UU September 2021

ISSN 2349-6266 RNI No DELENG/2014/57384

Setting The Agenda For Tomorrow’s Cities

UrbanUpdate Volume VII, Issue V

September 2021

Indian cities have to lead

SDG movement

“Indian cities proved their mettle during the pandemic”

European Union The project is funded by the European Union.

AIILSG 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

Quality is just one of our strengths

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

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

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

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

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ISSN 2349-6266 RNI No DELENG/2014/57384

Setting The Agenda For Tomorrow’s Cities

UrbanUpdate

ISSN 2349-6266 RNI No DELENG/2014/57384

Setting The Agenda For Tomorrow’s Cities

UrbanUpdate

Volume VII, Issue IV

Pooja Upadhyay Trainee Reporter

Volume VII, Issue III

AIILSG’s contributions Cities need to assess their and innovations for COVID-19 relief, risks, act accordingly resilience building

Radhika Matta Shivi Sharma Editorial Assistants Arjun Singh Digital Marketing Associate

August 2021

July 2021

Recovery has to be environment positive

Preparing Indian cities for better disaster response AIILSG

European Union AIILSG

European Union

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

The project is funded by the European Union.

The project is implemented by the AIILSG.

Meenakshi Rajput Senior Graphic Designer Volume VII - Issue V 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 levy courier and handling charges. We may fully waive-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.

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European Union The project is funded by the European Union.

AIILSG The project is implemented by the AIILSG.

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

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September 2021 | www.urbanupdate.in

Editorial

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

SDGs – beacon of hope This is the Decade of Action. This could turn out to be among the most crucial decades with far reaching impacts on the future of our planet. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were adopted several years ago calling for wide-ranging actions on economic, social, and environmental themes to address key challenges confronting life on earth. Many dimensions such as poverty, hunger, education, health, gender, climate change, inequality and the environment are included in this comprehensive action plan. The Decade of Action calls for accelerated efforts towards achieving the goals via the 169 targets under the 17 goals by the 2030 deadline.

India is among the frontrunners in this march towards the SDGs. Consider for example, renewable energy (Goal 7). India has achieved a capacity of 100,000 MW of renewable (wind and solar) energy. Adding to this the hydro-electric capacity (45,000 MW approximately), the total share of non-fossil fuel based energy is about 37% in India’s total energy mix. India co-founded the International Solar Alliance in 2015, thus playing a global leadership role here too. Similarly, with the wide range of initiatives and schemes currently deployed in the areas of poverty alleviation, food security, education, public health including women and child health, affordable housing and so on, India could be well on the way to demonstrating significant success in this Decade of Action. After all, the performance of India, where one sixth of the world population lives, will be crucial in determining the success of achieving the SDGs globally; and given its federal structure, India’s States and UTs will determine the national success.

In India, NITI Aayog as the nodal agency has designed and developed the SDG India Index and Dashboard which is used as the principal tool for measuring and monitoring SDG progress at the national and sub-national levels. It has put out two reports - 2019 & 2020 – showing the progress of individual States and UTs on each of the 16 out of 17 SDG goals. This would serve as a valuable tool for States and UTs which are the actual implementing agencies of the SDG Agenda. States and UTs, Districts and Cities, the essential actors in SDG implementation at the local level will be the primary drivers of development for the overarching objective ‘leave no one behind’. Localisation of SDGs will involve setting up institutional mechanisms, capacity building and advocacy at the local level, collection of data and its analysis, and monitoring progress, among others.

Given the significant diversity in the economic and social character across States and UTs, there would be need to develop policies and initiatives to suit the local context. At the same time, there would be valuable lessons to be learnt from the experiences of other States and UTs. The NITI Aayog has put our several compilations and reports including some that document such best practices and learnings of States from across the country. These could be used for good benefit.

Among other actions, States and urban local bodies would do well to align their local development agenda and plans with the SDGs. Alongside there would be need for capacity development among their functionaries in the areas of data collection and its analysis, monitoring progress on several parameters, budgeting, communication, awareness building and advocacy, and so on. There is need to gain further momentum in these areas.

This issue of Urban Update addresses this crucial subject of SDGs and their localisation. We trust readers will find it engaging.

www.urbanupdate.in | September 2021

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Quotes

Any protections promised by a climate right might largely be illusory.

Without a corresponding duty and means of accountability, a right is an empty cipher

We can no longer assume that citizens of more affluent and secure countries like Canada and Germany will be able to ride-out the worst excesses of a rapidly destabilising climate. It’s clear we’re all in the same boat

Anirudh Sridhar Visiting Researcher, Centre of Policy Research

Prof Katharine Hayhoe Chief Scientist, The Nature Conservancy

PIN POINT

Small towns should focus on coming up with local plans that set out a clear urban hierarchy that limits development in the central business districts or town centres. A free-for-all, purely physical development will lead to disastrous effects on the environment and its people Ihsan Zainal Mokhtar Former President, Malaysian Institute of Planners

We may be entering some kind of stage of endemicity where there is low-level transmission or moderate level transmission going on but we are not seeing the kinds of exponential growth and peaks that we saw a few months ago Dr Soumya Swaminathan Chief Scientist, World Health Organisation

BUZZ Lamia Kamal-Chaoui

Sudheendra Kulkarni

Nitin Gadkari

Mike Hudema

Director, OECD Centre for ESRC

Socio-political activist

Minister of RT & H, GoI

Climate Activist & DoC, CanopyPlanet

@lamia_k_c

@SudheenKulkarni

@nitin_gadkari

@MikeHudema

National Urban Policy is essential to achieve sustainable urban development in a shared responsibility across countries, regions and cities

Indian cities are going to court huge social unrest unless housing becomes affordable - and available - to the poor and middle classes

Vehicle Scrappage Policy will introduce a regime of fitter automobiles. It will make our roads safer and air cleaner. In the due process, it will create more opportunities in the industry

Ocean Waves can be a source of unlimited #cleanenergy. This Wave Power Plant, could power countless homes. We have the solutions to the #climateemergenecy. Let’s implement them

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September 2021 | www.urbanupdate.in

Content

Inside Volume 7, Issue 5

6 12

Pin Point Newscan

13 46

City Image Urban Agenda

September 2021

Girl Power Project

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Training rural women using online tools

Cover Story

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Indian cities have to lead SDG movement India would add over 400 million people to its cities by 2050 and become 50 per cent urbanised. There are almost 8000 ‘urban centres’ in the country, and these numbers are expected to grow further. Increasing population in cities will put excessive pressure on land, urban services and infrastructure, governance structures, industrial and economic activities of these urban centres. To remain functional and efficient, cities will have to address all these issues promptly. The Sustainable Development Goals are a ready reference to chart out the trajectory of sustainable urban development, and cities must localise them urgently before time runs out

One ON ONE | Hitesh Vaidya, Director, NIUA

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“Indian cities proved their mettle during the pandemic” The COVID-19 brought with it various difficulties and challenges, particularly for urban local bodies (ULBs), who had to ensure continuity of essential services even during some of the world’s strictest lockdowns. In the midst of all this, ULBs in India did not stop working on climate change related projects either, showing their will to reverse global warming. To know more about how they were able to do all this, and what role the National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA) played in assisting them, Abhishek Pandey, Editor, Urban Update, interviewed Hitesh Vaidya, Director, NIUA

LEADERSPEAK

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40 Articles

32

34

Necessary for cities to become resilient and adaptive

Public transport interventions at core of achieving SDGs

36

Capacity building key to localise SDGs in India

38

Indian cities transitioning to circular solid resource management

40

Let COVID not derail work towards a sustainable future

42

Meeting climate and SDG goals together

E-Dialogues

44

Localising SDGs: A Stiff Test for Cities

Urban Resilience - First step towards post-pandemic revival

Our world has undergone profound changes in the last decade, more intensely in the previous 20 months.

The Pandemic and changing geopolitical discourse on social, environmental and climate issues have impelled cities to rethink how to build urban environments and facilities to fix existing problems and lay a foundation for sustainable and livable urban settlements

All India Institute of Local Self-Government, in collaboration with CityNet, organised the third webinar on ‘Localising SDGs’ on the topic ‘Building local resilience in post-COVID world’ on August 24.

Other supporting organisations were Foundation EMDA Southasia, Renewable Energy Mart, and 3R Waste Foundation

www.urbanupdate.in | September 2021

7

Girl Power Project

Training rural women using online tools

Girl Power carried out a baseline study of 5000 women to assess the livelihoods of the 10 districts of Jharkhand. The study also aimed to identify and explore the availability of raw materials, potential for entrepreneurship, current entrepreneurial activities, and market access and environmental sustainability Team girl power project

W

ith the larger project objective to promote e n t re p re n e u r s h i p through a bundle of work packages of network building, capacity building, market connect, skillbuilding and policy dialogues, over the past year of project implementation, the community resource persons at the ground level have been working rigorously in 10 districts of the state of Jharkhand, gathering information and collecting data of 5000 potential women beneficiaries of the project. The baseline survey studies the potential of rural entrepreneurship among women and the current entrepreneurial

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activities that add to the larger livelihood generational activities of the household, and their market access for products and services to be sold. Entrepreneurial activities range from women involved in the selling of agricultural and non-agricultural produce, to non-timber forest produce that is richly available in the state of Jharkhand. An assessment was also done to explore not only the current, but also the potential contribution of non-timber forest products (NTFPs) to both livelihoods and biodiversity. It was seen that NTFPs can play a critical role in providing both food and income for the poorest households, notably by creating income and employment opportunities for women. The project

focused on identifying the critical gap for successful NTFP initiatives that provide income opportunities by evolving value added products, models and methods, as well as scope of NTFPbased enterprises Girl Power Project of Jharkhand also got impacted by the surge of COVID-19 as empowerment is a process aimed at changing the reaction and nature of systematic forces. But, keep the objective of skilling women entrepreneurs on top priority, the project team came up with different strategies to ensure things keeping moving at the right pace. In the month of August this year, several online Pilot Testing sessions were conducted for curriculums designed on various potential products identified in the base line survey. These are mushroom, goatry, fishery and organic farming.

The aim was to evaluate feasibility and to gather feedback from different stakeholders to modify the curriculum, if needed, prior to field training in order to improve quality and efficacy.

In an online session, a total of 12 to 15 participants were present in each program, along with three trainers and a civil society organisation (CSO) member. The discussion started with a set curriculum developed for each product and how it aims to train women as entrepreneurs.

Different stages and technicalities were described, which would lead to achieving the bigger goal of the project.

A total of 14 curriculums have been designed out of which, 11 curriculums come under technical category, and three fall in the non-technical category, which involve training sessions on social entrepreneurship, soft skills, and government schemes.

1 CSO

12 Entrepreneurs

GP Team Members

3 Technical Experts

Pie Chart showing the representation of various stakeholders in Pilot Testing of Curriculums

The curriculum developed on each and every product is designed under three categories, namely basic knowledge, semi-skilled, and skilled curriculums. The basic curriculum is designed for those women who do not hold any knowledge or work experience on specific product but are interested in working. Whereas, the semi-skilled curriculum is designed for those women who hold basic knowledge about the product and are involved in some entrepreneurial activity, and a skilled curriculum is designed for women who have already established their enterprise but want to expand their venture.

During the pilot testing, various issues were discussed, including how women can be trained in the different curriculums, focussing majorly on women who are part of the basic knowledge curriculum.

The number of days required for training women under the different curriculum were also ascertained.

The issues faced by women who have already established their enterprises and how they can overcome these challenges were also discussed. Renu

Devi, a potential entrepreneur whose product-of-interest is mushroom and is currently working with a self-help group in Khunti district of Jharkhand, enlightened us to what all challenges she has been facing in mushroom cultivation and the unavailability of market access, which leads to a loss in her business as the product becomes unfit to use after few days. The trainers also suggested several valuable changes in the existing curriculum which will benefit women during the training session. They have asked to focus on the eligibility of trainees, training outcomes, prioritizing the bio input and seed treatment, and how we can build the trainee’s capacity. After conducting the testing, a Google feedback form was also shared with the trainers, CSOs, and the women, in which questions related to specific products, government policies, and training were asked in order to keep a track of their reviews and suggestions on the various points discussed during the testing, and to improve and implement the suggested changes during the training session.

Keeping all the points discussed in mind, the Girl Power team will

be organizing three to seven days of training in product-specific areas and will aim to capacitate women and young girls. In total, the survey was carried out in 10 districts of Jharkhand covering 20 blocks in all zones, depending on the availability of raw materials, potential area for entrepreneurship, current entrepreneurial activities, market access, and environmental sustainability. For instance, the districts identified for fishery training are Gumla, Koderma, Dumka, Deoghar, and Saraikela Kharswan. Further, for lac production and value addition training, the districts include Ranchi, Gumla, West Singhbhum, Khunti, and Hazairabagh.

Capacity building will help to strengthen the knowledge, skills, confidence, and resources in individuals and in groups of people that will foster a sense of ownership and empowerment among the 5000 women identified during the baseline survey of the project. Also, training provided on improving their traditional handicrafts, product development, and designing will help women capacitate towards determination and self-reliance. After this, a network building formation will be developed of CSOs, women entrepreneurs, the government, and private stakeholders to support entrepreneurship among women and girls called as Women Network for Social Entrepreneurship Jharkhand (WNSE-J). In this regard, an innovative nodal center called Jharkhand Mahila Social Entrepreneurship Market Connect has been established in Ranchi as a single point of contact for women and CSOs to connect with prospective buyers in the marketplace.

The capacity building is also to support the engagement of decisionmakers in support of gender justice issues. The need is to create a favourable atmosphere and active participation in decision-making to increase selfemployment for women, which will, as a result, contribute to the overall development of the country. All the measures should be taken to guarantee equal access and full participation in decision-making for women.

www.urbanupdate.in | September 2021

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AIILSG Diary

Maharashtra UD minister Eknath Shinde awards certificates to AIILSG students in convocation ceremony Mumbai: All India Institute of Local Self-Government (AIILSG) organised its Annual Convocation Ceremony to award diplomas and certificates to students enrolled in its various courses.

The Ceremony was held at Mayors’ Hall, Sthanikraj Bhavan, Mumbai on August 31, 2021.

Eknath Shinde, Minister for Urban Development, Government of Maharashtra, attended the function as the Chief Guest. Aslam Shaikh, Minister for Textiles, Government of Maharashtra, presided over the function. Ranjit Chavan, President, AIILSG, and Co-President, United Cities and Local Governments Asia Pacific Region (UCLG-ASPAC); Vijay Sane, Governing Council Member, AIILSG; Rajiv Agarwal, Director General, AIILSG; Dr Jairaj Phatak, Visiting Professor, AIILSG; and Ajay Boraste, Opposition Leader, Nasik Municipal Corporation, also graced the occasion.

