enhancing women’s quality of life or narrowing gender inequalities, can greatly impact their lives.

www.urbanupdate.in | May 2021

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NEWSCAN

Delhi sees increasing mucormycosis cases in COVID patients NEW DELHI: Several hospitals of Delhi reported increasing number of mucormycosis infection in COVID-19 patients, which is found to be caused due to high exposure to mucor mould found commonly in soil, plants, manure and decaying fruits and vegetables. It is spreading at a rapid pace, particularly among those who have recovered from the COVID-19 infection. This is because the condition is triggered by the use of steroids, which have proved to be life-saving among COVID-19 patients.

Mucormycosis, also known as the Black Fungus, has an overall mortality rate of 50 per cent and affects the sinus, brain, eyes and lungs. According

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to experts, the condition can be life –threatening among diabetic and extremely immunocompromised patients, including those with cancer and HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus). After Delhi, other states like Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh also reported cases of black fungus among COVID-19 recovered patients. Due to the alarming rise in the cases, the Government of India has taken prompt action to stimulate the production of Amphotericin B, which provides relief from the disease.

The centre said in an advisory that the disease is caused in patients recovered from COVID-19 and having

uncontrolled diabetes and prolonged stay in an Intensive Care Unit (ICU).

Gujarat has so far reported more than 100 cases, whereas Western Maharashtra, home to Mumbai city, has reported more than 2000 cases of mucormycosis.

Dr Tatyarao Lahane, Head, Directorate of Medical Education and Research (DMER), said, “It is a serious fungal infection which is found among people with low level of immunity or those who are suffering from chronic diabetes or have gone through organ transplant.” He added that the fungus is present in the environment and people with suppressed immunity, including those who have received steroids while being treated for COVID-19, are more vulnerable to the disease.

Talking about the symptoms of the disease, Dr Lahane said that they can include headache, fever, pain under the eyes, nasal or sinus congestion, and partial loss of vision, among others. He added that patients infected with mucormycosis generally need a particular injection for 21 days, which costs around `9000 per shot. Dr Hetal Marfatia, Head of (Ear, Nose and Throat) ENT department, King Edward Memorial Hospital, suggested regular exercise and control over diet and said that unhealthy food habits can severely damage the immune system and make people vulnerable to the disease.

“While the exact numbers are not available, we are seeing an increase in the number of cases in Delhi, Maharashtra and Gujarat,” said Dr Aparna Mukherjee, Scientist, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).

The doctors have termed it ‘deadly’ as it is adding to the COVID-19 woes at the moment in the country. Dr Mukherjee added that the symptoms can be mild at the beginning and can often get missed at the initial stages causing a heavy toll on health and finances later.

NEWSCAN | BRIEFS

Gadkari announces list of road development projects NEW DELHI: The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH), Government of India, approved several road widening and upgradation projects in northeastern states of Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Manipur, and Nagaland. Nitin Gadkari, Minister of Road Transport and Highways, on April 3, announced various road development projects, including rehabilitation, widening, and development of new roads in the states of Bihar, Punjab, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and northeast India. A statement released by Gadkari said that in Bihar, rehabilitation and widening work for two lane of existing national highway between Bhagalpur-

Kahalgaon-Mirzachowki at a cost of `566.15 crore, and rehabilitation and widening work for national highway between Munger-Sultanganj-BhagalpurMirzachowki for `477.54 crore, has been approved by the Ministry. For Punjab, a centrally-sponsored and funded scheme with a budget of `1229.38 crore under the Bharatmala Pariyojana Phase-1 has been approved. According to Gadkari, this is to include development of six-lane greenfield highway between Amritsar and Bathinda, and six lane Jalandhar Bypass from Kahiwan to Kang Sahbu for `1754.84 crore.

MoRTH also approved development of a six-lane Thatchur highway between Veera Kaveri Rajapuram and Pondavakkam on hybrid annuity mode in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, at a cost of `1102.63 crore. Gadkari informed that the upgradation to 2 lanes with paved shoulders of a section of DulteKwalkulh road (International corridor) of NH-6 in the state of Mizoram has also been approved at a cost of `374.39 crore.

MoF releases `4608 crore grant for local bodies NEW DELHI: The Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance (MoF), Government of India, on March 31, released a fund of `4608 crore to the states for providing assistance to local bodies. The grants have been released for both rural local bodies (RLBs) and urban local bodies (ULBs). RLBs will be provided `2660 crore while ULBs will be provided `1948 crore of the grant, on the recommendation of the 15th Finance Commission.

In the last financial year, the MoF had released a total amount of `87,460 crore to the states for their local bodies in which, `60,750 crore were for the RLBs and `26,710 crore were released for the ULBs. The ULB grants are provided to cities in two categories Million Plus cities and Non-Million Plus cities. Million plus cities were provided the grant of `8257 crore and Non-Million Plus cities were provided `18,354 crore from the Ministry in the last financial year. The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change will monitor and evaluate the progress and recommend the distribution of grants to the state. The grants to the Million Plus cities have also been linked to improving the conservation, supply and management of water and proper solid waste management. For this component, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs is the nodal ministry and is given the task of evaluating the achievement of city-wise and year-wise targets and recommend distribution of grant to the cities.

In the Non-Million Plus cities, 50 per cent of the total will be the basic grant and the rest of it will be tied to drinking water and solid waste management.

Access to Climate Finance critical for Asia: ADB

Asian Development Bank (ADB) has strongly suggested Asian and Pacific countries to significantly ramp up climate finance to implement a green and resilient recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. Masatsugu Asakawa, President, ADB, said that expanding access to climate finance is critical if countries in the Asia-Pacific wish to meet the Paris Agreement goals and set ambitious targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and help adapt to the adverse impacts of climate change. He added that there is need to put ambitious climate actions at the center of development.

“Record for fastest road construction by India” While inaugurating Tedhi Pulia flyover and laying the foundation stone for the Khuram Nagar flyover in Lucknow on April 2, Nitin Gadkari, Minister of Road Transport and Highways, Government of India, said that India currently holds the world record for fastest road construction. India made it to the Guinness World Records for building a 2.5 km fourlane concrete road within 24 hours, and has also built a onelane 25-km bitumen SolapurBijapur road within 24 hours.

A statement from MoRTH said that the construction of national highways had touched a record 37 km per day in the year 2020-21.

www.urbanupdate.in | May 2021

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BRIEFS | NEWSCAN

World Leaders call for intl pandemic treaty

Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General, WHO, while addressing the press on April 1, said that over 25 leaders from the G20, G7 and other regions, have unanimously called for an international treaty for pandemic preparedness and response. The new treaty will charter an all-of-government and all-of-society approach, strengthening national, regional and global capacities and resilience to future pandemics.

Dr Tedros mentioned that the pandemic treaty would be a generational commitment to keeping the world safe in the future from new pathogens having pandemic potential.

KCCI seeks fund for inland waterways development The Kanara Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) has asked the Government of Karnataka to develop inland waterways on Netravati River and Gurupur River in Dakshina Kannada district, and has sought budgetary allocation for their development. Isaac Vas, President, KCCI, in a letter to the Director of Ports and Inland Water Transport, stressed on the need to promote tourism along the waterways. It mentioned that there are seven floating restaurants operational on the river but are unable to sail further since suitable waterways are unavailable. The proposed waterways should develop tourism.

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Need for countries to build healthier, fairer world post COVID-19: WHO NEW DELHI: For World Health Day, which was celebrated on April 7, the World Health Organisation issued five calls for urgent action to improve health for all people.

Within countries, illness and death from COVID-19 have been higher among groups who face discrimination, poverty, social exclusion, and have adverse daily living and working conditions - including humanitarian crises.

According to WHO, the pandemic is estimated to have driven between 119 and 124 million more people across the world into extreme poverty last year. There is convincing evidence that the pandemic has widened gender gaps in employment, where women have been exiting the labour force in greater numbers as compared to men over the past 12 months.

Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General, WHO, commented that the COVID-19 pandemic has thrived amid the existing inequalities in our societies and the gaps in our health systems. Therefore, it is indispensable for all governments to invest in strengthening their health services and to remove the barriers that prevent so many people from using them, so more people have the chance to live healthy lives.

WHO, therefore, issued the following five calls for action - Accelerate equitable access to COVID-19 technologies between and within countries; Invest in primary health care; Prioritize health and social protection; Build safe, healthy and inclusive neighbourhoods; and Strengthen data and health information systems. Dr Tedros said that the world does not need to choose between improving public health, building sustainable societies, ensuring food security and adequate nutrition, tackling climate change and having thriving local economies, when all these work in tandem.

Green Development Area Policy to boost Delhi’s green cover NEW DELHI: National Real Estate Development Council (NAREDCO) organised a consultative meet on Green Development Policy on April 6. The Delhi Development Authority (DDA) has proposed changes to Master Plan-2021 to incorporate the Green Development Policy. Some important points of the policy include Green Belt (agricultural land) along the border of the National Capital Territory of Delhi, low-density residential area, foster city level hubs for green living and recreation, create green jobs and economies, and encourage production of food and other natural

produce to improve food security.

Manju Paul, Additional Commissioner (Planning), DDA, said that the Green Development Policy is very important and DDA will implement it without any delay.

She added all the recommendations and suggestions will be presented before the board of enquiry and will be incorporated in the policy.

Hitesh Vaidya, Director, National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA), said that NIUA acts as the bridge to fill the gap between policy making and development. He added that NIUA wants this change to happen in Delhi and the organisation will become the bridge between the policy formulators and the implementation process.

Gaurav Jain, Vice President (North), NAREDCO, said that as this policy came to the public domain, it felt like something was missing in the past and people realised what they were missing in the past many years.

City Image

BMC to distribute used clothes Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) launched the Wheel of Kindness program under which people can donate their old clothes. The donated clothes will be washed, pressed and packed at the Kindness Hub set up

at Madhusudan Nagar in Bhubaneswar.

A specially designed vehicle named Wheel of Kindness will distribute clothes among nearby slums. The bus has segregated racks with dresses for children, ladies, and gents. The needy

can pick any clothes from the bus based on their requirement. Vikash, a nongovernment organisation, has been engaged in the work. A cloth collection box has also been set up at the Kindness Hub at the BMC head office.

www.urbanupdate.in | May 2021

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BRIEFS | NEWSCAN

World’s highest arch on rail bridge completed in India on Chenab Indian engineers on April 5 completed the arch of the world’s highest railway bridge on Chenab river in Jammu and Kashmir, which has been built at a height 35 metres higher than the Eiffel Tower in France. The iconic Chenab Bridge is being constructed by the Indian Railways as a part of the Udhampur-SrinagarBaramulla rail link project. The bridge will be 1315 metres long, which will soar 359 metres above the river bed. The bridge is being built to provide muchneeded all-weather connectivity between Kashmir and the rest of the county. The bridge has been designed to withstand earthquakes, with a magnitude of up to eight on the Richter scale, and high-intensity blasts.

MITE partners with TIEI for skill development in engine manufacturing The Mangalore Institute of Technology and Engineering (MITE) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Toyota Industries Engine India Private Limited (TIEI) to aid skill development in the area of engine manufacturing. The main goal of this collaboration includes creating opportunities for students, teaching faculty, and industry personnel. The new MoU will allow exchange of students, faculty and industry executives between MITE and TIEI to strengthen overall competence in their respective fields. Experts from TIEI will deliver lectures and conduct workshops at MITE as part of boosting relationships between academia and industry, and additionally enable exchanges on latest trends in engine technology.

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ADB approves loan for industrial corridor in Tamil Nadu CHENNAI: In a bid to boost development of the Tamil Nadu industrial corridor, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a loan of `3533 crore for the improvement of transport connectivity and road maintenance. The funds will be utilised for the development of the Chennai-Kanyakumari Industrial Corridor, or CKIC. This industrial corridor project has been designed to connect the country to the production networks of southeast and east Asia.

