Urban UpdateJan 2014

Setting the agenda for tomorrow’S citieS January 2014UrbanUpdate

All India Institute Of Local Self Government

Future Cities

The Way Forward...

Vision issue

Standing Alone to Stand-Alone CitiesucLg pushes forward the un campaign for stand-alone urban goal

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04 January 2014 | www.urbanupdate.in04

Dr. Jatin ModiPresident-AIILSG

Ranjit ChavanEditor-in-Chief & PublisherDirector General-AIILSG

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….……………………………………………Volume I - Vision Issue

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Plugging The Hole

We take im-mense pleas-ure in pre-senting the maiden edi-

tion of Urban Update — a news magazine on urban infrastructure, governance and culture.

As flight of rural masses to ur-ban areas continues unabated, urbanisation — structured or oth-erwise — becomes an unstoppable phenomenon. Shrinking op-portunities in rural areas on account of growing population and stagnating development has led to an increasing number of peo-ple heading for the cities in search of greener pastures.

While the urban surge is an experience shared by most of the developing countries, it is most pronounced in Asian and Af-rican countries. In India, cities are fast turning into economic hubs, projected to generate almost 70 per cent of the net GDP and account for nearly 85 per cent of the total tax revenue by 2030.

This unprecedented rural-to-urban movement is putting an extra burden on cities and straining the existing infrastructure. Be it accommodating huge volumes of migrants, providing them with basic civic amenities, arranging for large-scale solid waste disposal, giving them clean environment and putting in place a dependable public transport network, it calls for lots of vision and planning. But sadly though, by and large both seem amiss in the Indian context. Policy vacuum has plagued the country decade after decade.

It was similar stream of thoughts that sprang forth the vision of a holistic magazine on Urban Development that could evan-gelise urban infrastructure, governance, culture and, above all, sustainability... And we are here with the initiative.

Urban Update will be sincere in ensuring highest journalistic standards in its reporting, and highlighting accomplishments, challenges and experiences of cities. It will also serve as the trustworthy platform to exchange ideas, present expert opinions, foster community wisdom and offer pragmatic solutions to plug the gaping holes in the urban space. Besides, it will also prove to be a reliable medium to interact and engage with peers and businesses in the domain.

We are sure, as we set out on a journey to help make the urban planet a better place to live, we will not fall short of ideas, sugges-tions and feedback from you. We look forward to your support.

Thanks.

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HCL to set up 100-acre IT city in Lucknow

NEW DELHI: Technology group HCL has said it will set up a 100-acre IT city in Lucknow, a move that will help create job opportunities for about 25,000 people in Uttar Pradesh. Financial details were not immediately available. About 60 acres of the proposed IT city would be allotted to IT and ITeS, the company said in a statement. The remaining 40 acres is intended for support infrastructure and initiatives of social impact. Ancillary support services required for IT industry would also create huge career opportunities, it added.

Gujarat’s Metro-Link Express implements SAP

AHMEDABAD: The Metro-link Express for Gandhinagar and Ahmedabad (MEGA) has chosen SAP solutions to assist Gujarat’s metro rail run efficiently and profitably, announces India unit of the Germany-headquartered SAP. The deployment will enable various departments of MEGA to be connected over a unified network and facilitate smoother information flow and access. It is confident that SAP implementation will facilitate greater transparency and agility in the system and will improve the operational proficiency.

Surat to have 26 lakh vehicles by 2015Surat is the world’s fourth fastest growing city, and so seems its vehicle population. Thanks to absence of a reliable public transport system, the Diamond City’s traffic scenario is set to get worse with addition of 3.5 lakh new vehicles to its present population of over 22 lakh vehicles by 2015. The official statistics of the Regional Transport Office (RTO) suggest that on an average, every month 10,000 two-wheelers and 3,500 cars are registered in the city.

GAIL gets eco nod for 220MW power plantNEW DELHI: GAIL India Limited, the nation’s biggest gas marketing company, has received environmental clearance for setting up a 220MW gas-based power plant at Raigad in Maharashtra at a cost of Rs 1,028 crore. The firm plans to use 1 million standard cubic meters per day of natural gas to generate 220 MW of electricity at the proposed combined cycle power plant. GAIL plans to set up the combined cycle gas based power plant within the existing LPG plant boundary. Electricity generated at the plant will be sold to Maharashtra.

Pune cold to waste management!PUNE: The zero-garbage project – a joint initiative of the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), NGOs and corporate sector – has found many takers in housing societies and commercial establishments, but its progress in slum areas has been slow. Ravi Pandit, a governing board member of Janwani, one of the organisations in the zero-garbage initiative, feels there is a need for more efforts in generating awareness in the city areas where the project has been launched. The project, launched in 11 PMC areas in February 2013, had witnessed a marked progress initially.

