Urban Update October 2018

ISSN 2349-6266 RNI No DELENG/2014/57384

Setting The Agenda For Tomorrow’s Cities

UrbanUpdate Volume V, Issue VI

OCTOber 2018

The Plastic conundrum The increasing use of single-use plastic items is taking a devastating toll on our environment. To counteract the ill-effects of plastic, many Indian states have already put a blanket ban on the use of single-use plastic items particularly plastic carry bags but the sluggish implementation of the ban is keeping it only on paper

The project is funded by the European Union.

One On One | Emilla Saiz

Women leaders look at problems differently

The project is implemented by the AIILSG.

Magazines & Journals

Energy Efficiency

AMRUT Knowledge Management

Seminars

Project Management Customised Training

Sustainable Development Goals

Policy Research

Advisory Services

Swachh Bharat Mission

ECBC

Smart City Mission Capacity Building

Skill Development

All India Institute of Local Self-Government No. 6, F-Block, Bandra Kurla Complex, TPS Road-12, Bandra-East, Mumbai-400051, Maharashtra Tel.No.: +91-22-26571713, 26571714, 61805600, Fax: +91-22-26572115, Email: contact@aiilsg.org

cso

UrbanUpdate

Setting The Agenda For Tomorrow’s Cities

weekly newsletter

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

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

To get the weekly dose of Urban News

SUBSCRIBE NOW www.urbanupdate.in

urbanupdatemag

urbanupdatemgzn

For any query, please contact our Subscription Department e-mail at contacturbanupdate@gmail.com

urbanupdatemag

UrbanUpdate A monthly magazine published by the AIILSG — a project funded by European Union’s ‘Equi-City’ programme for India.

Mail Box Readers’ comments, criticism and suggestions are welcome. Letters to the Editor can be sent by e-mail, or regular mail. They should include name, address, phone number(s), and e-mail address, if available. The subject of the communication should be clearly mentioned, and we reserve the right to edit for sense, style, and space.

Ranjit Chavan President-AIILSG Rajiv Agarwal Editor-In-Chief Director General-AIILSG

Address Urban Update (All India Institute of Local Self-Government) Sardar Patel Bhavan, 22-23, Institutional Area, D Block Pankha Road, Janakpuri, Delhi-110058

Ashok Wankhade Managing Editor Abhishek Pandey Editor

FOR SUBSCRIPTION AND ADVERTISING RELATED ASSISTANCE, CONTACT Phone: 011 - 2852 1783/ 5473 (Extn. 37) E-mail: contacturbanupdate@gmail.com

Ravi Ranjan Guru Executive Editor Kumar Dhananjay Consulting Editor Aniruddh Gupta Media Associate

ISSN 2349-6266 RNI No DELENG/2014/57384

Setting The Agenda For Tomorrow’s Cities

UrbanUpdate Volume V, Issue VI

OCTOber 2018

Urba nUp Futu re of date Setting

266 2349-6 4 ISSN 14/5738 /20 DELENG

te Upda Urban RNI No

Setting

da For

The Agen

Tomorrow

Prateek Singh Aman Saxena Editorial Assistants

REvIEw

nce

governa

The increasing use of single-use plastic items is taking a devastating toll on our environment. To counteract the ill-effects of plastic, many Indian states have already put a blanket ban on the use of single-use plastic items particularly plastic carry bags but the sluggish implementation of the ban is keeping it only on paper

policy swachh bharat

ONE ON ONE

Women leaders look at problems differently

mation

ate clim change smart city

ONE

ut amr

The project is funded by the European Union. ility

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

Printed at Artz & Printz, 208, DSIDC Shed, Okhla Industrial Area Phase-I New Delhi-110020 Published at Sardar Patel Bhavan, 22-23, Institutional Area D-Block Pankha Road, Janakpuri, Delhi-110058 Note: Subscriptions are only invited from municipal corporations, government bodies, academic & research institutions, etc. working in the domain of urban development.

We only charge courier and handling charges. We may fully wave-off the charges for municipalities and academic institutions upon receiving such request and approval from our management.

Despite careful selection of sources, no responsibility can be taken for accuracy of the contents. The magazine assumes no liability or responsibility of any kind in connection with the information thereof. The views expressed in the articles are the personal opinions of the contributors and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the All India Institute of Local Self-Government. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part is strictly prohibited without written permission from the publisher.

rm

jnnu

public

e

spac

d by the mente

ON ON

E

Corrup tion

The project is implemented by the AIILSG.

.

AIILSG

t is imple The projec

The proj

ect is

fund

ed by

the Euro

pean

d by the t is funde The projec

European

is a cha

even

today

n.

The proj

ect is

impleme

nted

by the

AIILSG.

Join Urban Update Community Online to read our previous issues, regular posts and news updates.

WWW

urbanupdate.in urbanupdatemag urbanupdatemgzn Corrections

Urban Update creates and edits the magazine in ways aimed at reducing mistakes and avoiding any factual error. We are committed to correcting the mistakes as quickly and transparently as we can. In this column, we will clear corrections with acknowledgment that a mistake was made and addressed. If you see a mistake, do let us know.

The interview published on the page-38 of the last issue misspelled ‘Uttar Pradesh’ in the intro. The mistake is deeply regretted.

The project is implemented by the AIILSG.

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

September 2018 | www.urbanupdate.in

llenge

Unio

Union.

The project is funded by the European Union.

4

DELENISSN 234 G/2014 9-626 /5738 6 4

Ste Sep ep tem signifi increa ber seg cant se in 2018 me pollut impe nt, anevolut ion ion viablelling all d a ho of tec in Ind st ian hn tie eco sys rs of of other ology cities, gov tem in to pro ernmefactor e-mob s are ility nt mo te e-v to cre ehicle ate a s in Ind ia

sfor

tran

mob

Rajesh Singh Meenakshi Rajput Senior Graphic Designers

ity

The Plastic conundrum

gy

nolo

tech

RNI No

bil

aRtIcLE

n est urba te nd largcontribu rs s 72 yea the seco citie a, has and its in the last ained r Chin world . Yet, on rem afte the l GDP the nati des in its India, ion in the ulat to nationa e era, soul resi and the pop 55% endencthat its to underst s from over t-indep rt im tion repo of pos to the maxlytical expecta k s and cy... stuc An ana of citieUrban Poli ges. villa l ents irem Nationa requ osed prop

eV

mo

IV

book

For Tom

V, Issu

s

lysis s para re for smart citie book’ on licy !

The cu A ‘smart n po in India rnance urba ing soon urban gove Crisis of m o is c V, Issue

Agenda

es

Volum e

E-Vehi cle

2018 August

Volume

The

orrow’s Citi

s

’s Citie

EDITORIAL

Innovating for Clean India

W

e have entered the final year for meeting targets under Swachh Bharat Mission. The next birth anniversary of the Mahatma, October 2, 2019 represents the target date for the mission. Among the targets is to make the country completely Open Defecation Free (ODF) by this date. Over 4 crore toilets have been built under the mission and several lakhs are under construction. While the major task of building crores of toilets is progressing well, the challenge to ensure usage of these will have to be addressed as we go along, more gradually.

The reasons for non-use or under-use could be many, but they are mainly behavioural and non-availability of running water. With the large number of new toilets, there will be an immense need for water if we are to get rid of the scourge of open defecation. A toilet without running tap water will not be used. In water scarce India, finding so much additional water is a big task. The obvious way is to look for technology solutions which can result in water-less or less-water toilets.

Tech czar and among the richest men in the world, Bill Gates is looking to promote and support work in this area through his ‘Reinvent the Toilet Challenge’. In India several young engineers and enthusiasts are working in their own small ways to find solutions. It will be some time before these reach scale and enable conversion into viable solutions. In the meanwhile, we can expect more interest, innovations and interventions in this area.

Alongside will be challenges of septage management. For example, the cities along the Ganga discharge some 3000 MLD of sewage into the river every day while the treatment capacity is just 1500 MLD. The discharge of such huge amounts of untreated waste into a major river system has enormous implications for health of humans, livestock and marine life, and the environment in general.While this waste (including human waste) is looked upon as a stubborn challenge, there could be an opportunity too. Estimates suggest the total amount of human and animal dung (waste) at 6000 million tonnes a year based on the total population of humans, cattle, pigs, sheep, poultry and other animals. This

amount of waste represents about 240000 million cu metres of biogas (@ 40 cu mts per tonne of waste). This is equivalent to about 200000 million litres of diesel, or 180 million tonnes. This is twice India’s annual consumption of diesel (80 million tonnes). While the numbers are broad estimates, they still indicate the huge opportunity available in human and animal waste. On the environment side, methane in biogas is combusted for energy with carbon dioxide as a by-product which has 20 to 30 times lower GHG load than methane. So rather than just let methane escape in the air, it is so much safer to combust it. The GOBAR-DHAN Policy of the government is a crucial component of ODF and SBM to support our villages. Of course, the entire task of collecting, transporting, processing the waste and extracting biogas presents logistical challenges. But these need to be overcome and solutions found because the rewards are enormous – economic benefits and environment protection. And therein lies the need for innovation and new thinking.

This issue of Urban Update looks at the subject of sanitation – challenges, opportunities and innovative approaches. We trust the issue will be of interest to all urban practitioners.

I also take this opportunity to wish our readers a joyous festive season ahead.

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

www.urbanupdate.in | October 2018

5

Quotes

Mobility is a key driver of Indian economy. Better mobility in India reduces the burden of travel and transportation and economic growth.

It is already a major employer and can create the next generation of jobs

In the long run, what we’d like is a toilet that essentially burns the waste without generating a big waste stream, but that’s in the five to ten-year time frame. In the meantime, we have to help all cities plan and make sure the sanitation is being taken care of

Narendra Modi Prime Minister of India

Bill Gates Microsoft Co-Founder

PIN POINT Smartness, whether of building or a city, is not something on which you have a choice. It’s an imperative with thrust on your current existence. Smart cities includes host of things—greens, sustainable infrastructure & safety for everyone, So it is an ongoing process

The Climate Opportunity research sends a powerful message that citylevel climate action leads to more than addressing an environmental issue; it also has societal benefits. Well-designed measures will mitigate climate change and reduce air pollution Martina Otto Head of UN Environment’s Cities Unit

Hardeep Singh Puri Union Minister of State (I/C), MoHUA

BUZZ Hitesh Vaidya

IPCC

Dharmendra Pradhan

@hiteshvaidya

@IPCC_CHN

@dpradhanbjp

@antonioguterres

India Country Manager, UN Habitat

Intergovernmental body under UN

Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas, GOI

Secretary-General of the United Nation

In addition to the 3Rs - Reduce, Reuse and Recycle, it is time to add a fourth R - which is to Rethink our collective approach to waste management

Limiting global warming to 1.5 C will require rapid, far-reaching and unprecedented changes in all aspects of society but bring clear benefits to people, ecosystems and global goals

Biofuels are revolutionary energy source which can help address our energy needs in a sustainable manner, while also providing sustainable solution

Some 2.3 billion people worldwide do not have the basic sanitation facilities. To build resilient, healthy societies, we need to change this urgently

6

October 2018 | www.urbanupdate.in

o

António Guterres

inside

Inside Volume 5, Issue 6

15

Articles

32

34

36

Behavioural change holds the key The role of media especially cinema has been instrumental in bringing about a change in people’s attitude towards sanitation and hygiene. Many celebrities in India are promoting Swachh Bharat Mission through advertisements, promotional videos, public events

Jharkhand’s journey of becoming ODF Jharkhand was declared an ODF state on October 2, 2017 well before the deadline set by the Union Government of October 2, 2019. A clear cut strategy was adopted and a roadmap was prepared for each and every ULB; clearly showing the time for the different activities to be taken up in the ULB

26

LEADerspeak

Book that will make you tree lover!

Pradip Krishen is a reputed film maker of yore. He is neither a botanist nor a forest officer who knew something about trees.

Yet, what he has produced is a classy book that makes you a tree lover overnight, if you are not one already

RegularS Pin Point Equi-City Newscan

15 44 46

City Images Book Review Urban Agenda

The plastic conundrum

The increasing use of single-use plastic items is taking a devastating

toll on our environment. To counteract the ill-effects of plastic, many Indian states have already put a blanket ban on the use of singleuse plastic items particularly plastic carry bags but the sluggish implementation of the ban is keeping it only on paper. Indian government needs to lay down a strong and robust policy regime to see the intended results on the ground

30

book review

6 8 11

Cover Story

Preparing for challenges beyond plastic While the world grapples with the severe adverse environmental impacts of pollution due to plastic, other equally alarming dangers are lurking around the corner

44

October 2018

Municipalities can enhance sanitation through innovation Technology has always stirred changes in various aspects of human lives. Barring a few, municipal corporations in India have not made significant strides in adopting advanced technologies in the field of sanitation, cleaning streets and monitoring sanitation operations.

one on one

40

Women leaders look at problems differently Cities are on the cusp of change and need to work together to address the evolving challenges. Abhishek Pandey, Editor of Urban Update, caught up with Emilla Saiz, Secretary General of United Cities and Local Governments World, during the UCLG ASPAC Congress in Surabaya, Indonesia. In the candid conversation, Emilla talks about the role of women in city governance, livability in cities, climate change and much more. Excerpts from the interview…

www.urbanupdate.in | October 2018

7

feature Equi-City

Equi-City team engages citizens, develops community scorecard The focus group technique has become an important applied approach to integrate stakeholders’ perspectives and knowledge into Integrated Assessments (IA) and Sustainability Assessments (SA) Team Equi-City

P

owell and Single (1996:499) define a focus group as: ‘a group of individuals selected and assembled by researchers to discuss and comment on, from personal experience, the topic that is the subject of the research.’

There are many variations of the basic method, but generally, a focus group is a method for collecting qualitative research data through carefully planned group discussions with the purpose of obtaining perceptions of participants in a permissive and non− threatening environment (Morgan 1988). The discussions are guided by a skilled moderator, who works from a predetermined set of questions. The group members influence each other by responding to comments made in the discussions. The results are analyzed with quantitative and qualitative social science methods.

The study area Nagpur has total 39 Prabhags under the municipal limit.

As per the methodology mentioned above the Equi-City Team chose a total of 4 Prabhags for the Survey and Focused Group Discussion named viz; Kapil Nagar (Prabhag 2), Dharampeth (Prabhag 15), Hanuman Nagar (Prabhag 31) & Deshraj Nagar (Prabhag 12). The focused group discussion involves the local residents, concerned Zonal Commissioner, Elected Representatives, active members from the local community and as well as

8

October 2018 | www.urbanupdate.in

stakeholders in the above Prabhags. The focus group discussions were held under the supervision of Zonal Commissioner and Elected Representatives of the concerned Prabhags. These discussions had an objective to know the views of all participants about the status of basic services provided by the Nagpur Municipal Corporation, so that a solution strategy can be formulated soon. This process would help in the present and emerging challenges of the municipal services in context to sewerage & sanitation, solid waste management and water supply. During the group discussion the views of local people about the services were given priority.

Community Score Card

A Community score card has been prepared based upon identified municipal services. The information regarding municipal services was gathered from the focused group

discussion in the four selected Prabhags.

Further, Community score card would be helpful to assess the present delivery of municipal services and as well as for future development strategy in the study area. A community score card has been presented as belowA comprehensive focused group discussion had been held at each selected Prabhag level. A large number of local people from different communities participated in discussions. The people were asked to give their opinions about the services provided by Nagpur Municipal Corporation. The services provided by the Nagpur municipal corporation are sewerage & sanitation, solid waste management, water supply, parks and green spaces, etc. The citizens of selected Prabhags have different opinions about the above municipal services in their locality.

It is required to prepare the community score card of studied

Community Scorecard Process

Input tracking scorecard

Interface meeting

Community generated performance scorecard

Provider self-evaluation scorecard

Prabhags to better interpret the above municipal services in the study area.