The said industrial project will involve redevelopment of around 590 km of state highways in the areas influenced by the CKIC. Numerous tasks, including improvement of drainage system, climate change adaptation measures, raising road embankments in critical areas, and resizing of culverts and bridges, will be carried out in the upgradation project of highways.

The project is likely to generate more than 4.7 million additional jobs driven by annual manufacturing output of $222 billion. It is taking shape with the state strengthening the power infrastructure and resolving constraints in evacuation of renewable energy from districts in the southern CKIC. The ADB has already provided a loan of $645 million, which is to assist in establishment of extra-high-voltage (765 kV) transmission link between Virudhunagar and Coimbatore to transfer the expected added generation capacity of 9,000 MW by 2025 in the southern CKIC to Coimbatore, which is a major industrial centre. CKIC project will also push road safety improvement programs through modern technology. This will be conducted for road monitoring and enforcement. Additionally, the infrastructural project will also support better planning capacity of Tamil Nadu’s Highways and Minor Ports Department.

India-Denmark to address innovations in water, SDGs NEW DEHI: Indian think tank NITI Aayog and Embassy of Denmark to India met on April 13 as a part of the IndoDanish bilateral strategic partnership to build a world class innovation ecosystem under the Atal Innovation Mission (AIM).

Under this, Innovation Centre Denmark (ICD) in India will work with AIM to support current and future initiatives of AIM, NITI Aayog and other beneficiaries in India. It also aims to develop global innovation green economy partnership to address the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Dr Rajiv Kumar, Vice Chairman, NITI Aayog, said that he is looking forward to the collaboration. “We will also focus on water use in agriculture that takes up to 92 per cent of the water,” said Dr Kumar. As a part of the partnership, the collaboration will help people access technological expertise of Denmark and also encourage Danish innovators to work on Indian land. AIM and ICD in India should explore various areas of collaboration, including AIM-Denmark school student innovation exchange

and co-innovation development, hosting Indo-Denmark innovation challenges, facilitating start-up incubator collaborations and exchanges, etc, through the networks and channels of both the parties.

Freddy Svane, Denmark’s ambassador to India, stressed in his address on three key and crucial points - Water, Women, and the World. He said that water is the stream of life hence its importance for present and future generations cannot be stressed enough. Women empowerment is key to the growth of a nation and to the sustainability goals of the world. If we do not solve water management issues, regardless of the location, it will impact lives across the world.

NEWSCAN

Delhi-NCR at the bottom in health infrastructure, Pune grabs top spot

NEW DELHI: A report by online realestate portal, Housing.com has found that Pune is the top performer when it comes to health infrastructure among major cities in the country. The DelhiNational Capital Region (NCR), which includes Gurugram, Faridabad, Noida, Greater Noida and Ghaziabad, has been ranked lowest in the list. The report is titled ‘State of Healthcare in India’

by Elara Technologies-owned online realty firm. The report ranks eight of the most urbanised centres of the country, which includes Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi-NCR, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai MMR (Mumbai Metropolitan Region) and Pune via its Housing City Health Card. The criteria include various parameters such as number of beds per 1000 people, quality of air and water, sanitation, liveability of the region and 40 per cent weightage is given to the number of hospital beds available in the public healthcare system.

The report suggests that Pune offers 3.5 hospital beds per 1000 people, which is much higher than the national

average of half a bed for every 1000 people in the public healthcare system.

Pune also scores good on various parameters such as ease of living, water quality, as well as the performance of local bodies and sustainable initiatives taken by the local government.

However, Pune still struggles with lack of public healthcare delivery system, which is clearly evident by the fact

The report suggests that Pune offers 3.5 hospital beds per 1000 people, which is much higher than the national average of half a bed for every 1000 people in the public healthcare system

that the city is crippling due to high caseload of COVID-19. Whereas, on the other hand, Delhi has performed poorly due to its poor scores on air and water quality, sanitation and performance of the municipal bodies.

The report mentioned that the density of hospitals is lower in the Ghaziabad and Greater Noida region as compared to Gurugram, Noida and Faridabad, which have more service, warehousing and manufacturing activities.

Ahmedabad is ranked at the second spot with 3.2 beds for every 1000 people and Bengaluru is ranked next in the list, in spite of higher number of beds and top ranking in the ease of living index. The city has come down in the list due to its poor scores in air and water quality and poor municipal performance. MMR is ranked at the fourth spot, followed by Hyderabad, Chennai and Kolkata.

Ankita Sood, Head of Research, Housing.com and PropTiger, said that India spends just 3.5 per cent of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on healthcare as compared to 10-18 per cent spent by other developing economies. She added that the residential development in top eight cities is seriously skewed as the healthcare development does not match the level of direction of the residential development of the region. Mani Rangarajan, Group Chief Operating Officer, Housing.com, said that the country needs to spend more on its healthcare which has been made eminently clear as the nation is struggling to keep the people safe from the ongoing second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.

For City Health Card methodology, hospitals with more than 100 beds are considered and all the data for each hospital has been taken from government sources or official hospital websites.

www.urbanupdate.in | May 2021

15

BRIEFS | NEWSCAN

Several Indian projects launched in Seychelles

At the India-Seychelles high level virtual event held on April 8, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Wavel Ramkalawan, President of the Republic of Seychelles, jointly inaugurated a series of projects completed under the development partnership between the two countries. Projects inaugurated at the event included a new Magistrates’ Court Building, a Made-in-India fast patrol vessel, a one mega watt solar power plant, and 10 HICDPs (High Impact Community Development Projects). The Magistrates’ Court Building project is being called as a landmark project, for it will help bring magistrate courts spread over different locations in Mahé into a single building.

61% samples in Maharashtra show double mutant variant: Report 61 per cent of the COVID-19 samples taken from Maharashtra between January and March this year for genome sequencing have shown the presence of double mutant of coronavirus, officials said. It is being suspected as one of the prime reasons behind the second wave of COVID-19 in the country. As the name suggests, double mutants involve two variants of the novel coronavirus.

The National Institute of Virology showed that initially, the double mutant was found in three COVID-19 samples in Akola and one in Thane. Centre had also said last month that the double mutant of virus had been detected in 18 states in India.

16

May 2021 | www.urbanupdate.in

UN calls for urgent action on debt, vaccines around the world WASHINGTON: The United Nations Organisation (UN) called for expanded debt relief to all the requesting developing countries in April this year. It also called for more equitable COVID-19 vaccinations to tackle the ongoing pandemic. Achim Steiner, Administrator, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), said on behalf of the UN that to avoid a development crisis, the world must avoid a debt crisis.

Steiner also said that 84 per cent of the COVID-19 vaccines that have been administered so far have been provided to the wealthier countries and also urged some swift measures to address the gaps in vaccine funding and boost

the production in poor countries. He added that lesser developed countries have spent almost 580 times less in per capita terms in comparison to advanced economies.

The UN has appealed to stakeholders to offer legal and technical advice on the options of debt and debt relief to include vulnerable countries on case-by-case basis. He also asked the stakeholders to consider other mechanisms which would allow the countries to access debt relief without risking their credit ratings. 60 per cent of all the developing and vulnerable countries are highly debt vulnerable.

The report estimates that the strings of default are not the most significant threat but the possibility of a prolonged debt crisis that leaves these countries with crushing debt crisis burden for years is.

This burden also prevents countries from making critical investments to benefit their own people and address climate crisis. The International Monetary Fund has proposed for a new allocation of $650 billion in ‘Special Drawing Rights’ which would provide funds to poor countries as international grants.

Canada tops USA’s Best Countries Report WASHINGTON DC: 2021 Best Countries Report, a ranking and analysis project by United States of America (USA) News and World Report; BAV Group, a unit of global marketing communications company named VMLY&R; and Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, found Canada to be the best country in the list, for the first time. The model behind this report has evolved due to the transformational year since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The analysis is based on the cultural, economic, political and technological influences and two new categories have been added: social purpose and agility. Kim Castro, Editor and Chief Content Officer, USA News, said that countries are impacted on many critical fronts by how they are perceived globally, going from foreign relations to international business to tourism. He added that these perceptions are ever evolving in a rapidly changing world and the report analyses data and storytelling to explore how nations compare on a host of global issues.

Japan and Germany followed the list after Canada, whereas Switzerland, which was the winner previously, has come down to the fourth spot. Canada has ranked as the top country in quality of life and social purpose. Canada and Nordic countries are viewed as the most committed to social justice. USA stands at the 18th spot in the list.

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BRIEFS | NEWSCAN

Double masking can protect people from COVID-19: Study A study by University of North Carolina Health C a r e showed that wearing two face masks can nearly double the effectiveness of filtering out SARS-CoV-2 particles. It will prevent the novel coronavirus from reaching the wearer’s nose and mouth. The findings have been published in JAMA Internal Medicine and suggest that the reason behind this is not wearing multiple layers but eliminating any gaps or poor fitting areas of mask. When the cloth mask is layered with procedure mask, it improves the fit by eliminating the gaps and holding the procedure mask closer to the face.

UP to get `14,246 crore as disaster response fund

Norway tops World Press Freedom Index, Eritrea ranks last NEW DELHI: The World Press Freedom Index (PFI) 2021, which is published

by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), ranked India 142, same as last year. It has been classified as one of the countries which are bad for journalism, and are considered as dangerous countries for journalists trying to do their jobs properly.

Brazil, Mexico, and Russia came in the bad category along with India in the PFI 2021. The Index ranked 180 countries in total and was topped by Norway, followed

by Finland and Denmark. Turkmenistan stood at the 178th rank, China at 177, and Eritrea has been placed at the bottom of the Index. Among South Asian countries, Nepal was ranked at 106, Sri Lanka at 127, Pakistan at 145, and Bangladesh at 152.

According to the report, an environment of intimidation is created by supporters of political parties for any critical journalist, who is then tagged as ‘anti-state’ or ‘anti-national’. It added that

journalists in India are being exposed to every kind of attack, including police violence against reporters, ambushes by political activists, and reprisals instigated by criminal groups or corrupt local officials. The report stated critical journalists in India are exposed to public condemnation in the form of extremely violent social media hate campaigns, which often include calls for them to be killed, especially if they are women.

COVID-19 has altered trajectory of students’ development

The 15th Finance Commission has made a proposal to provide a total of `14,246 crore to Uttar Pradesh for disaster management in the next five years. With this fund, the state government will be able to make proper arrangements to deal with all types of natural disasters such as floods, famines, droughts, etc. The state will be provided the highest amount for disaster relief after Maharashtra. `13,411 crore will be given to Madhya Pradesh, `11,8819 crore to Odisha and `10,432 crore will be provided to Bihar.

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May 2021 | www.urbanupdate.in

PATIALA: A collaborative research titled ‘COVID-19 lockdown and the reconstruction of urban middle-class home in India’ has found that school closure during the lockdown has altered the normal trajectory of development for many students. It was carried out by Dr Damanjit Sandhu, Associate Professor, Punjabi University, and a professor at Royal Holloway University of London, United Kingdom (UK). The research was conducted through focus group discussions and interviews in Patiala and outside.

The research will be published in a special issue of the international interdisciplinary journal ‘Children and Society’ in October this year. The research highlights the negative effects of overuse of technology on physical health of students. The professors noted that the COVID-19 pandemic has exaggerated and complicated the pre-existing issues within each section of society. They said that the closure of schools during lockdown and the ensuing shift to online teaching has posed serious challenges to a child’s wellbeing. Dr Sandhu said that with the help of the series of interviews conducted with boys and girls of age group 15-17 years, they discovered a huge digital-literacy gap between parents and children, and this caused parental ineptness to monitor the digital usage of children. This, he believes, has exacerbated the children’s growing uncertainties about the future. They also found that non-productive online teaching, inability to pay attention to online classes, and maintaining study routines has greatly impacted the students mind. She added that the study found a growing fear among children of not being able to perform well and crack competitive examinations for admissions to elite colleges. They also witnessed young children’s excessive social media usage and involvement in risky online behaviour and game addiction. This has resulted in significant effects on children’s growth.