A brief introduction of Ranjit Chavan, President of the Institute, was presented, how over the years, he led the progress of the Institute first as its Director General (till 2014) and then as the President of the Institute. During his tenure as DG, the number of Regional Centres including, the Affiliated

1.

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September 2021 | www.urbanupdate.in

Centres, rose to 43, specialized institutions namely, Nursing Colleges, National Fire Academy, and latest being an educational centre coming up at Mulund, Mumbai were set up.

As recognition of his untiring efforts and dedication to the Institute, it has been decided to name the library of the educational and training centre at Mulund as ‘Shri Ranjit Chavan Library’.

Chavan, in his Inaugural speech welcomed the dignitaries and said that Covid-19 was an unprecedented calamity which shook the nation and the world. The whole society was adversely affected and educational institutions suffered the most. However, many of them found a way out (as AIILSG did) i.e., they relied upon the online system of imparting coaching and conducting examinations. He appreciated the massive efforts of the government especially the vaccination programme for which he thanked Chief Minister of Maharashtra Uddhavji Thackeray, the administration of the state and its local bodies. He said that August 31, which is the birthday of the first Director General of the Institute, Shri CD Barfiwala, is celebrated as Local Self-Government Day by municipal corporations and municipal councils in many states including

Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. It was the vision of late CD Barfiwala that if democracy is to be strengthened, then the local self-government institutions must be developed, which has all along been the prime aim of the Institute. Referring to the wide range of activities of the Institute, he said that the Institute is engaged in policy advocacy, training to municipal elected members, women empowerment, research, consultancy, etc. Rajiv Agarwal, Director General of the Institute, stated that the outbreak of the epidemic and consequent total lockdown (and partial lifting of some restrictions) was a challenging period for the Institute to continue the educational courses, particularly of Sanitary Inspectors’ Diploma, LGS, LSGD etc. and all other activities of the Institute. It was a totally new experience whose success gave us new confidence. The examinations for these courses were conducted online. In his speech, he also mentioned of the social welfare activities of the Institute, which are being performed by IC EQUI-T, a division of the Institute, relating to educational support to children from slums and children in tribal areas through CSR funding.

Aslam Shaikh, Minister for Textiles,

AIILSG Diary

2.

4.

3.

1.

Eknath Shinde, Minister of Urban Development, Government of Maharashtra, along with Aslam Shaikh, Minister of Textiles, Government of Maharashtra; Ranjit Chavan, President; Rajiv Agarwal, Director General; and Dr Jairaj Phatak, Visiting Professor, AIILSG, lighting the lamp

2.

Ranjit Chavan, President, AIILSG, honouring the ceremony’s Chief Guest Eknath Shinde with a shawl

3.

Ranjit Chavan, President, AIILSG, presenting a memento to Aslam Shaikh, Minister of Textiles, Government of Maharashtra

4.

Eknath Shinde, Minister of Urban Development, Government of Maharashtra, presenting the diploma certificate to a meritorious student of the Institute

Government of Maharashtra in his speech narrated his past experience with the AIILSG, particularly as regards the training and orientation to the new councillors. He said that it is a special pleasure for him to be in a function of the Institute which is so closely working for capacity building of the elected members and personnel of the urban local bodies and performing various other roles for betterment of urban governance.

He said that urbanisation in our country is taking place at a fast pace and development of city has become a large scale process with many challenges and that it requires foundation of research and personnel training with inputs from experts. He appreciated the important role AIILSG is playing in this respect.

He said that the Institute, in a sense, is a factory which is giving skill and training to students with great regularity in a systematic manner and sending out its successful students with certification- which stands them in good stead to find employment and leads to progress in life. He said people with learning and knowledge occupy a special place in our lives and narrated his own experience of seeking guidance from such persons including Dr Jairaj

Phatak. He congratulated the students and wished them success in life.

After reading of the Supplication and Passing of Grace, the rank holder successful students were awarded diploma/certificate at the hands of the Ministers. The enthusiasm of passing out and being qualified to move to the practical field in life was writ large on the faces of the students.

A cheque of `2 lakhs was presented to the Chief Guest towards the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund for relief to the flood affected people of Konkan on behalf of the Institute and its employees. Eknath Shinde, in his address, initially traced the progress of his career in the state politics from being a Councillor to his present position as a Minister. He expressed special pleasure attending this function since he is now handling the portfolio of urban development and AIILSG is working closely with urban local bodies on this subject. He further stated that pace and scope of urbanisation has expanded tremendously. He said that it is the mandate of the local bodies in extending the benefits of the decisions and policies of the government to the people and hence it is necessary for the local bodies to be strengthened. It is here that the training and capacity

building programmes conducted by the Institute play a crucial role along with continuation of learning process.

Just as there are apex training bodies for IAS and IPS at Mussoorie and Hyderabad respectively, he said that the All India Institute of Local SelfGovernment plays such a role for the elected members and personnel of the urban local bodies. Speaking of the Pandemic, he narrated the severe challenges faced by himself, other ministers and the entire administration during the pandemic while setting up COVID care facilities, fighting shortages and so on. He also made mention of several measures taken by his administration to improve and streamline building permissions and other processes. Concluding his address, he congratulated the successful students and wished them a bright future.

The Chief Guest also released a couple of books on elected representatives and accountability of local governments, municipal functions and working mechanism. A new set of course books of SI Diploma (in English, Marathi & Gujarati), with updated syllabus and study notes, were also released.

Dr Jairaj Phatak, delivered the Vote of Thanks.

www.urbanupdate.in | September 2021

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BRIEFS | AIILSG Diary

Chhattisgarh launches scheme for labourers

The Government of Chhattisgarh launched the Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Bhumihin Majdur Nyay Yojana for over 12 lakh landless labourers and their families. The project has an estimated cost of `200 crore and was introduced by Bhupesh Bhaghel, Chief Minister, Chhattisgarh. The scheme has been launched to support landless labourers by providing minimum wages to access basic amenities. The beneficiaries will be receiving an amount of `6000 annually. “This initiative aims at providing economic justice for the landless labourers of the state,” Baghel said in his address.

Tirupati second city to bag Water+ certificate

Tirupati Municipal Corporation received the Water+ certification from the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Government of India, making it the second city to bag the award in the country. The certificate is given on the basis of the reuse of water and operational efficiency of sewage treatment plants (STP) in the city. Tirupati treats its sewage water at a plant set up in the Thukivakam village near Renigunta. The plant that helped the city bag the Water+ title has a capacity of 25 million litres per day (MLD), which was later upgraded to 35 MLD.

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Vadodara Mayor celebrates LSG Day, hoists flag

Vadodara: Keyurbhai Rokadia, Mayor of Vadodara, is seen hoisting the flag of the All India Institute of Local Self-Government (AIILSG) on the establishment day of the Institute on August 31 at the Vadodara Regional Centre (Nehru Bhavan). Nandaben Joshi, Deputy Mayor, Vadodara; Dr Jatin V Modi, President Emeritus, AIILSG; Hansaben Patel, Executive Adviser, AIILSG; and other staff members of the Institute and invited guests were present on the occasion.

Welcoming the Chief Guest, Keyrubhai Rokadia, Dr Modi reminded the proactive role being played by the Institute in associating with various activities of the Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC) and also the cooperation and support given by VMC in the activities of the Institute. Dr Modi also remembered the great role played by the founder of the Institute, Shri C.D. Barfiwala, on this same day in 1926 in Mumbai which helped the local government institutions in their multiple public oriented welfare and basic services and gradually spread to almost all parts of our country. Dr Modi thanked the Greater Mumbai Municipal Corporation in naming the road on which AIILSG’s Head Office is located in Andheri (West), Mumbai as ‘CD Barfiwala Marg’, also thanked the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation for naming the Ahmedabad Regional Centre as ‘CD Barfiwala Bhavan’.

He requested the Mayor of Vadodara to rename Rajmahal Road in Vadodara to ‘CD Barfiwala Marg’ as a tribute to the great role Shri Barfiwala played in the service of the nation and the present constructive role of the Institute in multifarious activities concerning the local bodies.

Keyurbhai Rokadia thanked the authorities of the Institute for inviting him to be present on the auspicious ‘Local Self-Government Day’ and in his speech, he lauded the activities of the Institute and the assistance given to VMC for various programs meant for the citizens at large.

He appreciated the training activities being carried out by the National Fire Academy of the Institute and expressed his desire to modernize the training program as per the needs of the time in order to enable the trainees to respond to various emergency situations in the most effective and accountable manner. He also offered his cooperation and support to the Institute in the course of time for any creative and constructive activities useful to the people of Vadodara City.

Hansaben Patel delivered the vote of thanks to all the dignitaries who spared their valuable time for attending the function and encouraged the officials of the Institute to work with more enthusiasm by playing a proactive role in any important issues concerning the welfare of the people of Vadodara.

City Image

Germany pushes for greener, multi-modal micromobility During its ‘Mobility Week’, the city of Stuttgart, Germany inaugurated charging stations at four Apcoa parking garages throughout the city. The charging stations reimagine urban parking garages as technology-forward ecosystems for electrification, multimodal travel, and last-mile logistics. Stuttgart is striving to become a ‘showcase city’ by adapting parking infrastructure that can support a shift towards micromobility. This shift can replace an estimated six out of 10 car trips in German cities.

www.urbanupdate.in | September 2021

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NEWSCAN

UNICEF releases first ever assessment of Climate Risk on Children NEW DELHI: On August 2021, a global report prepared on the scale of risks posed by the climate emergency for the world’s children was released by the United Nations’ Children’s Fund (UNICEF). This came as the first ever Index prepared on Children’s Climate Risk. Children’s Climate Risk Index (CCRI) has been developed in collaboration with several partners including the Data for Children Collaborative.

It also ranks countries based on children’s exposure to climate and environmental shocks, and based on their access to essential services, it ranks countries on children’s vulnerabilities to those shocks. The Index released in beta version will continue to be adjusted, modified, and have new database added. The Small Island Developing States, with land area less than 20,000 square kilometers, have not been included in the Index due to existing limitations on data availability.

The report established that the very visible climate crisis on Earth is the defining human and child’s rights

challenge of the current generation. It said that the crisis is already having a visible devastating impact on the wellbeing of children across the globe.

The Index was released as a tool to understand where and how children are uniquely vulnerable to this crisis, so that it is appropriately responded to.

The report said, “The CCRI provides the first comprehensive view of children’s exposure and vulnerability to the impacts of climate change to help prioritize action for those most at risk and ultimately ensure today’s children inherit a liveable planet.”

Henrietta Fore, Executive Director, UNICEF, said that climate and environmental shocks are presently undermining the complete spectrum of children’s rights, including access to clean air, food and safe water, education, housing, freedom from exploitation, and even their right to survive. If looked at properly, no child’s life will remain unaffected due to the crisis.

The Index included following information tracing the impact of climate crisis on children:

820 million children across the globe are

Nearly 1 in 6 children globally are currently

330 million children currently remain

currently highly exposed to heatwaves.

highly exposed to cyclones. This is likely

exposed to riverine flooding. It worsens as

Researchers believe that heatwaves are

to worsen as high-intensity cyclones

glaciers melt, and precipitation increases

likely to worsen as the global average

continue increasing in frequency; rainfall

due to higher water-content in the

temperatures keep increasing and

intensity grows; and cyclone patterns shift

atmosphere as a result of higher average

weather patterns continue becoming more erratic. In fact, the year 2020 was recorded the hottest year on record

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September 2021 | www.urbanupdate.in

Over 1 in 4 children globally are exposed to vector-borne diseases. This is likely to worsen as temperature suitability and climatic conditions for mosquitos and pathogens that transmit these diseases spread

920 million children globally are exposed to water scarcity. It is likely to worsen as climate change increases frequency and severity of droughts, water stress, seasonal and interannual variability, and contamination

temperatures

NEWSCAN

Globally, 1 in 10 children are highly exposed

2 billion children (almost 90 per cent of

to coastal flooding. This will worsen as

children globally) are currently highly

highly exposed to lead pollution due to

sea levels continue to rise, with the effects

exposed to air pollution that exceeds

exposure to contaminated air, water, soil

magnified considerably when combined

10µg/m3. Countries are trying to lessen

and food, due to irresponsible production,

with storm surges

fossil fuel combustion but the efforts are

consumption, and dumping of lead-

not enough

containing products

environmental hazards. This pushes the most vulnerable children deeper into poverty and simultaneously increases their risk of experiencing the worst and most life-threatening effects of climate change.

CCRI explained how the only longterm solution to the climate crisis is reduction of emissions to safe levels.

The entire world will have to reach net-zero emission by 2050 to stay on course for warming that does not exceed 1.5 degree Celsius. However, the description noted that climate dynamics can be tricky and mitigation efforts will probably take decades to reverse the impacts of climate change and for the children of today, it will be too late. Therefore, the report suggested nations to heavily invest in adaptation

and resilience of social services for the 4.2 billion children born over the next 30 years, for they will be the ones facing increasing risks to their survival and well-being. Suggestions for investment included sustainable education, access to health services, access to social protection, and reduction of poverty.

The report said that the world needs to transition towards a model which can decouple economic growth from fossil fuel consumption, and can thus reduce emissions to safe levels. It also recommended policymakers to consult directly with children as they have important ideas about the world they want and need to thrive. “Only with truly transformative action will we bequeath children a liveable planet,” added the report.

The report established that children are much more vulnerable to climate and environmental shocks as compared to adults. They are, both physically and physiologically, vulnerable.

Toxic substances at lower doses of exposure can affect them in serious ways. Most of all, any deprivation as a result of climate and environmental degradation at a young age can result in a lifetime of lost opportunity.

The report mentioned a vicious cycle where climate and environmental hazards negatively affect children’s access to key essential services, but children’s lack of access to those key essential services, in turn, reduces children’s resilience and adaptive capacity, thereby further exacerbating their vulnerability to climate and

815 million children globally are currently

www.urbanupdate.in | September 2021

15

NEWSCAN

Next-generation infra, inclusive development to become universal before 2047: PM Modi

NEW DELHI: During his Independence Day celebratory speech at Red Fort on Sunday, August 15, Prime Minister Narendra Modi talked about transforming India and of the vision to take India to new levels of prosperity, world-class modern infrastructure, and access to quality facilities for all.

PM Modi declared the next 25 years till the centenary year of India’s independence as ‘Amrut Kal’. He appealed to governments at every level to bring down compliance burdens for citizens in a mission mode. He also asked India’s economic agents to aim for ‘world-class’ and ‘next-generation’ targets as the global economy continues to evolve even after the pandemic.