This interpretation would include the citizen’s view upon municipal services.

Above community score card explains the services provided by the Nagpur Municipal Corporation are mostly bad at 54 per cent as cited by the citizens of all Prabhags.

Further, 35 per cent of people said the municipal services are at average level and 11 per cent said the services are good for them.

Sewerage and sanitation services of Nagpur Municipal Corporation are bad as cited by 60 per cent of the respondents, whereas 35 and 5 per cent people said the services are respectively average and good. De silting of drainage by the Nagpur Municipal Corporation is bad as stated by 58 per cent people but 13 and 29 per cent people said average and good respectively.

Solid waste management practices in Nagpur are based on public private partnership. The solid waste management services are provided by Kanak Resources. By the community score card solid waste management services are rated average, bad and good by 40, 34 and 26 per cent respectively.

Water supply services of Nagpur Municipal Corporation are also not equally distributed in the study area.

People have different kinds of opinions regarding water supply services. The opinions differ from person to person.

Some people are not satisfied with the quality and some with quantity of water. Citizen feedback for water supply services provided by the Nagpur Municipal Corporation is rated bad, average and good by 50, 29 and 21 per

cent respectively.

The people from all selected Prabhags have not got equal facilities of parks and green spaces as well. The people said that parks and green spaces are not up to the standards but maximum of them are at average level. Total 62 per cent of the people have an average opinion whereas 32 and 6 per cent people said bad and good respectively.

Community participation in municipal decision making is poor in the selected Prabhags. Most people are not aware about the municipal decision making process, so 83 per cent people from the selected Prabhags have not been ever engaged in municipal decision making and formulation. The majority of people from the study area have bad opinion and only 2 per cent people are satisfied and 15 per cent are rated as average the municipal decision making process and formulation.

People from the selected Prabhags are used to giving their complaints to the elected representatives of the locality.

Often people are not willing to visit the municipal corporation to register their complaint. There are several reasons behind it such as: ♦♦ Lack of awareness ♦♦ Lack of time availability ♦♦ Not easy to access ♦♦ Behaviour of municipal personnel A majority of people, 53 percent, said the complaint mechanism is good.

Others saying average and bad were 21 and 26 per cent respectively.

Nagpur Municipal Corporation is providing the basic services to its citizens. These services have been evaluated for the first time under the “Equi-city project”. The basic services

Sr. No. Community Generated Criteria Score in Per cent Good Average Bad Total 1 Service provided by the NMC 2 Sewage & Sanitation Service of NMC 3 De-silting of Drainage 4 SWM Services of NMC 5 Water Supply Services of NMC 6 Condition of Parks/Green/Open Spaces 7 Public Participation in Municipal

Decision Making of NMC 8 Effectiveness of NMC Complaint Mechanism

11 5 29 26 21 6 2

35 35 13 40 29 62 15

54 60 58 34 50 32 83

100 100 100 100 100 100 100

53

21

26

100

such as water supply, sewerage & sanitation, solid waste management & parks and green spaces have been assessed through the Focus group discussions in four selected Prabhags named viz; Kapil Nagar (Prabhag 2), Dharampeth (Prabhag 15), Hanuman Nagar (Prabhag 31) &Deshraj Nagar (Prabhag 12). As per the outcome of focused group discussion the municipal services are somewhat good in the inner Prabhags but bad in the outer Prabhags.

Nagpur Municipal Corporation is the implementing body for all basic municipal services within its jurisdiction. After the results taken from group discussions at four Prabhags about the municipal service delivery, it is challenging to provide equitable municipal services to all citizens.

To achieve equitable distribution of services to all citizens some of the recommendations have been presented below: ♦♦ Nagpur Municipal Corporation should do the evaluation of municipal services in all Prabhags regularly by group discussion. ♦♦ NMC should adopt the methodology to conduct the survey and group discussion focused upon the basic municipal services such as water supply, sewerage & sanitation, solid waste management, parks and green spaces. ♦♦ Awareness about “Swachhata and Sanitation should be spread by the NMC to its citizens, so they can participate in the municipal solid waste and sanitation management services. ♦♦ There should be training and education on waste reduction and reuse to all municipal employees as well as city level campaigning through public and private institutions. ♦♦ Implement the strong provisions and monitoring about environmental degradation at the sensitive areas such as water bodies, drains and natural water courses. ♦♦ Complaint mechanism of NMC should be flexible to register complaints by the citizens.

www.urbanupdate.in | October 2018

9

AIILSG DIARIES

(L to R) Ravi Ranjan Guru, Deputy Director General of AIILSG; Hansa Patel, Executive Advisor, with Chung-Kwang Tien, Ambassador of Taiwan to India during an event organized

by Taiwan Embassy in New Delhi

Tamil Nadu officials during the Amrut training programme (administration batch) under Integrated Capacity Building Programme at Tirupati

The officials of the Council of Local Authorities for International Relations (CLAIR) visited the AIILSG Delhi office to discuss projects pertaining to improving municipal governance. Ravi Ranjan Guru, DDG, AIILSG; and Hansa Patel, Executive Advisor of AIILSG, welcomed them

ECBC Cell of AIILSG organised a one day training program on Energy Conservation Building Code at Korba, Chhattisgarh.

Architects, engineers, officials of Town and Country planning and municipal corporations participated

10

October 2018 | www.urbanupdate.in

NEWSCAN

Countries need to make policy shifts & invest more in sanitation, says WHO NEW DELHI: World Health Organisation (WHO) launched the first global guidelines on sanitation and health on October 1, 2018. It warned that the world will not reach the goal of universal sanitation coverage–where every person in the world has access to toilets that safely contain excreta– by 2030, unless countries make comprehensive policy shifts and invest more funds in sanitation.

The release said that by adopting WHO’s new guidelines, countries can significantly reduce the number of annual diarrheal deaths that are caused due to unsafe water, sanitation and hygiene. For every US $1 invested in sanitation, WHO estimates a nearly sixfold return as measured by lower health costs, increased productivity, and fewer premature deaths.

Worldwide, 2.3 billion people lack basic sanitation. They are among the 4.5 billion who don’t have access to safely managed sanitation services–in other words, a toilet connected to a sewer or pit or a septic tank that treats human waste.

“Without proper access, millions of people in the world are deprived of

The image is for representative purpose only

the dignity, safety, and convenience of a decent toilet,” said Dr Soumya Swaminathan, Deputy Director General for Programs, WHO. “Sanitation is a fundamental foundation of human health and development and underpins the core mission of WHO and ministries of health worldwide. WHO’s sanitation and health guidelines are essential for securing health and wellbeing for everyone, everywhere” she added.

WHO came up with the new guidelines on sanitation and health because the current sanitation programs are not achieving anticipated health gains and there is a lack of authoritative health-based guidance on sanitation.

“Billions of people live without access to even the most basic sanitation services,” said Dr Maria Neira, Director, Department of Public Health, Environmental and Social Determinants of Health, WHO. She further said, “The transmission of a host of diseases, including cholera, diarrhoea, dysentery, hepatitis A, typhoid and polio, is linked to dirty water and inadequately treated sewage.

Poor sanitation is also a major factor in

the transmission of neglected tropical diseases such as intestinal worms, schistosomiasis, and trachoma, as well as contributing to malnutrition.”

The new guidelines set out four principal recommendations as follow: Sanitation interventions should ensure that entire communities have access to toilets that safely contain excreta, the full sanitation system should undergo local health risk assessments to protect individuals and communities from exposure to excreta–whether from unsafe toilets, leaking storage or inadequate treatment of waste, sanitation should be integrated into regular local government led planning and service provision to avert the higher costs associated with retrofitting sanitation and to ensure sustainability, the health sector should invest more and play a coordinating role in sanitation planning to protect public health.

India has elevated the challenge to end open defecation to the highest level. Under the Prime Minister’s leadership, the ‘Swachh Bharat Mission’ (Clean India Program) is coordinating action across many sectors to ensure that basic sanitation rapidly reaches and improves the lives of millions.

In accordance with the data available on the portal of ‘Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin)’, Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation informs that 871.87 lakh household toilets have been constructed since October 2, 2014. As on date 4,465 villages along Ganga River, 25 states/ Union Territories and 530 districts are open defecations free. ‘Swachh Bharat Urban’, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Government of India portal says that the construction of 50, 71,725 individual toilets and 3,95,200 community and public toilets have been completed in cities.

www.urbanupdate.in | October 2018

11

BRIEFS

NEWSCAN

NDMC organises ‘Plogging Drive’

PM inaugurates Sikkim’s first airport

The New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) organised a ‘Plogging drive’ at Nehru Park in Pancharipuri area of New Delhi on September 30, 2018.

Picking up litter while jogging or walking termed as the ‘Plogging drive’ was attended by the senior officers of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs and its organisations along with the morning walkers at the Nehru Park. The motive behind the drive is to infuse a habit among the general public to pick the litter from parks, gardens, roads, lanes and surrounding areas while walking or jogging and dispose them in the nearby dustbins.

PAKYONG: Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated Sikkim’s first airport at Pakyong on September 24, 2018. Its foundation stone was laid in 2009 and was constructed by the Airports Authority of India (AAI). Sikkim expects that the functional airport will lead to the growth in tourism and economy. It is spread over 201 acres and features Air Traffic Control (ATC), tower-cum-fire station, two sophisticated Crash Fire Tanker (CFT), 3,000sq metre terminal building for passengers, high-intensity runway lights, and parking for over 50 vehicles. It is the first green-field airport in northeast India. PM said that his government is committed to make northeast an “engine of India’s growth story”. He said that after the

functioning of the airport starts the tourist footfall in Sikkim will increase manifold.

The commercial operations of the airport began on October 4, 2018. SpiceJet started operating the 78-seater Bombardier Q400 flights. It is located around 33 km from Gangtok, the state capital and 60 km from the Indo-China border. It is situated at a height of 4,500 feet above the sea level.

6.28 lakh affordable houses approved by UD Ministry

The Centre has approved the construction of nearly 6.28 lakh more affordable houses for urban poor in 11 states: Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Chattisgarh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Tripura and Manipur under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna on September 26, 2018. In a statement, the Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry said that it will release `486.87 crore for the first and second instalments together to the state by relaxing norm in the sanctioned projects under PMAY-U. For the construction of houses under PMAY-U the ministry has also advised the Kerala government that it may submit project proposals as soon as possible So that people can get relief in the flood affected areas.

12

October 2018 | www.urbanupdate.in

Jharkhand government joins e-car revolution RANCHI: Jharkhand signalled a new beginning with the launch of 12 charging stations set up at four offices of Jharkhand Bijli Vitran Nigam Limited (JBVNL), including its corporate office in Ranchi for the promotion of e-mobility. Raghubar Das, Chief Minister of Jharkhand, on September 13, 2018 flagged off electric vehicles and handed over the ceremonial keys of 20 e-vehicles to the JBVNL officials at Jharkhand Secretariat in the presence of senior government officials. 30 more electric cars will be given in the next two weeks. The Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL), a joint venture of the PSUs under the Ministry of Power signed an MoU with the Jharkhand Bijli Vitran Nigam Limited (JBVNL) to deploy electric vehicles in various JBVNL offices.

“Using electric vehicles will not only protect the environment but also save foreign currency. We would like to see our state at the forefront of e-mobility mission run by Govt. of India in the country” said the chief minister. Madan Bedia, EESL official said that the regular petrol cars cost `5/km while the e-cars will cost only 80 paise/km. The vehicle can cover a distance of 130 km when fully charged, he added. Saurabh Kumar, managing director, EESL said that the company feels proud of supporting the Centre’s initiative and help in cutting down the pollution level. He further said that this initiative will also cut down 1400 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2).With the launch, the state began its move towards a reduced carbon footprint and a more sustainable greener and cleaner future. It also showed Jharkhand’s participation in e-mobility goal of 30 per cent fleet electrification by 2030.

Subscribe to

UrbanUpdate

For 3 Years (36 Issues) Rs 2520 For 2 Years (24 Issues) Rs 1920

A magazine dedicated to Urban Infrastructure, Governance & Sustainability

For 1 Year (12 Issues) Rs 1080

Yes, I want to subscribe to Urban Update Tick

Year 1 2 3

Monthly Courier Issue/Year & Handling 12 Charges 24

100

36

Charges/Annum 1200 2400 3600

You pay Discount 1080 10% 1920 20% 2520 30%

Please fill this form in Capital Letters Name Organisation Designation Address

Mobile

City E-mail

Pin Code

Cheque/DD/MO No For Rupees

Drawn on Dated

State

(specify bank)

In favour of ‘All India Institute of Local Self-Government’ is enclosed.

Mail this form along with your Cheque/DD to the following address All India Institute of Local Self-Government Sardar Patel Bhavan, 22-23, Institutional Area, D Block, Pankha Road, Janakpuri, Delhi-110058 You can pay Subscription charges through National Electronic Funds Transfer (NEFT). Details for NEFT transfer are: Axis Bank Limited A/C Name: All India Institute of Local Self-Government Please e-mail your details (Name, Address, duration of subscription, transaction no.) to contacturbanupdate@gmail.com for initiating A/C No: 207010100182768 subscription after the NEFT transfer.

IFSC: UTIB0000207 Terms and Conditions

For any query, please contact our Subscription Department Phone No.: 011-2852 1783 / 5473 (Extn. 37) Or e-mail at contacturbanupdate@gmail.com

• Subscriptions are only invited from municipal corporations, government bodies, academic & research institutions, etc. working in the domain of urban development. We only charge courier and handling charges. We may fully wave-off the charges for municipalities and academic institutions upon receiving such request and approval from our management. • Allow one week for processing of your subscription • All disputes shall be subject to Delhi jurisdiction only

BRIEFS

BMC collects `1.1 cr as fine after the ban on plastic

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) collected a total of `1.1 crore as fine after Maharashtra government banned plastic. Around 18,601 kg of plastic was confiscated until September 18, 2018. The government released a notification on March 23, 2018 concerning the ban on manufacturing use, sale or distribution of any disposable plastic and thermocol items. The ban came into effect from June 23, 2018. The civic body’s plastic ban team visited 2.37 lakh shops since June 23, 2018, the squad members split into 24 teams and targeted mainly on big establishments and multi-national food and beverage joints. 269 owners out of the 2.37 lakh refused to pay the fine and were issued challans.

NEWSCAN

Delhi’s pollution levels worse than in pre-CNG era, says AIIMS Director NEW DELHI: All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Director Randeep Guleria delivered the ninth P N Srivastava Endowment Lecture on ‘Air Pollution and Health’ at Jawaharlal Nehru University on October 4, 2018. He said that there had been a “paradigm shift” in the nature of diseases in the country and that air pollution was a major reason for it.

He mentioned that Delhi’s pollution levels had become worse than in “pre-CNG era” because of the lack of vision. He spoke to the audience about how air pollution had caused and contributed to major and newer diseases.

“In 1990, almost 60 per cent of diseases were communicable, maternal, neonatal and nutritional. The figure has now come down to around 32 per cent. Noncommunicable diseases, on the other hand, have gone from around 30 per cent in 1990 to around 55.4 per cent in 2016.

This has meant a huge change in terms of

health care providers too,” he said.

Giving examples of diabetes and hypertension, he said that these were “life-long diseases” and “that’s why the government is also focusing on early screening of blood pressure and sugar”.

“In 2016, most common causes of DALY (Disability Affected Life Year) — years lost due to ill-health — were ischemic heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, diarrheal disease, lower respiratory tract infection, and cerebral vascular disease. The leading cause of this is malnutrition, air pollution, dietary habits, high systolic blood pressure,” he said. Dr Guleria said, “Over the next decade, with diesel vehicles plying on roads, construction work being carried out at a lot of places but with no planning in terms of having a green corridor or encouraging environment-friendly means of travel like cycling, pollution levels have become worse than in pre-CNG era.”