NEWSCAN

Patent waiver on COVID vaccine Development and Discussion

NEW DELHI: The European Parliament has requested the European Union (EU) to support the waiving of patent rights on COVID-19 vaccine. The lawmakers approved the amendment to support the Indian and South African World Trade Organisation (WTO) initiative for a temporary waiver of intellectual property (IPR) rights for COVID-19 vaccine. The discussion rose due to the rising disparity in the access to COVID-19 vaccines between the high and low-income countries.

According to United Nations Children’s Fund data, 86 per cent of all the administered doses of the vaccine till March 30 have been received by people in high and middle-income income countries. On the other hand, just one per cent of the doses have been given to those in the poorest regions of

the world.

India and South Africa submitted the proposal to WTO regarding waiving of the IPR for COVID-19 vaccines and treatments under Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) treaty in October last year. The big pharma industries have opposed the petition on the grounds that suspending the IPR will kill the incentive for pharma industries to innovate. According to a report by the Intercept, almost 100 pharma companies have requested the members of the Biden administration to reject the proposal of the IP waiver.

However, despite various efforts by influential pharma companies to block the waiver request, the Government of the United States of America backed the proposal.

Katherine Tai, US Trade Representative, said, “The administration strongly believes in the IP protection but to help this pandemic worldwide, the administration supports the waiver of the protection of COVID-19 vaccines.” However, WTO also said that waiving the IPR for COVID-19 alone will not help to decrease the gap in vaccine supply between rich and poor countries.

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Director General, WTO, said that countries have to be holistic to solve the problem of inequity in the access to vaccines.

She added that various developing countries have complained about the cumbersome licensing process and the manufacturers should work to expand the production. She also said that there should be a transfer of technology and know-how, as vaccines are often harder to produce than drugs.

The Government of the United Kingdom is streamlining a plan to waive the COVID-19 vaccine patents to boost the production for middle and low income countries. Michael Weinstein, Founder, AIDS Healthcare Foundation, warned that the failure to act smoothly could result in the destruction of the world’s poorest countries resulting in a moral and public health failure due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

India is supporting the cause because the weakness in India’s vaccination programmes have been exposed over the last few months as the second wave of COVID-19 pandemic hit the nation brutally. Vaccination centres across the country have faced shortage and the current pace will not result in herd immunity by the end of the year. The Government of India has also urged the Court to not discuss or exercise its statutory powers in the matters related to vaccine and essential drugs.

www.urbanupdate.in | May 2021

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BRIEFS | NEWSCAN

‘Strong evidence’ that COVID spreads mainly through air: Lancet A study published in the medical journal Lancet has found ‘strong evidences’ that SARS-CoV-2 virus spreads predominantly through air. It found consistent evidences supporting the airborne transmission of virus and evidences supporting large droplet transmission is almost non-existent. Experts reviewed the public research and found as many as 10 evidences in support of airborne transmission. The researchers highlighted that spread of SARS-CoV-2 from the people who are not coughing or sneezing accounts for almost 40 per cent of all the transmissions.

Measures such as handwashing and surface cleaning, while not completely unimportant, should be given lesser emphasis than the airborne measures.

US companies create global task force to help mitigate COVID-19 in India During a meeting of USIndia Business Council of the US Chamber of Commerce, and the US-India Strategic and Partnership Forum and Business Roundtable, CEOs of 40 top American companies came together to create a global task force. The task force committed to provide 20,000 oxygen concentrators to India in the next few weeks. It will also provide other supplies like monitoring kits. The announcement came amidst a shortage of crucial medical supplies and an unprecedented surge in coronavirus cases in India. The task force comprises of representatives from the retail sector, e-commerce, pharmaceutical, technology industry and large manufacturing entities.

20 May 2021 | www.urbanupdate.in

$157 billion dollar to be spent on COVID vaccines through 2025 WASHINGTON DC: A report by United States-based health data company IQVIA Holdings Inc (IQVIA), said that the global spending on COVID-19 vaccines is expected to reach $157 billion by 2025. IQVIA provides data and analytics for the healthcare industry. The report established that the first wave of COVID-19 vaccinations is expected to reach about 70 per cent of the world’s population by the end of 2022. According to the report, excluding the cost of COVID-19 vaccines, overall medicine spending is forecast to be $68 billion

lower over the six years from 2020 to 2025 than it would have been without the pandemic.

Based on current data on the duration of effect of the vaccines, booster shots are likely to follow initial vaccinations every two years. According to an official from the White House, the United States of America is preparing for a possible need for booster shot, which will be needed between 9 to 12 months after people receive their full inoculations against COVID-19.

Murray Aitken, Senior Vice President, IQVIA, said that the expenditure on vaccines is expected to be highest this year, at $54 billion, owing to the massive vaccination campaigns that are underway across the globe. However, due to the increased competition and increased vaccine volume, this yearly expenditure on vaccines is expected to decrease after eventually decreasing to $11 billion in 2025. He added that the COVID-19 vaccines will cost over $157 billion over the next five years globally.

People leading sedentary lifestyle require intensive care if infected with COVID: Study LONDON: A study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine has found that people who were leading a sedentary lifestyle for at least two years before the pandemic were more likely to be hospitalised, to require intensive care, and to succumb to the disease, as compared to people suffering with other pre-existing risk factors such as smoking, obesity, advanced age, diabetes, being males or hypertension. The authors said that ‘physical inactivity was the strongest risk factor across all outcomes.’

As a risk factor for serious COVID-19 disease, physical inactivity was surpassed only by advanced age and a history of organ transplant. The research was conducted between January and October 2020 in the United States among 48,440 adults infected with COVID-19. Some 15 per cent described themselves as inactive (0-10 minutes of physical activity per week), nearly 80 per cent reported “some activity” (11-149 minutes/week), and seven per cent were consistently active in keeping with national health guidelines (150+ minutes/week). After accounting for difference in race, age and underlying medical conditions, sedentary COVID-19 patients were more than twice as likely to be admitted to a hospital as those who were most active. They were also 73 per cent more likely to require intensive care, and 2.5 times more likely to die due to the infection. While the link is statistically strong, the study is observational, as opposed to a clinical trial, and thus it cannot be construed as direct evidence that a lack of exercise directly caused the difference in outcomes.

NEWSCAN | BRIEFS

No access to safe drinking water for 50 million NEW DELHI: A report by UNICEF India revealed that 50 million people from 15 cities of India do not have any access to safe and affordable drinking water. Amidst the current second wave of coronavirus pandemic in India, clean drinking water becomes more than significant because health experts believe hydration works as an important factor in helping the body fight the SARS-CoV-2 infection.

However, the UNICEF India report stated that the scarcity of safe drinking water in cities has become as high as the density of population in urban India. Manjari Chandra, Consultant (Nutritional Medicine), said that it is of utmost important to realise the purity of water that one is consuming. She said that usually while checking the purity of water, if people find it to be looking clean, they assume it to be safe for drinking, but she stressed that water looking clean might not always be safe for drinking.

The report found that the majority of population in urban India is consuming water from privately owned water sources. Moreover, due to the hustle and bustle of hectic urban life, people living in urban India rarely notice the discrepancy in the water pipelines of their own houses, which often cause water contamination. Prof (Dr) Sanjay Rai, President, Indian Public Health Association, said that urban population often ends up not paying any attention to maintenance and cleaning of water tanks placed on their roofs or underground, which ultimately contaminates the water right before its consumption.

Lack of vaccination may lead to new, stronger COVID-19 variants NEW DELHI: Healthcare experts have established that people should not delay taking COVID-19 vaccines at all, for they believe that delay will give virus an opportunity to develop new variants and some of them may reduce the efficacy of current vaccines. The Government of India had recently announced that all individuals aged above 18 years of age would be eligible to take COVID-19 vaccine jabs from May 1.

Dr Mervin Leo, Cluster COO, Gleneagles Global Hospitals, said that the virus causing SARS-CoV-2 infection still has many hosts left to replicate in, and thus many opportunities to randomly develop new variants. He believes that if given the chance to mutate any more,

many variants may reduce the efficacy of the current vaccine, and therefore it is important that people encourage each other to get vaccinated at the earliest and this way ensure that the virus is driven out of our lives before it engulfs us.

Dr Aarathi Bellary, Consultant (Internal Medicine), SLG Hospitals, said that both the vaccines, Covaxin and Covishield currently available in India, are effective, and that recent cases and reports have proved that even a single dose of the vaccine can provide decent protection against the infection and its fatal effects. She said that it is unnecessary and irresponsible for people to wait for a year to get vaccinated to observe any side effects of the jabs, because the longer the people will wait, the more likely it will be for the virus to develop into stronger mutations. Health experts, emphasizing the need of getting vaccinated, said that the goal cannot be achieved unless each and every one joins the drive and gets themselves vaccinated.

India prepares report on climate vulnerability of states and districts

In a bid to tackle the impact of climate change, India has prepared a report on climate vulnerability in its states and districts. This comes after India ranked 20th and was described as one of the most vulnerable country in the Climate Risk Index released in late January this year. The report had stated that India incurs losses of $910 billion annually, due to the extreme weather events.

According to Ministry of Science and Technology, hands-ontraining and capacity building activities helped in identifying vulnerable districts, which will ultimately help in initiating suitable climate actions.

UoM becomes world’s most environment friendly university The University of Manchester (UoM) has become the world’s most environment friendly university, according to the Higher Education Impact Rankings released by Times.

The Times Higher Education (THE) Impact Rankings are the only global performance tables that assess universities against the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). UoM has done the most work towards the UN’s SDGs among 1200 universities in 98 countries. UOM committed its operations to achieve a zerocarbon future, paying staff a living wage, and the quality of reporting of progress on each of the 17 SDGs.

www.urbanupdate.in | May 2021

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BRIEFS | NEWSCAN

Covaxin can neutralise 617 variant of COVID-19

Dr Anthony Fauci, Chief Medical Adviser at the White House, said in a statement that India’s home-grown vaccine, Covaxin has been found to neutralise the 617 variant of the deadly coronavirus. While speaking to reporters on a conference call, Dr Fauci stated that while health experts are still gaining data on a daily basis on this aspect of the vaccine, the most recent data based on the convalescent Sera of COVID-19 cases and people who received the vaccine used in India, the Covaxin, revealed that it can effectively neutralise the 617 variant.

Need for countries to build healthier, fairer world post COVID-19

For World Health Day, which was celebrated on April 7, World Health Organisation issued five calls for urgent action to improve health for all people.

Within countries, illness and death from COVID-19 have been higher among groups who face discrimination, poverty, social exclusion, and have adverse daily living and working conditions including humanitarian crises. According to WHO, the pandemic is estimated to have driven between 119 and 124 million more people across the world into extreme poverty.

22 May 2021 | www.urbanupdate.in

Covishield comprises over 90% of the total vaccines administered in India NEW DELHI: Data released by the Government of India in mid-April 2021 stated that Covishield vaccine comprises over 90 per cent of the total vaccines administered across the country, which amount to around 12.76 crore doses. It established that out of all the states, 15 states and union territories were only supplied with Covishield vaccine, which is being manufactured by the Pune-based Serum Institute of India.

Experts have said that Covishield is being produced at a much higher scale than Covaxin. However, Dr Samiran Panda, the Head of Epidemiology and Communicable Diseases at the Indian Council of Medical Research, said that the production of Covaxin will be ramped up soon. According to a statement by Bharat Biotech, capacity expansion for Covaxin has been implemented across multiple facilities in Hyderabad and Bangalore. This has been done to reach a capacity of approximately 700 million doses per year. In a bid to enhance vaccine production capacity, the Department of Biotechnology has also been providing financial support in the form of grants to vaccine manufacturing facilities.