The main focus of PM’s Independence day speech remained on

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September 2021 | www.urbanupdate.in

the need to work for next generation infrastructure. He said that the nation and its youth especially have to work together for world class manufacturing. “Everyone will have to work together for cutting edge innovation and new-age technology,” PM Modi said in his speech. He also announced the launch of Prime Minister Gati Shakti National Master Plan, which is set to involve around `100 lakh crore worth of infrastructure schemes that will generate employment opportunities.

He said that this new master plan is being drawn to keep the foundation of a holistic infrastructure plan that is envisioned to work in silos.

PM Modi also talked about the need for governments to work on moving towards saturation,

wherein 100 per cent villages should be connected through roads; 100 per cent of families should have a bank account; 100 per cent of beneficiaries should have Ayushmaan Bharat card; and 100 per cent eligible persons should have Ujjwala Gas connection. He mentioned that the Government of India will now target saturation level coverage of eligible beneficiaries under different welfare programmes already in place. Citing reasons behind the plan, PM Modi said that the saturation level target will add to cutting down corruption during the implementation of these schemes.

He highlighted that the new Cooperative Ministry created after the recent Cabinet reshuffle is set to play a pivotal role in achieving the ‘developed’ vision of the nation. According to an official statement released by the Press Information Bureau, the new Ministry was formed to provide a separate administration and policy framework to further strengthen the cooperative movement of the country. The Ministry will aim to streamline the process for ease of doing business for co-operatives and help in the development of multistate co-operatives.

Moreover, he announced the launch of 75 new Vande Bharat Trains in the next 75 weeks. “The country has resolved that 75 Vande Bharat trains will be connecting every corner of the country in 75 weeks of Amrit Mahotsav of Independence,” said PM at the Red Fort. He also announced that the authorities are working on improving rail connectivity in the northeast region of the country. He announced that the transit projects will help in job-creating and uplifting the living standards of the northeastern states.

He also announced various welfare schemes like public distribution system and mid-day-meal scheme; Green Hydrogen Mission and girl students’ entry in every Sainik School, among others.

NEWSCAN | BRIEFS

Hyderabad gets India’s first transgender clinic TELANGANA: In a leading initiative, Telangana has set up two transgender clinics in the state’s capital, Hyderabad. The two clinics have been established as part of Government of India’s plan to have exclusive transgender clinics in place in different metro cities across the nation. This plan was made as part of the mandated Transgender Persons Act 2019.

Rachana Mudraboyina, a trans-activist, said that Hyderabad was perhaps chosen as the starting point for the clinic initiative due to the high prevalence of HIV among transgender people in Hyderabad. She quoted that HIV prevalence among transgenders in Hyderabad is 6.47 per cent, which is high as compared with the national average of 3.13 per cent.

Rachana said that the Transgender Community clinics in Hyderabad fit well into the mission of USAID and objectives of the Accelerate project to prevent HIV and support antiretroviral therapy treatment services among transgenders. The clinics are completely led by trans-representatives and are open to any member of the community under the larger umbrella. The clinic has been designed to take care of general health-services, guidance, and medication on hormone therapy, gender affirmation procedures, mental health counseling, HIV/STI counseling, prevention and treatment services, legal aid, and social protection services.

Infrastructure to supply gas to TN to be ready by 2022 CHENNAI: Indian Oil Corporation Limited has said that the infrastructure to supply gas to the entire state of Tamil Nadu, either as a source of energy or as feedstock, will be ready by the end of this year or early 2022. The pipelines division of the PSU is already laying 1450 kilometres of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) pipelines across the state at a cost of `6000 crore.

Amid the challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic, 85 per cent of the work has been completed till now and the entire work is expected to be completed by the end of this year. P Jayadevan, Executive Director and State Head, Indian Oil Corporation for Tamil Nadu, said, “Operators in 17 districts of the state are ready to take Compressed Natural Gas to retail outlets and Piped Natural Gas to households. For the other

21 districts, the operators will be chosen in the next round of bidding by the Government of India in coming months.”

“Being the first LNG terminal on the east coast of India, Ennore LNG terminal has the capacity to handle ships ranging from sizes of 65,000 m3 to 266,000 m3.

The capacity of the terminal can also be increased to 10 million metric tonnes per annum, depending on the demand,” said K Ramu, Chief Executive Officer, IndianOil LNG Pvt Ltd Currently, Ennore LNG Terminal, with a capacity of 5 million metric tonnes per annum and set up by the Indian Oil LNG Pvt Ltd, a joint venture of Indian Oil, is supplying natural gas to various customers. Its major customers include Chennai Petroleum Corporation Ltd, Madras Fertilisers Ltd, Tamil Nadu Petroproducts Ltd, and Manali Petrochemicals Ltd. The LNG Terminal has so far received 25 vessels of LNG from various foreign countries and the gas is supplied to over 15 industrial customers in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Kerala through cryogenic LNG trucks.

Wayanad first district with 100% first-dose vaccination Kerala’s Wayanad district has become the first district in the country to achieve 100 per cent COVID-19 vaccination (first dose) of the total eligible population above 18 years.

Dr Adeela Abdulla, District Collector of Wayanad, said that the district has achieved the vaccination of 95 per cent of the total eligible population of 6,51,967. She also said that of the total eligible population, 6,15,729 have received the first dose while 2,13,277 have received the second dose.

‘Over 54.70 lakh street vendors identified in India’

The Rajya Sabha was told that over 54.70 lakh street vendors are operating in the country, with the highest number recorded in Uttar Pradesh with 9.87 lakh vendors. Kaushal Kishore, Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs, stated that Delhi has 97,952 vendors. However, the Capital does not provide a certificate of vending (CoV). Under the Street Vendors Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending Act 2014, urban local bodies are responsible for conducting surveys for identification and certification of street vendors. According to Kishore, Uttar Pradesh has issued 5,68,671 CoVs and Maharashtra has issued over 29,162 CoVs.

www.urbanupdate.in | September 2021

17

BRIEFS | NEWSCAN

CMC to mix COVID-19 vaccines for research

Dr V K Paul, Member, NITI Aayog, said during a press conference that permission for mixing Covaxin and Covishield for research purposes has been given to Christian Medical College, Vellore. The Drugs Controller General of India has approved this proposal from CMC Vellore for mixed use of Covaxin and Covishield in people. The Indian Council of Medical Research conducted a study on individuals from Uttar Pradesh who were administered a dose of Covishield, followed by Covaxin as the second dose, with an interval of six weeks.

All information on skill training under one portal The Government of India launched the Pradhan Mantri Dakshta Aur Kushalta Sampann Hitgrahi Yojana (PMDAKSH), aimed at making skill development training programmes more readily available to the youths of sanitation workers, scheduled castes, and backward classes.

It will provide the mentioned youths with skill-development training programmes on entrepreneurial development, long-term training programmes, short-term training programmes, and upskilling or reskilling. The PM-DAKSH portal will bring all the information on skill development training under one roof. People can find out training programmes taking place near them and register themselves for any skill training as well.

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September 2021 | www.urbanupdate.in

Assam irrigation project to be finished

by March 2022 DISPUR: The Assam Legislative Assembly was informed that the Dhansiri Irrigation Project, the most expensive project in Assam, will be finished by the end of this fiscal year. Officials have decided to not resume the interlinked 20 MW Dhansiri Hydroelectric Power Project which was suspended in 1996. Ashok Singhal, Minister of Irrigation and Urban Development, Government of Assam, said that the initial expenditure on the construction work had been `15.83 crore, which has now escalated to `567.05 crore. He added that so far, over `444.18 crores has been spent on the project. Singhal said that due to various factors, the project has not been completed yet but all necessary steps will be taken to complete it by March 2022. The project has an irrigation potential of 77,230 hectares annually. Singhal, while talking about the Dhansiri Hydroelectric Power Project, said that it is not in a state of revival.

Singhal said that the state government has decided to bring a reputed consultant from outside Assam to discuss the hydel project and start a new one, if possible.

Moreover, the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development had sanctioned a loan of `116.01 crore for completion of the project in July 2020 and released `109.10 crore to the Assam government in March 2021.

Himachal, Goa processing highest amount of MSW NEW DELHI: Kaushal Kishore, Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs, told the Parliament that Himachal Pradesh and Goa are the two states in the country which process almost 98 per cent of their municipal solid waste (MSW) through scientific methods. Punjab processes 76 per cent and Haryana 53 per cent, which is lower than the national average of 68 per cent.

Himachal Pradesh generates 377 metric tonnes per day (MTD) of municipal solid waste, whereas Goa produces 250 MTD, and Haryana produces 5463 MTD. Chandigarh processes 92 per cent of the total 499 MTD of municipal solid waste, the minister added. Kishore also said that out of the total 1,40,980 tonnes per day (TPD) of municipal solid waste, the country processes 68 per cent

scientifically.

Kishore, in his address, said that 4372 urban local bodies (ULBs) in the country are already practicing scientific disposal of municipal solid waste in line with Municipal Solid Waste Rules 2016.

He added that out of the total 8883 municipal wards, 97 per cent practice door-to-door collection of waste and 81 per cent of them indulge in 100 per cent source segregation of waste.

Kishore also said that as part of Swacch Bharat Mission-Urban, the Government of India has released 35 per cent of the total approved cost of solid waste management projects. Talking about the abolition of manual scavenging, the minister said that the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has identified manual scavengers and they and their dependents are provided various benefits for rehabilitation. One-time cash assistance of `40,000 is also provided to one identified scavenger in the family. Skill development is also provided to the identified beneficiaries and their dependents along with a stipend of `3000 per month.

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NEWSCAN

India, US renew agreement for development cooperation in African, Asian countries NEW DELHI: India and the United States of America (USA), on Friday, July 30, renewed a global development partnership agreement for five years.

The partnership entails the nations to work together in African and Asian countries on key issues such as regional connectivity, clean energy and disaster risk reduction.

India and US signed the second amendment to the Statement of Guiding Principles (SGP) on Triangular Cooperation for Global Development.

The triangular cooperation aims to promote sustainable global development, which includes a global partnership. When three countries come into such an equation, the traditional donors provide financial and technical support to promote developmental activities between two developing countries. Such cooperation allows the developing countries to grow and learn from the pioneers of the development cooperation process.

This ensures that the recipient country

20 September 2021 | www.urbanupdate.in

grows in a cost-effective and efficient manner. The SGP agreement was originally inked in November 2014. It provides a framework for development cooperation in various countries, especially in Asia and Africa.

The second amendment to the SGP agreement extends its validity till September 2026. The revised framework expands the scope of capacity building activities that are jointly undertaken by India and the US. Additionally, it provides a consultative mechanism for joint biannual monitoring and review of activities undertaken under the SGP. This process leverages the combined capacities of India and the US to address development challenges facing countries in the wider region and the world.

Ms Karen Klimowski, Acting Mission Director, United States Agency of International Development (USAID), said while speaking at the signing ceremony that the organization

recognises India’s enhanced role as a leader in innovation with a growth trajectory and dynamic economy.

Hence, the USAID is increasing its involvement in the joint development programmes with India’s Development Partnership Administration. This would include increasing the scale and testing out innovative development solutions worldwide.

Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), Government of India, in an official statement, said that India and the US will continue to offer capacitybuilding aid to partner countries in multiple sectors, focusing primarily on agriculture, regional connectivity, trade and investment, nutrition, health, clean and renewable energy, women’s empowerment, disaster preparedness, water, sanitation, education and institution building. It expects this triangular cooperation with the US to complement India’s other ongoing and future development partnerships, capacity-building and technical assistance with countries globally.

Abhilasha Joshi, Joint Secretary of the Development Partnership Administration-II division of the MEA, commented that the signing of this amendment signifies reinforcement of India-US cooperation and their joint commitment to work together and leverage their combined capacities to provide demand-driven solutions for global development. Key areas of focus in the development programmes this time are to include disaster risk response, clean and renewable energy, and climate-smart agriculture. An official statement released by the US embassy said that the developmental partnership between the US and India is of more than 70 years. Both nations have been working together in increasing the use of clean energy, tackling climate change crisis, promoting economic growth, and ending the COVID-19 induced pandemic.

NEWSCAN | BRIEFS

RMC launches automated land conversion system ROURKELA: Suresh Chandra Mahapatra, Chief Secretary of the Government of Odisha, launched an automated system for land conversion from lease-hold to freehold on pilot basis for the city of Rourkela. He said that the system would be customized and updated in the near future on the basis of feedback from users and stakeholders.

The automated system was launched digitally in the presence of Bishnupada Sethi, Principal Secretary, Revenue and Disaster Management Department; Nikhil Pavan Kalyan, District Magistrate, Sundargarh; and other dignitaries from the Government of Odisha. Mahapatra congratulated Rourkela Municipal Corporation (RMC) and the district administration for applying a progressive technological intervention, and asked them to work on making the system more citizen-centric by reducing the burden of document compliances at the time of submission of the application. Additionally, he directed municipal officials to examine if affidavits, indemnity, etc., can be replaced with self-declaration in the city’s administration process.

During the launch ceremony, Mahapatra suggested linking the system with Jana Seva Kendras and common service centres so that citizens could submit applications from those points. For greater ease of city residents, he also advised officials to make the provision for online submission of applications and fees from individual computers so that people could do it from their home. With the new digitized system, the whole work will be done through automated software, thereby increasing efficiency of the administration along with ease for people.

West Bengal bags five awards in smart governance KOLKATA: The Government of West Bengal won a total of five Skoch Awards 2021 in four categories of governance.

Skoch Foundation India organizes Smart Governance Awards every year to recognize top performing governments and organisations working with governments across the nation, which are operating at local, state, and national levels in the areas of health, education, rural and urban development, finance, agriculture, and transport.

The Departments of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME), and Textile of the Government of West Bengal

won four out of the total five awards.

The state’s single window system called ‘Silpa Sathi’, that provides single window service under the various applicable Acts, Rules, Policies and Schemes, won the platinum award, which is the highest category. An MSME project of the state involving auto-renewal of certificate of enlistment through online system for urban areas bagged the gold award. MSME and textile department won two silver awards for online deliverance of trade license in rural areas and e-nathikaran, e-preparation, and e-submission of deeds. West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Company Limited also bagged a silver award for sustainable performance as the second largest power utility with substantial transformation in IT. Mamata Banerjee, Chief Minister, West Bengal, congratulated everyone who was involved in this tireless efforts and said that she hopes that the Government of West Bengal will continue to bag such laurels.