Smartphones a new gateway to airport express line

Mumbai will soon become India’s first city to have robots for firefighting

Commuters using airport express line have the facility to use their cell phones as their ticket.

Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) had introduced QR code which is generated on the smartphones as a ticket. The facility became operational from September 14, 2018. DMRC spokesperson said that instead of using smart cards or tokens people can use these QR codes generated in their phones as tickets. He further added, “it will enable commuters to purchase tickets using the ‘Ridlr’ app without physically coming to the metro station. Commuters can download the app from the Play Store and register using their mobile number and email id.”

MUMBAI: The city is ready to get its first firefighting robot at the cost of `92 lakh. The robot is built using Chinese technology and will possess the capability to go through narrow alleys and can be programmed to help during biochemical disasters. With the help of the inbuilt thermal cameras the robot will be able to see through both smoke and darkness. The body of the robot is made up of aluminum sheets which can withstand the temperature up to 700 centigrade. The robot will help firefighters to remotely guide it to the source of fire and will protect firemen from getting harmed. The fire brigade plans to use the robot especially in congested areas and at times when the fire is caused due to a chemical leakage. Demonstration of the fire fighting robots were carried back in December 2015. In the 2018-19 budget, the civic body has issued a tender for this expensive robot to upgrade the fire brigade.

Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) fire department has proposed a contractor to provide it with one robot on a trial basis. The proposal was tabled before the BMC’s standing committee, who took the decision on September 21, 2018. After the decision was made, BMC planned to buy the robot within six months. “The company has provided around 800 robots to various agencies in China,” said R A Choudhary, Deputy Chief Fire Officer (Technical). The firefighting robot is a pilot project and further robots will be procured depending on its success.

14

October 2018 | www.urbanupdate.in

CITY IMAGES

Indonesia Calamity : 66,000 homes destroyed, 1400 plus died On September 28, 2018, Indonesia suffered an earthquake measured at 7.5 at Richter scale and subsequent tsunami. The natural calamity ravaged the country. As per reports, the twin quake-tsunami hit the Indonesia’s Sulawesi island and killed 1424 people; injured more than 2,500 and 100 are still missing. The disaster also affected approximately 600,000 children.

Millions of dollars in aid have been pledged by the UN and countries like US, China, India, Australia, UK and New Zealand.

There have been delays in aid reaching the affected areas due to rupture in communication and connecting roads. According to UNISDR, the annual average loss from disasters like earthquakes, tsunamis and typhoons is about $250 billion to $300 billion globally.

www.urbanupdate.in | October 2018

15

BRIEFS

VMC revs up ‘smart’ drive Koneru Sreedhar, Mayor Vijayawada City Corporation on September 18, 2018 inaugurated smart and semi-underground garbage bin built by Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC) as a part of its eco-friendly waste management concept. The unit consists of four bins and each bin can hold 1.5 tonnes of garbage.

J Nivas, Municipal Commissoner, VMC said that eight more units would be built across the city at a cost of `64 lakhs and funds will be provided by Swachh Andhra Corporation. The smart bins are capable of sending SMS alert to the corporation as soon as it gets filled up to 80 per cent, added Nivas.

PM inaugurates several development projects

PM Narendra Modi, inaugurated several important development projects, at a public gathering in Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi on September 18, 2018. The projects inaugurated by the PM includes Integrated Power Development Scheme (IPDS) for Puraani Kashi, Atal Incubation Centre and Regional Ophthalmology Centre at BHU. The cumulative value of all projects which were inaugurated is over `550 crores. Speaking on the occasion, the PM said that the efforts are being made to bring changes in Varanasi, and also attempting to preserve the city’s rich heritage. PM referred to the various projects in the power, road and other infrastructure sectors, which have progressed significantly in Varanasi, and nearby areas.

16

October 2018 | www.urbanupdate.in

NEWSCAN

Project launched for obtaining biofuel from Delhi’s Barapullah drain NEW DELHI: Dr Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister for Science & Technology launched a first-of-its-kind biofuel generation project in the country on September 18, 2018. A plant with a capacity of 10 lakh litres per day will be set up to produce biofuel by treating sewer water from Delhi’s Barapullah drain.

Department of Biotechnology (DBT) and Institute of Chemical Technology (ICT), Mumbai, will set up the plant on the banks of the Yamuna near Sun Dial, Sarai Kale Khan, within the coming nine months.

Each day the plant will produce 4.15 tonnes of biogas, which can be further processed to produce one tonne of methane (BioCNG). 1.26 tonnes of fertilizers and 9 lakh litres of reusable water will also be produced each day.

At present, the project is only for demonstration purposes. Scientists from ICT said that its capacity can be increased for treating the entire Barapullah drain water. This project is part of a DBT and Delhi Development Authority’s joint venture project, to transform the Barapullah drain near Sun Dial into a

clean water technology park.

Under the joint venture, that was launched last year, Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, has set up a laboratory to test different technologies to treat the waste water. Dr Harsh Vardhan said, “This unique project will turn waste into a profitable resource and help in protecting the environment. I often get requests from public to cover the drains in their area. BDT and ICT have shown that waste water can be converted into biofuel.”

AMC panel sanctions `82 crore for new water treatment plant AHMEDABAD: Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation’s Water and Sewage board has approved `82 crore for the construction of a new water treatment plant of 300 millions of litres per day (MLD) at Kotarpur, after recognizing the water requirement in the city. Rashmin Shah, chairman of water and sewage committee, AMC said, “City’s area has been enlarging and many housing units are adding up in the city. AMC is facing the water distribution problem due to new connectivity in the city area. Keeping in mind about the east zone and the newly developed area, local authorities have decided to plant a new water treatment.”

“On the priority basis, we are aiming to provide potable water to all the affordable houses which are under construction. The water treatment plant’s construction will be completed at the cost of `82.39 crore including five years of operation and maintenance,” he added. At present, the civic body is providing around 650 MLD water from the existing water treatment plant of Kotarpur. The new treatment plant will increase water supply and also provide water to east and north city.

However, despite the water availability from Shedhi and Narmada canal, the civic body will continue taking groundwater.

NEWSCAN

Cyclone ‘Titli’ makes a landfall in Odisha and Andhra Pradesh, causes massive destruction BHUBANESWAR: Cyclone ‘Titli’ made a landfall in the beach town of Gopalpur between 4:30 am and 5:30 am on October 11, 2018. It caused massive destruction. ‘Titli’ is categorised as a “very severe cyclonic storm”. It moved with wind speed of 140 to 150 kmph in Odisha. Over three lakh people in Odisha’s five coastal districts were evacuated to safe shelters.

Since the landfall, five districts namely Ganjam, Gajapati, Puri, Khurda and Jagatsinghpur faced heavy rainfall along with high speed winds. High sea tides were seen in the coastal areas of Gopalpur after the landfall.

Cyclone ‘Titli’ hovered along Kalingapatnam of Andhra Pradesh and hit the coast near GollapaduPallesarathi villages of Santabommali mandal, at around 3:35 am on October 11. Kalingapatanam recorded wind speed of 56 kmph. ‘Titli’ being a very severe cyclonic storm was constantly monitored by the coastal Doppler Weather Radars at Visakhapatnam and Paradip regularly.

Andhra Pradesh Emergency Control Room stated that six villages of Srikakulam district of Andhra Pradesh were most affected due to heavy rainfall.

Miliapattu and Srinivaspuram, were majorly affected and Gopalapuram, Punch Padu, Mukundapuram, and M Gangaipadu were moderately affected.

Around 300 acres of horticulture and 100 acres of agricultural land was damaged in Vizianagaram.

Officials reported heavy loss of cattle and crops mostly from Srikakulam district. According to a preliminary report by the State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA), coconut, banana and mango plantations were majorly affected by the storm.

High speed winds uprooted more than 2,000 electric poles in Andhra Pradesh.

The Eastern Power Distribution Company that caters to the electricity

Cyclone Titli caused havoc in many coastal areas of Odisha and Andhra Pradesh

needs of northern coastal districts of Andhra Pradesh reported that power distribution system for around 4,000 villages and six towns were affected in Srikakulam district.

The State Road Transport Corporation had suspended its bus services as roads were blocked by uprooted trees. Railway stations were damaged at several places in Andhra Pradesh.

Dharmendra Pradhan, Union Minister said, “Government and authorities are on alert. It is the need of the hour for everyone to come forward. I am confident that this crisis will be handled in a proper way with everyone’s support.”

N Chandrababu Naidu, Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh instructed district authorities to be on high alert.

The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and Orissa Disaster Rapid Action Force were deployed in vulnerable districts of Odisha.

NDRF (National Disaster Resource Force) and SDRF (State Disaster Resource Force) teams were deployed in Srikakulam and Vizjayanagaram

districts of Andhra Pradesh to carry out rescue and relief operations. The State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA) had set up a toll-free helpline no. 18004250101 at its Emergency Operations Centre to assist people in distress, while control rooms had been opened in the three northern coastal districts.

Cyclone ‘Titli’ moved towards northwest and further headed north-east towards Gangetic West Bengal across Odisha.

The Odisha government claimed to have achieved the “Mission Zero Casualty” target which was set by Naveen Patnaik, Chief Minister of Odisha. He reviewed the preparedness for Cyclone and asked the district administration, police, fire service, and coastguards to closely monitor the situation in the state.

Indian Coast Guard (ICG) deployed its team in Aksa town, Ganjam district of Odisha for assistance and relief operations. The ICG relief teams and district administration worked together to rescue lives of affected people.

www.urbanupdate.in | October 2018

17

BRIEFS

KTC to upgrade Panaji bus terminus Kadamba Transport Corporation (KTC) will soon be upgrading Panaji Bus Terminus. KTC officials said that the renovation cost is expected to be more than `400 crores. Sanjay Ghate, General Manager, KTC said that the bus stand only needs renovation, which will be conducted in a proper manner. Ghate further added that before starting the renovation work it is necessary to shift the nearby shopkeepers and find an alternative for a new departure terminus. There are around 3000 departures on daily basis. The corporation is trying to shift these departures at the Mapusa bus stand from where 1,700 departures take place everyday.

Goa to have its own E-waste management plan

A new e-waste management system is all set to be launched for handling electronic waste produced in the state. Toxics link, an environmental NGO has been chosen as the implementing agency for the project. The project was titled “E-Waste Management Plan for the State of Goa”. Sanjit Rodrigues, Managing Director, Goa Waste Management Corporation (GWMC), unveiled the project and said that there is a need for improved awareness, as well as an efficient collection system for e-waste. Rodrigues, emphasised on the need to put a stop on e-waste and its hazardous impact on environment. He said, “we will come up with a system for state that can be implemented all over the country,”

18

October 2018 | www.urbanupdate.in

NEWSCAN

Bihar to ban plastic bags

PATNA: Bihar government told the Patna High Court that plastic bags will be completely banned in urban areas of Bihar from October 25, 2018 and in rural areas from November 25, 2018. Earlier on September 24, 2018, the HC had asked the state government when it intended to notify the ban on plastic carry bags in Bihar.

Anyone found using plastic bags might face penal action with the minimum penalty of `5000. The Bihar State Pollution Control Board (BSPCB) will have the right to impose the fine up to `1 lakh or/and jail to violators of the polythene ban notification, to be issued for urban and rural areas separately under the Environment Protection Act. Lalit Kishore, Advocate General said this to the bench headed by Chief Justice M R Shah and Justice Ashutosh Kumar. He further said that, “there will be the complete ban on the use of plastic bags in any form from October 25, 2018 in urban areas, while it will be banned in rural areas from November 25, 2018 across the state.” Two months before, on June 2018 23, the HC had asked the state government to make a law for banning the use of plastic bags along with a provision for the penalty for its violators. In the mid of September, the state government had come out with a draft notification for a blanket ban on the manufacturing, sale, and usage of plastic after seeking objections and suggestions from civilians, institutions, and stakeholders.

According to the notification, the plastic bags are non-biodegradable, produce toxic gases on burning, cause blockage of sewers and drains and pose a threat to the life of cattle. No one will be allowed to store, sell or use plastic bag within the jurisdiction of Municipal Corporations and Councils and Nagar Panchayats.

MCG considers ban on plastic NEW DELHI: The Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) is mulling over imposing a ban on the use of plastic bags across the city and act strictly against low-grade polythene manufacturers. On September 17, 2018, MCG official said that a draft proposal will be sent to the state government for approval.

During the fifth House meeting of the MCG, Madhu Azad, Mayor of Gurugram and Yashpal Yadav, MCG commissioner, responded to the complaints of the councilors that were related to the hazards of the city’s growing plastic.

They said that they were committed to make Gurugram plastic-free. They agreed that to curb the use of plastic a top-down approach was required and assured that

severe actions will be taken against the manufacturers of low-grade polythene so that the consumption of material could be stopped. “We have taken note of this and will crack down on wholesalers and distributors of polythene by issuing heavy fines,” said commissioner MCG. The House also decided that the MCG would strictly punish the manufacturers of low-grade polythene, as imposing the penalty over individual violators was not as effective as tackling the source of the problem. Commissioner further said that a drive will be launched against the manufacturers under MCG’s jurisdiction.

MCG would work considering October 2, 2019, the deadline of the centre’s Swachh Bharat Abhiyan.

NEWSCAN

Efficient project management required for translating vision into reality: Puri NEW DELHI: Hardeep Singh Puri, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Housing & Urban Affairs addressed the inaugural session of Project Managers Global Summit 2018 on September 25, 2018. The Summit was on “Powering India’s Breakthrough Growth: New Dimensions in Project Management”.

While addressing the summit, he said that efficient project management is needed to translate vision into reality.

He said that urban areas in India have faced challenges in many aspects such as a complex ecosystem in ensuring housing for all, technology-based solutions to enhance service delivery, better mobility and greener transport, smart governance and in doing more with less. For meeting

these challenges efficient project management is needed.

The Minister said that India has undertaken the “most comprehensive” planned urbanisation program in the world and he emphasised that India is yet to build 70 per cent of the new urban infrastructure (which is green and resilient) required by 2030.

At present, over 30 per cent of India’s population, on a base of 1.2 billion, live in urban areas. At the time of India’s independence in 1947, 17 per cent of the population was living in urban areas. The flagship programs that were implemented by the Indian government are progressing to ensure that India succeeds in the 2030 Agenda.

Three waste-to-energy plants responsible for air pollution in Delhi, NGT said NEW DELHI: A joint observation committee of Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) reported to the National Green Tribunal (NGT) that the wasteto-energy plants at Okhla, Ghazipur, and Bawana in New Delhi are not complying with the emission standards and are causing pollution in the national capital. The bench was headed by NGT chairperson Justice AK Goel. Keeping the report in mind, the bench said that if the project supporters fail to maintain the standards, even after rectifying the deficiencies noticed in the joint inspection report, the CPCB may impose the fine for the environmental damage caused by them. The NGT also ordered the CPCB to forward a copy of the report to the project officials of Okhla, Ghazipur and Bawana waste-to-energy plants to conduct another inspection by October 30, 2018. The bench said, “We do not find any ground to accept the prayer for

BRIEFS

HRD Minister to confer Swachh Vidyalaya Puraskar 2017-18

Prakash Javadekar, Union Minister for Human Resource Development, conferred the Swachh Vidyalaya Puraskar 201718 at Dr Ambedkar International Centre on September 18, 2018 as a part of the “Swachhata Hi Seva” campaign launched by the Prime Minister on September 15, 2018.

The Department of School Education and Literacy, MHRD launched the Swachh Vidyalaya Puraskar in 2016-17 to honour the schools that have done good work in the field of water, sanitation, sustainability and hygiene. This year, for the first time, the awards have been extended to private schools besides government and government aided schools.