According to a statement released by the Ministry of Science and Technology on April 18, the current production of indigenously developed vaccine in India will be doubled by May-June 2021 to meet the vaccination demand in the nation and then the production will be increased by nearly 6-7 folds by July-August 2021.

One dose can halve infection’s transmission NEW DELHI: A study led by researchers from the University of Pennsylvania in the United States of America (USA) found that people who recovered from COVID-19 require just one dose of vaccine. The study suggests that the survivors had a robust antibody response after the first mRNA (Ribonucleic Acid) vaccine dose and low immune benefits were found after the second dose. The study has been published in the journal Science Immunology.

The study from USA said that two doses are optimum to induce strong antibody and B cell responses for the people who have not been in contact with SARSCoV-2. Researchers also added that the antibodies induced by the vaccine can

also protect against the more infectious and deadly South African variant.

Another study by Public Health England suggested that a single dose of COVID-19 vaccine can decrease the transmissibility of the virus by half. The findings of the study also offer some hope that the pandemic can be controlled as it indicates that the people who are vaccinated are less vulnerable to the novel coronavirus.

According to a United Kingdom study, people who have been administered a single dose of Pfizer/BioNTech or Oxford/ AstraZeneca vaccines and are tested positive after three to four weeks of the vaccination are almost 38 to 49 per cent less likely to transmit the virus compared to those who are not vaccinated.

Other studies have also suggested that both these vaccines are highly effective in protecting against the SARS-CoV-2 infection and its transmission.

This study included more than 57,000 people living in 24,000 households, and claimed that one dose of either vaccine cuts nearly two-third of the cases and is 74 per cent effective against them.

NEWSCAN

India receives foreign aid from various countries to supplement COVID-19 battle NEW DELHI: After India suffered from an acute shortage of medical supplies such as oxygen cylinders, medicines, other distribution equipment such as cryogenic tankers, concentrators, etc., various countries from around the world began to supply aid in order to help the nation in its time of need. It was the first time in 16 years that India accepted international aid to battle the

situation.

The United Kingdom was the first nation to chip in for the cause beginning on April 27, 2021, with almost 2000 oxygen concentrators, 1220 ventilators, around 900 cylinders of 46-lakh capacity and 3 oxygen generation units.

The United States of America sent a total of 10 lakh Rapid Diagnostic Tests, 545 oxygen concentrators, 16 lakh

N-95 masks, 457 oxygen cylinders, 440 regulators, 220 pulse oximeters and 1 deployable oxygen concentration system during the period between April 30 and May 5, 2021.

Russia has donated more than 20 oxygen concentrators, 75+ ventilators, 150+ bedside monitors and several medicines. Other countries which aided India during the pandemic are-

COVID-19 contributions from countries to India Australia

Luxembourg

Ventilators- 1056 Oxygen Concentrators- 43

Ventilators- 58

Switzerland

Oxygen cylinders- 500

Ventilators- 50 Oxygen Concentrators- 600

Ireland

Czech Republic Poland Oxygen Concentrators- 100

Oxygen Concentrators- 1,248 Ventilators- 730

Belgium

The Netherlands

Uzbekistan

Ventilators- 449 Oxygen Concentrators- 100

Oxygen concentrators- 151

Denmark

Oxygen cylinders- 256

Ventilators- 53

Romania Oxygen Concentrators- 80 Oxygen Cylinders- 75

Austria

Remdesivir- 9,000

Singapore Japan Oxygen concentrators- 200

Mauritius Oxygen Concentrators- 200

Oxygen cannulas- 1900 Oxygen cylinders- 396

France

Italy

Germany

Oxygen production plant capable of supplying an entire hospital

Ventilators- 500

Canada

Israel

Oxygen Concentrators- 1,450 Remdesivir- 25,000 Ventilators- 50

Oxygen concentrators- 1660+ Oxygen generation units- 3+ Respirators- 400

Oxygen Generators- 8

www.urbanupdate.in | May 2021

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Cover story | Combating COVID

Cities & the 2 Wave nd

24 May 2021 | www.urbanupdate.in

C

oronavirus has infected 26 million Indians and killed over 2,50,000 as of May 10. The severity of the second wave can be understood because the weekly average of daily deaths in the first wave was 580 maximum, while this time, it went up to 4000. In the same way, the daily cases being reported touched the 4,10,000 mark. Until the wave was controlled, the nation was touching a new record every other day in the number of reported cases and the number of people who died. The problem was severe in small towns and villages, too, as the citizens were solely dependent on the government health care system. The influx of patients from these areas to cities further strained the big cities. Finding a standard oxygen bed became a Herculean task. People and the governments not only faced the pandemic but the task of quickly increasing the capacity of hospitals and medical care remained challenging.

It is the fact that every system has a definite capacity, and that is why the citizens of the country had to run pillar to post during the peak of

the virus spread for hospital beds, ICUs, ventilators, oxygen cylinders, medicines and whatnot. But the inefficient management at many levels and poor resilience of urban systems cannot be altogether overlooked. If cities need to build robust resilience systems to pandemics, then they have to understand and analyze what went wrong and where did they falter.

As enough scientific evidence from the world over were available that suggested that the pandemic hits back, especially if the protocols are not followed and if most of the population is not vaccinated. People were relaxed, and the protocols were not followed, and many were even apprehensive about getting vaccinated. That made things worse.

Increasing cases and fast filling of hospital beds forced many state governments to announce Corona Curfew or lockdown. The restrictions imposed were not as strict as last year, but it shut down a majority of economic activities. Its economic impact was imminent. The nation recorded double-digit unemployment figures in May. Not just the budget of the general public, the budget of urban local bodies

The Coronavirus spread from India’s biggest cities to suburbs and rural areas in the second wave. Cities that were already overwhelmed with the number of infected patients and facing a shortage of hospital beds, oxygen and other essentials witnessed the virtual collapse of their health infrastructure. The sliver of hope was an army of community groups and individuals who emerged to help the needy. Local Governments have a chance to build on this, learn, join hands with local communities and promote participatory governance for building local resilience to fight any imminent danger

took a hit because their expenses went up and the earning took a hit because of restraint on many urban activities.

Strengthening relation of local community and local governments

Participatory governance has been at the core of local governments since the inception of the local government institutions. There have been several legal and social interventions worldwide to strengthen it further, but the response from many LGs was not very encouraging during the crisis. LGs must review how they engaged with locals during the crisis. The analytical review of the response can give insight into the required overhauling in the local governance system and throw light on improving the participatory approach. Local Governments must also study how communities and local governments worked together in different parts of the country and the world to fight the severe impacts of the pandemic.

Citizens have always found ways to ensure the smooth functioning of their day-to-day lives in case there is an administrative inadequacy in

Abhishek Pandey Editor

www.urbanupdate.in | May 2021

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Cover story | Combating COVID

providing facilities. In the time of crisis, community groups and nongovernment organisations from across the country came forward to extend their helping hands to the needy.

Hundreds of social media groups were created to get verified leads to get oxygen cylinders, medicines, ambulances, food, hospital beds, and even the help for the last rites of their relatives. Almost everyone tried to help the people around them. Local Governments and cities have to see how they can make systems at the local level where people get access to help

immediately in case of emergency and where the governments’ intervention is needed. As local governments are closest to the citizens, people must feel their presence in the time of need.

There are hundreds of examples of people coming forward and helping with all the modest resources they had.

It seems incredible and wonderful that so many people came forward to help, but community groups cannot replace the State. And, there should not be a need for it.

Local Governments can take a cue from the efforts of the community

An elected local government leader in every affected city and town should be at the centre of the response and action plan with adequate support from the state and centre government institutions. Their collaborative and participatory action plan with the local community could address the issue of testing and tracking easily. Even they can play a significant role in speeding up the vaccination programs

groups and make sure that they develop a mechanism where LGs can assist citizens at the ward and neighbourhood level, especially in the time of a crisis like this. Urban Local Bodies have the advantage of the reach over any government body. Daily, ULBs provide essential services to the citizens and touch people’s lives one way or another.

The municipal workforce reaches out to the nook and cranny of a city or town. No other tier of the government has such an advantage.

The role of the technology-enabled smart city also became crucial in the fight against the pandemic, and many Integrated Command and Control Centres were transformed into Covid war rooms to help local citizens. ULBs can build on this further for making their disaster response quick and effective.

Not just the existing technologies, but these centres should adopt the best practices adopted elsewhere too. Many cities like Surat, Pune, Mumbai, Thane and many more across the country utilized their existing online platforms to provide information about the availability of medical care and other essential services through their portals.

One of the biggest corporations in India, Brihan Mumbai Municipal Corporation, floated global tenders for Covid-19 vaccines. The BMC could decide because it has adequate financial resources, unlike many other corporations in India. It underlines the importance of becoming selfsufficient for local bodies to serve their citizens better.

This may not be the last pandemic, but the two waves have undoubtedly made us aware of the imminent dangers. ULBs must start working at all levels to manage such a crisis locally to make systematic response quicker and effective. There is a need to transform them into a resilient corporation. Then only the cities could call them smart in real terms.

Solution to prevent a hike in cases when lockdown eases

The trend suggests that the number of cases will surely subside with lockdown

26 May 2021 | www.urbanupdate.in

measures in many states. Meanwhile, the number of people vaccinated will also increase gradually. The economic activities will also begin, but in reality, it is not clear to anyone where this crisis is leading us. The governments have to think of ways to ensure the easing of lockdown measures does not result in resurfacing of Covid cases. Many questions are haunting the general public. How will we keep the virus at bay? When can we go out from our homes? When will be the normal back?

Local governments will have to play a constructive role in assisting in vaccination drives, spreading awareness of the Covid protocol’s importance and integrating community relief works to create robust local resilience.

A decentralized approach should be given due diligence in planning for disaster response. Local governments in India may not have adequate resources.

Still, they should be empowered to develop their response plan in case of such a crisis because of their edge over any other government institution to monitor the efforts effectively and knowledge of on-ground situations.

They should not be entrusted with the responsibility only, but the efforts should be to equip and skill them in the long term. It will also create ownership and fix accountability. It was disheartening to see the limited role of city mayors in response to the Covid crisis all along. They do play a role in ensuring the continuation of essential services, disinfection of public places and delivery of necessary goods to citizens. There is no denying that it was

Local Governments can take a cue from the efforts of the community groups and make sure that they develop a mechanism where LGs can assist citizens at the ward and neighbourhood level, especially in the time of a crisis like this. Urban Local Bodies have the advantage of the reach over any government body

required, but ULBs could have played a more prominent role.

An elected local government leader in every affected city and town should be at the centre of the response and action plan with adequate support from the state and central government institutions. Their collaborative and participatory action plan with the local community could address the issue of testing and tracking easily. Even they can play a significant role in speeding up the vaccination programs like it is happening in cities like Bengaluru, where Resident Welfare Association with Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagar Palike is organizing Vaccination Camps in localities and building complexes.

Nandurbar District in Maharashtra

established its oxygen plants after the local collector understood the city’s need. Later, the Maharashtra government asked other districts to adopt the model elsewhere too. Such success stories should be emulated quickly elsewhere too.

One of the big lessons learnt from the first wave of Covid-19 was that the decentralized response to the crisis of this magnitude helped in curtailing the devastating damage.

The Bhilwara Model, Dharavi Model, Kerala Model and many such models emerged during the first wave in India.

The lessons learnt should not have been forgotten. There is no denying that there is a specific role the State and central government had to play, but the control over implementing those schemes should be with the local governments. Building capacity of local governments also calls for creating a Municipal Cadre system at the state level so that the cities have experienced, specialized and skilled administrative officers to handle dayto-day urban affairs.