BMC switches to new construction technology

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has planned a switch from multiplepile foundation to monopile foundation technology to construct pillars for bridges and interchanges for the coastal road project. This will help reduce the cost of construction by `12 crore and will also save time. The civic body will implement the new technology for construction of 10.58 km coastal road project from Princess Street to Worli.

The same technology will also be used to construct the piles from Priydarshani Park to Baroda Palace and Baroda Palace to Bandra-Worli Sea Link, BMC officials said.

Amrith schemes launched

by Karnataka CM Basavaraj Bommai, Chief Minister, Karnataka, in his Independence Day address, announced over 10 Amrith Schemes. The welfare programs would revolve around urban development, sports, farming, etc. The schemes will also help in the development of tier-two cities across the state, along with Bengaluru. The Government of Karnataka will now be focusing on micro development projects in the state. The Amrith Nirmala Nagara program will provide 75 urban municipal bodies with `1 crore each for bettering the aesthetics of their area.

Moreover, the Government of Karnataka will provide infrastructural facilities like labs, toilets, and buildings to 750 schools of Karnataka.

www.urbanupdate.in | September 2021

21

Cover story | Agenda 2030

Indian cities have to lead

SDG movement India would add over 400 million people to its cities by 2050 and become 50 per cent urbanised. There are almost 8000 ‘urban centres’ in the country, and these numbers are expected to grow further. Increasing population in cities will put excessive pressure on land, urban services and infrastructure, governance structures, industrial and economic activities of these urban centres.

To remain functional and efficient, cities will have to address all these issues promptly. The Sustainable Development Goals are a ready reference to chart out the trajectory of sustainable urban development, and cities must localise them urgently before time runs out

22 September 2021 | www.urbanupdate.in

Abhishek Pandey Editor

T

he world has entered into the Decade of Action while facing the most challenging health crisis in 100 years.

All of us know that we are left with less than ten years to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, and the role of cities in achieving them is essential to make the world an inclusive and equal world. SDGs touch upon various issues ranging from poverty, hunger, gender equality, sustainable cities to climate change.

And, a majority of these issues need to be tackled in cities.

The primary aim of SDG 11 Sustainable Cities and Communities is to make cities, human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable. The goal requires cities to work with almost every SDG to achieve the targets under SDG-11.

Several fundamental challenges are plaguing our urban systems. And, the recent Pandemic has spotlighted those weaknesses. For instance, a massive proportion of urban residents still lives in informal settlements. The numbers for a big city like Mumbai is staggering.

Approximately 50 per cent of people in Mumbai live in informal settlements.

Indian cities have 39 per cent installed sewage treatment capacity as a proportion of sewage generated in urban areas. Access to essential civic services in these settlements is also patchy. The poor and a range of vulnerable communities in cities such as children, differently-abled, elderly and women face problems in accessing many urban facilities. The focus on SDGs and achieving the targets within the time frame will help the urban

citizenry.

The lack of equitable access to services and infrastructure raises a fundamental question of the urban centres’ functionality and underlines the significance of improving governance and operational mechanism. All these efforts have to be monitored so that policymakers, city leadership and municipal workforce can steer them in the right direction if drifting is witnessed.

In India, the NITI Aayog is the nodal agency for coordinating and monitoring the Sustainable Development Goals in India. In March this year, it released the SDG India Index & Dashboard to document the state of progress in achieving the SDGs agenda at the national and sub-national levels. In addition, the Index offers insights to policymakers on the remaining distance to travel for achieving the goals, gaps, and data and statistical challenges.

Progress of SDG 11

To measure India’s performance towards SDG 11, the Index identified eight national-level indicators to capture three out of the ten SDG targets under this goal. These indicators are: Percentage of urban households living in katcha houses, Deaths due to road accidents in urban areas (per 1,00,000 population), Percentage of wards with 100% door to door waste collection (SBM(U)), Percentage of individual household toilets constructed against target (SBM(U)), Percentage of MSW processed to the total MSW generated (SBM(U)), Percentage of wards with 100% source segregation (SBM(U)), Installed sewage treatment capacity as a percentage of sewage generated in urban areas, and Percentage of urban households with drainage facility. These indicators have been selected based on data available at the sub-national level and ensure comparability across states and UTs. According to the report, the composite scores of the states and UTs on this goal shows a breakdown of the states and UTs by indicator.

Goal 11 Index Score ranges between 39 (Arunachal Pradesh) and 91 (Punjab) for States, and between 56 (Lakshadweep) and 98 (Chandigarh) for UTs. Punjab and Chandigarh are the top performers among the states and the UTs, respectively. Twenty-two states and five UTs bagged a position in the category of Front Runners (score range between 65 and 99, including both). However, three states fell behind in the Aspirants category (with Index scores less than 50).

This Index undoubtedly presents a clearer picture of the progress made on achieving sustainable development goals based on available data with local governments and states. Still, certain areas are missing in the parameters of the Index for monitoring. There are several decisive indicators such as the scale of disaster preparedness, equitable access to services and urban infra, state of health infra, climate change mitigation, sustainable mobility, financial inclusiveness, among others, which could be part of the Index to make it holistic. Going forward, the monitoring agency can consider including these indicators in the Index to understand the on-ground reality of cities in preparedness to achieve the goals before the deadline. And, the idea of making the data and state further localised could be beneficial to the overall objective. If the SDG-11 concerns cities, the monitoring report must present local situations in cities, specifically outlining the progress under several SDG targets.

www.urbanupdate.in | September 2021

23

One on One | Hitesh Vaidya, Director, NIUA

“Indian cities proved their mettle during the pandemic” The COVID-19 brought with it various difficulties and challenges, particularly for urban local bodies (ULBs), who had to ensure continuity of essential services even during some of the world’s strictest lockdowns. At the same time, they also had to make sure that neither the residents, nor their employees were infected with the virus and that the economically backward sections of society, a majority of which lost their source of income during the lockdowns, had access to three meals a day and a roof over their head. In the midst of all this, ULBs in India did not stop working on climate change related projects either, showing their will to reverse global warming. To know more about how they were able to do all this, and what role the National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA) played in assisting them, Abhishek Pandey, Editor, Urban Update, interviewed Hitesh Vaidya, Director, NIUA During the pandemic, how did cities respond so quickly? What was the Government of India’s plan when dealing with this new challenge of COVID-19? The Centre came up with plans for street vendors, medical professionals, SWM, etc. What was NIUA’s role and how was it supporting the government in this?

I think a lot of things have changed in going from the pre-pandemic to the post-pandemic world. It is almost like the division of ‘Before Christ’ and ‘After Christ’. That is the change that we are looking at now. NIUA, as you know, is a think-tank of the Government of India. Our key mandate is to build capacities of ULBs, conduct on-ground research and advocate reforms and new ways of doing things. I think all three mandates were really followed after the pandemic. Cities have, I will say, responded really well during the pandemic. We used to say that our cities are not prepared but I particularly feel that the way they responded to the pandemic situation was a great way of handling the situation and I think our cities did a much better job than any other city in the world. And our work

24 September 2021 | www.urbanupdate.in

was comparable to all other cities.

After the pandemic, the main task is that cities have to rebuild their infrastructure, capacities, and their way of citizen-engagement. And NIUA is supporting them in this rebuilding exercise by building templates, preparing DPRs, and defining standards, so that cities can respond to the needs in a better way. Instead of each city preparing their own template, we can provide a standardized template to all of them so that they can prepare their project faster. Secondly, we are also providing information on the technologies available, both in terms of digital and infrastructure technologies.

We are creating a repository of technologies, which can be made available to the cities and they can appropriately select those technologies, contextualize them according to their environment and apply them.

Thirdly, we are conducting training and capacity building workshops.

We have started the National Urban Learning Platform, for which we have almost 27 institutes and 83 partners.

With this, we are moving towards e-learning, where we can reach the scale of Indian ULBs much faster.

Fourthly, we are recording the good practices that a lot of Indian cities have done during the pandemic. And we are making them available to 4000 local bodies across the country, where if one city has done it, others can follow suit. So we are becoming a repository of innovations, best practices, and of different technologies. And that is how we are supporting not just smart cities, but all 4000 ULBs across India.

Talking about 4000 ULBs, India is a vast country in terms of local governance. In the post-pandemic world, the effects of climate change are imminent and they are going to affect our cities badly.

India ranks 7th among the most affected countries globally, as per the Global Climate Risk Index 2021. So we think that India is on an urbanisation fast-track, we are building cities, we are bringing so many schemes and missions for rebuilding cities and making them resilient, smart and effective. How do you see the Climate Smart City Framework Assessment by the NIUA, which is very timely, is going to impact at

cities, are working on improving their air quality, they can focus only on the tools which are available for air-quality monitoring. We have also gotten a climate alliance prepared, where we have around 50 to 60 climate partners, which are multi-lateral bodies and institutions, and we are making them available to the cities.

So the institutions can hand-hold cities and create a roadmap for climate action implementation. We are also tying up with training institutes, who are being made responsible to ensure that need-based capacity can be created.

The major focus of NIUA is not only on assessment but on taking it forward with an action-oriented approach.

the local level, how cities are going to respond and what are its benefits?

You will be surprised that the Climate Self-Assessment Framework that NIUA has launched is the first-of-its-kind self-assessment framework across the world. No other country has carried out a similar task at this scale. Under the Framework, we covered 126 cities across 27 indicators falling in five broad categories: built environment, energy efficiency, mobility and air quality, urban planning and water and wastewater. Vey surprisingly, if you see the results coming out of the Framework, Indian cities have really started mainstreaming climate action in their day-to-day work, and the results are really showcasing the initiative.

I will say that the pandemic has forced cities to take the bull by its horns approach and they are actually working to mainstream climate-action in their everyday tasks. But, the major objective of this Framework was to create awareness among cities with regard to climate action, and to create capacity building tools so that the cities can use those tools based on the requirement they have. So if a city, or a cluster of

Taking cue from what you said, cities are responding very well and they are very interested in taking up climate-related work.

We are currently in the Decade of Action. Thus, we need to hurry up and make cities aware of SDGs, Paris Accord, New Urban Agenda, etc. So what are the main priority areas we have to focus on?

You will see, India signed around five global frameworks in 2015, including SDGs, Paris Agreement, and New Urban Agenda. The major focus of all these frameworks is sustainability and inclusiveness. If you look at all our Missions, whether Smart Cities Mission, AMRUT, PMAY, etc., they all are touching one aspect or another of sustainability and inclusiveness. You will agree with me that these global frameworks came up in 2015, whereas we had started working on these missions in 2014. We had already talked about water to all, universal access to services, and bringing 100 Smart Cities.

So India was actually thinking much in advance than even the global stalwarts.

Knowing the Indian complexity and scale, we may have been a little slow, but I think the policies and strategy are in the right direction.

We are talking about reducing energy demand and are also looking at measures to increase our share of renewable energy, and we are also moving towards green-blue infrastructure. NIUA is

actually supporting Delhi’s Master Plan 2041 and for the first time, we have adopted a strategic approach rather than a typical planning approach. Our focus is on how to improve greenblue infrastructure and how to create principles of planning based on the global frameworks rather than just preparing a Master Plan. So I think India is on the right path and the success and failure of the SDGs will depend largely on the success and failure of India.

We were really ahead of our time and made policies for sustainability and inclusivity.

But, we have seen that there were many hiccups when we were implementing these policies. Do you think it is very important for Indian cities to have some global collaborations and a knowledge sharing platform? What do you think is the importance and role of global collaboration and cooperation at the city level?

Again, I do agree with you. But India has taken two prompt approaches.

One is of creating a policy framework at the national level so that you can make these global partners available to the cities. The second approach is of actually creating a framework where you create the market-oriented structures at the local-level. So I agree with you. But, I think that there has already been so much learning from best-practices and what we really need is to contextualize the practice. You cannot simply pickup Singapore and turn Bihar Sharif into that. We have to look at the process, the reality and the demand of it.

I think that is the role that institutions like NIUA and the All India Institute of Local Self-Government (AIILSG) have to play. We have to be the honest broker. We have to create the link between best-practices and the demand of the city. So we need to invest in knowledge-sharing platforms, where soft investment is needed. And I think that soft investment is hard to get. Thus, we need to focus on that soft investment and think how we can

www.urbanupdate.in | September 2021

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One on One | Hitesh Vaidya, Director, NIUA motivate, incentivize, as well as create the leadership domains within the ULBs to bring the knowledge to the right person at the right time.

This brings me to the question regarding the 74th Constitutional Amendment. Whenever we speak to Mayors, they always complain that it has not been implemented uniformly. In Some states, it has been implemented very well, and in others, the implementation has been flawed. How do you think urban governance reforms are important for cities right now?

I think the 74th Amendment definitely was a paradigm shift. We need to work on it. I do agree that its implementation has been the biggest challenge. It has been almost 25 years now since the Amendment was passed. Some states have done well, some have not. I definitely think that cities need to be empowered, and they need to be given more functions. But I also simultaneously feel that if it has not worked yet, there must be some challenge within the Amendment too.

The urban issues that were prevalent in 1992 have changed totally. The financial requirements have changed.

The role of Mayors and Commissioners have changed. I think it is high

time that we need to revisit the 74th Amendment. Again, institutions like NIUA and AIILSG might need to go back to the drawing board and see what worked and what did not work, why it did not work, and then come up with a new framework, which might entail what cities need to take up.

NIUA has been working on urban development for the last 45 years and the 74th Amendment is just 25 years old. is there any study on the impact of the 74th Constitutional Amendment on local governance, on the mindset of the local representatives?

There has been. Not directly by NIUA but by other organisations like Janaagraha, Praja Foundation, maybe AIILSG. The only thing is that these studies have not seen the impact which we really need. And that is why I think it is time to go back to the drawing board and a pool of parallel organisations need to sit together and figure out what the lessons learnt are.

I’m asking this question because in cities like Chandigarh, the Mayoral term is only one year.

When you ask the mayor what his/ her plans are, they say that the first three months of their term

We are tying up with training institutes, who are being made responsible to ensure that need-based capacity can be created. The major focus of NIUA is not only on assessment but on taking it forward with an action-oriented approach

26 September 2021 | www.urbanupdate.in

goes up in welcome ceremonies, etc. So there’s essentially no time left to work.

In India, some states have a five-year mayoral term, and others have it for 2.5 years. The distributions are very complex. And that is why I say that some things have worked, some have not. We need to really revisit the 74th Amendment, the role of elected representatives, and we need to empower the municipal cadre. There has been a huge amount of discussion on establishing a municipal cadre and whether it works or not. Those are the points of discussion and I think it is high time that we revisit them because issues like climate, air quality, inclusivity, urban regional planning are new and have new meanings.