NGT appoints joint committee to look over dumping of solid waste

relieving the CPCB of its requirement in monthly monitoring. If there is a manpower constraint, it is for the CPCB to make any other appropriate arrangement for discharging its functions. This cannot be a ground to avoid responsibility under the binding directions of this tribunal.”

The board had earlier appointed the Delhi government and the civic bodies to submit an action plan for setting up alternate waste-to-energy plants in New Delhi.

NGT had said, it was unfortunate that at a time when the city was struggling with 14,000 metric tonnes waste problem on a daily basis, the authorities were blaming others and showing irresponsible behavior.

A plea was filed in National Green Tribunal (NGT) seeking directions to stop the dumping of solid waste at a park in Ghaziabad. Considering the plea, a bench headed by Adarsh Kumar Goel, NGT chairperson constituted a joint committee to look into the matter. The Joint committee is comprised of officials from the Ghaziabad Development Authority, Ghaziabad Nagar Nigam, District Magistrate of Ghaziabad, and Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board. Tribunal asked the committee to analyze the situation at the park and recommend the actions needed to be taken. By October 31, 2018 authorities are asked to submit the report on the action taken.

www.urbanupdate.in | October 2018

19

BRIEFS

NEWSCAN

Delhi, Seoul sign MoU for improvement in 12 sectors

UNEP awards ‘Champions of the Earth Award’ to PM Modi

Arvind Kejriwal, Chief Minister of Delhi, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Park Won-Soon, Mayor of Seoul, on the “Friendship and Cooperation Agreement” in Seoul on September 14, 2018. As per the agreement, both the cities will work for improvement in 12 fields including environment, transport, tourism, solid waste management and public health. CM appealed for cooperation of Seoul to tackle air pollution and transport needs in Delhi. He further added that he would want both the governments to work closely since Delhi needs to learn a lot about an efficient public transport system from Seoul. Kejriwal said “Delhi’s Urban Development Department will be more than eager to take help from you in whichever manner possible to develop Delhi in a similar way.”

Innovation, Inspiration and Action, and Lifetime Achievement.”

President of France Emmanuel Macron and PM Narendra Modi were recognized in the Policy Leadership Category for their pioneering work in championing the International Solar Alliance and promoting new levels of cooperation on environmental action. Joan Carling was recognized with the lifetime achievement award for her work as one of the world’s most prominent defenders of the environmental and indigenous rights.

Cochin International Airport also received an award for Entrepreneurial Vision and for its leadership in the use of sustainable energy. Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods were jointly recognized in the Science and Innovation category, for their revolutionary development of a popular, plant-based alternative to beef, and for their efforts to educate consumers about environmentally conscious alternatives.

China’s Zhejiang’s Green Rural Revival Program is awarded for Inspiration and Action for the transformation of a once heavily polluted area of rivers and streams in East China’s Zhejiang province.

20 markets in South Delhi to be made polythene-free South Delhi Municipal Corporation has identified five markets in each of its four administrative zones for the ‘plastic-free market’ project.

Dr Puneet Goel, SDMC commissioner, said that the civic body is focusing on behavioural change of residents along these markets for long-term results.

Civic officials said that they are working with traders associations and suppliers of alternatives (paper and jute bags) to make the markets completely free from plastic bags, both above and below the thickness of 50 microns. Officials overseeing the project said the civic body has been running a 15day intensive campaign for this purpose. National Green Tribunal had ordered that manufacturing, usage, and storage of plastic less than 50 microns would not be permitted in Delhi.

20 October 2018 | www.urbanupdate.in

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi received ‘Champions of the Earth Award’ which is United Nations’ highest environmental honour at a special ceremony in the Pravasi Bharatiya Kendra on October 3, 2018. The winners of the award were announced by the United Nations Environment Program on September 23, 2018. “UN Environment has recognized him for his bold environmental leadership on the global stage. Under his leadership, India pledged to eliminate all single-use plastics in the country by 2022. He supports and champions the International Solar Alliance which is a global partnership to scale up solar energy. The champions were recognized for their achievements in the categories including Policy Leadership, Entrepreneurial Vision, Science and

Mumbai’s Borivali station becomes visually challenged friendly MUMBAI: A Western Railways (WR) official informed that Mumbai’s busy Borivali station has become ‘visually-challenged’ friendly. The station has installed braille-embossed railings and other facilities for visually-impaired people.

Ravinder Bhakar, WR’s Chief Public Relations Officer, said that the aim behind the move was to make the railway stations equally accessible for people with disabilities. “The Western Railways authority has signed an agreement to work with an NGO and a travel company’s philanthropic arm. They have installed brailleembossed railings on foot-over bridges, entry and exit points and in subways at the station”, he added. Additionally, a booklet will also be available in Braille script which will be placed in the station master’s office. Visually-impaired people will not have to struggle for any assistance. They can get the booklet from the station master’s office. Thousands of indicators have been installed at Borivali station.

Borivali station has been strategically selected for the project as it is used by both the outstation passengers as well as the local commuters in Mumbai, Bhakar said.

The WR will also train the railway staff to reach out to the passengers so that the facility is used optimally. The project is a step towards creating an easy, dignified, and a seamless travel environment. The Western Railways further plans to make Andheri station in the western suburbs of Mumbai visually-challenged friendly in near future and subsequently more stations will be taken up under the initiative.

Event

Smart City Expo India 2018

“Smart city means liveable city, lovable city” The event was to showcase the innovation in the space of smart cities globally. The focus of the event was on the imperative need to empower cities and therefore to empower the people

Vice President expressing his views on Smart Cities

JAIPUR: The Pink City hosted Smart City Expo India 2018 from September 26 to 28, 2018. The event was held at Jaipur Exhibition and Convention Centre (JECC) in Sitapura, and was organized jointly by Jaipur Development Authority (JDA), Fira Barcelona International and Quantela Inc. The event was inaugurated by the Vice President of India Venkaiah Naidu along with the Chief Minister of Rajasthan Vasundhara Raje Scindia and the Union minister of State (I/C), Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Hardeep Singh Puri.

Speaking on the occasion, the Vice President said, “Firstly, what is a smart city! Smart city means liveable city, lovable city. We must make a city liveable, comfortable and happy. A smart city needs smart leaders at various levels.

A smart leader doesn’t mean the leader with height, weight, suit, boot and hat.

A smart leader means the one who has a smart vision, smart implementation and smart execution. A smart city not

only requires presidents but also the residents and dissidents. They all must coordinate and work together because without their cooperation, the smart cities are not possible. “Sab kaam Sarkaar karega aisa nahi chalega”. I am speaking this because I have experience of 40 years in political life. India’s urban affairs were in a mess for long. This is not to criticize any government. We have neglected it. But now, fortunately, there is a new awareness that has been taking place and lot better actions have been taken by this government and the previous one also. The Government launched complementary schemes like AMRUT, HRIDAY, Clean India and Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana with a target to provide a house to every family by 2022. Urban resonance is taking place now in India. India is now being recognised internationally. People are willing to come and invest in India.”

Meanwhile, talking to Urban Update, Union minister of State (I/C), Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Hardeep Singh Puri said, “When

I became a minister in the central government, at that stage the smart city project was just taking off. The contract at that time was just of `8,000 crore and today it’s over `40,000 crore which is five times more. The smart city projects take more time to start. People think it’s easy but it’s not. They think that our ministry works in the same manner as others because they do not have experience before as the smart city project was introduced for the first time in the history of India.”

Representatives of several government bodies, companies, industry experts, policy makers, entrepreneurs, research centres, innovators and approximately 6,000 delegates from more than 20 countries including Spain, Hungary, Egypt, Malawi, Brazil, South Africa, Mauritius, Sierra Leone, Argentina, Lebanon and Palestine participated in this mega event. The main motive of the event was to showcase innovation and ideas in the field of ‘Smart Cities’ globally, encouraging the innovation and ideas on currently running smart city projects in various cities, and also to provide solutions for the challenges that cities are facing in terms of efficiency, urban planning, and social and economic development.

The invited dignitaries and experts discussed on several topics including innovation, technology and digital governance, the future of mobility and urban planning, social development, smart destinations, clean tech and circular economy, smart village, and much more.

After this mega show, in the closing ceremony several awards were given to the new start-ups, business entrepreneurs, digital innovators, research centres, universities, civil society representatives, NGOs, public and private sector consortiums, and social activists with innovative ideas, visions, and solutions for the effective management and development of urban and semi-urban areas.

www.urbanupdate.in | October 2018

21

BRIEFS

PPCB to get rid of consumer waste Aiming to reduce the plastic waste and amplify efforts towards plastic waste resource management, Punjab Plastic Waste Management Society (PPWMS) and about 25 Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) companies signed an agreement with Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) to work together on a five-year consumer waste management programme.

The main purpose to work together is to get rid of consumer multi-layered plastic waste in a phased manner. OP Soni, Punjab environment minister said, “State govt. will work hard to include more FMCG companies so that all the districts can be covered.”

NEWSCAN

Maharashtra has most number of polluted water bodies: CPCB

Stubble burning may invite stringent punishment

“We are seriously considering a proposal to make farmers ineligible for contesting panchayat elections if found guilty of burning stubble,” said Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa, Rural Development and Panchayat Minister of Punjab on October 4, 2018. To save the future generations such hard decisions were the need of the hour. Bajwa added. The practice of stubble burning is not only polluting the environment but also the soil which is losing its fertility gradually, he further said. Punjab Govt. is planning a proposal to amend the Panchayati Raj Act. The new changes in the act may bar the farmers involved in stubble burning from contesting panchayat elections. According to Bajwa, State Govt. is working on various campaigns to make farmers aware about the harmful effects of stubble burning.

22 October 2018 | www.urbanupdate.in

MUMBAI: The number of polluted river stretches in Maharashtra has increased from 49 to 53 in 2017-18, the highest in the country, as per Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). CPCB will soon be releasing a detailed report on it under the National Water Quality Monitoring Programme.

CPCB told the National Green Tribunal (NGT) that the number of polluted river stretches has increased across India.

A. Sudhakar, member secretary, CPCB said, “We made a presentation before the NGT and state heads about a revised list of polluted river stretches, which have increased from 302 to 351 across India, with 53 in Maharashtra.”

CPCB analysed 672 water bodies in Maharashtra and found 566 (86 per cent) of them with ‘non-satisfactory’ water quality. CPCB mentioned these analyses to NGT’s principal bench. Analyses were based upon the data that was received by CPCB from the state board.

CPCB categorised polluted river stretches on the basis of the amount of biochemical oxygen demand in the water

body or the level of oxygen that plants and animals need for survival.

CPCB labelled stretches with the most pollution as priority 1.

Sudhakar said, “A majority of the priority 1 (water bodies) were from the Mumbai Metropolitan Region and Pune, with examples such as the Mithi, Mula, Mula-Mutha, Wainganga, and Ulhas, along with river stretches in the Navi Mumbai industrial area,” However, Mumbai Pollution Control Board (MPCB) had only categorized the Mithi River as the most polluted river in Maharashtra.

CPCB has recommended regular assessment of groundwater levels, industrial and domestic pollution, and the installation of sewage treatment plants for treating sewage before its release into natural water bodies to check the pollution.

It also mentioned that Maharashtra had most water quality monitoring stations and it may be the reason behind the state reporting the most number of polluted water bodies

event

‘Futuristic and Sustainable Solutions to India’s Urban Transportation’ explored at InfoComm 2018 MUMBAI: InfoComm India 2018 was held at Bombay Exhibition Ground from September 18 to 20. The footfall at the event increased by twenty one percent compared to the 2017 edition of the event. The number of visitors touched almost ten thousand this year. More than 200 exhibiting companies from over 20 countries were on hand to unveil and display the latest innovations and solutions in Professional AudioVisual (Pro-AV) and Integrated Experience. Increasingly, more exhibitors are capitalizing on the visibility and wide media exposure of the InfoComm India to launch new technologies and solutions. This year, 84 new innovations made their debut in the Indian market via the show.

This year, InfoComm India partnered with All India Institute of Local SelfGovernment (AIILSG), Computer Society of India (Mumbai Chapter), Digital Signage Multimedia Alliance, ICT Academy, and Institute of Indian Interior Designers, Mumbai Regional Chapter. These associations brought to the show the latest in technologies that drive their industries and cross fertilization of ideas at the Summit greatly enriched the experiences of delegates.

“We are delighted to note that InfoComm India continued to grow in participation numbers, breadth and depth of innovations and technological solutions displayed and explored,” said Richard Tan, Executive Director of InfoComm Asia, the organizer of this show. “We are even more gratified to note that an increasing number of key industry and public sector leaders have recognized the value that InfoComm India is contributing to India’s road to digital revolution. We are confident that with the continued support of industry and government, the show will grow in tandem with India’s progress.”

AIILSG along with InfoComm organised a session on “Futuristic

More than 200 exhibiting companies from over 20 countries were on hand to unveil and display the latest innovations and solutions in Professional AudioVisual (Pro-AV)

AIILSG organised a session to find out sustainable transport solutions during Infocomm India-2018

and Sustainable Solutions to India’s Urban Transportation”. The increasing transportation needs of the country is raising a clarion call for advanced 21stcentury networks of roads, airports, train routes, and public transportation in urban and semi urban cities alike. The session was chaired by Deputy Director General of AIILSG, Ravi Ranjan Guru.

The other notable speakers were Vikas Kanungo, S A Varma, General Manager, DMRC and others. Ravi Ranjan Guru in his opening remarks said that the basic solution lies in empowering the local bodies to get the desired solution to ever mounting problems that we confront every day. Vikas Kanungo of World bank in his address argued for mobile based information transport system (ITS) for developing countries.

He elaborated that the challenges in developing countries are lack of road capacity, poor track management and lack of transport among others. He said that mobile based ITS provides highly personalised information and user feedback is easily captured. S A Varma of DMRC said ”things change,

they evolve, we don’t say why it did not happen five years back”. He said while formulating futuristic and sustainable planning we need to keep the acronym ‘SMILE’ in mind. That is sustainability, mobility, innovation, life style and environment.

This year, 84 new innovations made their debut in the Indian market via the show. Leading experts and speakers engaged delegates with insightful presentations and passionate exchange of ideas. Issues on smart cities, urban transportation, education, e-government and healthcare, among others, were extensively explored and discussed, bringing to the fore the complexity and diversity of the impact of digital technology on people and business, and the defining role that Pro-AV and Integrated Experience technologies play in facilitating the digital revolution. These associations brought to the show the latest in technologies that drive their industries and cross fertilization of ideas at the Summit greatly enriched the experiences of delegates.

www.urbanupdate.in | October 2018

23

Urban Blog Urban Blog

Urban animals in the changing climate Climate variation leads to the alteration of urban ecosystem services. Birds, primates, snakes, amphibians and other small animals are considered susceptible to the effects of climate change. The animals in the Imphal valley are facing a challenging future

Ashem Rahul Singh Project Scientist State Climate Change Cell Directorate of Environment, Manipur

P

resently, a considerable variation in climate can be seen in Imphal valley.

The frequent changes in temperature, wind patterns, rainfall intensity and flash floods influence the biosphere in the valley. Such changes disturb the urban animals directly or indirectly.

Studies also show that a little change in the ecosystem services will bring numerous changes in the surrounding environment.

The change might cause sudden shifts in vegetation and variation in ecological balance. It can lead to certain serious problems including shifts in distribution, major population declines and probable chances of extinction.

Similarly, the rise in temperature results in warmer summers and longer dry season which is of high impact as it makes family of primates susceptible to various diseases. Diseases that can be passed on to animals from humans or

24 October 2018 | www.urbanupdate.in

from animals to humans, living in urban ecosystem. Likewise, the chorusing of frogs during breeding indicates imbalance of the ecosystem. This is also attributed to the changing pattern of rainfall and erratic temperature.

In addition to this, the increase in human population and infrastructure is another serious challenge for the urban fauna. Climatic factors, traffic congestion, poor sanitation facilities in many localities, untreated waste released in water bodies and sound pollution add to the challenge.