India has also developed 100 Smart Cities. The creation of such a workforce will aid the efforts of the government to make cities efficient, agile, resilient and financially and environmentally sustainable.

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Infograph | Mythbusters

Vaccination Myth - If I have already had COVID-19, I do not need a vaccine

COVID19 C O R O N AV I R U S

FACT - People who have gotten sick with COVID-19 may still benefit from getting vaccinated. Due to the severe health risks associated with COVID-19 and the fact that re-infection with COVID-19 is possible, people may be advised to get the vaccine even if they have been infected before

Myth - Getting the vaccine means I can stop following precautions

MYTHS FACTS AND

FACT - CDC (Centre for Disease Control and Prevention) revised safety guidelines for those who are fully vaccinated against coronavirus. The CDC continues to recommend that masks and physical distancing are required when going to the doctor’s office, hospitals, etc

Myth - Side effects of the COVID-19 vaccine are dangerous FACT - COVID-19 vaccines can have side effects, but a majority of them are very short term and harmless. Vaccine developers report that some people experience pain where they were injected; body aches; headaches or fever lasting for a day or two

Myth - The COVID-19 vaccine was developed with or contains controversial substances FACT - The first two vaccines to be authorized by the FDA contain mRNA and other normal vaccine ingredients such as fats (which protect the mRNA), salts, as well as a small amount of sugar

Amidst growing uncertainity regarding COVID-19, various myths are being circulated on different social media platforms, which is only adding to the confusion. To tackle this, Team Urban Update has compiled a list of some of the most widely spread myths related to COVID-19 and the truth behind them Hitesh Nigam | Editorial Assistant

28 May 2021 | www.urbanupdate.in

Myth - Getting vaccinated can alter the DNA of a person FACT - Both mRNA and viral vector COVID-19 vaccines deliver instructions (genetic material) to our cells to start building protection against the virus that causes COVID-19. However, the material never enters the nucleus of the cell, which is where our DNA is kept. This means the genetic material in the vaccines cannot affect or interact with our DNA in any way

Myth - Ayurveda, homeopathic and other herbal medicines can cure/prevent the coronavirus FACT - The Ministry of Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, Sowa Rigpa and Homoeopathy (AYUSH) released an advisory suggesting that some unani medicines can help to prevent the coronavirus infection. However, there is no scientific backing that supports this claim, so far

Myth - Vitamin C helps cure coronavirus infection FACT - Vitamin C was believed to have some healing benefits in the SARS outbreak. Besides, while Vitamin C supplements may help boost your immune system, there is yet no evidence that it might help people fight off the novel coronavirus

Myth - Eating garlic will prevent people from infection FACT - Because of the antimicrobial properties of garlic, people think it also prevents from COVID-19 infection.

However, the WHO has already cleared that there is no evidence whatsoever that it prevents infection from the virus

Myth - Onset of summers mean a decline of the virus FACT - Although the previous coronaviruses—SARS and MERS—survived better in cold environments, there is no guarantee that the same will be true for COVID-19. From the evidence so far, the novel coronavirus can be transmitted in all areas, including areas with hot and humid weather

Myth - Taking a hot bath or drinking hot water can prevent infection

treatment

FACT - Coronavirus symptoms for a majority of the infected people include cough, mild fevers, sore throat, headache, and body ache. While drinking warm water can make you feel better, there is no evidence that it will cure you. Having a bath in hot water will not work either, according to WHO, since the body temperature remains at an average of 36.5°C to 37°C, regardless of the temperature of your bath or shower

Myth - You do not have COVID if you can hold your breath for ten seconds without discomfort FACT - You cannot conclude this by holding your breath for 10 seconds. Many young patients can hold their breath even longer, while elderly people cannot hold their breath for 10 seconds even without the infection. The only way to make sure you are not infected is to get a laboratory test done

Myth - You can protect yourself from COVID-19 by injecting, swallowing, bathing in or rubbing onto your body bleach, disinfectants or rubbing alcohols FACT - Never attempt to self-treat or prevent COVID-19 by rubbing or bathing with bleach, disinfectants or rubbing alcohol anywhere on your body. Effective hand sanitizers do have alcohol, but they are formulated to be safe for use on hands

Myth - Rinsing the nose with saline protects against the coronavirus FACT - There is no evidence that a saline nasal rinse protects against any respiratory infections. Some research suggests that a rinse might ease the symptoms of acute upper respiratory tract infections, but scientists have not found that this technique reduces the risk of infection

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Infograph | Mythbusters

Medicine Paracetamol Patients should use paracetamol for fever and body ache but not round-the-clock as fever is a monitoring parameter of a person’s heath. Doctors recommend patients do not consume more than 2-3 gm per day

Antivirals Lopinavir-Ritonavir, Remdesivir and Favipiravir are the antivirals used for treating COVID-19 till now. Till date, the only antiviral drug that may have a role in the treatment of COVID-19 is Remdesivir. None of the other drugs has been proven to be useful

Antibiotics Antibiotics are antibacterial. They have no role in the treatment of the manifestations of SARS-CoV-2 infection (a viral infection)

Ivermectin It is an anti-parasitic drug that was found to neutralise SARS-CoV-2 in the lab. This leads to hope that it may have a role in humans. However, no trial has found such an effect. A recently published systematic review suggested that it may have a role, but most of the included studies were not of a high research standard. Its routine use should also be discouraged

Remdesivir It does not save lives. It may shorten the duration of symptoms in individuals who have COVID-19 that is severe enough for them to warrant hospitalisation, and if they have signs of lung involvement

Steroids The recovery trial proved that steroids, when used in patients with low oxygen levels, saved lives. However, their use in individuals with low oxygen levels is key. Early use of steroids, when oxygen levels are normal, can cause clinical worsening and be counterproductive

30 May 2021 | www.urbanupdate.in

Myth - 5G networks and its rays can cause COVID-19 infection FACT - According to World Health Organisation (WHO), viruses cannot travel on radio waves/mobile networks. COVID-19 is spreading in many countries that do not have 5G mobile networks. COVID-19 is spread through respiratory droplets when an infected person coughs, sneezes or speaks. People can also be infected by touching a contaminated surface and then their eyes, mouth or nose

Myth - Pouring pure lemon juice into the nose of a COVID-19 positive patient can improve their oxygen saturation level FACT - Press Information Bureau (PIB) tried to verify this information and described it as ‘completely fake’ and also said that lemon therapy cannot boost immunity or prevent anyone from COVID-19 infection. The bureau added that there is no scientific evidence that can prove that coronavirus is eliminated by putting lemon juice in the nose

Myth - Smearing cow dung all over the body can boost immunity against the novel coronavirus FACT - Dr Dileep Mavlankar, Director, Indian Institute of Public Health, Gandhinagar, said that doctors do not know if this therapy works as they have come across no such research which suggests that applying cow dung on the body can increase immunity against COVID-19 infection. Experts added that several fungi present in the cow dung may enter the body and infect people with mucormycosis as well

Myth - A few drops of Aspidosperma Q 20 in a cup of water can immediately balance one’s oxygen levels FACT - Homeopathic doctors have come forward saying that while this medicine improves oxygen uptake in cases of certain diseases, it does not do so in case of COVID-19 infection and that it is in no way a substitute for oxygen. Ministry of AYUSH, Government of India, has also called out this claim to be a faux

Myth - COVID-19 can spread through mosquito bites FACT - To date, there has been no information nor evidence to suggest that the novel coronavirus can be transmitted by mosquitoes. Coronavirus is a respiratory virus which spreads primarily through droplets generated when an infected person coughs or sneezes, or through droplets of saliva or discharge from the nose

other myths Source: www.mohfw.gov.in

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Leaderspeak | Strengthening ULBs

Covid-19 reasserts need for strong local governments As cities wade through the ravages of the Covid-19 pandemic and try finding ways to manage the spiralling impacts of the crisis, it has become clear that local governments have to become stronger than ever for keeping their citizens healthy, safe, and making city systems—cutting across governance, economic development, administration and technology integration domains—more resilient and sustainable

T

he second wave of Covid-19 smashed urban healthcare systems like never before.

The impact on citizens was worse than the first wave. It caught us unprepared again.

People across the country scrambled for medical care and medicines. The Case Positivity Rate went as high as 40 per cent in some parts. The crisis has harshly spotlighted holes in health care systems and problems in our crisis management at all levels.

In the second surge of cases, the economic impact was not as severe as last year because of flexible lockdown measures by state governments, but complete economic recovery would take time till the pandemic is convincingly controlled. We did not see migrant workers trudging along with sacks of belongings or cycling hundreds of kilometres to reach their native places as the government largely did not stop the movement of trains, buses, flights and other transport options.

The government did learn from the experience of the last year.

The one thing that needs to be learnt immediately is enhancing the role of urban local governance in managing, monitoring the crisis war room at the local level effectively. The role of urban local bodies has to be enhanced in the remedial strategies, and their role must be reflected in local disaster management plans. The learning from the second surge of Covid cases shall not go waste, and cities must build robust resilience to fight the third wave if it occurs or any other similar crisis.

32 May 2021 | www.urbanupdate.in

Local governments and crisis management

Globally, the cities with stronger local governments responded well to the health crisis. The management of the pandemic was streamlined efficiently.

The ongoing crisis has raised many questions relating to local governments, their authority on various local issues, direct access to resources, etc.

Cities in India did come forward and helped citizens in the time of crisis. But the situation demanded an enhanced role from the corporations and councils as the initiatives were not enough to provide respite to them. There is no denying the scale of the crisis was such that even the resourceful cities and countries faced difficulties. In India, most urban local bodies neither have adequate financial reserves nor have special administrative powers.

Both these issues need to be assessed and resolved.

Elected representatives and municipal officials are closest to citizens, and are thus best placed to understand their problems. All tiers of the governments, despite their political inclinations, have to work collectively. We have to look back, and review whether cities played a decisive role in managing the health crisis and planning strategies for providing relief to citizens.

The integrated command and control centres of many Smart Cities were transformed into war rooms, but the decentralization of monitoring and helping citizens could be localized further to reduce the burden on staff and ease the mechanism for helping

the needy in time.

One such great example is that of South Korea, which used its local government institutions for containing the spread, testing and to enable access to medical care facilities for local citizens. South Korean cities used Drive-Thru Testing Initiative during the first wave in which citizens could remain in their vehicles and just drive thru a facility to get their RT PCR test done. It ensured that there is no rush in testing centres and no fear of getting infected there. This year, many Indian cities, including Mumbai, Greater Noida, Kanpur, and Ghaziabad used this idea, improvised it and asked people to come in their vehicles for vaccinations. These cities not just used designated medical facilities but also used parking spaces in closed shopping malls and cinema halls.

There are many areas where urban local bodies in coordination with district administration can proactively implement the initiatives of the state and central governments efficiently provided that the city governments are taken into confidence while making policies relating to response and recovery or maybe given adequate authority to make certain amendments to suit local requirements. City mayors and municipal commissioners must be empowered enough to take the battle head-on. They can indeed supplement the efforts of the district administration, civil society and other local institutions.

In this complete exercise, the issue of financial sustainability of local governments must be highlighted, and

Ranjit S Chavan President, AIILSG

the cities need to continue work in this area to ensure that they can take all possible measures in time of crisis. It must be ensured that they do not face a paucity of funds in such times.

Enlarging collective efforts of urban local bodies

Many cities in India came forward with creative, supportive initiatives so that citizens can get assistance conveniently in time. All India Institute of Local SelfGovernment (AIILSG) supported the fight against Covid-19 by augmenting

the implementation of the creative ideas from local entrepreneurs engaged in its incubation centres run

by AIILSG. One such centre running with the support of the AIILSG team is monitoring the patients in home isolation and providing them required medical assistance. One engineer enrolled in Gwalior Incubation centre invented Sanitation Tunnel for hospitals and offices.