Thus, I think this is a fortunate time to rethink the whole governance and institutional framework and see how we can relook at it. Maybe one of the new areas we can explore is a tripartite agreement between the city, the state and the Centre. I think it requires deeper deliberation now to look at what needs to be done. I agree with you that cities are the engines of growth but this engine requires the wheels of governance. We have to revisit the 74th Amendment to ensure that the wheels do not get stuck there and keep moving.

The pandemic has taught many lessons to cities – how to conduct themselves, how to plan their transport systems, how to plan solid waste management, etc. During the lockdowns, the main challenge for ULBs was how to move people safely. Many people started talking about cycling when Paris presented the ‘15-minute city’ plan. Do you think that cycling and walking is a feasible idea for Indian cities, considering the climatic conditions, the condition of roads, and the facilities required for their safety?

I think you have to see why cycling really came up. It has been there in the Indian discourse for a long time.

Why did it suddenly gain momentum

during the pandemic was for two reasons. One was that during the pandemic, mass transit got affected.

People could not use it because of fear of COVID transmission. That was a big challenge. Thus, mobility shifted to private vehicles and the roads began getting cramped. But, since everyone does not have their own private vehicle, cycle was seen as an alternative, as an inclusive, green mode of mobility. And that is the reason the discourse began in Indian cities. I agree that there are a lot of challenges in moving to cycling as a mode of transport in Indian cities, but there are no alternatives.

Here, cycling may even be batteryoperated cycles. But cycle provided two benefits – better health and an inclusive mode of transport. And both were required during the pandemic.

The major thing is that cycles should not be looked at a mode of adventure.

It should be looked at as a mode of last mile connectivity. Some cities like Ahmedabad have already begun doing.

But it requires three things – change of mindset, because we think that if we are using a cycle, we may be perceived as not being economically sound; change in behavior; and change in technology and processes.

I believe that we need to invest more in the cycling infrastructure rather than the cycle itself. Cycling has to be made as a mode of last-mile connectivity. At the same time, we also have to improve our mass-transit system because there is no alternative to that in the Indian society.

And while we are doing that, we have to motivate people to use mass transit by ensuring that COVID protocols are followed. However, once you get off the mass transit mode, you should have the possibility of taking a cycle to reach your destination. For example, the distance between my house and my office is 26 kilometres. You cannot expect me to cycle all the way every day. What would be feasible is if I could reach a place which is 10-15 minutes away from my house or my office via mass transit and from there I can take up cycling. Those models are available and should be encouraged.

We have talked about lot of issues. Now we must talk about how Prime Minister Modi aims to make India a $5 trillion economy.

What would be the role of cities IN PM Modi’s aim and are our cities ready to support it?

If India becomes a $5 trillion economy, it will only be because of the cities because 60 per cent of our GDP is coming from cities. Right now, we need to focus on urbanisation and its linkages with economic development, which is where we need to think how cities become that engine of growth, how do they create those innovative ways of making India move towards that goal of $5 trillion economy.

If you ask me, the success or failure of India in becoming a $5 trillion economy depends on Prime Minister Modi’s other vision – of making India ‘aatmanirbhar’ (self-sufficient). To become aatmanirbhar, we have to focus on three things – increase the credit-worthiness of cities, find out ways how cities can improve their own sources of income, and link the urbanrural economy by looking at urban and rural areas as a region because the skilled labour will come from rural areas and the urban areas will provide the services.

Fourthly, we need to ensure that the vision of $5 trillion economy needs to be linked with the performance indicators of the ULBs and lastly, data and technology need to be given the importance they deserve in all this. So each city has to see how it is contributing towards that vision.

In the case of global goals too, like the SDGs, their aims and objectives need to be reflected in the day-to-day working of the ULBs and they need to understand that it is not the job of the Prime Minister or the United Nations to implement them, it is the job of the ULBs. They need to realize that whatever they do contributes to the overall goal.

Till today, we say ‘the UN goals’. We need to say that they are the ‘city’s goals’ to ensure that the knowledge and vision trickles down to the local level and the action taken is localised.

10-12 cities in India like Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore, contribute majorly to the national GDP. How can we trickle down to the tier-2 and 3 cities if we want to ensure that development is inclusive and population distribution is even? In this direction, what is NIUA envisioning as the role of Indian cities and is it contributing to that?

Cities will do the work which they are already doing. The role of NIUA is to create those enabling frameworks so that they start coming up with solutions which contribute to the global dialogue. For that, at NIUA, we are discussing how we can facilitate this through tools, technology, training, templates, frameworks and standards.

For example, we have come up with the National Urban Digital Mission, where we are looking at nine functions which are citizen-engagement services which cities are providing. How we can create a centralized standard for these services so that cities become empowered and start building on that is the question we are addressing with this Mission.

At NIUA, we are also looking at internal changes, where we are ensuring that all our actions are result-oriented, impact-oriented, have to have a scale, have to promote entrepreneurship and inclusion of the private sector, and have to be inclusive.

Whatever action we take, it meets the key asks of the cities and that is what our main goal is. So we become a value-adding organisation rather than an organisation that just does business-as-usual.

We need to go back to the drawing board and really think what should be our model of delivering services, our model of engagement, our model of providing support, our model of addressing capacity issues, and what are the challenges that cities are facing. I think if we are able to deliver on these 5 points, we will be able to get ahead of the thinking curve and outperform ourselves.

[You can also watch this interview on YouTube Channel of Urban Update]

www.urbanupdate.in | September 2021

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Infograph | India & SDGs

Tracking India’s progress in localising SDGs Striving to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030, all tiers of governments in India-- central, state governments and local governments -- are taking focused initiatives to localise the SDGs to achieve all the targets under each goal. Team Urban Update enlists some of the measures taken by the governments.

It should be noted that the list does not present an exhaustive overview of the progress in achieving SDGs but cover some of the crucial strategic policy interventions to augment the pace of collective efforts TEAM URban update

Sources: World Bank; Government of Kerala; New & Renewable Energy Development Corporation of Andhra Pradesh Ltd; Himachal Services; Government of Punjab; Government of Tripura, Power Department, Agartala; Millennium Post; Niti Aayog; NCRB

28 September 2021 | www.urbanupdate.in

Tamil Nadu Empowerment and Poverty Reduction Project has so far reached 1.5 million people at a cost of $39 million

The Government of Kerala initiated community kitchens that have successfully served 86,51,627 people from March-May 2020

HIV incidence per 1000 uninfected population dropped to 0.05% in Gujrat and increased institutionalized deliveries up to 99.5%

Chandigarh has the highest enrolment ratio of 83.43% of students in higher secondary education

Chhattisgarh has secured `4.65 crore paid employment out of `9.17 crore generated for women under MNREGA

Through the use of sustainable power utilities, Andhra Pradesh has saved `2,350 crore over the last two years

Skill Development Allowance has been disbursed to 42,859 beneficiaries as part of Himachal Pradesh’s Skill Development Scheme

Goa amd Gujarat, among others, have achieved the target of 100% road connectivity under the PM Gram Sadak Yojana

The Government of Punjab has ensured 100% electricity coverage, 86% water supply, and efficient road networking across the state

It is estimated that 100% of Tripura’s households will be primarily reliant on clean fuels for cooking, heating, and lighting by 2030

Odisha tops climate action with 22% disaster preparedness score and 31.40% of renewable energy produced out of total capacity

Odisha tops the list of SDG 14 Index Score of Coastal States. It also has the highest potential area developed under aquaculture, at 41%

Mizoram takes lead with 87.5% of forest and tree cover.

The total forest cover of the country

In a leading initiative, states like Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, etc., have introduced citizen-friendly service of Online Registration of FIR under certain offences

India has extended more than 300 Lines of Credit, totalling $30.66 billion, to 64 countries under various projects

The Wealth Index of the National Family Health stated that only 3.2% of Kerala’s population fell in the lowest two wealth quintiles

After achieving

99.71% of improved drinking water, Haryana provided toilet facilities in 98.49% girls’ schools

is 7,12,249 sq km

www.urbanupdate.in | September 2021

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Leaderspeak | Collaboration for Localisation

Localising SDGs: A Stiff Test for Cities

Our world has undergone profound changes in the last decade, more intensely in the previous 20 months. The Pandemic and changing geopolitical discourse on social, environmental and climate issues have impelled cities to rethink how to build urban environments and facilities to fix existing problems and lay a foundation for sustainable and livable urban settlements. It will require a transition in existing urban functionalities to the tune of Sustainable Development Goals. It will require serious and sincere efforts from LRGs

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a Jane Jacobs, A celebrated author and urbanist from the United States of America, writes in her book ‘The Death and Life of Great American Cities’, “Cities have the capability of providing something for everybody, only because, and only when, they are created by everybody.” It is no denying that the Sustainable Development Goals are for everyone, specifically for those from the most vulnerable sections of society. Hence, the success of cities in playing their due role hinges on favourable collaborations between all relevant stakeholders. Cities can enhance their role by ensuring knowledge and resource sharing, developing the skill and capacity of leadership and workforce, and forging mutually beneficial partnerships on an unparalleled scale to achieve the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at the local level.

At the United Nations Sustainable Development Summit on September 25, 2015, world leaders came together and decided to adopt the 2030 Agenda to end poverty, fight inequality and injustice, and tackle climate change by 2030. When the SDGs were conceptualised, localisation efforts were mainly centred towards implementation at the local level.

However, over the years, it was observed that achieving the targets under the SDGs is not possible without the proactive participation of local governments. Moreover, almost every SDG requires the role of sub-national and local governments. Hence, local

30 September 2021 | www.urbanupdate.in

and regional governments must enhance their technical capacities and functional abilities to promote integrated, inclusive, participatory and sustainable development.

Cities are increasingly focusing on making urban planning and scheme implementations participatory and inclusive so that they can chart out the requirements of their citizens and find the best available resources to augment the pace of efforts. To make it easier for local governments globally, the Global Taskforce of Local and Regional Governments presented a roadmap for localising the SDGs. The main focal points were: Awareness-Raising for making local leadership aware of the significance of achieving the goals; Advocacy for pushing local demands in national policies; Implementation at the local level; Monitoring using defined indicators; and Where Do We Go From Here for laying the future roadmap.

This also brings into focus the role of local governments in the 2030 Agenda. Several local government associations have highlighted that local governments cannot be viewed just as the implementers of the global agenda set by the national and international leaders and agencies.

Local governments have to play a fundamental role in drafting local policies and linking the benefits of the global agenda with local communities.

As mentioned in the Roadmap, Local and Regional Governments (LRGs) can play a constructive role in spreading awareness among the local community and relevant stakeholders.

Since city leaders are elected, they are accountable to their constituents for their activities at the local level.

Global initiatives on localisation

Local governments worldwide, especially in the developed world, have begun forming alliances and associations to speed up the localisation of SDGs by raising awareness, experience sharing and integrating local policies with Agenda 2030. In India, urban local bodies will have to improvise their strategies for achieving the SDGs by 2030. The major challenge in India is that several municipalities are still unaware of the goals and targets because the knowledge and information have either not reached them or they cannot sync their ongoing programmes with SDG objectives.

Hence the monitoring of the efforts by national agencies becomes unviable.

In the Netherlands, the Global Goals Municipal Campaign spurred the interest of about half of the municipalities.

This campaign is designed to raise awareness and demystify the SDGs concept, encourage all relevant stakeholders’ participation, review local policies and integrate them with specific goals of Agenda 2030, share best practices with other municipalities within and outside the country. An internal association agency for municipalities in the Netherlands has developed a ‘Menu of Inspiration’ to provide ideas to cities and LGs on different SDGs. In addition, the innovative and interactive Time Capsule concept is gaining

Ranjit S Chavan President, AIILSG

traction among all stakeholders. The Time Capsule travelling across the country allows people to express their wishes for 2030 and then engage them with a dialogue to get constructive ideas. Later, these ideas are put up to the national governments for planning action plans for implementation.

In the United Kingdom, the National Assembly for Wales came out with the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act in 2015 which it aims to use this for achieving the SDGs. Under this Act, Wales has charted seven wellbeing goals based on the principles of sustainable development. Another

An internal association agency for municipalities in the Netherlands has developed a ‘Menu of Inspiration’ to provide ideas to cities and LGs on different SDGs. The innovative and interactive Time Capsule concept is gaining traction among all stakeholders.

The Time Capsule travelling across the country allows people to express their wishes for 2030 and then engage them with a dialogue to get constructive ideas. At a later stage, these ideas are put up to the national governments for planning action plans for implementation

good practice example comes from The Government of Valencia, Spain. The local government has forged alliances with civil society groups and academic institutions to raise awareness among different society sections, including students.

In Africa, local government association with the Ministry of Human Settlements is taking the leadership role in engaging local governments by conducting consultations to inform them about the new policy and accompanying laws.

In many countries such as Germany, Spain, Brazil, Colombia, several LGAs have called for creating a multilevel coordination committee for providing a voice to the local priorities and demands for attaining the targets set under the Agenda 2030. For example, Mexico has come out with a concept of City Prosperity Index through which LGs can analyse, plan and monitor urban policies for this objective.

All local governments are making efforts to play their role in achieving the SDGs. However, cities surely need to work on international cooperation and engagements for gaining knowledge and tools in the areas where they need assistance. And, internal coordination with different development agencies is as crucial to be able to use the acquired knowledge.

The road to SDGs is not smooth for local governments in developing countries because of numerous constraints and fundamental weaknesses. It will test the functional capacity of cities if they can reach the destination without a snag.

www.urbanupdate.in | September 2021

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ARTICLE | Climate Change & Resilience

Necessary for cities to become resilient and adaptive There is a consensus that climate change is one of the major threats of our time. It is expected that in the next decades, climate disasters such as typhoons, floods, sea level rises and dry spells will be more frequent, while the disruptions in the ecosystems and water resources may jeopardize the wellbeing of local populations

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n 2015, the signatory countries of the Paris Agreement agreed to fight against climate change, and to limit the rise in temperatures to 1.5 or 2 degree Celsius. Five years later, the efforts towards climate mitigation and adaptation are still urgently needed – including scientific research on the topic.

Climate Adaptation has been defined by the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC 1995) as responses to both the adverse and positive effects of climate change. It refers to any adjustment, whether passive, reactive or anticipatory, that can respond to anticipated or actual consequences associated with climate change. It is implicitly recognized by international

organizations and research that future climate changes will occur and must be accommodated in policy, and that adaptation to climate change is a necessity. Specifically, the role of cities and local governments in climate mitigation and adaptation has been increasingly recognized as essential in these processes. Indeed, cities are considered at the right level to

Dr Pascaline Gaborit Director, Pilot4dev

understand territories’ socio-economic dynamics, to take appropriate decisions, and to protect local populations and ecosystems.