The sudden change in climate alters the habits and habitats of urban animals.

The changes include morphology, physiology, behavioral activities, etc.

Such variation in temperature affects the behavioral pattern of amphibian larvae, leading to the loss of population density in their suitable habitats. It also alters the balance between predator and prey. Some species of flying fox are disoriented by human induced light pollution. The phenomenon of artificial lighting also affects certain bird species like Barn owl causing a disorientation in their biological behavioral and biological rhythm, which naturally depends on the day and night cycle.

Several species of amphibians are affected primarily due to loss of aquatic habitat or untreated chemical waste released in waterbodies.

Water pollution is drastically affecting aquatic life in rivers. At

present, increase in urban population has led to its disconnection with natural surroundings. As observed, daily activities of an urban animal is encouraged by different responses and the degree to which it can utilize human resources. It is evident that animals living around urban areas are good for humans but not always good for their own survival. Therefore, it is required to understand animal behaviour and their habitats to create a reference model. This source of reference can be used to track changes due to climatic factors or anthropogenic sources in the Imphal valley. Measurable steps like making refuges and parks in urban areas can act as stepping stones for preservation of the fauna. Creation of wildlife sanctuaries and parks can also help in rescuing small populations from extinction. Sometimes, urban parks and green infrastructure are touted for their benefits as they play a role in nurturing the urban biodiversity.

Apart from the ecological value, urban animals also have economic, aesthetic and recreational importance.

In particular, the urban animal is affected by habitat destruction, exposure to invasive species, increasing conflicts with humans and climate variation and change.

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

event

Municipalika-2018 engages urban stakeholders for building ‘Future Cities’

By Team Urban Update

The 15th edition of Municipalika Exhibition & Conference was organised at Bombay Exhibition Centre from September 19 to September 21, 2018 in Mumbai. The theme of the event this year was ‘Future Cities’ - an exposition of technologies, products and services for urban development.

The event was inaugurated by Nadir Patel, High Commissioner of Canada in India; Mahendra Jain, IAS, Additional Chief Secretary, Urban Development Department, Government of Karnataka and Divya Kush, President, Indian Institute of Architects.

Patel delivered the inaugural address.

He said, “Canada is globally recognised for its excellence in urban infrastructure and smart cities which includes highlevel project management, specialised technical skills and for developing environmentally friendly technological solutions combined with innovative design. This is a great opportunity for Canadian companies to learn about the exciting developments and plans for transformation in India’s urban infrastructure and smart cities. I look forward to further collaboration to support India in achieving its smart cities objectives.” Sanjiv Agarwal, Founder Chairman, Good Governance India Foundation, gave the welcome address and V Suresh, President, Good Governance India Foundation and Former CMD, HUDCO gave the theme address.

The event had participation of over 200 delegates in the conference segment, from Indian cities and towns and abroad and professional visitors in the exhibition segment, including ministers, mayors, municipal commissioners, urban local bodies, CEOs of Smart Cities and parastatals, along with technology providers,

Nadir Patel, High Commissioner of Canada in India, inaugrates Municipalika-2018

professionals and all urban stakeholders.

Faculty and students of architecture, engineering, technology and management institutions participated to get exposure on the latest trends.

Rajasthan, the Partner State, showcased all the excellent urban and housing initiatives in the state.

Karnataka, Kerala, Assam, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Uttarakhand, Goa, were also represented in a big way, as were 20 more states. With the ongoing Urban Transformation process for 100 Smart Cities, 500 AMRUT Cities, PMAY-Housing for All, Swachh Bharat Mission, the event aimed at discussing strategies, best practices and display of technologies, equipment and solutions for implementing these agendas across the country including ease of doing business.

The Smart Cities Conclave had participation from several Smart City CEOs, industry experts and technology providers - dealing with challenges and opportunities arising out of the Smart Cities Mission. There was a special session on Fire and Public Safety, participation of Chief Fire Officers, fire engineers and professional institutions deliberating about the fire regulations for all types of buildings and their

enforcement in-line with the National Building Code of India.

The three-day long conference also included sessions on Resilient and Secure Cities, Healthy Cities, Green Cities, Connected Cities, Digital Cities and on Integrated Cities for selfcontained cities. The Humane Cities session deliberated on the Housing For All Agenda, progress achieved and the path forward for achieving the goal by 2022. Municipalika 2018 also hosted a session on Participative Cities which was an interactive session between citizens and government for joint actions in improving cities.

There was an Annual Meet organised

by All India Council of Mayors, where Mayors from across the country participated. CAPEX - Construction, Architecture, Planning and Engineering Expo, is a platform for showcasing innovative building materials and technologies. The Expo provided opportunities to project the needs of infrastructure, building construction and architecture and providers of mechanical, electrical, plumbing and fire services (MEPF), green building products, building materials and technologies which are environmentfriendly and energy saving.

www.urbanupdate.in | October 2018

25

COVER STORY Plastic Ban

The Plastic conundrum The increasing use of single-use plastic items is taking a devastating toll on our environment. To counteract the ill-effects of plastic, many Indian states have already put a blanket ban on the use of single-use plastic items particularly plastic carry bags but the sluggish implementation of the ban is keeping it only on paper. Indian government needs to lay down a strong and robust policy regime to see the intended results on the ground

26 October 2018 | www.urbanupdate.in

I

Ravi Ranjan Guru | Executive Editor

Most of the things of our daily-use come packed in plastic bags; whether it’s milk pouch, tea leaves, chips, biscuits; a small portion of these bags is recycled and most of it ends up in landfill sites. Scientists say that it takes over 1000 years for a plastic bag to disintegrate completely.

That is the reason landfill sites in our cities and our water bodies are full of plastic bags and other kinds of disposable plastic items

ndia will celebrate the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi on October 2, 2019.

The government had set a target of making India clean by then to pay tribute to the Father of the Nation on the occasion. We have one year to go but the country will have to travel a long distance to make India clean. The government has made stupendous efforts under Swachh Bharat Mission and has taken long strides in toilet making, Solid Waste Management and cleaning water bodies. Still, the government has not been able to find a feasible, long-term solution to the plastic menace. If India wants to become a clean country, the government will have to put in place stringent policy measures and implementation mechanisms to clean our streets, public spaces and water bodies of plastic waste.

Plastic was invented less than a century ago but its use in our day-to-day lives is so rampant and widespread that one can find it on the peaks of tallest mountains and in the darkest corners of oceans. Plastic is omnipresent. It is used in almost everything around us — cars, toys, goggles, clothes, furniture, window shields, factory equipment, computers, mobile phones, kitchenware, etc. Many of these items are durable and used for long periods of time but the use of single-use plastic items especially plastic carry bags, straws, disposable plates and bottles is increasingly becoming a huge burden on our environment. These items are used for a few minutes or a few hours and go away but actually, they don’t.

They end up on streets, landfill sites or in waterbodies and pollute our environment.

Plastic bags that became popular in the 1970s among the masses replaced cloth and paper bags in a couple of years. According to available data, one million plastic bags are consumed every minute globally. Around the world, 1 million plastic drinking bottles are purchased every minute. Every year we use up to 5 trillion disposable plastic bags. Some countries have controlled the use by mandating tax on single-use

plastic items or completing banning them. As per studies, people use an average of four single-use plastic bags a year in Denmark, compared to one a day in the USA. The exact data for Indian citizens are not available.

In a report released by Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFC), Dr Harsh Vardhan writes, “Plastics have become a part of everyone’s life and Indians are no exception. However, the per capita plastic consumption in India is much lower (11 kg per capita per annum) as compared to the global average (28 kg), and per capita consumption in developed countries such as USA (139 kg) and the European Union (65 kg). At the same time, the Indian plastics industry’s growth rate is one of the highest in the world and, due to rapidly expanding incomes, the per capita consumption of plastic is likely to increase.”

While plastic has many valuable usages, people have become overreliant on single-use or disposable plastic which has severe environmental consequences. In total, 50 per cent of the plastic used is single use.

As per a report published by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) in 2013, Indians discard 15,342 tonnes of plastic waste daily, of which about 60 percent is recycled. The recycling rate in India is considerably higher than the global average of 14 per cent. Yet, there are over 6,100 tonnes of plastics being dumped in landfills or ending up polluting streams or groundwater resources. Over 8 million plastic waste ends up in oceans. According to a 2017 article in the journal Environmental Science & Technology, of the world’s ten rivers that carry 90 per cent of the plastics the oceans receive, three are in India: the Indus, the Ganga and the Brahmaputra. Some studies suggest that if the consumption continues at the same rate the plastic waste in the sea will outweigh the marine wildlife.

In the last one decade, a movement to ban the use of plastic bags and other single-use plastic items such as straws has gained momentum because of its hazards on the environment and

www.urbanupdate.in | October 2018

29 27

marine wildlife. Bangladesh was the first country to ban plastic carry bags in 2002 after the devastating floods in the country and the studies found that plastic bags clogged the drainage system in many parts of the country.

Many other countries including South Africa, Rwanda, China, Australia, and Italy followed suit.

The consequences

Most of the things of our daily-use come packed in plastic bags; whether it’s milk pouch, tea leaves, chips, biscuits; a small portion of these bags is recycled and most of it ends up in landfill sites.

Scientists say that it takes over 1000 years for a plastic bag to disintegrate completely. That is the reason landfill sites in our cities and our water bodies are full of plastic bags and other kinds of disposable plastic items.

A large amount of plastic we use escapes the waste collection system and ends on our streets and sometimes makes its way into urban water supply thus into our bodies. The plastic trash, whether on landfill sites or oceans, is constantly exposed to ultraviolet rays and breaks into microplastic. These particles are traveling into our bodies through the food chain. Microplastic has been found in sea salt, tap water, seafood and even in the household dust.

According to the World Environment Day website for 2018, plastics can also serve as a magnet for other pollutants, including dioxins, metals, and

The use of plastic in our day-to-day lives is so rampant and widespread that one can find it on the peaks of tallest mountains and in the farthest corners of oceans. Plastic seems to be omnipresent. Plastic bags that became popular in the 1970s among masses replaced cloth and paper bags in just a couple of years. According to available data, one million plastic bags are consumed every minute globally. As per studies, people use an average of four single-use plastic bags a year in Denmark, compared to one a day in the USA. The exact data for Indian citizens are not available pesticides. Plastic carry bags and other items contain a number of chemicals, many of which are toxic or disrupt hormones.

In 2018, #BeatPlasticPollution was the theme for World Environment Day. It was a call to action for all to come together and combat one of the biggest environmental challenges of our time. India was the host country for World Environment Day 2018 and chose the theme.

The flip side

There is a flip side to the story. Banning plastic is not the ultimate solution to environmental problems as it is not the only environmental challenge that the world faces today. Some of the substitutes of plastic have a greater negative impact on the environment.

For example, the manufacturing of a cotton bag results in much higher emission than a plastic bag. It is

reported that to equalize the same a cotton bag needs to be used 7100 times.

Similarly, the use of plastic bags in packaging saves a huge amount of food from getting wasted. Handling plastic waste is a complicated issue. It needs to be addressed globally to reduce the impact on humanity.

Lack of effective deterrence

As many as 25 Indian states and union territories have imposed partial or complete ban on the use of single-use plastic items including carry bags.

These states include Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, Delhi, Odisha and Assam among many others. The laws to regulate the plastic use and recycling have been in place, for almost two decades, since 1999.

The Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change notified the Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016 in March 2016. The legislation aims to

Global Average

28

India 11

China 38

Europe 65

USA 139

Per Capita Plastic Consumptions (2014-15) in kg

28 October 2018 | www.urbanupdate.in

tackle the plastics waste menace by making source segregation of waste mandatory. The ambition is to follow a waste-to-wealth pathway via recovery, reuse and recycling. The Plastic Waste Management Rules also include provisions for the implementation of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR). It is designed to promote the integration of environmental costs associated with goods throughout their life cycles into the market price of the products. Despite several rules on paper, the use of plastic is rampant because of sluggish implementation.

However, everything is not gloomy.

A host of civic authorities, civil society organisations and individuals like of Afroj Shah and Aditya Mukarji have come forward to reduce the burden of plastics on society. Shah cleaned up the Versova Beach by mobilising citizens and Mukarji replacing 50,000 plastic straws. Over five million Bharat Scouts and Guides (BSG) have pledged to give up their plastic woggles, a signature element of the BSG uniform, and replace it with more sustainable and eco-friendly options. Examples abound from Ukhrul in Manipur becoming a plastic free district to Vengurla taluka banning plastic bags and using plastics to make roads. The start-up Banyan Nation has helped global brands to use more recycled plastics. There are many such striking examples.

Indian cities can also learn from the experiences of other countries; many of which banned plastic items as long as 25 years ago. Ireland was the first country to place a significant tax on plastic bags — now 22 euro cents — at checkout in 2002. This resulted in 94 per cent drop in the use of plastic bags in the country.

Another country Rwanda implemented

Plastic waste per day (in tonnes) Delhi 960 Chennai 429 Kolkata 426 Mumbai 408

Silver Lining in Sikkim In 1996, Yuksom became the first village in Sikkim to ban the use of plastics Sikkim is on a mission to create a Green Revolution of its own kind.

One that has nothing to do with rice and wheat, but everything to do with single-use plastics. As unenvironment org approvingly notes, ‘Despite being small and isolated, and with its people leading their lives in extremely tough mountainous terrain, Sikkim has emerged as one of India’s environmental leaders. In 2016, the state government banned the use of plastic (PET) bottles and foam (Styrofoam) food containers across the state.

In 1998 Sikkim became the first Indian state to ban disposable plastic bags. In this context, the role of village Yuksom was noteworthy.

Nestled beside the magnificent Khangchendzonga National Park, by 1997 the villagers were so fed up of the visible deterioration of the protected area that they decided enough was enough.

Local community members formed the Khangchendzonga Conservation Committee (KCC) which comprised community members and stakeholders in tourism enterprises working to conserve natural and cultural resources, coordinated by the Sikkim Forest Department. A key issue KCC identified for immediate a strict plastic bag ban in 2008. And, the illegal use of plastic bags can result in fines or jail time. Formulating such laws and policies will bear results only when the implementation is done efficiently.

No country can wriggle-out of the plastic problem by looking the other way. Among all this commotion over the ban and restrictions on the use of plastic items, the actions of individuals remain the most important part of shunning plastic items from our daily lives. The next step could be making the producers responsible for safely

action was plastic waste management within the national park.

Annually, KCC’s monitoring programs helps in collecting around 800 kg of waste from the trekking trails and the forests. KCC now operates a functional Waste Segregation Centre and has worked with the Forest Department to create a system by which trekking operators have to declare non bio-degradable products being carried through, make a checklist and upon return account for these products.

Defaulters are fined INR 5,000 if they fail to account for waste not brought back. Waste materials like noodle packets, tetra packs and other plastics are recycled to make handbags, pillows, and so on that tourists can buy when they visit the KCC office. Yuksom was the first village in Sikkim to ban the use of plastics in 1996. Two years later, the state government announced a statewide ban on plastic bags. The statewide ban on plastic bags started on June 4, 1998. Initially, in big towns, continuous checks took place and strict fines of up to INR 20,000 were imposed. This acted as an effective deterrent.