Apart from supporting urban local bodies in running their sanitation services programs and activities under

Urban local bodies in coordination with district administration can proactively implement the initiatives of the state and central governments efficiently provided that the city governments are taken into confidence while making policies relating to response and recovery or maybe given adequate authority to make certain amendments to suit local requirements. City mayors and municipal commissioners must be empowered enough to take the battle head-on

the Swachh Bharat Mission in Gujarat, Jammu, Kashmir, Himachal and Uttar Pradesh, the Institute is emboldening the initiatives of the government by promoting them on various platforms.

Our efforts are also to keep representatives of the local governments informed about the initiatives taken by urban local bodies in different countries and regions within the country and globally so that cities can scale up any functional idea for benefiting their citizens. We are making all possible efforts to ensure that the knowledge and resource sharing between cities become effective. The responsibility is also on the local city leaders to be actively engaged with local government associations and international associations like the United Cities and Local Governments, CityNet, Metropolis and many more.

The institutes too have published several studies on urban response to Covid-19.

Local leaders must definitely access the resources and encourage their officials to learn form the best practices and make use of them wherever applicable. In India, AIILSG has been actively working with the most prominent international local government institutions and facilitating knowledge exchange wherever required. Our efforts are to make the process more effective and thus enable Indian municipalities become more responsive and resourceful.

The summation is that if cities are not being empowered in all essential spheres to tackle crises like these, LGs could become just sympathetic bystanders for citizens in such times.

www.urbanupdate.in | May 2021

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ARTICLE | Sister Cities During The Pandemic

The underutilised potential of sister cities in India Partnerships and collaborations amongst cities are not new. They have been established since the start of this century. However, before the COVID-19 pandemic, their aim was limited to growth and development of the concerned cities. The pandemic made many cities realise that their sister cities can actually help them survive. Indian cities, however, are yet to realise the importance of the concept of sister cities and utilise them to their full potential

T

he COVID-19 pandemic has reminded the world of one of the greatest lessons in history– no man can live as an island. The pandemic proved that without strong collaborations between

34 May 2021 | www.urbanupdate.in

people, communities, cities and countries, an obstacle as fierce as the COVID-19 pandemic cannot be overcome. Since coronavirus reached India’s shores in January 2020, numerous cities have grappled with the burden of an ever-increasing caseload

and crumbling health infrastructure.

During such a time, what has come to the aid of most cities is knowledge and resource sharing, and adoption of best practices tried and tested by other cities.

With Bhilwara proactively containing the spread of the virus during the early days of the pandemic in India, several other cities like Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai followed suit. The information shared by the Bhilwara district administration and the lessons learnt by the urban local bodies of other cities played a vital role in keeping the virus spread steady at the time. However, what must be noted here is that the sharing of information and best practices between Bhilwara and other cities was neither formal, not established through proper channels.

It was simply based on what the media reported and what the ULBs of other cities understood. Even though the virus spread in other cities was much more violent in comparison to Bhilwara, it could have been reduced had an established medium of knowledge sharing been used by the concerned cities.

A similar case was seen when the city administration of Seoul, capital of South Korea, set up hundreds of drivein testing centres across the city in order to increase the testing infrastructure of the city as much as possible. This

Ashley Paul Senior Sub-Editor

helped the city become one of the first globally to have flattened the curve of coronavirus in the early stages of the pandemic. Soon, this model of temporary drive-in testing centres were adopted everywhere across the world. In India, the first city to do this was Delhi where one private lab came up with the idea and established the first drive-in COVID-19 testing centre at Siri Fort Auditorium.

What must be noted in both the cases is that there was no formal exchange of ideas or information between the cities. No one simplified medium was established by any city in the two examples stated above which could have facilitated sharing of actual onground data. It is obvious that if the city implementing a strategy put to use in another city had on-ground data and statistics, it would be better equipped to mould the idea to suit its own needs and obstacles.

This brings us to question the role of sister cities and how it could have come in handy at a time like this. The concept of sister cities is quite unique and entails that cities form partnerships amongst themselves and share knowledge, best practices, resources, manpower and technologies with each other. One city can have multiple sister cities, as is the case with the city of Mumbai, which has nine sister cities across the world, the highest for any Indian city. The

very essence of the sister cities concept was that cities, which may even be in different continents, share and help one another grow and develop.

Thus, their role during a pandemic would be heightened, considering the disease caught every city unaware and unprepared.

Regardless, examples of any Indian city helping or getting help from a sister city are yet to come to light, despite 42 Indian cities having over 90 sister cities across the world. In the case of cities from other countries, the scenario was different altogether.

When China was witnessing recordhigh COVID-19 infections last year, the Canadian city of Markham raised $20,000 in a dinner event for its sister city of Wuhan. When the pandemic came under control in Wuhan, the city returned the favour by supplying 12,000 surgical masks to the frontline workers in Markham. This, according to administrations of both the cities, helped them greatly in curbing the virus spread. The funds collected by Markham helped Wuhan purchase essential supplies while the masks supplied by Wuhan helped Markham in safeguarding the lives of their frontline and healthcare workers.

The American city of San Antonio also showcased a similar example when the city’s residents came together to fund cost of essential medical supplies to be sent to their Chinese sister city Wuxi when cases in China were rising exponentially. When the condition deteriorated in the United States of America, the city of Wuxi sent 30,000 face masks to the city of San Antonio to aid their battle against the virus.

These are just some examples of how cities across the world managed to make use of their sister city partnerships in times of need and helped each other in fighting the virus. The case of Indian cities, on the other hand, is less impressive. One of the very few examples of such a collaboration helping an Indian city fight the pandemic is that of Delhi. On May 5, the National Capital Territory of Delhi’s sister city Chicago announced

that it will be hosting a fundraiser to help those in need and ravaged by the pandemic. The city of Chicago will be using the funds to buy essential medical equipment for use in hospitals across Delhi and will coordinate with the Indian Red Cross Society to ensure that the supplies reach their destination. According to a report by the Sister Cities International, one of the main reasons for this is that there is no wing of either the central or the state governments in India which deals with establishing and promoting sister city partnerships. Indeed, when the concept was new to India, cities formed multiple partnerships. However, due to the lack of an effort on the part of Indian cities to maintain the true essence of the partnerships, they were unable to be of any real help during the pandemic.

Another reason, the report states, is that the structure of city administration in India is not uniform.

While in some cities, the head of the city administration is a Mayor who is elected by the people of the city, in other, the head is a chairperson who is appointed by the state government.

Thus, it becomes difficult for the concerned cities to communicate with their sisters in India. The lack of communication, in turn, translates to weakened partnerships and the absence of a ‘sister’ in time of need.

Conclusion

The Government of India and the various state governments need to realise the importance and uses of sister cities in the contemporary world, which have been highlighted by the pandemic. In doing so, Indian cities will finally be able to benefit from cities across the world and in turn, benefit them in their development and growth too. This will not only act as an effective tool for knowledge sharing, but will also promote cultural, educational, economic exchange of resources. As a result, the standing of cities on the world stage will improve significantly, thereby adding to the growth of India and its image.

www.urbanupdate.in | May 2021

35

ARTICLE | COVID-19 Vaccination

I

ndia has over four decades of experience in running national immunity programmes and has also successfully conducted large-scale mass vaccination drives for many years to eradicate Polio from the nation’s soil. India not only emerged competent by creating two homegrown vaccines but also as a leader as it distributed vaccines to several nations.

India kicked off its vaccination drive against the COVID-19 pandemic from January 16 this year by announcing the administration of doses to frontline workers, including healthcare workers, on a priority basis, because they remain most exposed to the virus. The next phase of vaccination included vaccinating people above the age of 60 years and people above 45 years of age with comorbid conditions because reports described them as more prone to getting hospitalized if infected by SARS-CoV-2.

However, the sudden ‘tsunami’ of coronavirus infections and deaths in India during April 2021 prompted the government to start the third phase of the vaccination drive, including everyone above the age of 18 years in its vaccination programme.

Authorities trying to convince hesitant Indians

India’s two homegrown vaccines driving the world’s largest vaccination programme are Covishield and Covaxin.

Both of them have been developed on similar grounds, using inactive or modified versions of the virus, which are to be injected intramuscularly in the upper arm muscles, and work as two-dose vaccines. Covishield vaccine, manufactured and marketed by the Serum Institute of India and developed

by Oxford-AstraZeneca, consists of a viral vector vaccine that uses an adenovirus found in chimpanzees, ChAD0x1. This helps deliver spike proteins and mount a tolerable immune response in response to a live virus.

Covaxin, on the other hand, is fully made, developed and produced in India

by Bharat Biotech and uses an inactive/

36 May 2021 | www.urbanupdate.in

Challenge of information dissemination and ensuring inclusion For the past year, the whole world was hanging by a thread, trying to make sense of the alien, fatal, and cascading virus.

Patients, along with the frontline workers, depended on God’s mercy and researchers pushed hard to come up with a cure or a vaccine for COVID-19. By January 2021, many nations had begun their vaccination drive to fight the pandemic, but many continue to struggle Pooja Upadhyay Trainee Reporter

dead-virus strain to draft an immune response.

Having two different vaccines available for administration, people were quick to compare their effectiveness, which was followed by numerous rumours among the population, even though both the vaccines had matched standards set by the World Health Organisation. The Government of India and the Indian Council of Medical Research, through guidelines, social media, and speeches, have been actively trying to disseminate facts and provide correct information to squash continuous rumours emerging on the effectiveness of the vaccines.

Vaccine hesitancy has emerged as one of the major reasons for the lower vaccination rate in India. Concerns on the efficacy of the vaccine and long term side effects have been giving people cold feet. Rumours are another reason. Social media, on the one hand, has come out as a platform for the rapid spreading of false claims concerning coronavirus and its vaccine, even though people have been as active to share fact check pieces through it as well. People turned out more active than ever to make sure that only correct and credible information reached people. Journalists worked more than ever in keeping track of all the myths and rumours on the disease and its vaccine, simultaneously countering fiction with facts.

Range, out-turns of vaccine side effects

Much like any medication, vaccines show side effects. These include soreness, swelling, or redness at the site of injection. The COVID-19 vaccines around the world, much recently developed, have shown some side effects in some people after administration.

The most common side effects reported so far due to every COVID-19 vaccine being administered around the globe include pain at the injection site, tenderness, fever, chills, and nausea. A few people also reportedly experienced headache, dizziness, abdominal pain, and tremors after getting their COVID jab. Countries, as they kicked off their

vaccination drives, did their best to keep their citizens informed of the contents in the vaccine that could cause any allergic reaction and of all the possible immediate side effects. Government of India had released guidelines on who should avoid getting vaccinated and what side effects people can expect after the administration. Moreover, every COVID vaccination centre in India was asked to keep those getting vaccinated on the watch for 30-45 minutes after receiving vaccination to make sure that any major reaction to the vaccine is properly taken care of. India’s vaccination drive also established help centres for patients post-vaccine jab, but the hesitancy to get vaccinated has not completely worn off yet.

In a major controversial development,

by February, European countries had started taking AstraZeneca’s vaccine out of circulation. Their concern was the formation of blood clots in people after vaccination. Although, the WHO said that the clotting of blood was recorded in people who had received the vaccine from two batches of doses produced in India, the news further weaponized the hesitancy among Indians towards COVID-19 vaccines.

According to European Medicines Agency, the European levels of risk of blood clots from the AstraZeneca vaccine are 1 out of a million, and 4 cases per million in the United Kingdom as reported by its Medical and Health Regulatory Authority. A study by Oxford University soon found that the number of people facing the problem of blood clots after receiving coronavirus vaccine is about the same for those who get Pfizer and Moderna shot, as they are for the AstraZeneca vaccine.

The United States Centre for Disease Control and Prevention also said that of the 7.5 million doses given in the USA, around half a dozen women, aged 18 to 48, developed a rare type of blood clot in the brain or abdomen.