Central Govt nods 3rd instalment for Pune BRTSNEW DELHI: The Union Ministry of Urban Development has approved the proposal for release of third instalment of Rs 862 lakh for the Kalewadi-KSB Chowk to Dehu-Alandi Road BRTS corridor. The approval was given at the Central Sanctioning and Monitoring Committee meeting held here recently. The project has achieved 44 per cent physical progress and is likely to be completed by the end of next year. The approved cost of the project is Rs 21,920 lakh.

Centre okays water supply projects for ChennaiNEW DELHI: The Central Government has approved a proposal for 10 new projects for providing comprehensive water supply to various areas of Chennai city. These projects were approved at the meeting of the Central Sanctioning and Monitoring Committee of the Union Ministry of Urban Development here recently. These projects have been sanctioned at an approved cost of Rs 27,114.11 lakh. The Central Government will contribute 35 per cent towards the total cost.

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Hyd MMTS-Phase-II airport link clearedHYDERABAD: Putting an end to a long wait, the local Rajiv Gandhi International Airport has cleared connectivity for MMTS (Multi-Modal Transport System) Phase-II from Umdanagar to Shamshabad. The Rail Vikas Nigam Limited had invited tenders for the project without the Umdanagar-Shamshabad section previously. The 6.5-km project was estimated at Rs. 30 crore a few years ago.

‘Mark waste disposal areas in Delhi plan’

NEW DELHI: The Delhi Master Plan

2021 should make it mandatory for each zone to have a designated area for waste disposal, says Sunita Narain, Director-General of the Centre for Science and Environment. The new Master Plan must have an environment service zone, so that no zonal plan is passed on disposal of liquid or solid waste without its approval, she said speaking at a meet on “Waste to Resource: Addressing Construction and Demolition Waste in Cities” here on Dec 23, 2013.

Coimbatore takes a step towards monorail

COIMBATORE: The city is likely to get a rapid transit system in the form of monorail. With the burgeoning population taking a toll on infrastructure, the state government is looking to establish a rail-based transportation system to reduce the burden on the roads. On Dec 13, Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa announced a feasibility study for establishing a monorail network in the city. Coimbatore Municipal Corporation (CMC), which is in the process of preparing its City Development Plan and also mobility plan, will now include monorail feasibility following the announcement.

Nashik civic body to borrow from HUDCO

NASHIK: Following the approval of the state government to raising a loan of Rs 200 crore to fund civic projects, the Nashik Municipal Corporation (NMC) has decided to borrow Rs 100 crore each from the Housing and Urban Development Corporation (HUDCO) and nationalised banks. The state government on October 17, 2013 had given its approval to the NMC to raise the loan from banks. Accordingly, the NMC has invited tenders from various banks quoting their rate of interest. The civic body expects to complete the process of finalising the bank by December-end.

Meet on Waste Management in Kochi

KOCHI: The Department of Civil Engineering at Toc-H Institute of Science and Technology

(TIST) at Aarakunnam held a two-day national seminar on Waste Management on Dec 17-18. Head of the Civil Engineering Department Lathi Karthi said the objective of the meet was to create awareness on environment and socio-economic issues by bringing together students, research scholars, academicians, practising engineers, consulting engineers, NGOs and others to discuss various issues related to the research and development in waste management and find possible solutions.

Four-laning of Gaya-Rajgir-Nalanda sectionNEW DELHI: The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved the project for four-laning of approximately 93-km Gaya-Hisua-Rajgir-Nalanda-Biharsharif section on NH-82 in Bihar. The total project cost is estimated at Rs. 1,408.85 crore and will be completed within three years of signing of the contract agreement. The project connects Nalanda, the ancient set of learning popularly called as Nalanda University. The place is visited conjointly by the tourists visiting Bodh Gaya. The road shall also connect Rajgir, where

Vishwa Shanti Stupa or Japanese Pagoda is a major tourist attraction, and Gaya.

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Ahmedabad BRTS going the Delhi way

Thane-ites can click civic complaints

AHMEDABAD: Barely a month after the Delhi Government decid-ing to scrap the Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS), Ahmedabad BRTS also seems destined for the same fate.

Weak enforcement of rules, poor junction management dur-ing peak hours and indifference to dedicated lanes for road minori-ties such as cyclists and pedes-trians have made the ordinary Amdavadi cynical about traffic rules devised for BRTS. The cyni-cism is widespread and so deep-rooted now that people prefer to pay fines for breaking into BRTS lanes than abide by the rules and wait in traffic jams.

A comparison of peak hour traffic at some of the busiest junc-tions of Delhi BRTS with similar points on Ahmedabad BRTS route suggests Delhi’s Chirag Delhi junction is similar to Anjali cross-ing in Ahmedabad.