(From Good News from India- a report by MoEF&CC)

disposing of the waste generated from their products and then advocating with the governments and policymakers to ensure our environment is clean by having a robust and running system of waste management. Together we can beat plastic pollution and leave behind a sustainable planet for our future generations. As rightly put by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo while introducing a bill to ban single-use plastic items in New York by 2019, “We did not inherit the earth, we are merely borrowing it from our children.”

www.urbanupdate.in | October 2018

29

leaderspeak Innovation in Sanitation

Municipalities can enhance sanitation through innovation Technology has always stirred changes in various aspects of human life. Barring a few, municipal corporations in India have not made significant strides in adopting advanced technologies in the field of sanitation, cleaning streets and monitoring sanitation operations. Since Indian governments at all levels are making efforts to improve sanitation standards, applying innovation in sanitation is the preeminent demand of the present time

I

nnovation and technology adoption in various aspects of sanitation, from cleaning of roads, construction of toilets to the management of waste is a crucial requirement to achieve the objectives of Swachh Bharat Mission and also Sustainable Development Goal 6-ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all. Information technology and mobile phones have changed the lives of citizens by bringing a lot of changes in our day-to-day lives. From booking tickets online to ordering groceries, everything can be now done using a mobile. Many municipal corporations in India have launched their applications for providing basic services but the potential of using the technology for improving sanitation and hygiene standards in our cities remains untapped.

Mobile technology

The government of India has launched location-based apps for improving sanitation and cleanliness in cities.

30 October 2018 | www.urbanupdate.in

Ranjit S Chavan President, AIILSG

Citizens can click the picture of a location and geo-tag it. The concerned department will be informed and the area will be cleaned. Such advances in technology will drive citizencorporation engagement to a new level. These apps can be used to report issues in private and public sanitation facilities, sewerage and drainage networks, the practice of open defecation in urban areas and industries polluting water streams. The scope of their usage is enormous with great benefits.

There are many good examples in this available from around the world. SunCleanis a mobile game that was developed by students at the University of Indonesia. It uses games to teach children about waste disposal and hand-washing.

The penetration of smartphones in India has also seen a swift rise. Such application for improving hygiene standards can bring about a change.

There are hundreds of applications available which enable people to self-report problems in sanitation

facilities in schools, public places and even if they can monitor sewage outflows that could affect the water supply to citizens. These technological tools can build a transparent and accountable system in the area of sanitation. mSewage, mSchool, Taarifa, Toilight, Sanitationmapper are some of the available applications which haveshown the way.

Similarly, Swachh Bharat App is also revolutionizing sanitation practices and the response of citizens and local governments. Anyone can download this “Clean India App” on their smartphone. When a person sees any waste/garbage dump, he can take a picture using the app and upload it on the Swachh Bharat National Server (Clean India National Server) along with its geo-location, time and date.

The server will process the image and grade this waste/garbage dump as Red, Yellow or Green. Red stands for urgent action, Yellow for taking notice and Green to indicate Clean. The server hence places a “Tag” of respective colour on the Google Map (or on

ISRO’s BHUWAN) at that geo-location.

The cleaning agencies also have this app so the person who is responsible to clean that geolocation will also see such Red/Yellow tags on his Smartphone.The cleaning employee hence reaches that Geo-location cleans this place, takes the new picture on his app and uploads it on the server. It will process this new image and will once again grade this waste/garbage dump as Red/Yellow/ Green, depending upon the quality of cleaningat that geo-location.

Digital payment & waste tax

The recovery of the operational cost of the waste collection remained a big challenge for municipalities. The corporations have used various models and have even engaged third parties under Public Private Partnerships (PPP) in the waste collection but only a few succeeded and could encourage people to pay for the service. 100 per cent door-to-door collection of waste

still remains a farfetched dream for corporations. The reason being that they are not able to meet the expenses incurred in providing the services.

If one visits the length and breadth of the country, citizens everywhere are willing to pay for the services but they demand high-quality undisrupted services. If municipal corporations can provide them with clean streets and public places using the thriving business model of ‘waste collection’ tax,people are willing to play. When India is marching forward towards digital and mobile payment options, can’t we think of a feasible financial system through which the users can make payment for their waste collection online? The main problem lies in bringing people into a system and monitoring the same. And, if everyone begins to pay, the overall cost will come down and will also not pinch the pockets of ordinary citizens.

Technology can be of assistance in this regard but the key to its success

The image is for representative purpose only

When India is marching forward towards digital and mobile payment options, can’t we think of a feasible financial system through which the users can make payment for their waste collection online? The main problem lies in bringing people into a system and monitoring the same. And, if everyone begins to pay, the overall cost will come down and will also not pinch the pockets of ordinary citizens. Technology can be of assistance in this regard but the key to its success remains-quality of services offered

remains-quality of services offered.

Cutting-age technology for municipalities

Cleaning of streets is as important as any other component of Swachh Bharat Mission because it will add to the aesthetic value of our urban streets. Many cities struggle to manage street litter, and the corporations do not have the resources to send a street sweeper down every single city street on a daily or weekly basis. Sweeping of streets isa costly and labor-intensive work this means there’s a lot of scope for optimization of resources and implementing innovation.

The advent of mechanical sweepers has been beneficial for many big cities.

The small versions of the same can be seen at railway stations, malls,and big hospitals. A Singapore-based company SmartCow AI specializes in providing end-to-end AI driven solutions is working to solve the street cleaning problem. Instead of assigning street sweepers to clean streets on a random schedule, its software monitors streets for trash and litter. Once a specific threshold is met, the concerned authorities are informed and they can send the sweepers for cleaning. This can further help in creating a database and analyzing The frequency of the requirement of cleaning thus creating an optimal schedule of sweeping streets. This will help in the optimal utilization of resources available with our corporations. This means that the corporations need not buy multiple cleaning machines to cover all the areas under its jurisdiction. However, the technology has its own challenges as there are certain locations at public places and streets which machines could not reach or need human intervention for cleaning. Such challenges can be solved when we start using the technology because everything takes some to evolve to fit in the existing system. The adoption of innovation will certainly help municipalities in lowering cost and utilizing their human resources in improving the quality of their services.

www.urbanupdate.in | October 2018

31

Article Sanitation and Health

Behavioural Change holds the key The role of media especially cinema has been instrumental in bringing about a change in people’s attitude towards sanitation and hygiene. Many celebrities in India are promoting Swachh Bharat Mission through advertisements, promotional videos, public events and even through commercial films

Kumar Dhananjay Consulting Editor

S

ome time back a film titled, Toilet: Ek Prem Katha, was released. It was a commercial venture in support of government campaign to ameliorate the sanitation situation in the country. Keshav is the lead character in the film and his wife leaves him when he fails to construct a toilet in their home. And he says “Lovers built the Taj Mahal for their love. But I couldn’t build a loo”. This is a film but we keep coming across stories like girl refusing to marry in a family which does not have a toilet or women walking out of wedding because of lack of similar facility at home. Toilet ‘revolution’ is here to stay and a kind of consciousness is emerging across the country that it is indeed required for sanitation and health.

Flagship Scheme SBM

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has lately claimed that sanitation coverage has gone up to eighty percent from thirty four percent and that ‘Swachh Bharat Mission’ is playing a critical role in creating a healthy India. He said that cleanliness is considered to be first necessity for a healthy life. We initiated the campaign to construct toilets at home. This campaign for cleanliness is being taken forward successfully by

32 October 2018 | www.urbanupdate.in

125 crore people of the country. He said “look at its results. Sanitation coverage has gone up from 38 per cent to around 80 per cent. So if it was 40 per cent it has (it means) doubled. More than 3.5 lakh villages have declared themselves open defecation free in India.” He also referred to UNICEF study and said that villages which have become open defecation free, on an average per family Rs 50,000 is being saved which would have been otherwise used for other works.

Warning from WHO

On October 1, World Health Organisation (WHO) launched the first global guidelines on sanitation and health. It warned that “the world will not reach the goal of universal sanitation coverage – where every person in the world has access to toilets that safely contain excreta – by 2030, unless countries make comprehensive policy shifts and invest more funds in sanitation”. The new guidelines set out four principal recommendations which are: Sanitation interventions should ensure that entire community has access to toilets that safely contain excreta, the full sanitation system should undergo local health risk assessments to protect individuals and communities from exposure to excreta

– whether from unsafe toilets, leaking storage or inadequate treatment of waste, sanitation should be integrated into regular local government-led planning and service provision to avert the higher costs associated with retrofitting sanitation and to ensure sustainability, the health sector should invest more and play a coordinating role in sanitation planning to protect public health.

Undoubtedly, India has elevated the

challenge to end open defecation to the highest level. ‘Swachh Bharat Mission’ is coordinating action across many sectors to ensure that basic sanitation rapidly reaches and improves the lives of millions. If we look at the data available on the portal of ‘Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin),Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation, it says that 871.87 lakh household toilets have been constructed since October 2, 2014. As on date 4,465 villages along Ganga River, 25 states/union territories and 530 districts have become open defecations free (ODF). At the same time ‘Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban)’ Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, portal says that the construction of 50,71,725 Individual toilets and 3,95,200 Community and Public Toilets have been completed in cities.

Making villages ODF

In 1937, Gandhiji, while replying to a letter received from Birbhum, Bengal, wrote, “An ideal village will be so constructed as to lend itself to perfect sanitation.” India just completed seventy years of its independence; we need to look back and take stock of the situation so far as sanitation is concerned. The flagship program of PM Modi Swachh Bharat Mission is making strides and inching towards

declaring all villages ODF. SBM has completed three years and will culminate in October 2019. According to government statistics rural sanitation coverage has gone up from 39 per cent to 67 per cent in three years and over 230 million people in rural India have stopped defecating in the open. Five states, 186 districts and over 2,31,000 villages have been declared as ODF.

Behavioural change and awareness

The spurt in construction of toilets is important but more important is behavioural change. There comes the issue of raising awareness of the need of sanitation and usage of toilets. There has been a significant policy shift that if from output to outcome i.e., from number of toilets built to the number of villages declared ODF. ODF signifies the entire village unit making this commitment. Specially in rural India, there is increasing realisation that in addition to the violation of dignity, especially that of women and girls, open defecation significantly adds to the disease burden, especially of children below the age of five.

The task is ominous. You can build physical infrastructure like roads, bridges and power plants but it is quite a different ball game altogether to engage

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has lately claimed that sanitation coverage has gone up to eighty per cent from thirty four per cent and that ‘Swachh Bharat Mission’ is playing a critical role in creating a healthy India. He said that cleanliness is considered to be first necessity for a healthy life

millions to fight against the centuriesold practice of open defecation. That is the biggest challenge SBM faces while carrying out one of the largest behaviour change campaigns in recent history, mainly through effective information, education and communication (IEC).

Once a village declares itself as ODF, verification of the status becomes key. SBM guidelines provide a ninety day window from the date of ODF declaration.

It also allows processing of any gaps or errors in ODF status to be rectified.

At the moment, 56 percent villages have been verified. The Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation has recently issued policy guidelines to accelerate the verification process, stating that state governments will be eligible for release of the second instalment of central funds only if they have fully verified all their ODF villages. SBM has put in place a strong mechanism of verification at district and state levels.

At the national level too, the Ministry carries out separate checks as well as third party sample surveys by independent organisations. A national survey of 1,40,000household done in May-June 2017 by the Quality Council of India found that national usage of toilets was 91 per cent.

Slip-back has to be stopped

Sustainability is crucial for SBM. That is what will separate SBM from earlier programs. It is quite possible that villages may slip back to open defecation because of old habits.

Already media reports have appeared showing that even in the villages which have been declared ODF, people are not using toilets and still venturing into open fields to relieve themselves.

We have miles to go before the targeted goal of making the country ODF could be achieved. Only hope is that citizens will engage with the programs to make it a success.

The acceleration over the next one year to achieve the desired result is going to be the key. One hopes that momentum is maintained and we are able to stop the ‘slip-back’ both in rural and urban areas.

www.urbanupdate.in | October 2018

33

Article ODF

Jharkhand’s journey of becoming ODF Jharkhand was declared an ODF state on October 2, 2017 well before the deadline set by the Union Government of October 2, 2019. A clear cut strategy was adopted and a roadmap was prepared for each and every ULB; clearly showing the time for the different activities to be taken up in the ULB, different timelines for different wards for taking up the planned activities

Pravin Bhardwaj Waste Management Expert

W

hen the Swachh Bharat mission was launched, 30.65 million people had no access to safe toilets in Jharkhand. Looking into the severity of the problem of open defecation a committee was formed to address this issue and the mandate of the committee was to achieve ODF status by October 2, 2017.

Emphasis was given to ensure that no construction was taken up unless the communication was triggered by different CLTS technique and demand for toilet was raised by community itself. Thus from the very beginning, we ensured that entire mission was demand driven rather than supply driven.

The programme was developed based on the severity mapping so that declaring the state ODF is achieved

by October 2, 2017. Jharkhand was declared as an ODF state on 2nd Oct. 2017 well before the deadline set by the National Government of October 2, 2019. As many as 2,10,081 IHHL have been constructed in the mission period so as to achieve the ambitious goal of reaching the target. Moreover 633 units of Community Toilets which comprise 2,834 seats have been constructed so

34 October 2018 | www.urbanupdate.in

far in the Mission period. In another noteworthy effort, Jharkhand’s ULBs have ensured setting up of 396 units of Public Toilets which consist of total 2024 seats.

The strategies adopted

A Project Management Unit at the state level was formed for execution and monitoring of the project. This was like a war room to resolve all the issues and concerns of ULBs. Project Implementation Units at ULB level were also established to implement the entire roadmap. The Strategy was drawn up for the construction of Indian Household Latrine (IHHL), Community Toilets/Public Toilets so that the path towards ODF could be achieved in the set time frame.

Special campaigns were organized to map OD spots in all the ULBs. Moreover drive was undertaken to identify households whose members were indulging in Open Defecation.

Religious leaders were also involved to motivate the local community to abandon the practice of open defecation.

Considering the mammoth task, capacity building of different stakeholders was a pre-requisite to achieve the ambitious goals to turn

ULBs Open Defecation Free in shortest span of time. To execute ODF, capacity enhancement was an important exercise so PIU members, masons and other stakeholders were trained on regular basis.

Promotional activities

Behaviour change is the key to make any project successful. In this process Swachhta Pustika for classes’ I-V, was prepared and distributed in all schools.

Various activities like Paint My City and competitions like quiz, slogan and drawing were conducted in schools for awareness generation. All the schools currently have baal swachhta samities functional across ULBs. Colleges were assigned to do sanitation audits of govt. offices, colleges, hospitals, etc.

Beneficiary led construction of IHHL was promoted to ensure quality since the responsibilities of construction and ownership were with the same person.

SHGs were involved in construction and awareness activities. Area Level Federations (ALF) of Khunti and Sahebganj was awarded at National level for the same.

CSR Support in construction

CSR support was mobilized and

Local Business Community and social organisations were roped in to provide building materials for the construction of IHHL in many ULBs of the state. ‘Gift a Toilet’ was a promotional campaign organised on Rakhsha Bandhan festival. This period was used for motivating brothers to gift an individual household toilet to their sisters, especially for those sisters who do not have toilets in their house and are bound to go out during the odd hours of the day and face shame and fear. Focus was on brothers who were aware of the problem and were willing to bring their sister’s family members out of the filthy condition. Media was a great support in spreading the news via telecasting, broadcasting and print media throughout the campaign period.

Swachh Toilet competition

The competition was for construction of toilets which were mainly beneficiary led in the state initially.

Therefore it was planned to organize a Swachh Toilet competition across ULBs. The best toilet in the ULB was awarded cash money and certificate of appreciation. In the wards which were made completely free from Open Defecation, ‘Gaurav Yatra’ was conducted to proudly announce the same. This was done after obtaining mandatory formalities like declaration forms from SHGs, schools etc. in that particular ward.

Sustainable model of community toilet

Jharkhand has introduced a selfsustainable model of Community Toilets which includes a Skill Development Centre as well as shops so as to make the things financially viable for the outsourced agencies, concerned ULBs and at the same time beneficial for youths and entrepreneurs of the region by way of providing training in different vocations and providing space to do business respectively.

The monitoring and the progress of the construction was done through Video Conferencing every fortnightly.