The National Adverse Event Following Immunization Committee recently submitted a report to the Government of India showing that there is a ‘very minuscule but definitive

risk of bleeding and clotting’ cases emerging after COVID-19 vaccination among Indians as well. The reporting rate has been cited at 0.61 cases out of a million doses administered.

Reports of cases of blood clots post COVID-19 vaccination across the countries and vaccines, however minuscule they may be, have prompted researchers and developers to take a closer look at the cause behind such cases and how it can be avoided.

However, no government has put a stop to the administration of any vaccine, despite accepting the existence of such side effects of the vaccines because these vaccines remain the only hope to get humans back their freedom to ‘live’.

Digital divide, a roadblock on the way to vaccination

India’s coronavirus vaccination drive tries to integrate all strata of society.

Government centres are administering vaccine doses for free in contrast to private centres, thus allowing people to freely choose according to their comfort and financial situation on where to get themselves vaccinated. The first step in the drive involves registering on an app named CoWIN, and booking a slot.

Low smartphone reach and prominent digital illiteracy in India, especially in rural India, has emerged as a major impediment in the vaccination drive.

Experts believe that the government should allow people to drop by the vaccination centres and receive the vaccine like it was introduced for people above 45 years of age in the second phase of the drive. Many health experts are strongly suggesting doorto-door vaccination for people with no access to registration app or those who find themselves unable to visit vaccination sites such as the elderly and the disabled.

Until governments can ensure that COVID-19 vaccines reach everyone on time, the pandemic will continue to grow. Thus, augmenting vaccine supplies and clarifying rumours with regard to vaccines must be the priority of governments everywhere, particularly in India.

www.urbanupdate.in | May 2021

37

Numbrograph | Vaccination Trends

Global Vaccination

Momentum Experts have said time and again that the coronavirus pandemic can only be eradicated if everyone across the world is vaccinated against it. While multiple countries have successfully developed vaccines, their progress in vaccinating their population is extremely varied. Team Urban Update tries to trace how active India and other countries across the world have been in delivering the vaccines to their people Pooja Upadhyay | Trainee Reporter

Rate and coverage of vaccination drives in countries with home-grown vaccines ♦♦ Countries including the United States of America, Russia, China, India, and the United Kingdom, did not only start administering vaccines to their own citizens, but also donated them to nations around the world ♦♦ UK was able to administer at least one jab of vaccine to everyone in the nation that had been put in the top priority group by April 15 ♦♦ Rate of vaccine administration has significantly dropped in India, owing to its large population and a fatal second wave

♦♦ Experts believe that it might take India 2 years to vaccinate all of its population ♦♦ Government of India had aimed to vaccinate 300 million Indians by August 2021

Rate of vaccination in countries which have developed vaccines (in millions) 450 406.94 400 350 300 250 200 157.83 141.76

150 100

74.96

73.67 1

0.0067

50 13.6

4.61

36.7

30.6 25.74

15

14.31

5.38

0 1-Jan

1-Feb

1-Mar USA

38 May 2021 | www.urbanupdate.in

India

UK

Russia

1-Apr China

1-May

0.025 Vaccinated beneficiaries in India (in millions)

0.0197

0.02

0.0147

0.015

0.0155

0.0125 0.0115 0.01

0.0088

0.005

0.009

0.0088 0.0073

0.0071

0.0042

0.0037

0.0032 0.0016

0.0016

Sources: ourworldindata.

0 Uttar Pradesh

Maharashtra 1st Dose

Bihar 2nd Dose

West Bengal

Madhya Pradesh

Total Doses Administered

org, statista.com, mohfw. gov.in, census2011.co.in

Cumulative data on administered vaccine doses in most populous Indian states ♦♦ The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India, had said that India took only 92 days to reach the mark of 12-crore vaccinations, and thus became the fastest country to do so ♦♦ Maharashtra, Rajasthan, and Gujarat are currently the top three states respectively in India to have administered maximum number of COVID-19 vaccine doses ♦♦ As of April 19, only 37 per cent of the targeted healthcare workers were vaccinated, according to

IndiaToday. Around 91 lakh healthcare workers across India had received only one dose of the vaccine against the viral infection Second wave of COVID-19 pandemic in the nation in April, which turned out to be more fatal and cascading than the previous wave, created a major hindrance in India’s vaccination programme

♦♦

% of population administered with at least one dose of the vaccine 60 50

54.28 47.6

40 28.9

30 20 10.18

10

9.8

0 USA

India

UK

Russia

China

Data as on May 17, 2021

www.urbanupdate.in | May 2021

39

ARTICLE | Community Help

Heroic deeds of community help in the nation’s second wave

C

ommunity support has been the backbone of the fight against the pandemic during India’s second wave of COVID-19.

Medical resources and infrastructure took a serious hit and resulted in the heavy loss of lives due to the deadly B.1.617 variant of the novel coronavirus.

The nation has recorded more than 3,00,000 deaths due to COVID-19,

40 May 2021 | www.urbanupdate.in

adding almost 40 per cent of the total deaths only since March this year, according to official data. However, as the silver lining, people from across the nation have joined hands in this time and come forward to help the suffering population in their own little ways.

Various organisations are working on ground to help the people while some are doing all they can from home via social media, helping in filtering available medical resources and also boosting the mental health of patients.

Khalsa Aid India to the rescue

With the motto of “Recognise the whole human race as one”, Khalsa Aid India has been helping people in need of medical resources on a war footing.

The organisation has been active since before the pandemic and is known for providing assistance to the victims of natural disasters and other conflicts.

They began a crowdfunding drive on May 2 this year which received an overwhelming response, raising almost

Hitesh Nigam Reporter Arjun Singh Digital Marketing Associate `1

crore of funds in a span of three days. According to Khalsa Aid India’s fundraiser page, the organisation is actively helping people in and around Delhi-NCR (National Capital Region) and has successfully raised more than `4 crores.

They have distributed more than 900 oxygen concentrators so far (which cost anywhere between `44,000 to `85,000 each) and aim to procure around 5000 concentrators so that they can reach other cities as well which

are desperately in need of help. Sanjay Kakkar, a beneficiary from Gurugram whose father succumbed to COVID-19 and mother and wife were struggling from the disease, reached out to the organisation after four days of an endless search for oxygen cylinders. He was provided all required aid to help in the treatment of his family. Sanjay and various others have also shared their experience of being helped by Khalsa Aid India on their fundraiser page on impactguru.com.

Talking to Team Urban Update, Kulbeer Singh, a Khalsa Aid India volunteer from Delhi, said, “The first initiative was taken in Delhi by procuring oxygen concentrators from the market and providing them to the people in need. The team is continuously extending its reach in various states across the nation and the foundation has now reached to more than 20 states in the country including Bihar, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh. Helping the people has always been the motive of the foundation. Last year too, the organisation organised langar services to feed the poor during the pandemic.

The organisation receives multiple SOS calls daily. The organisation follows a simple process – after receiving a call, a volunteer is sent to the caller’s address with an oxygen concentrator. Once the caller no more needs the concentrator, the volunteer retrieves it, sanitises and packs it to distribute it to others in need.

Hemkunt Foundation NGO

Founded by Irinder Singh Ahluwalia in 2010, Hemkunt Foundation has been providing aid and assistance to the community for several causes.

During the second wave of COVID-19, the organisation lent a helping hand for people in need. Even in the first wave, the NGO provided cooked meal to various migrant workers who were forced to go back to their villages due to their sudden unemployment. It started relief work in April this year around Gurugram, Delhi and the surrounding regions, when the country was suffering with acute shortage of oxygen cylinders

and other health infrastructure.

The foundation has set up a dedicated helpline (9990691313) where people can reach out to them in times of need. The volunteers working with the organisation faced difficulties in procuring oxygen cylinders and shifting them from one place to another due to various curbs on their movement. According to an article by the World Economic Forum (WEF), the organisation received 10,000 calls on a daily basis at a time when India’s health infrastructure was stretched to its limit. To meet the growing demand of oxygen, the foundation also built a medical facility in Gurugram, Haryana, with a capacity of 700 beds, including 24X7 ambulance service, food and other services.

The foundation received big donations from its YouTube supporters such as Slayy Point, which raised `50 lakh for the cause, and Indian cricketer Rishabh Pant, who also showed his support for the foundation. The organisation is also setting up ‘minicentres’ which contain almost 20 oxygen concentrators, so that critical COVID-19 patients do not have to rush to Gurugram. Now, the foundation has enough oxygen to even help hospitals who are facing shortage of oxygen supply.

COVID facility Rakabganj Gurudwara

Rakabganj Gurudwara in Delhi set up its own COVID-19 facility with a capacity of 300 beds which became functional on May 10. COVID positive patients with oxygen levels only above 85 were admitted in the COVID care centre. The infrastructure in the facility has been provided by the Delhi Sikh Gurudwara Management Committee (DSGMC) and the Delhi government has deployed 50 doctors and 150 nurses at the facility.

The facility is stocked with oxygen concentrators, Remdesivir and Fabiflu for emergency patients. The patients who need 20 litres of oxygen per minute were eligible to be admitted in the facility. The cost of their treatment,

www.urbanupdate.in | May 2021

41

ARTICLE | Community Help

including the ambulance charges and cost of food, is borne by the DSGMC.

Miranda House - Managing education as well as health

As COVID-19 cases rose continuously in the Capital, Miranda House, University of Delhi, formed a health desk which consisted of almost 300 student volunteers, to help and guide those who were in need of assistance. The team regularly updates the spreadsheet database through various resources in the region and guides people who have different medical needs such as oxygen

cylinders, Remdesivir, medicines, etc.

Social media – a boon in times of need

In contemporary times, social media is the easiest way to reach out to the masses quickly and this facility has helped various people during the second wave in arranging medical resources in the shortest possible time. Starting from March this year, social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and Instagram were flooded with posts of people who were in need of medicals supplies. Soon,

Individual efforts like those of Indian cricketer BV Srinivas, Bollywood actor Sonu Sood and Member of Parliament Tejaswi Surya, helped the people on a large scale. Such well known personalities with a substantial follower base on social media amplified the requests of the people in need

42 May 2021 | www.urbanupdate.in

people who were available to fend for medical resources for those in need came forward and began quickly responding to posts requesting help.

This greatly helped in cutting down on the time COVID positive patients spent on looking for available resources around them.

According to an analysis by Bellingcat Investigative Tech Team, towards the end of March, tweets containing the keywords ‘Delhi’, ‘oxygen’ and ‘urgent’ were posted every 24 seconds for help.

Dhoondh.com, a Delhi-based social media initiative, matches the requests of COVID-19 patients it receives with potential plasma donors. The platform received more than a thousand requests and enquiries daily via Instagram and Twitter direct messages, which adequately depicts the advantages of digital media.

The country’s youth, especially those with high number of followers on social media platforms, started to promote messages and posts from people who needed medical resources. Individual efforts like those of Indian cricketer BV Srinivas, Bollywood actor Sonu Sood and Member of Parliament Tejaswi Surya, helped the people on a large scale. Such well known personalities with a substantial follower base on social media amplified the requests of the people in need. This made it easier for them to connect with those who had access to these resources.

Various COVID-19 resource groups are operating actively on different social media platforms and provide pan India support in arranging medical resources for COVID-19 patients.

Covidaidresources, covid911 and many other social media groups are active on platforms such as Instagram and Twitter providing round-theclock information about availability of medical resources as well as spreading awareness regarding the medicines used in the treatment and their effects and side-effects.