Urban development and concerns for the environment are undergoing permanent and constant changes and transformations: cities need to adapt to the local economy, to population needs, to legal and physical constraints, and to migrations. In an ever-changing context, local authorities and governments are submitted to contradictory imperatives.

On the one hand, they need to adapt to global contexts in terms of employment, climate and arrival of new populations, and on the other hand, they also need to provide housing, services, green spaces and liveable places, and offer good conditions of living for their local residents. In many countries, the urban population is steadily rising, creating more pressure for cities to grow. Cities will not only have to accommodate population growth, but also alleviate urban poverty and informal settlements, to decrease urban inequalities, and to provide basic services such as drinkable water, sanitation, and access to electricity for all. On top of this comes the central question of urban resilience, or the capacity of cities to adapt to crisis or disasters, to develop responses, and to build back better. In the context of climate change, the question of urban resilience becomes an urgent priority for cities affected by heat waves, and for the ones in coastal areas.

The CRIC, or the Climate Resilient

and Inclusive Cities project, is a fiveyear project co-funded by the European Union. This project involves cities in Indonesia, India, Europe and in other Southeast Asian countries. During the latest focus group discussions, we concluded that climate adaptation involved a robust investment from cities, the development of ICT solutions (smart early warning systems), naturebased solutions (nature buffers), as well the involvement of communities and people (in the preparedness).

In this framework, the partners are trying to develop collaborative tools, which will support the cities in several areas: water and sanitation, waste management, and early warning systems.

The research in the project concluded however that the cities will be increasingly confronted to trade-offs.

Cities do not only need to be innovative, economically vibrant, culturally active, creative and environmentally friendly; they will also be at the front line in climate change mitigation (protection of forests, ecosystems, renewable energies) and in climate adaptation (protection of the urban infrastructure, early warning systems and information to the population, and reduction of vulnerabilities, especially among the poorer population). In low lying areas, climate change and sea level rise has become a threat: soil subsidence, saline infiltration and water scarcity contribute to the vulnerability, which is further reinforced by rapid population growth and urbanization. This situation is likely to fuel conflicts between authorities in charge, and some segments of the population, when the poorer population and minorities are more exposed (and less likely to be informed) to climate disasters. In this regard, the questions of land use, land ownership and participative management of natural ecosystems such as forests and marine ecosystems can play an important role both in climate mitigation (attenuation of climate change), and in climate adaptation (attenuation of the impacts of climate change).

In addition to the priorities, the

question of the end responsibilities is at stake. Preparedness and response would need strong and robust multistakeholder’ engagement, which is able to mobilize actions from the public and private sectors, from the local populations and from all government tiers. Research shows, however, that there will be no ‘harmonious’ cooperation from all stakeholders without coordination and strong financial incentives. The question of coordination, end responsibilities and the availability of funding are indeed also important for cities to strengthen their resilience.

Good examples of urban resilience do exist at the international level: early warning systems and infrastructure protection (resilience of the levee system) worked successfully in Louisiana (U.S.A) in August this year, before the arrival of hurricane Ida, which loomed 16 years after hurricane Katrina (2005). Hurricane Katrina had led to many more fatalities after the breach of the levee system and subsequent flooding. It shows that preparedness and response are efficient in limiting the casualties of climate events. Similarly, in Paris (France), early warning systems monitor possible floods from the river ‘la Seine’. This system has been efficient in connecting infrastructure to prevent overflows. The recent floods in Liège (Belgium) and the floods followed by landslides in the Cologne region (Germany) show however that many cities should increase their resilience to climate disasters. The recent climate events show that more needs to be done at all possible levels to adapt better to climate change (and decrease its impact). Urban Resilience and Climate Adaptation now become a necessity for every vulnerable city or neighbourhood governments, and urban local bodies, and the common person needs to realise this. Only when we all come together will we be able to make a change.

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

www.urbanupdate.in | September 2021

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ARTICLE | Sustainable Mobility

Public transport interventions at core of achieving SDGs

Transportation systems have been so imbibed in our lives, especially the urban areas, that it is now a parameter of measuring growth and development of a country or a city. In the endeavour of providing the user with better facilities, professionals have been quite successful, but there is another side of the coin as well. Road users have suffered losses due to transportation and its facilities

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ccording to the World Health Organization, the leading cause of death due to ‘injuries’ is ‘road injury’, and 1.3 million people die each year across the globe due to it. 90 per cent of the world’s fatalities are recorded in low- and middle-income countries. The picture is gloomier for Asian countries as out of these total accidents, 60 per cent are reported in Asia. According to reports by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, Government of India, about 1,50,785 people have been killed and 4,94,624 people injured in 2018 due to road-related incidents. In order to get an idea of what India is losing every year, we can glance at the following analogy.

34 September 2021 | www.urbanupdate.in

In India, in the recent past, we have lost about 1.5 lakh people annually due to road accident deaths. The population of small cities like Darjeeling (1,20,414), Roorkee (1,18,118), and Greater Noida (1,07,676) is less than the number of accidents. In a nutshell, we can say “India loses one city every year”.

In order to tackle the situation, the United Nations has incorporated precautionary measures and targets in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). These targets cannot be achieved until and unless there is coordination among and within stakeholder organizations right from local level bodies to international organisations. The targets can only be achieved when we start acting more efficiently at the local level and start

thinking about the outputs at the international level. SDG 3.6 (Ensuring healthy lives and well-being) spells out the target of halving deaths due to road accidents by the year 2020.

Unfortunately, according to researches by both WHO and the World Resources Institute (WRI), this target has not yet been achieved.

How to localise transportrelated SDGs

In India, nearly 30 per cent of the population lives in small cities, with population of less than one million, and these cities often have a poor database. All national-level reports related to traffic deaths include data for large cities only. The master plans/ city development plans in these cities

Dr Sewa RAM Professor and HoD, Transport Planning School of Planning and Architecture, Delhi

also do not discuss much on sustainable transport. Cities, therefore, need to keep the following points in mind as key strategies for localisation of SDGs: ♦♦ To create a transport-related database This can be done from different sources such as FIR reports regarding crashes, travel mode proportions, speeds in different corridors using google apps, pollution data from state pollutions control boards, and by conducting stakeholder surveys to know perceptions of mobility issues such as safety, pollution, and congestion.

This database can be used in road traffic crash analysis, pollution impact analysis, and further, to enforce laws like wearing helmets, and develop strategies to reduce air pollution. ♦♦ To demonstrate possible transport improvement by conducting pilot projects It includes selecting pilot corridors, making design changes, and developing model streets that can ensure safe access to all users. The idea is to increase awareness among different stakeholders, including and especially local communities. ♦♦ Incorporation of transport chapter in city master plans The entire transport subject is missing from our master plans.

More priority should be given to the transport sector while preparing

master plans of cities. ♦♦ To develop public transport and NMT plans Urban local bodies need to become more proactive in coming up with new and advanced public transport facilities, while keeping the needs of non-motorised transport (NMT) users in mind.

This will also help redesign existing streets and promote SDGoriented transport development in cities. ♦♦ Transfer of jurisdiction of roads to city authorities Most of the accidents in small cities occur on highways. The jurisdiction of high-speed roads like national and state highways passing through the cities should be handed over to the respective urban local bodies of the cities as that will help in greatly reducing the number of accidents.

Strategies for localising SDGs

In order to localise SDGs, there has to be a roadmap for each and every issue that has to be addressed at policy, as well as implementation level. Thus, to formulate a framework, prioritization for possible interventions needs to be done, while collaborating with local and state-level stakeholders to integrate traffic and safety issues with respect to SDGs. As per the UN SDG Cities Guide, four basic steps for getting started with SDG implementation in cities have been proposed, which include initiation of an inclusive and participatory process while creating awareness of the SDGs and collaboration with stakeholders to achieve the goals and targets; setting of the local SDG agenda; and translating the global SDGs into a realistic agenda at the context of local development.

In order to ensure SDG implementation, monitoring and evaluation have to be in place while developing local capacity for more responsive and accountable governance. It is also critical to map the stakeholders and engage them through a participatory process in order to ensure overall development.

Case studies of cities achieving SDGs locally

A number of countries have distinguished the effect of an efficient public transport system on financial conditions and its significance in meeting the goals of the 2030 Agenda.

A sustainable mobility system ensures that the benefits of public transport are concentrated around three crucial goals, which are: SDG 3 (Good Health and Well Being) through street security; SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities); and SDG 13 (Climate Action). Interestingly, effective public transport systems likewise empower nations to accomplish SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth); SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure); SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities); and SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production).

In Norway’s capital city of Oslo, due to an efficient public transport system, there has been an increase in the number of people using public transport, while the number of car journeys has remained stagnant. This has contributed largely to ensuring more employment, economic development, and better liveability, and has also contributed to the city’s fight against climate change.

In order to achieve SDG 13, Stockholm, Sweden’s capital, has built public transport entirely on nonfossil fuels. The city has elaborated on essence of creating a holistic thinking in order to make cities more liveable and benefit the environment.

Urbanization and traffic congestion has always been an issue for which governments have tried to focus on developing mass transport systems.

Singapore has incorporated the measures in the Land Transport Master Plan 2040, which is based on research of last 20-30 years and includes public consultation from industry experts, users, passengers and academia. The entire transport ecosystem in Singapore is involved in innovations.

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

www.urbanupdate.in | September 2021

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ARTICLE | Digital Governance

Capacity building key to localise SDGs in India The Government of India has accorded high priority to meet the Sustainable Development Agenda 2015-2030 adopted by the United Nations, by designating the NITI Aayog as the national level nodal agency to track progress in achieving different Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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t a conceptual level, the SDG framework rests on two crucial pillars— governance through goal setting and synergy across goals. For this purpose, the 17 SDGs are sub-divided into 169 targets and 231 indicators to act as a decision support system for high-level policymakers. Monitoring of these indicators can provide inputs regarding the performance of different plans and programmes, and facilitate evidencebased decision making. Moreover, parameters set under different goals are designed to be mutually interdependent to a large extent to promote an integrated approach towards policymaking.

36 September 2021 | www.urbanupdate.in

Within the global sustainability framework, SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities) occupies a particularly important position as its targets overlap with practically all other SDGs. For instance, improving the delivery of basic services like water and sanitation to slum areas (linked to SDG target 11.1) can improve the health (SDG 3 – health and wellbeing) of poor children by reducing the spread of diseases and, in turn, may increase their educational attainment by reducing sick days (SDG 4 – education), besides meeting targets under SDG 6 (access to water and sanitation). Thus, a targeted approach towards urban development can help us achieve multiple SDGs simultaneously.

There is no denying the fact that monitoring various sustainability indicators can make urban management processes more objective. However, the implementation of the aspirational global sustainability agenda in India faces critical operational challenges due to city-level data deficiencies and capacity constraints of the urban local bodies (ULBs).

The evidence-based decision support system which undergirds the SDG framework requires robust city level statistical data inputs, which are often hard to come by. It is pertinent to note here that monitoring of SDG 11 also requires a far larger quantum of data to be collected at the local levels as compared to other SDGs. Moreover, several of the targets, such as: landuse efficiency (11.3.1), civil society engagement (11.3.2) and availability of public spaces (11.7.1) are required to be monitored for the first time and would require new benchmarking protocols to be put in place.

Tracking of SDG 11 under the NITI Aayog’s SDG India Index and Dashboard are presently restricted to eight national-level targets, which pertain to SDG 11.1 (housing conditions), 11.2 (traffic safety) and 11.6 (solid waste management). However, monitoring of SDG 11 is likely to scale up in the near future as the central government has recently launched the National Urban Digital Mission (NUDM). The NUDM

Dr Tathagata Chatterji Professor (Urban Management & Governance) XIM University

is highly ambitious in scope and is being designed to bring together key actors in urban governance and various city-centric stakeholders on a shared platform. Two important elements of the NUDM framework are: India Urban Data Exchange platform, and the National Urban Governance platform. ♦♦ India Urban Data Exchange (IUDX) platform is being jointly developed by the Smart Cities Mission and Indian Institute of Science Bangalore. It is an open-source software platform designed to facilitate data exchange in a secure environment amongst various data platforms, third party applications, data producers and consumers. Data on urban environmental quality, natural hazards, traffic conditions, bike-sharing, water distribution network, solid waste management, and municipal finance are likely to be made available, to begin with. ♦♦ National Urban Governance platform (NUGP) is being developed by the eGovernment Foundation and the Centre for Digital Governance at the National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA). It is being designed to deliver municipal services in nine key areas like property tax collection, trade license, and no objection certificates in a much more peoplefriendly manner by 2022.

The NUDM is indeed a gamechanging policy initiative and can bring

in transformative change in the SDG localisation process in Indian cities.

As part of its agenda, three key city level benchmarking indices, namely: Municipal Performance Index, Ease of Living Index, and Climate-Smart Cities Index, had been launched. The next step would require bringing methodological coherence among these indexes, to align them, on the one hand, with IUDX, NUGP and other such data platforms launched under the aegis of the NUDM, while on the other hand, to align them to the SDG targets. However, to realise the potential of indicator-driven national urban frameworks and apply such monitoring systems to achieve SDG targets, it is essential to focus on augmenting comprehensive urban management capabilities of the ULBs. Until now, the capacity building of ULBs has not received adequate attention. Their functioning is being affected due to staff shortages, technical skill deficits, and the frequent transfer of key officials. Many state governments are yet to formalise municipal cadre systems, staffing norms, or systematic skill upgrading strategies. Whatever training programmes are held are intermittent, limited to routine administrative aspects, and lack longterm vision. Opportunities for regular and comprehensive knowledge building in urban management are extremely limited.

The issue of ULB capacity deficits began to be highlighted at the national level from the time of the JNNURM (Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission). To meet the needs of the mission, rapid training programmes were initiated. Besides this, a few regional capacity building hubs were established, and a mechanism was put in place for knowledge sharing between ULBs under the peer experience and reflective learning programme component of JNNURM. Since then, other central missions such as the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana and the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation have incorporated capacity building components to train ULB officials.