The problems were heard and corrective measures taken. The PMU

officials looked at the number, quality, usage and functionality of IHHL on day-to-day basis. Also, the PMU team at the State Urban Development Authority (SUDA) level visited them at regular intervals to support and guide them. Vigilance committee was formed at the local level to look into timely and quality construction.

Innovative idea of colour-coded stickering was done on all the individual toilets to know their usage.

Green sticker was affixed if all family members were using the the toilet, Yellow if few family members were using the toilet and Red if no members were using the toilet. SHG members and Swachhagrahis and ward Swachhta Samiti tightly monitored each family usage and pasted stickers on toilets.

Due to this, usage of toilets increased.

Community on their own formed a small group of children who were very vigilant at OD spots; this group was known as ‘Banar Sena’. This showed the sense of ownership of the ward and communities. All CT/PTs are mapped in Google so as to ensure timely and easy accessibility for citizens. State’s major ULBs have also ensured setting up of ICT-based Feedback Polling Station so as to gather feedback on Public and Community Toilets installation.

Dedicated hoarding was placed at all the OD spots so that the message of the ODF is conveyed to all people

who indulged in OD. A dialogue was established with people who were defecating in the open. The OD spots were transformed and put to alternative use like Playgrounds, Parks and Plantation with religious values.

Community Toilets are also constructed at identified OD Spots.

Use of social media

State level workshops were conducted with large media houses. Regular briefing of the media was done at the local level and their involvement was sought so that people are motivated to construct the toilets and make the goal of ODF a reality. Social media like Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter were used to share best practices and learning to add to the mission ODF. Positive and inspirational stories were spread.

ODF++

Septage management policy for the state was formulated in 2017 and the same is being implemented in the state.

In four cities work has been started and DPRs for remaining are being prepared.

Strategy has been made to make all the other cities effective in septage management. All cities will have safe and scientific faecal sludge management infrastructure in place by 2019.

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

www.urbanupdate.in | October 2018

35

ARTICLE plastic pollution & Beyond

Preparing for challenges beyond plastic While the world grapples with the severe adverse environmental impacts of pollution due to plastic, other equally alarming dangers are lurking around the corner

V Vijaykumar Sr Advisor, AIILSG

T

he plastic menace is not only a stubborn problem, it has very great adverse impacts on our lives- every single day of our lives. In addition, it has similar damaging impacts on animal life including marine life and flora and fauna – in short, the entire environment (see cover story).

The lurking problem

But plastic waste is a menace we are confronted with across the globe for the last 2-3 decades and are aware of the magnitude of the problem. There are other such dangers lurking around the corner. Among them is textile waste.

With the growing world population, increasing economic prosperity of millions and rapidly changing fashion landscape or ‘Fast Fashion’, this danger could be a larger menace creeping up upon us. Until several years ago, the only way of disposing of nomore-usable clothing was to give it away in charity or to our drivers and gardeners. With clothing becoming non-usable at an accelerating pace and the numbers growing rapidly, even charitable institutions like orphanages are flooded with used (often in good condition) clothing, so much so that

36 October 2018 | www.urbanupdate.in

many now refuse these and solicit donations in money form. At the same time, millions across the globe are being pulled out of extreme poverty and thus are no more appreciative of used, unpreferred clothing. Alongside we have seen marked improvements in technology, especially in man-made fibres which ensure greater durability of our clothing. As we said, changing lifestyles and consumerism also lead to early disposal. There has been

a marked shift towards man-made during the last 2 decades, including stubborn polyester. Even the so-called ‘pure cotton’ is usually blended for durability. The colours used are often chemical based. All these add to the magnitude of the problem and elevate its stubbornness.

What do we do with no-more-wanted clothing? If charities don’t want it and neither do our drivers and gardeners, we simply need to throw it away, adding

to landfill volume material that is stubborn and not easily biodegradable.

The best we have reached as far as recycling goes is cutting cloth into small pieces and using it as factory waste or insulation.

The huge impacts

One needs to remember that manmade fibres (polyester, etc.) are made by extracting non-renewable sources from the earth. Further, the production process includes significant GHG load.

One estimate puts the total load in 2015 due to the production of polyester for textiles at about 700 billion Kg of CO2 equivalent. And then there is of course the huge amount of used clothing sent to landfills. Estimates vary but are mindboggling. A report quoted later estimates that US$ 500 billion are lost every year due to underutilization of clothing and lack of recycling.

Circular Fibres Initiative

All is not lost though. Several stakeholders not least those from the fashion industry realise the gravity of the issue and have put in place measures. A report has been put out in partnership with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation A New Textiles Economy: Redesigning Fashion’s Future. The Executive Summary states “This report outlines a vision for a system that works, delivering long-term benefits – a new textiles economy based on the principles of a circular economy. It offers a direction of travel on which the industry can agree and focus its efforts. In a new textiles economy, clothes, textiles, and fibres are kept at their highest value during use and re-enter the economy afterwards, never ending up as waste. ……... With specific emphasis on innovation towards a different system, a new textiles economy presents an opportunity to deliver substantially better economic, societal, and environmental outcomes.”

(Ellen MacArthur Foundation, A new textiles economy: Redesigning fashion’s future, 2017 http://www.ellenmacarthurfoundation. org/publications) The Report has received wide acclaim. Ida Auken, Member of

Going Circular Circular could become the fundamental idea in our quest towards a more sustainable planet.

The concept shifts away from the traditional, destructive linear framework which signifies make – use – discard as the way we do things. In a situation where we are using finite, non-renewable resources to ‘make’, there is a limit to the exploitation of the linear way of doing things. Further we need to address the environmental load that we create when we ‘make’ and ‘use’ and of course, the very substantial load when we ‘dispose’. Clearly this approach is not sustainable.

The MacArthur Foundation says “Transitioning to a circular economy does not only amount to adjustments aimed at reducing the negative impacts of the linear economy. Rather, it represents a systemic shift that builds long-term resilience, generates business and economic opportunities, and provides environmental and societal benefits.”

It further articulates the three principles of the model, namely, ♦♦ Design out waste and pollution ♦♦ Keep products and materials in use ♦♦ Regenerate natural systems

Circular fashion

Dr. Anna Brismar, among those credited as the proponent of the ‘Circular Fashion’ concept defines it as follows: Circular fashion can be defined as clothes, shoes or accessories that are designed, sourced, produced and provided with the intention to be used and circulate Parliament, Denmark, said “It is obvious that the current fashion system is failing both the environment and us.

This report sets out a compelling vision of an industry that is not only creative and innovative but also circular. To achieve such a necessary system change

responsibly and effectively in society for as long as possible in their most valuable form, and hereafter return safely to the biosphere when no longer of human use. (Dr. Anna Brismar, 2017, circularfashion.com)

The Circular car

Car making involves use of a wide range of inputs, possibly the widest, including steel, aluminium, lead, plastics, rubber, paints (a wide range of chemicals), cloth, technical fabrics, glass, and so on. The industry becomes a vital one for applying the Circularity principle due to its mammoth size. Estimates put the world production of motor vehicles in 2017 at over 97 million. The process of production of the car and each of its components offers huge potential for re-design and circularity. The industry is a huge driver of the economy (and employment) in almost every country and thus calls for care to ensure minimal disruption in all interventions.

Additionally, considering that most cars are used for a small fraction of time and for nearly 90 per cent of the time they remain parked in homes there is need to innovate. Soon people will demand mobility and not cars.

Therefore, car ownership will shift from individuals to manufacturers, leasing companies and service providers. This will be accompanied by greater car use and shorter life cycles, and a large recycling economy.

And therein we will see great innovations in terms of material use and reuse, design, manufacturing, product use, reuse, and recycling. that will benefit society as a whole will require strong political will. Whilst this may not be straightforward, the way is now clear.”

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

www.urbanupdate.in | October 2018

37

one on one Dr Steven Finlay

First understand then implement sdgs Smart city agenda is a set of lofty goals. We need to apply it in the context of development. Basic need of city must interface with smart city, knowledge transfer and expectation of the people Kumar Dhananjay, Consulting Editor

The corporations world wide are focusing on localizing Sustainable Development Goals. You carry immense experience in the field of local self-government. What are your views on localizing SDGs? I have been listening to the shift and the interpretation of how this goal can be understood. Secondly how it can be implemented in a meaningful way at local urban and rural context. Even the study of smart city agenda is quite a lofty set of goals. The question is how do we apply it in the developmentcontext wherebasic city needs are interfacing with smart city, knowledge transfer, agendas and expectation, of the people, of the politicians, of the community.

And now the communities themselves are asking can we be a smart city? The citizens and the politicians are navigating and interpreting in a meaningful way how will this work here, what do we need? Do we need resource? Do we need knowledge? Do we need expertise and technology? Or do we need political vision? Or may be some package of all of these things to make the agenda real.

You talked about smart city project.

India has also embarked upon it. 100 cities have been selected to be converted into smart cities. I am sure the smart city concept of New Zealand will be different from India’s. In New Zealand how do you look at the smart city as you go about developing them and what kind of thought process goes into that?

Dr Steven Finlay, Manager Business Solutions, Local Government New Zealand

38 October 2018 | www.urbanupdate.in

It’s a very good question. In New Zealand the smart city agenda is interfacing with advanced technology.

We are at internet of things and remote interfacing is allowing citizens to access apps to describe. For example benefits of free parking spaces, rubbish collection, citizen participation, etc. The larger cities in New Zealand like Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch are adopting LED street lighting programs to improve city safety.

The politicians are making claims that cities are smart hubs and in the context of activation of city spaces.

Urban spaces which may have been previously neglected are reassessed and the spacesare lit by LED lights. It boosts the night economy shopping because people come back into the cities feeling safe with their family to shop and to talk and have coffee and share ideas, these are the ways where smart cites are becoming meaningful. In New Zealand technology is one key and communities are reclaiming urban space.

You talked about reclaiming urban spaces. But as the urbanisation is happening in big measure, land is required to execute the projects and in that process the actual urban spaces are being reclaimed for those projects which is quiet detrimental to the communities of that particular city. How do you a balance between the two?

The challenge of the urban city agenda is that no city is left behind, no person is left behind, everyone should have expectations and opportunity of participation be negotiated. When complex agendas are playing out and urban spaces where constraints exist may not fully enable the realisation of our political vision because of resource challenge or environment, climate change or limited resources to implement vision or planning capacity gaps.

We need to build capacity and planning to enable integration between political vision and the services and infrastructure development. To reach the pinnacle of smart city realis ation, there are things which cities still must attend

to. It may require radical collaboration between small and big cities. We need to share knowledge, share case studies, go and visit, listen from projects which succeeded and failed so that we do not repeat the same mistakes.

If we talk about sustainable development goals 2030 or the declaration of the World Urban Forum, it talks about inclusivity. You cannot create a city where you exclude a large number of people.

But then there are constraints you talked about like resources, expertise and technology. So how big is the challenge do you think as we are just 12 years away from 2030?

These are big challenges but big opportunities as well. For me the opportunities are to enable first who has a voice and the choice. There has to be participatory budgeting, how community accesses choices of city spender to prioritise community visions. We need to address both communities, the settled ones and the new communities to negotiate access to resources, access to democracy and an access to opportunity to present their aspirations.

City officials must provide appropriate funding to implement projects which have action plans and road maps.

Hopefully with our road map to 2030 they will take the coordination and resourcing to allow the project to be community owned to mitigate risk and enable full realisation of sustainable development goals.

We need to eradicate risk from carbon emersion and meet poverty reduction goals. These may challenge social norms, corruption, lack of transparency, contracts which may not have been fully delivered. So, this puts the focus on the effective and efficient city organisers, excellence of benchmarking and how study tracks all of the sustainable development goals.

In New Zealand we launched local government New Zealand excellence program, all councilors are staying up, the matrix meets community’s needs, and the councils are measured against these goals. They are transparent.

But in developing countries, especially in the third world countries, we have seenthat once the city officials are elected or a political representative is elected after that there is a complete delinking of the two. The policies, the way they are framed is completely devoid of any participatory democracy. If you don’t take the views and the opinion of the people into consideration and frame the policy at the top then obviously it’s not going to work at the bottom?

In New Zealand, when we work with elected officials, we say to them you have got into office on an agenda and you will be marked at the end of your term against the agenda and the promises you made. Politician may say that bureaucrats stopped me, we tell them who is in charge.

The government owns the strategy, the manager delivers that strategy and reports accountability against the strategy. We see the management and the good council officers we work with follow this. If management owns the strategy, the governance is critical for implementation. The government and management have to take ownership to deliver implementation of the strategy.

My last question is, what vision should the global community have?

There are countries which can be categorised as haves and there are countries which can be categorized as have nots. How will these two meet because there comes the question of technology transfer, funding, supporting through mechanism. So do you see a possibility that these two can meet at some point?

We have local example at New Zealand, a long time development partner of the pacific region. What roles do we want, whether to develop others, this is an enabling voice for us. If they transfer technology into developing countries, is the transferring technology is destabilising us? So in New Zealand we first transfer as the structure supports, second transfer is eco-system support, the third is of the local and the indigenous structure for sustainability and the fourth is using the technology but make sure it works.

www.urbanupdate.in | October 2018

39

one on one Emilla Saiz

Women leaders look at problems differently Abhishek Pandey | Editor

Cities are on the cusp of change and need to work together to address the evolving challenges. Abhishek Pandey, Editor of Urban Update, caught up with Emilla Saiz, Secretary General of United Cities and Local Governments World, during the UCLG ASPAC Congress in Surabaya, Indonesia.

In the candid conversation, Emilla talks about the role of women in city governance, livability in cities, climate change and much more. Excerpts from the interview‌ Emilla Saiz, Secretary General, United Cities and Local Governments World Cities need to transform themselves to create a livable environment for citizens. What has been your experience working with cities around the world?

What is your vision for cities?

Well, the United Cities and Local Governments do not provide any vision to cities. They themselves develop a vision.What we do as an organization is to bring them together and try to foster new thinking and stimulate learning from each other and innovate.In that sense, we are learning together. We are in a period of drastic transformation of most of the models that have been

40 October 2018 | www.urbanupdate.in

functioning in urban space.

A majority of people now live in urban areas. We need to think differently about the solutions that we need to provide to local and global problems.

The interconnection between the both has also changed. From our perspective, there are three key things that we need to tackle. The first one is the relation of local governments with their citizens and communities. There is a need to ensure that citizens truly participate in decision making process so that they feel close to the decisions that are going to be affecting their lives.

And, we translate that into right to the city. So that’s a first step.

Then comes the ecological transition.

Transforming production and consumption patterns to make our cities more resilient and citizens being aware of what they’re leaving behind for the next generations. And, the third key angle is thinking differently about how we share resources particularly financial resources. We think that local and regional governments need more resources than they are currently getting in general from national governments, from their financial system. So those are

the three accesses. And what UCLG at the global level is trying to do is to voice these needs and these visionsfor the international community and trying to get the right seat at the table for us to share these things.

You have talked about community participation that is crucial. Now coming to the role of women leaders in cities. How do you see their roles?I ask this because women especially in developing countries are not empowered enough because of social norms and other constraints. How are you going to empower them?

Our commitment to gender equality is something that has always been very high on our political agenda. It’s not a matter of better or worse; it is a matter of human rights and equality. We think that by stimulating participation of women in local decision making you are really contributing to equality at all levels and you are contributing to improving the lives of citizens in general.

What is the way forward?We have seen especially in European countries that many big European cities like Paris, Barcelona, Romehave women mayors.Many countries are trying to bring legislation for reservation for women mayors like in India they have a 33 per cent reservation and some states have even 50 percent reservation. Is reservation the solution or something else is also required alongside?

Well, this system has worked up to a point but I don’t think that they have been successful as we expected.

I am still very much in favor of the system because we simply cannot wait another hundred years to have more and more women in power.

Apart from this, I think that there are many things that need to be changed for women to become more visible.