Mental Health – a byproduct of COVIID-19

Mental wellbeing has been a serious issue during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Initiative to foster conversations in era of quarantine Many small individual efforts are made by the people to make things a little easier for the people battling the deadly disease. One such initiative was taken by the students of the Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC) who started an initiative called ‘All Ears’ for providing mental help to the people in need. Anweshan Bose, one of the founding members, said, “It has almost been a month since we started the initiative for helping the people in need of mental help. We have a team of seven people (five from IIMC) and we have reached almost 50-60 people from around the country via social media. The organisation is available on almost every social media platform and the respondents are free to interact with the members. We allot communicators to the applicants based on their preferences (like the gender of the communicator or the language the applicant wants to communicate in).”

He also added that the initiative focuses on interaction, where moderators and respondents are clubbed together in a group to speak about anything they want to share. For every respondent, we try to commence as many as seven sessions (one session every week) to make sure that the respondents have ample opportunities to feel comfortable and speak. The team is strictly directed to give no advice or suggestions as the purpose is to only facilitate conversation and listen. As per the feedbacks of the respondents, after the sessions, they feel comfortable in processing things even though there is no psychological treatment involved, he added.

For many, their mental health deteriorated further during the second wave as the number of deaths and infections crossed all previous records and there was lack of information on how to stay safe from the new variants of coronavirus. The isolation among COVID-19 patients and loss of loved ones during the pandemic pushed many into the deep pits of depression, anxiety and stress.

A study conducted on 5000 elderly people by Agewell Foundation revealed that as much as 82.4 per cent of the people suffering from COVID-19 symptoms or undergoing treatment complained of suffering from anxiety, stress, sleeplessness, nightmares and depression. The disease has taken a heavy toll on mental health of the people and tackling this has been as important as defending against the deadly coronavirus.

Female doctors extending help in times of pandemic

As Prime Minister Narendra Modi appealed to the doctors to help those in need, a group of five women

doctors in Delhi began providing free consultations through video conferencing. The group launched a helpline in Delhi’s Vasant Vihar area which focussed mainly on providing mental health guidelines to the people who faced issues like stress, anxiety and fear.

In addition to the mental health support, the group also responded to the queries on phone, video conferencing and WhatsApp. The doctors have been responding to almost 800 queries every day and also prescribed treatment to those who shared CT (Computed Tomography) reports. The patients who were looking for beds and oxygen were also aided by the doctors’ group and were connected with hospitals across the capital.

iCALL – Call for Help

A special counselling service named “iCALL” was started by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), in collaboration with Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), for those facing mental issues during the pandemic.

The service has been made available in

13 Indian states as an attempt to utilise technological advances as psycho-social tools which can be used to manage mental health needs of the people.

The pandemic has deepened the mental health crisis among citizens and especially among women from marginalised communities. In this regard, iCALL has been providing telephonic services to the people in need by bridging the gap between the providers and beneficiaries and providing them with an effective and affordable platform for quality help via telephone.

Team Urban Update spoke to a volunteer from iCALL helpline to know more about it. She said, “The helpline provides referral support to patients in accordance with their needs such as oxygen cylinders, availability of beds or doctors, and medicines, and is operating pan India.

People who are in isolation or are undergoing COVID-19 treatment are provided mental help as they experience stress and anxiety due to the loneliness and stigma around the disease.” The volunteer added that the organisation has a team of trained and qualified psychologists and doctors who help the people round-the-clock via telephone and social media. She added that the helpline has been providing support to the patients since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic and has continued its service in the second wave as well.

Conclusion

The second wave of COVID-19 in the country affected everybody equally.

Despite this, the efforts and intentions that the community has shown in coming together and standing united against the disease are commendable.

Only a few of the many examples are mentioned but people across the nation are helping each other and doing all that they can in their individual space to make things a little better. Even when the government machinery and health infrastructure have been hit seriously due to the widespread chaos in the country, humanity is still breathing and making efforts to make ends meet.

www.urbanupdate.in | May 2021

43

ARTICLE | Urban Development

What makes new cities successful?

The right blend of public and private sector support, along with long-term transport strategies and anchor institutions such as schools and hospitals, are some of the basic ingredients needed for a successful new city

T

he United Nations estimates that 60% of the world’s population will live in cities by 2030.

People tend to flock to long established cities which causes overpopulation in megacities. Today, one in five people worldwide lives in a city with more than 1 million inhabitants and this is growing. One solution to the overpopulation in megacities is to plan and develop new cities. Since 2000, more than 40 countries have built more than 200 new cities.

Strategically located, purposebuilt cities are intended to become tomorrow’s trade, finance, logistics, technology, or commercial centers, focusing on long-term economic growth that could challenge existing global networks. Some examples of new city developments include Xiong’an New Area in the People’s Republic of China, designed to

become a hub for research, education, and high technology research and development; Sri Lanka’s Colombo Port City, envisioned as a major financial center in the sub-continent; and Sejong, Republic of Korea, which is being built to relocate the central government functions from Seoul.

How can we gauge if a new city will become successful in achieving its primary development objectives?

Looking at several city developments, there are several factors for success: Presence of anchor institutions and transport infrastructure: Basic facilities such as schools, hospitals, and shopping centers should be developed and supplied in time to attract residents. Irvine in Southern California was planned to include a branch of the University of California which made the city grow. Also, transportation channels such as highways and mass transit systems must be available.

Governance structure and support plays a role in new city growth.

New developments rely on support from higher levels of government, often including compulsory land expropriation, the establishment of a specialized development company, and financial support. Stable government support is essential for the success of the new city

44 May 2021 | www.urbanupdate.in

Land development can also be coordinated with rail investments. A housing development in Tama, Japan, was planned and built together with the rail line, and this contributed to its growth.

There should be a balance for both the supply of infrastructure and the demand for it. Developers must be cautious about over-building before there is demand and delayed supply of infrastructure and services that could slow down the growth of new cities.

For example, the construction of rail transit in Tsukuba lagged in the early years, resulting in time-consuming traffic and relatively weak connection with Tokyo.

Strong central and local government policies: Governance structure and support plays a role in new city growth.

New developments rely on support from higher levels of government, often including compulsory land expropriation, the establishment of a specialized development company, and financial support. Stable government support is essential for the success of the new city.

However, higher level government leadership or central government policy could change over the course of the development, which risks the momentum of growth, as in the case of Sejong in the Republic of Korea.

Sejong was planned to become the new capital and promote the regional development of other areas of the country. However, a court ruled that the capital must remain in Seoul in response to a complaint filed by the main opposition.

Since then, Sejong has lost its momentum, and the relocation is only half-done. A new city’s access to central government support is a

WI-FI

Gloria P Gerilla-Teknomo Senior Transport Sector Officer, ADB

LOCATION

ENERGY

big plus, but strong local institutions are needed for the area to grow its capacity and adapt to the evolving environment. Tsukuba, the city of science near Tokyo, illustrates the importance of local capacity development for sustained growth.

The story of Tsukuba’s development suggests two key factors: strong support from the central government, and local strategies that are responsive to the changing circumstances.

The former is key to the success for Tsukuba’s development in the first two decades, and the latter is essential for its sustained growth into today.

Enabling environment that allows business sector to flourish: While government planning and public sector expenditure is essential for new city growth, they alone are far from sufficient to grow a prosperous city. The ability of the private sector to participate and function smoothly is also an important dimension of new city development. In the United States, private developers have led the development of many successful suburban cities.

In the People’s Republic of China, Shenzhen’s success significantly benefited from the presence of an active private sector. The ability of the government to attract the private sector to work together has set the tone for new cities to grow. Kunshan, also in the People’s Republic of China, stands out because of the local government’s continuous willingness to innovate its services for the business sector.

The stories of Shenzhen and Kunshan show how local institutions, enabled by high-level governments or local governments, have laid down the foundation for the private sector

PROTECTION MOBILITY

SHOPPING

HEALTH

to prosper. Some typical policies to attract private sector development include tax reductions and exemption for new businesses or hightech companies.

Natural endowment is important but not a dominating factor: The natural attributes of an area are often perceived as an attraction for residents to move to a new development. Irvine in California, like other cities in Southern California, has been praised for its natural environment. Lake Kasumigaura, the second largest lake in Japan is located near Tsukuba.

The presence of natural land or waterscapes is an advantage however, this is rarely a leading factor for a new city’s success. New cities tend to be planned at sub-prime locations because better locations have been already developed. If the other factors are present, natural endowment is not crucial to develop a new city. The

sustainability of new city growth is always a challenge. The economic environment may change, a rival city may thrive and compete, local residents and businesses may leave, and political support may disappear.

To address this, during the inflow of resources at the start of a new city development, leaders should lay out a clear path for local institutions to develop and take the lead. Local government, therefore, must constantly update its strategies and continually pursue an environment for the private sector to flourish.

The process of city development is complicated and dynamic but key factors can guide developers toward a sustainable and vibrant city.

[The article was first published as an ADB blog. The views expressed are the author’s own. They do not purport to reflect the views of Urban Update.]

www.urbanupdate.in | May 2021

45

Urban Agenda

ICCCs during COVID-19

Smart Cities need to increase role in fighting COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic made the Government of India realise that only through a coordinated approach can it be overcome and the lives of people be saved. Keeping this in mind, the Centre, in coordination with different levels of government, put several resources to use against COVID-19 which were never designed for that

Ashok Wankhade One such resource were the bodies established under the Smart Cities Mission of India, particularly the Integrated Command and Control Centres, or ICCCs. These centres were originally Managing Editor

designed to coordinate all civic services in smart cities and to act as a one-stop kiosk for resolving all citizen grievances. During the pandemic, however, the ICCCs were used by various Smart City Missions (SCMs) like that of Pune, Bengaluru and Surat, as COVID ‘war rooms’. Through these centres, the SCMs conducted CCTV surveillance of public areas, contact tracing and border management, redressal of queries related to COVID-19 and tele-counselling and tele-medicines. Officials of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs of the Government of India also said that they are coordinating work amongst all available ICCCs in various cities in order to aid them in expanding their operations to cover as many people residing in their cities as possible.

Cities like Pune used heat mapping and predictive analysis to track COVID-19 cases and declare areas as containment zones well in advance. This helped the city control the spread of the pandemic to a great extent. Surat Smart City Limited established a public information dashboard on their website to keep citizens informed of data related to COVID-19 cases being reported from the city, along with spatial mapping of areas within the city limits to inform citizens of the hotspots of the virus spread.

These initiatives of the SCMs helped in a great way in curbing the virus spread, tracking infections and effectively making citizens adhere to COVID-19 precautions and quarantine guidelines.

All in all, the efforts of Smart City Missions of different cities were commendable and the needof-the-hour. However, what was lacking was coordination and planned implementation within and amongst the ICCCs and between other urban local bodies (ULBs). Coordination between ICCCs and ULBs could have helped in a great way in bettering healthcare and sanitation facilities, especially when the number of cases increased to such an extent that hospital beds and oxygen supply in cities became extremely scarce. With coordination amongst ICCCs, this problem could have been reduced by possibly even diverting COVID-19 positive moderately ill patients to neighbouring cities and arranging medical equipment like oxygen cylinders from cities which were nearby and had excess oxygen supply.

Additionally, another problem that many SCM faced was the absence of an ICCC. New Delhi, for example, did not have a functional ICCC during the first or the second wave of the pandemic. The Government of NCT of Delhi has claimed that it will make the ICCC operational in the city by mid-May this year. Similar has been the case of over 50 ICCCs of the total 100 cities that had been designated as ‘smart cities’ by the Centre in 2015. The ICCCs in these cities are either non-existent or still under construction. On the other hand, of the nearly 50 ICCCs which are operational, some are either not updated with latest technologies and do not therefore get real-time information, while others are understaffed and unable to perform operations.

Scientists have advised that the country will face a third wave of the coronavirus pandemic. It is therefore high time for the government to ramp up health infrastructure and prepare resources well in advance in order to ensure they are not scarce anymore. At the same time, SCMs of the 100 smart cities also need to work round the clock to develop centralised ICCCs so that they can better aid the fight against the pandemic.

46 May 2021 | www.urbanupdate.in

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