While the capacity building programmes under centrally funded missions are noteworthy and have made a positive contribution, according to the Report of the Working Group on Capacity Building for the Twelfth Plan (2011), and NIUA’s Study to Qualitatively Assess the Capacity Building Needs of Urban Local Bodies (2015), in the long-run, such mission-centric capacity building programmes are inadequate and fail to generate institutional memories within the ULBs. To overcome this capacity gap, the 12th Plan report suggested the following: setting up five Indian Institutes of Urban Management; building and reforming municipal cadres with opportunities for the lateral hiring of professionals; training of central services officers as urban specialists; and the creation of a Reform and Performance Management Cell at the centre and state levels to monitor the function of ULBs. For SDG implementation, urban management training needs of the local government staff needs to go beyond routine administrative matters, and requires to be buttressed with additional courses on urban sustainability and resiliency, advanced data analytics, and stakeholder engagement practices.

These additional requirements can be partly addressed by leveraging the potential of the NUDM platform to deliver high-quality training materials to ULB staff through online mode.

However, the state governments also need to take parallel action in sensitising the ULB staff about the training needs and institutionalising such processes as part of the organisational policy.

Moreover, cities under the Smart Cities Mission may also need to designate the position of a Data Officer, with defined roles and responsibilities.

Focused attention towards improving the capabilities of the ULBs can indeed go a long way in meeting urban sustainability objectives and improve the quality of lives of people.

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

www.urbanupdate.in | September 2021

37

ARTICLE | Circular SWM

Indian cities transitioning to circular solid resource management With a population of over 1.3 billion people, accounting for 18 per cent of the global population living on only 2.4 per cent of the world’s surface, India is likely to face significant resource constraints in the coming decades. As of 2016, urban areas in India, representing about 377 million people, generated 62 million metric tonnes (MMT) of municipal solid waste each year. Of this, only about 70 per cent is collected due to insufficient municipal services

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bout 20 per cent of the collected wastes is treated, and the remaining 50 per cent is disposed in open landfills, without proper treatment or containment.

By 2050, it is expected that about 50 per cent of India’s population will be urban, while waste generation will grow by 5 per cent per year. It is anticipated that by 2021, 2031, and 2050, waste arising will be around 101 MMT, 164 MMT, and 436 MMT per year, respectively. Therefore, solid waste management needs urgent attention, especially in urban centres, with focus on establishing resource efficient systems in cities.

Circular economy holds promise for achieving multiple SDGs, including SDG 6 on energy, 8 on economic growth, 11 on sustainable cities, 12 on sustainable consumption and production, 13 on climate change, 14 on oceans, and 15 on life on land (refer to the table ).

Need to initiate local policies

The transition from a linear to a circular economy (CE) requires joint efforts by stakeholders from all sectors. Policy makers can support the transition by promoting the reuse of materials and higher resource productivity by rethinking incentives and providing the right set of policies and access to financing. For instance, the local municipality of Vijayawada and Guntur

38 September 2021 | www.urbanupdate.in

are drafting the solid waste management and sanitation byelaws focussed on zero waste interventions. The byelaws will not only ensure maximum resource recovery but will further cement circular resource management and will act as model byelaws that could be replicated in other cities in the state of Andhra Pradesh.

Companies can contribute to the transition by developing competencies in circular design to implement product reuse, and recycling, and serving as trend-setters of innovative circular economy business models. Also, existing linear models can be shifted to circular infrastructure systems by focussing on frugal innovation systems that are affordable and easily available to many people in low-income groups, especially the informal sector.

Need for evidence-based action plans

Circular economy design should strive to be inclusive by considering how management decisions may impact various stakeholder groups, including the poor and other underrepresented segments of society that are especially vulnerable to the health impacts of waste proliferation. Under the auspices of the “Waste Wise Cities: Tackling Plastic Waste in the Environment” project, funded by the Alliance to End Plastic Waste, UN Habitat’s India office has used the proprietary Waste Wise Cities Tool (WaCT) based on SDG indicator 11.6.1 to help

Mangaluru conduct proper surveys and assessments. The data generated after the application of WaCT will help the city in preparing a clear-cut roadmap of solid waste management on the principles of circular economy to tackle the problem of municipal solid waste in the years to come. It is imperative for cities to conduct such detailed resource inventory studies to prepare evidencebased circular plans.

Initiatives to reduce GHGs

Moreover, material throughput is a major driver of GHG emissions, and hence waste reduction and setting up circular resource recovery systems in cities will significantly decrease energy and material demand and the associated GHG emissions throughout global supply chains. Vijayawada city has taken the lead to minimise disposal and GHGs. Prior to 2018, about 3 lakh MT of legacy waste was accumulated in an 18-hectare open dumping site located in Ajit Singh Nagar, a residential locality in Vijayawada. The waste accumulated for more than a decade in the dumping yard was a major concern in the city due to methane emissions, and adverse environmental and health related impacts. In 2018, the city government treated the legacy waste through biomining process and retained the land.

The land is now being developed as a public park.

Bhopal Municipal Corporation recently initiated a project to convert 200 tonnes of urban organic waste

Swati Singh Sambyal Waste Management Specialist UN-Habitat India

Mansi Sachdev Senior Urban Planner UN-Habitat India.

Contribution of circular economy in SWM to SDGs SDG Intervention SDG 2

Zero hunger

By reducing food losses and food waste, and building circular, regenerative food

systems. According to the FAO, up to 40 per cent of the food produced in India is

wasted. Food disposed of in landfills produces methane, a potent greenhouse gas.

A circular food system should also be regenerative, resilient and healthy. The

rehabilitation of degraded land can be achieved by reconnecting nutrient loops.

Farms should be located close to consumers through urban and peri-urban

farming. Organic agriculture would minimise the need for fertilisers and pesticides.

Using agricultural residues and organic waste for composting or biogas production

is relatively easy to implement, with benefits in the field of waste management,

soil quality, emissions to air and resource utilisation

SDG 3

Good health and well being

Reduction of waste and pollution will lessen the impacts on health caused due to

mismanagement of waste affecting land, water, air resources

SDG 6

Clean water and sanitation

Adopting zero waste circular resource interventions will further ensure access

to clean water and sanitation for all by reducing pollution caused by land-based

waste mismanagement

SDG 8

Decent work and economic growth

By improving working conditions in informal sectors processing secondary

resources, or by establishing industrial symbiosis networks for resource-efficient

industrial development Promoting circular economy approaches in MSMEs and

entrepreneurship support in development cooperation programmes can be a

way forward

SDG 9

Industry, innovation and infrastructure

SDG 11

Sustainable cities and communities

By improving housing conditions in informal settlements (waste pickers, informal sector)

SDG 12

Responsible consumption and production

By adopting circular economy practices in waste management sector, including

reverse logistics, beneficial reuse of wasted materials or energy (eg., composting,

used oil recovery, bio digestion of organics), and business model innovation

(eg., dematerialization, resource pooling, product-as-a-service)

SDG 13

Climate action

Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from waste management activities and their

contribution to climate change is one of the critical environmental concerns.

Methane (CH4) is the major GHG emitted from the waste sector, and open

dumping and landfilling has been reported as the third highest anthropogenic

CH4 emission source. There is an urgent need to establish impetus and showcase

better circular mechanisms and systems that can help reduce the burdens on cities

into equivalent Bio CNG, which can be utilised as fuel. To complete the loop of the organic waste value chain, the city administration is procuring 100 CNGoperated waste collection vehicles.

The fuel generated by processing the organic waste will be utilized to collect the waste from households. This intervention addresses SDG 11, 12 and 13 in the local context.

Cities in India are already exploring concepts and taking implementable actions to localise SDGs with focus on circular economy.

However, there is a vast need to capacitate local bodies and relevant stakeholders on the importance of adoption of circular resource management systems.

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

www.urbanupdate.in | September 2021

39

ARTICLE | Building Back Better

Let COVID not derail work towards a sustainable future The post COVID world has thrown up painful, even tragic outcomes, many seen and felt such as the loss of livelihoods, deaths of young breadwinners, orphaned children, and national economic downturns. In addition, there have been several impacts largely unseen and unfelt, atleast as of now. These setbacks could potentially derail our march towards a more sustainable future for mankind

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he COVID Pandemic has made a lasting impression on people all over. For most of us, it was the first time we witnessed streets deserted during peak hours, busy markets completely devoid of any vendors or customers, near-zero vehicular traffic during what we knew as high traffic congestion times. In short, it has been, and in many places continues to be, something we never experienced before. As a consequence, COVID-19 has delivered a body blow to the economy of most cities, states and nations. While at the macro level, GDP of nations across the globe has gone into a downward spiral, government revenues have quickly dried up, millions of livelihoods have been snatched, and education has been adversely impacted. Among the more tragic impacts has been the large numbers of children orphaned, with parents and other family members succumbing to the virus. Sadly, the devastation may not be over; likely further waves and new variants of the virus could pose fresh challenges. A

40 September 2021 | www.urbanupdate.in

grim aspect of the impacts of COVID-19 is with respect to poverty alleviation. It is likely that the significant gains made in the recent past by pulling millions out of poverty have been erased; large numbers could have slipped back into unemployment, ill-health, and poverty.

The bright spot however, is the rapid and efficient rollout of the vaccination programme in India. We have seen daily numbers of vaccinated increasing steadily, new vaccines being approved, and production ramped up. The public and private healthcare systems have responded admirably.

Among the pandemic-related setbacks are some not yet fully felt. Take for example, mobility. Governments have been pushing for use of public transport in order to achieve better air quality and remove congestion from streets. But citizens may now avoid public transport and prefer private modes instead, out of fear of infection.

This can be a double whammy.

While on the one hand, the efforts for cleaner air and less congestion could suffer, and on the other hand public transport undertakings could

incur bigger losses due to lockdown restrictions and reduced ridership.

Recently, the Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation announced it is in a financial crisis; the utility had suffered a loss of about `400 crores due to the lockdown and higher fuel prices. Such losses could prevent the operators from taking up expansion of their services. In Mumbai however, there is a clamour among users for restoring suburban train services given the speed, reliability, connectivity, and affordability of these services. Similar is the case with the metro in many cities. A reversal in the push for public transport could be a big step backward in the clean air mission of cities.

Yet another significant setback is in the use of plastic. There is no doubt that use of single use plastic has been a potent tool in protecting frontline healthcare workers (PPE kits), and in protecting citizens (disposable masks, coffee cups). But these have added to plastic waste. Increased home delivery of food and online shopping have also resulted in more plastic in landfills.

Prior to COVID, administrators

V Vijaykumar Senior Advisor, AIILSG

including local governments all over had been pushing hard for banning use of several kinds of single use plastic and penalising violations; so businesses and citizens had begun moving away from things like disposable shopping bags, cups, plates and cutlery to reusable ones. All this has changed. The COVID pandemic threatens to stall or even

reverse the gains we made in the last several years in reducing plastic waste.

“Anecdotally, Covid is undoing all the work we have done on the elimination of single-use plastic. Another very big downside (of the pandemic) has been the increased use of single-use plastic and the legitimacy it has got as a sign of safety. This is what worries us,” says Sunita Narain, environmentalist and Director General of Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) as quoted in the Economic Times. We must ensure that we do not allow the short-term setbacks to derail our long term actions for a cleaner, safer and healthier planet; that the COVID pandemic does not lead to a plastic pandemic.

Another threat to life on our planet is getting elevated. That is water security. Dwindling water resources in several parts of the world, especially in the developing countries worries planners and policy makers. Unbridled water extraction from the earth has left cities boring deeper and deeper to extract water. Bengaluru is an example of Indian cities’ overdependence on ground water. COVID has added significantly to water usage in cities and therefore threatens our water conservation efforts. Anand Mahindra said in a tweet last year, “Ironically, Covid 19 is raising per capita water needs to more affluent country levels.

The COVID Pandemic has put several other global priorities in jeopardy.

E-mobility, green energy, and poverty alleviation are some. Consequently the world has possibly gone back several paces in its fight against climate change and the quest for achieving the SDGs

Not just Mumbai, but other Indian cities could face a crisis in water supply by next year…We will need to aggressively plan ahead to save water and augment resources.” Advisories for improved hygiene to avoid COVID infection have likely led to frequent hand washing, bathing after outdoor trips, regular mopping of floors, washing vegetables and fruits, and so on. The additional demand for water has put the already stressed water situation under further strain.

The COVID Pandemic has put several other global priorities in jeopardy.

E-mobility, green energy, and poverty alleviation are some. Consequently the world has possibly gone back several paces in its fight against climate change and the quest for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. Earth Overshoot Day – the day on which humanity consumes all the biological resources that the earth regenerates in a whole year – is advancing. For 2021, it was 29th July, meaning that by 29th July 2021, we have consumed all the resources that the earth could regenerate in the whole of 2021. It was 22nd August in 2020.

Additionally, the COVID crisis has resulted in strained public finances of governments - national, state, and local with the unexpected and unbudgeted expense in responding to the pandemic on the one hand, and lower revenues on account of depressed economic activity on the other. Yet, they must not slacken or pull back on committed outlays for developing clean (renewable) energy, incentivising e-mobility, and conservation of the natural ecosystem.

Policymakers must keep the long term direction firmly in their sights inspite of the short term distractions, which seem to run contrary to the long term goals. And there could be several other such distractions like the current COVID crisis. There is, therefore, need for extra effort to realign ourselves on the path towards a safe, just, inclusive and sustainable future on this planet.

For as it is said so often – this is the only planet we have, ateast for the time being.

www.urbanupdate.in | September 2021

41

ARTICLE | Climate Change

Meeting climate & SDG goals together

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ities are growing by leaps and bounds. Currently, almost 55 per cent of the global population lives in cities. This figure is estimated to grow to 68 per cent by 2050. In this decade, which is also the ‘Decade of Action’ to accelerate the pace of actions to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), every region in the world is going to urbanize fast. However, it is estimated that 96 per cent of this urban growth will take place in the less developed regions of East Asia, South Asia and Africa with three countries—India, China and Nigeria—accounting for 35 per cent of the total increase in global urban population from 2018 to 2050.

Cities are the most happening places as economies and aspirations meet there. But then, they are developing at the cost of the rural areas and local ecosystems. As rural people migrate into cities in large numbers, and as cities aspire to grow more, cities are battling with many challenges. Cities have not only become symbols of prosperity but also synonymous to some of the world’s biggest challenges such as poverty, gender-based discrimination, inequality in several fronts including water and sanitation,

42 September 2021 | www.urbanupdate.in

and increasing vulnerabilities due to climate change impacts such as sea rise, extreme precipitation events induced flash floods, heat stress, so on and so forth.

Climate change and cities

On the September 2nd, Governor of New York Kathy Hochul declared a state of emergency to help New Yorkers affected by hurricane Ida. The hurricane unloaded a catastrophic deluge that, according to some climatologists, should only occur once over a 200-to-500 year period.

However, that has become a regular phenomenon now. “More than seven inches of rain fell in Central Park over a period of 12 hours, with 3.15 inches of it pouring down in a single hour, setting a new record that was only just broken during Hurricane Henri last month”, the CNN reported. City leaders were caught completely off guard, the agency said.