At this moment, we are going through a very strange phenomenon, a very logical phenomenon which is that you have a lot of women in very important positions but they don’t reach the top positions.They don’t reach that position simply because there is a cultural or

traditional view of things that does not go with the way women are looking at life. For instance, women get involved in politics and continue for one or two terms and after that they don’t carry on.

They don’t enter in politics full time.

I am very much in favor of this notion of feminizing politics. Which entails also changing the patterns that we use arranging access to politics. I don’t share the view that women don’t have capacity. I mean they have high degrees and do more jobs.They are overqualified but they live in an environment which has really strong glass ceiling that they cannot overcome.

And in order to help them overcome these glass ceilings, we need to develop policies that make it easier for women to participate. You need to change the way political parties work; they need to arrange meetings at different hours.

UCLG is trying to create a mentoring system for women. They are in politics already so that they can talk with each other and share their experiences so that we don’t lose and they stay. One thing that is very interesting for us to see is that many women councillors and mayors have reached that post but are not able to participate internationally because their financial resources are much lower than those of men. Their political parties are not backing them.

And this is a change of mentality. You don’t solve this by a law. I think that we need to ensure that children and youth are educated differently.

You talked about feminizing policies.

Vienna is a good example. They started gender mainstreaming and they have mobility plan according to women’s daily schedule.How do you see that? Are other cities doing enough for women?

I think there is a very big movement.We can feel very alive in UCLG.The arrival of women leadersin big cities, the ones we all know like Mexico City or Tunis is crucial. It’s not that women have not been doing the job but for these women to reach those iconic positions has been extremely important.I mean when women walk on the streets, when women attend a meeting, they have a

different perception, a different vision and priorities. It is not always better but different.

So their predecessors have done something for the city and they’re doing something else, and addressing the needs of the people those were missed.

Exactly. It can be complementary,you know. I think that that there are big efforts for instance whatMayor of Surabaya is doing in its public spaces here.It has a lot to do with her perception as a womanin the city. How we move, how we feel safe, what do we like, how the children behave when they go with us or with the elderly people that we care or the places where we like to meet. So it is all related to that. And, I think that the arrival of female mayors in big cities is helping us bringing these messages out and showing what is the difference.

Have you seen the shift in policy making?

Certainly, I mean, the shift is clear. As I was saying, it’s not always about better or worse but it’s just different types of priorities. We tend to care more about the use of time so we care a lot about mobility how to arrive at places.

Women use mass transportation or public transportation much more than men. They need a different sense of security. They have different times to set up meetings to be away from home because they also have critical responsibilities in their houses. And, in all of these policies, you can see differences.Also usefully that teams are set up in a different way.

Even the public places are designedto be friendlierfor women.

Public spaces and transportation become more friendly to women, children and elderly because that’s how women like to move.Women move usually surrounded by other people.They take their children to school, they take care of the elderly and they do shopping in between.

That is whythey set up their teams at municipalities differently. Women

www.urbanupdate.in | October 2018

41

one on one Emilla Saiz

SDGs is an agenda that has given me a lot of hope because it was adopted at a moment where there were a lot of divisions among countries, the conflicts worldwide were escalating. And there were a lot of issues that we were able to define. It was a summit of hope. That was amazing. Now, if you go and look at the goals in detail, they are not that ambitious. They are achievable always like interdisciplinary teams.

They also like mixed teams. The teams where you see social scientists talking to engineers and other types of experts.

Climate change and air pollutionare major concerns for cities world over.

Like many cities the air pollution is very high especially in developing countries. How can cities address this critical problem?

To me, climate change is beyond CO2 emissions. We have done so much damage to our planet. In present context, climate change is more about the ecological transition. It is also about how we want to live.Being very aware of what the ecological footprint is going to be will be part of the way that new generations will look at it.

I think new generations probably need fewer things. And they will be more aware of their connection with nature. That will also make us look at local economic development from a different perspective. It will not be any longer about the big companies and multinationals etc.There are things that you don’t need to produce at multi-national level. We will see cities consuming things that are produced locally. It’s a new type of localism.

I mean that we have been convinced in the past that all the big ideas had to come from the world and those needed to be implemented in our cities. I think that right now what mayors are showing

42 October 2018 | www.urbanupdate.in

us is that we are very intelligent at community level. We know best what are the realities and thinking solutions locally can actually help us. Building a global home for all of us which is much more resilient, much more sustainable and that will allow us all to live in a happier way. We should not always be rushing and concerned about our livelihood.

So this brings us to our discussion where I would like to talk about livability. What are the key criteria for livability?

Livability of a city for me is where people are able to fulfil their dreams.

People feel secure. They feel treated with justice. They can hold their government accountable and they can use their creativity and they don’t spend their whole life trying to make a living. But they have also time to think and enjoy with family. That is what livability is for me.

You should be treated fair. For this, you need to have a sound system of governance that listens to you and cares about you. Citiesneed to have adequate public spaces, public transportation systems, functional sanitation systems.

All of this is related.I don’t agree to Global Livability Index in which global South is always rated poorly. I think that we sometimes rate badly on the basis of service provisions, but if you ask some of these countries how happy they are, they might be happier.

Like, Bhutan has Gross National Happiness Index.

Yes exactly. And I think that happiness index is very important because I think that our conception of consumption has led us to believe that more things make us happier. This might not be necessarily true. I think that we need tochange models. I hope that we can make sure that the evolution of the big cities in the global South is not going to be car solution.

The big mistake that we made in the global North. So for me it is about approaching things from a distance and trying to find solutions that way they are very local.

What is your take on relation between Federal, State and Local Governments?

Federal governments should be listening to local governments about what they know and how that should shape their national policies. What type of support do they need? What type of fiscal transfers do they need?

What is the intrinsic value of urban governancesystems?

The aspect of being treated fairly. We did this big survey in many countries around the world before we had to define the SDGs, a lot of people said that they wanted to be treated with justice. Justice was at the top. In the world where you have over 800 million people without a home, it is impossible for these people to feel they are treated with justice. So we need to address that first.

How optimistic you are about achieving Sustainable Development Goals?

SDGs is an agenda that has given me a lot of hope because it was adopted at a moment where there were a lot of divisions among countries, the conflicts worldwide were escalating. And there were a lot of issues that we were able to define. It was a summit of hope. That was amazing. Now, if you go and look at the goals in detail, they are not that ambitious. They are achievable.

I am optimistic because I think a lot of people are working tirelessly to actually achieve the goals. But we will not be able to do it if we don’t put a lot of emphasis in addressing these goals at local level.

We call it’localizing SDGs’. Our strategy in United Cities and Local Governments is about localization. It is not to be understood as the parachuting of global goals and local reality, but the other way round, by showing what we can do locally, what works and what doesn’t.

National governments and the international community need to build support systems that allow us to do a better job. Actually over 65 per cent of SDGs are about public services that are in the hands of local governments. So I am cautiously optimistic.

www.urbanupdate.in | October 2018

43

BOOK REVIEW GOOD READS

Book that will make you tree lover!

Pradip Krishen is a reputed film maker of yore. He is neither a botanist nor a forest officer who knew everything or something about trees. Yet, what he has produced is a classy book that makes you a tree lover overnight, if you are not one already. That is the power of this very well illustrated book

Abhilash Khandekar | Sr Journalist

T

here are many field guides available in the markets.

They surely are books but help either tourists or bird watchers or foodies to briefly understand the subject matter and thus do not fall in the category of serious fiction or non-fiction. But the one you are going read about is much different than any ordinary field guide; it’s a treasure of knowledge.

Pradip Krishen is a reputed film maker of yore. He is neither a botanist nor a forest officer who knew everything or something about trees. Yet, what he has produced is a classy book that makes you a tree lover overnight, if you are not one already. That is the power of this very well illustrated book. Vikram Seth says:“can think of no other city fortunate enough to have a guide to its trees as comprehensive, excellently illustrated and well laid out as this. Its style, lucid but quirky, reflects its author’s deep scholarship and delight in nature”.

Beginning with introducing the definition of a tree and then the parts of a tree, Pradip talks about how early urban planners of Delhi thought about planting trees on avenues in 1912.

Captain George Swinton, Chairman, of the Town Planning Committee for the new capital said in his preliminary report of 1912: “Trees will be

44 October 2018 | www.urbanupdate.in

everywhere, in every garden however small it be, and along the sides of every roadway, and Imperial Delhi will be in the main sea of foliage. It may be called a city, but it is going to be quite different from any city that the world has known”.

Remember, the author tells us, the British New Delhi-often called after Sir Edwin Lutyens -was built for a maximum of 57,000 people, including officials and subordinate staff, their families and servants, even the permanent inhabitants of bazaars.

Today’s New Delhi and Delhi has many more people staying and commuting daily, thus bringing pressure on the nature, yet the author has tried to paint a beautiful picture of an otherwise chaotic and polluted city.

The book gives evidences of how eminent planners gave so much importance to trees rather than erecting buildings alone, a practice so prevalent now but without any opposition. The recent controversy of cutting trees in the name of development of certain areas to build residential flats by NBCC in the national capital proved to be a glaring example of how far we have come in a century where no one in any government agency thinks twice before felling trees wantonly. Thanks to a few aware citizens groups in New Delhi and

the High Court’s timely directives, the trees were saved.

While this book is very impressive in terms of illustrations, style, design, and imbibing the understanding of tress, I must say it’s also little complex a book to read for an ordinary person with no background of botany or forestry. But to help readers, the author has taken care by giving a two-page chapter, explaining through keys, how to understand parts of a tree, families, scientific

names, common names, local names, tree profiles, range, habitats and uses etc.by showing a Goolar tree for an example. Giving some background how a film maker became an author, Pradip says, “I have been walking on the ridge near Sardar Patel Marg for nearly forty years now. For most of this time, I knew very little about the trees and shrubs that I saw there. Neem was probably the only tree I could recognise at a glance. I learned to tell the flame of the forest in bloom but would have struggled to recognise it outside the flowering season. To my untrained eye, the Ridge was just a wild looking place in the middle of the city, with lots of thorny trees and bushes.”

But having said that about his nearzero knowledge of trees, as you turn the pages you get really enriched with the vast knowledge each page offers.

The book contains a tree’s definition (it should be of a certain height-4.5 to 6 meters) and informs us that trees have been around us for over 420 million years. Definition? Well, it says: “a big tall plant with a woody stem and rough bark, branching at the top, with lots of leaves at the ends of its twigs”.

Though this book was first published in 2006, it was between 1995 and 1997, the author began taking interest in plants and then he decided to take

Book Trees of Delhi Author Pradip Krishen Publisher Penguin Pages 360 Price ` 799/Recommendation A must for your library !

Good

Reads

as much serious interest in Delhi tress as he could. This led him to start organising tree-walks in Delhi with a bunch of tree-spotters. Today, Pradip is the first and (perhaps) the last word on trees in Delhi and very often you read his interviews in newspapers about trees, urban issues and environment, thanks to the authority he has gained over the topic.

The author is now considered to be one of the top tree & ecology experts in the country, but knowing about his hard work in learning almost everything about the world of trees is just amazing.

The amount of research he did to first understand for himself what a tree means, what are shrubs, what is the precise relationship nature has with all its components-rain, water, soil, grass, insects, sunlight and so on and then produce a book like this to help people understand trees, is indeed an unparalleled work, to say the least. Almost 10 years of research, visits to different parks, gathering knowledge of each and every tree, shrub, grass, types of soils in which they grow, the seasons and reactions of tress to the changing climate is not an easy job and therefore Pradip needs to be put on a higher pedestal among other authors who are generally the domain experts.

What is also important is the fact that more than 1100 colourful photographs of 252 species of trees that this book contains, have been taken by Pradip himself, barring just a handful from

other contributors. It’s no joke!

On a personal level, I became his fan after I bought the book in 2007 and kept reading off and on over the next few years and then turned his follower after I picked up his more illustrated, more gripping new book-Trees of Central India. I could meet him much later and it was a memorable meeting during a tree walk, near Gurugram.

In an emerging economy like India where we are witnessing unprecedented urbanisation, does anyone genuinely care for trees in the cities? Planning a few gardens here and there in new cities and urban habitats is one thing but accepting the importance of trees in one’s social life is different.

PradipKrishen, in some ways, has done a yeoman service to the society through his writings. Those who will flip through this ever-new book will soon be in love with trees, perhaps forever.

While I would love to go into details of trees, their species, flowering season, names, leaf categories, the leaf schemes, Delhi’s micro habitats as described in the book or a brief history of Delhi, etc, I would rather leave that to the readers, intentionally. It’s because I strongly recommend this book for everyone who reads this review.

[The author is a senior journalist who writes on politics, environment and urbanisation. He may be contacted at kabhilash@gmail.com & Twitter @Abhikhandekar The views expressed are the author’s own. They do not purport to reflect the views of Urban Update ]

www.urbanupdate.in | October 2018

45

Urban Agenda agriculture waste

Innovation, financial viability key to handle agri-waste

Ashok Wankhade Managing Editor, Urban Update

E

very year this time around, paddy straw and stubble burning by farmers in Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana results in increasing pollution levels in the national capital Delhi. Undoubtedly, this is causing irreparable damage to the soil and environment.

The state governments have taken a series of measures to prevent stubble burning but to no avail as the alternatives are either inconvenient or not financially viable for farmers. This is why farmers go back to traditional way of getting rid of agriculture waste.

There are many ways which scientists and academicians have suggested.

Using high-end machines, farmers can cut rice straw and stubble into small pieces and mix them in the soil to increase soil fertility. The problem is: the machines are costly and farmers cannot afford. The government may operate these machines through Blocklevel Offices at a subsidized rental cost through a third party. Another solution that came from experts was to turn the agriculture waste into manure.

This required engagement of labourers for physically collecting paddy straw from fields. This could be done under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Generation Scheme and this will also not burden farmers.

The state governments have adopted straw management system and have instructed farmers that no harvester

46 October 2018 | www.urbanupdate.in

The state governments have adopted straw management system and have instructed farmers that no harvester combine shall be allowed to harvest paddy in Punjab without functional super straw management system. The System cuts the agriculture waste into small pieces and mixes it with soil; and farmers need not burn paddy straw before sowing the next crop. combine shall be allowed to harvest paddy in Punjab without functional super straw management system. The Super Straw Management System (SSMS) cuts the agriculture waste into small pieces and mixes it with soil; and farmers need not burn paddy straw before sowing the next crop. Some farmers have complained about the loss of produce and the quality.

Environmental impact

According to an article written by Kahan Singh Pannu, Chairman of

Punjab Pollution Control Board, every acre of land where paddy straw is burnt, about three tons of carbon dioxide, 120 kilograms of carbon monoxide, six kilograms of particulate matter, four kilograms of sulphur dioxide, and 400 kilograms of ash are released. It is also a fact that the burning of paddy straw also results in burning of precious organic material in the paddy field.

For every acre of land, there is a loss of 5.5 kg of nitrogen, 2.3 kg phosphates, 25 kg potassium and about two tons of manure. In addition, useful microbes are also burnt. The problem is of serious nature and needs immediate resolution.

The top-down approach in handling this problem will take us nowhere. The involvement of local farming community in finding the solutions to this problem can address it well. And then those solutions will require government’s financial support because farmers cannot bear the cost by themselves and it will further burden farmers as cost of cultivation could go up. This has to be kept in mind seeing the lower returns on agriculture in recent years. Technical assistance from research and academic institutes in implementing and monitoring the proposed system will also be required to check the viability of those systems in different regions. In short, government agencies and farmer community need to come together, talk and work jointly to address the issue of agriculture waste.

Quality is just one of our strengths

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

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

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

All India Institute of Local Self-Government (AIILSG) whole heartedly supports Swachh Bharat Mission and is committed to play a proactive role to realise its objectives.

The institute is organising regular orientation workshops on SBM to augment the capacity of ULBs and also generating public awareness on cleanliness

Supported By