“In the past two weeks, New York City has had three of its top 20 heaviest one-hour downpours on record; four of the top 20 have come this year. On August 21, it received 1.69 and 1.84 inches in back-to-back hours.

Another top-20 one-hour rainfall occurred on July 8, when 1.54 inches fell in a single hour”, reported the

Washington Post.

About 50 people were said to be dead as an impact of this hurricane that brought heavy flooding rainfall that outsmarted one of the world’s best sewer systems and the subway’s water pumping mechanism. That is for a city that is not only the most happening one in the world, but termed as one of the best in taking climate actions that are aimed at sharp reductions in carbon emissions by 2050.

As I write this piece, here in India, the capital city of Delhi is going through a historical weather moment.

Abundance of rainfall has crippled water supply of many parts of the city.

Till mid-September, Delhi has received 1,160.8 mm of rainfall, the highest since 1964 and third highest since records have been kept by the Indian Meteorological Dept. Experts believe due to late withdrawal of monsoon, which is expected by the end of third week of September, Delhi will receive more rainfall. The capital city has already witnessed several spells of floods and related woes including water logging of several areas and traffic problems on the streets. The Delhi deluge has disrupted piped water supply to many parts of Southwest Delhi and it is going to continue till the end of third week tentatively.

Ranjan K Panda Convenor, Combat Climate Change Network

Such extreme events can impact cities in many ways. The most recent report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has concluded, based on a mammoth scientific review of hundreds of scientific researches, that humancaused greenhouse gas emissions have “led to an increased frequency and/or intensity of some weather and climate extremes since pre-industrial times.”

This report strengthens the conclusion of the IPCC’s 2018 special report on 1.5 degree Celsius of warming that “even relatively small incremental increases in global warming (+0.5 degree Celsius) cause statistically significant changes in extremes on the global scale and for large regions.”

Cities are part of this problem but will also have to bear a major brunt of global warming. Cities generate 70 per cent of global carbon emissions and consume two-thirds of the world’s energy. They have to take local climate actions to reduce the burden on the ever growing populations and flourishing geographies. The have to be part of the solutions, to be specific.

Local climate action plans can help meet SDG goals

In response to the latest disaster in New York, Errol Louis of the CNN said,

“New Yorkers needed a mayor focused less on the big picture and more on the immediate crisis with matters like communications, contingency plans and basic preparedness.” I would say, both are important. Committing to emissions reductions and at the same time taking local steps to adapt to climate change have become essential for cities at a time when climate change is outsmarting the smartest of cities.

Delhi’s State Action Plan on Climate Change already recognizes the weather extremes and various impacts of climate change.

The government seems to be giving a big push to renewable energy. A vulnerability assessment of Mumbai city by the World Resource Institute finds out that India’s commercial capital is facing substantial increase in extreme rainfall events in recent years. The city is formulating its climate change action plan that is expected to be ready by November this year.

In fact, many cities in the world have started taking local climate actions.

Starting from undertaking emissions inventories and developing reduction targets, cities have gone into taking several adaptation measures. Such local actions could be strengthened if cities understand their relationship with nature and work to conserve ecosystems. The 2020 World Cities Report says that urban areas that have adopted compact and mixed land uses are able to reduce per capita rates of resource use and greenhouse gas emissions. “When nature-based solutions are incorporated into design and management, urban areas can benefit from multiple ecosystem services including carbon sequestration, local climate regulation, storm water capture and water and air purification”, recommends the report.

Wetlands to the rescue

I would recommend that cities should not lose sight of the wetlands as an important shot in their arms in their battle against climate change

impacts. In fact, preserving these natural infrastructures can help us meet at least 7 of the SDG goals, the Wetland International (WI) says. The WI advocates the need to safeguard and restore wetlands to reduce CO2 emissions, protect cities and shores, maintain biodiversity, combat desertification, and provide clean water and food; all issues that are included in the SDGs. Loss of wetlands have reduced capacity of the cities to cope with extreme weather conditions. These sponges in the cities to absorb excessive rainfall have been lost to a large extent and that has given rise to multiple problems. This is also one of the causes of the increased heat stress in our cities. I am really happy to learn that the Delhi government has set a two-year deadline to recharge and rejuvenate 22 lakes and 200 water bodies. In another important city of India, Bengaluru, environmentalists and concerned citizens have knocked the doors of judiciary to restore lakes. Thanks to the Karnataka High Court, the lake division of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has appointed special officers with magistrate powers to evict encroachers and resolve conflicts around lakes.

Such orders of the judiciary should serve as an enabling factor for other cities to help free their wetlands of encroachment and conflicts.

More than that, as I always suggest, city authorities should engage with local citizens to take conservation actions. Further, each city should have two plans ready within a year.

One, a SDG plan and two, a climate action plan. These two plans should be working together to help the cities tide through climate change impacts that are outpacing their progress and causing immense damage not only to the infrastructure but also to the people, especially the ones in the poor pockets or informal settlement areas.

And that would help cities meet the SDG goals.

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

www.urbanupdate.in | September 2021

43

CITYNET 3.0 | Post-COVID Revival

Urban Resilience - First step towards post-pandemic revival All India Institute of Local Self-Government, in collaboration with CityNet, organised the third webinar on ‘Localising SDGs’ on the topic ‘Building local resilience in post-COVID world’ on August 24. Other supporting organisations were Foundation EMDA Southasia, Renewable Energy Mart, and 3R Waste Foundation Team Urban Update

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he illustrious panel for the event included Professor Isabelle Milbert, President, Pilot4Dev; Manohar Patole, Project Manager, Marron Institute of Urban Management; Dr Ashwani Luthra, Director, Centre for Sustainable Habitat, Guru Nanak Dev University; Dr Umamaheshwaran Rajasekar, Chair, Urban Resilience Unit, National Institute of Urban Affairs; Sahana Goswami, Manager (Sustainable Cities), World Resource Institute; Dr Subrata Kumar Biswal, Professor, Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India; and Urvashi Prasad, Public Policy Specialist, NITI Aayog. The event was moderated by Abhishek Pandey, Editor, Urban Update.

Pandey welcomed the panelists and set the agenda of the event by talking about how cities have changed post-pandemic. Building urban local

44 September 2021 | www.urbanupdate.in

resilience is important in the present times if cities want to be on track of achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), he added. He said that the event will analyse how urban local bodies (ULBs) can address this change and tackle it by providing local solutions to build local resilience.

Prof Isabelle Milbert began by explaining about resilience and said that it does not mean that we have to go back to the original state but is the process of bouncing back to a state where a city can survive the changes.

She added that people have put a lot of trust on the economy in order to tackle the crisis. Prof Milbert recommended various ways to strengthen resilience in cities, including public policies and private incentives, empowering local governments, and trusting relationship with local communities. She added that the COVID-19 pandemic has also posed a serious challenge to the resilience of cities and exposed their

vulnerabilities to health hazards. She concluded by stating that uncertainties in the politics, local level governance and social movement are some of the features which are at the centre for building local resilience.

Manohar Patole continued the discussion by explaining the Co-City program which identifies and addresses the local community and recognises what they have identified as essentials for health and sustainability. He added that the local communities should come up with their needs as they can be better understood in this regard rather than telling them what they need. There is a lack of investment in infrastructure, whether it is physical, economic or social, which has led to maximum issues faced by the communities at present.He concluded by saying that engagement of local communities is important at the local level in order to strengthen the concept of urban resilience.

Dr Ashwini Luthra started the discussion by highlighting the role of city planning in building local resilience, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic. He referred to SDG 11 and said that the component of effects of natural disaster and need for disaster-risk reduction (DRR) are also crucial in building the resilience of cities. COVID-19 is also a type of disaster and has effected cities at a large scale, he added.

Dr Luthra listed various factors challenging the sustainability of cities such as polarised urbanisation, unplanned urban sprawl, and

unplanned population density, which has also contributed in the spread of COVID-19 in bigger cities. He added that there are three areas (health infrastructure, accessibility and mobility, and livelihood and social justice) which should be in focus in order to build resilience in cities.

Rationalisation of health facilities and resources and provision for special persons (child, old age, differently abled, etc.) are key to provide essential health infrastructure. Second component of mobility includes balanced landusetransport planning, promoting micro mobility, etc and integrated township is at the centre of last component of social justice, he added.

Dr Rajasekar took the discussion forward and said that looking at the positive side of the COVID-19 pandemic, it has offered a framework of what needs to be done in order to make cities resilient. He added that inclusion of local communities in reducing the disaster risk has evolved in recent times. The government’s role in this is majorly post disaster to protect and rehabilitate people, but community involvement can help tackle such incidents beforehand. He also said that local communities should be involved in the policy framing process and organisations should engage with them to get proper feedback on policies and programs. He concluded by saying that citizen involvement at the pre-disaster level is important in order to make urban areas more resilient.

SahanaGoswami began by talking about the importance of water and sanitation and the role played by these factors in the COVID-19 pandemic. She added that while providing basic necessities to people in cities, local governments tend to forget about the poorest in the cities living in slums (formal and informal).

Most of the burden is on women of such communities who have the responsibility to collect and store water for the family, she added. Goswami added that the goal of achieving SDGs with regard to equitable cities can not be achieved unless urban citizens and urban authorities provide due attention

to slums and informal sector of Indian cities. She concluded by mentioning the solution which WRI has come up with namely Accelerating Access Coalition in order to provide basic facilities such as access to sanitation, and hygiene to urban slums.

Dr Subrata Kumar Biswal continued the panel discussion by talking about the economic side of urban resilience in the Indian context and its implications globally. He said that in order to make cities resilient, it is important to implement circular economy concept in the Indian economy. He cited the example of European cities, where more than 70 per cent of the waste is recycled through different platforms, whereas it is 20 per cent in case of India, which is a huge gap.

Dr Biswal said, “There is low participation of women in the entrepreneurial section of urban India.

It ranks 19th among the G20 nations, which clearly shows the lack of equity in global context.” Participation of women with regard to ownership of enterprises is less than 10 per cent, which is disappointing coming from the urban region of the country, he added.

Urvashi Prasad, the last panellist of the webinar, said that a lot of policies in India have been historically designed

for the rural areas and communities and many such policies have not been changed appropriately in case of urban areas. She said, “Urban regions have their unique features and challenges with regard to communities. The way of designing programs and policies for cities should be fundamentally different, which is very basic, but a lot of our challenges are due to this overlapping.”

Prasad said that given the federal structure of India and various layers of governance beginning from central government, state governments, local governments, etc., there should be a comprehensive framework as the policies need a lot of adaptations and customisation. Concluding her statement, she added that a broad blueprint is necessary in case of such disasters and it has to begin much ahead at a stage where we can prevent such incidents and not after it has happened.

Public health is a broad concept and India is currently lagging not just in providing but also in understanding the very concept.

NITI Aayog is also communicating with forums and stakeholders, which gives rich and helpful insight into designing and producing blueprint for future schemes and welfare measures, she added.

www.urbanupdate.in | September 2021

45

Urban Agenda

Each individual is a leader helping India achieve SDGs Ashok Wankhade Managing Editor

Less than a decade remains for nations to fulfill their commitment of achieving 17 Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. The call-to-action had started by United Nations member nations, including India, drawing out various policies and regulations at national levels. However, the focus is now on making progress from the bottom-up in terms of sustainable development. With the push being provided to innovators in India, localisation of SDGs does not seem like a far-fetched dream anymore.

Prasanth Nair, an IAS officer from Kerala Cadre of 2006, worked vigorously on eradicating poverty when he was appointed the collector of Kozhikode, bringing the district’s poverty rate to 5.67 per cent, lower than the state average of 7 per cent. He was critically acclaimed for working on overall development of the district by emphasizing specially on water supply, taxation, and road safety, among other issues. He pioneered initiatives such as ‘Operation Sulaimani’ and ‘Tere Mere Beach Mein’ to tackle the issues of hunger and beach pollution respectively.

Rapid urbanization is leading Indian cities towards a catastrophic decline in ground water. A report published in March this year established that the millennium city of India, Gurugram, has witnessed its ground water table dip by five meters in just two years. Many other cities are facing the same crisis. To address this issue, businessman and philanthropist Ratan Tata has started a unique initiative called ‘Amrutdhara’, which aims to work on ground water management at various locations in the country.

Senior Counsel Advocate Aishwarya Bhati led the case of 45 serving women officers in the Indian Army in Supreme Court, seeking equal and permanent commission for woman in the army. Recent data had established that women working at non-medical positions in the Indian Army comprise only about 4 per cent of the army’s more than one million personnel. The case heard in 2020 led the Supreme Court to order the Government of India to extend permanent service - which has only been applicable to men so far - to all women officers, signalling a move towards gender parity in the traditionally male bastion. Up until then, women were inducted through a short service commission that would let them work for up to 14 years, and only allowed them permanent commission in the army’s legal and educational wings. Aishwarya Bhati led the battle in court against the government’s argument that due to gender, people had different physical capacities and therefore women cannot be treated equally in the army. The latest SDG Index, in fact, dictates that India is going very strong in achieving the goal of gender equality. This is also true as many states across the country have implemented the 74th Constitutional Amendment Act, setting aside 33-50 per cent seats in the legislative assembly for women. Another milestone in this regard was when Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that girls would now be allowed to attend Sainik schools.

The strive to make sustainable development a reality is no longer that of only the government’s, as officials at local levels, even young students, are working towards making their surroundings, societies, and cities sustainable. Udit Singhal, an 18-year old boy from Delhi, developed a zero-waste ecosystem called ‘Glass2Sand’. This addresses the growing menace of glass waste in Delhi, which is often dumped in landfills and takes longer years to decompose as compared to even plastics.

Awareness campaigns by organisations, celebrities, national and international leaders are now developing a society where every citizen has started becoming aware of their carbon footprint, consumption practices, etc. Social media has started influencing people to opt for sustainable products, even clothing, which in turn is increasing market for sustainable products in the nation.

Even fast fashion brands like H&M have started an initiative to collect used clothes and recycle them into new ones. City administrators are introducing new concepts for sustainable development of their cities like door-to-door e-waste collection, online mapping of waste collection and drop, using plastic in road development, giving subsidies to people and organisations for installing solar panels and rain water harvesting systems, solar powered public toilets, health clinics for transgenders, and the list goes on. The SDGs look achievable if the government, administrators, innovators, businessmen, and above all, every citizen of the nation, starts becoming conscious of the impact they might be having on sustainable development, however small it may be.

46 September 2021 | www.urbanupdate.in

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