Chirag Delhi junction’s traffic volume for 16 hours was observed to be 1.98 lakh while that of Ahmedabad was noted to be 1.55 lakh. Peak-hour traffic at Chirag Delhi junction was recorded at 16,465 vehicles while at Anjali, it was marginally less at 15,898.

Another interesting statistics thrown up by the comparison by the Central Road Research Institute (CRRI) is that during the same period, the average queue length during peak hours at Chirag Delhi was 367 meters while at Anjali crossing it was 350 metres.

Similarly, angry Amdavadis get into the BRTS lane during peak hours just as it happens in Delhi. Cyclists are forced to travel in mixed-traffic lanes as dedicated cycle tracks are unsafe because of broken infrastructure, encroach-ment by hawkers, squatters and parked cars (as it is in Delhi).

THANE: The Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) is going to develop a mobile applica-tion that will help citizens register their complaints by just clicking a picture of the area of concern. A proposal regard-ing this application was recently cleared

in the TMC’s gen-eral body meeting. Sources said the civic body will soon invite bids to appoint an agency to develop such an application.

According to the proposal, the city has expanded manifold and its population has also increased. Currently, residents

complain to the Corporator, who then informs the depart-ment concerned. But once the mobile application becomes

operational, citizens can address their complaints directly to the civic body.

“Once the picture is uploaded, the soft-ware will pick up the location via the lon-gitude-latitude of the place. The TMC will pick up pictures only from its jurisdiction. This will be done via

geo-fencing. The cost of the plan has been pegged at Rs 70-90 lakh,” said civic chief Aseem Gupta.

However, some residents were not very enthusiastic about the project. They instead sug-gested that the TMC starts more grievance redressal cells.

Goa hotels told to install waste disposal plantsPANAJI: The Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB) has issued directions to 32 starred hotels, including five star properties, to immediately install bio-degradable waste disposal plants, failing which action would be taken against them.

The notices were issued under the Municipal Solid Waste (Management and Handling) Rules 2000, when it was pointed out that the hotels ask the piggeries to take over the sur-plus food, creating nuisance for the people living near the piggeries, GSPCB Chairman Jose Manual Noronha told reporters on Dec 31. The board had inspected several pigger-ies and decided to cut down the problem at its source, which are starred hotels, Noronha said.

The hotels were also asking the piggery owners to carry other scrap material along with the food which were found piled up alongside the piggeries, raising health issues, he said.

The board inspected 56 starred hotels across Goa, of which 32 were found to be violating the rules. It asked the hotels to immediately ensure that all the bio-degradable waste should be composted.

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Pune to get another civic body ‘Flyovers no solution for traffic jams’

MUM BA I : T he Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC)’s solid waste management (SWM) department has tied up with global analytical company CRISIL to create mecha-nisms with which the cor-poration can enhance civic services in accordance with the standards set by the Ministry of Urban Development, Government of India.

In 2008, the ministry had introduced Service-Level Benchmarks (SLBs) for some basic municipal

PUNE: A Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) general body meeting has cleared the proposal for merger of seven more villages into the PMC limits to create a new municipal corporation for the villages and areas in the eastern parts of Pune.

The villages proposed to be included in the new corporation are Nandoshi, Mangadewadi, Bhilarewadi, Gujarwadi, Nimbalkarwadi, Jambhulwadi, Kolwadi and Wagholi.

Claiming that Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan had already ordered a survey of the area and that the survey was going on, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Dec 21, 2013 showed his will-ingness to create a new municipal corporation. He was in Pune to attend the meeting of the Pune

District Central Cooperative Bank Limited.

Although the Congress and the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) have been opposing the proposal for the merger of these seven villages, it was passed with the help of majority in the House during the PMC general body meeting on Dec 11, 2013.

The reporters pointed out that there are a few villages opposing the merger with the PMC since it would burden the residents with taxes without providing them facilities.

Pawar said, “If at all a few vil-lages are not willing to be includ-ed in the PMC limits, some other villages could be willing to be part of the PMC. We can keep these villages aside and think of includ-ing those that are willing...”

CHENNAI: The proposed elevated express-way along Old Mahabalipuram Road “will probably benefit land owners outside the city and not commuters,” says Peter J Park, an internationally known urban planner and architect. “Cities in developing countries can avoid the mistakes made in developed coun-tries. Chennai has an opportunity to skip the ‘failure phase’ the US had to go through and learn from our mistakes,” said Park on Dec 14, 2013 ahead of a workshop for Chennai Metro Rail where he would provide inputs on development of mass transit nodes in the city with the Koyambedu station as a case study.

The man who served as Planning Director in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and Denver, Colorado said he brought down a flyover over the Milwaukee river because it limited access to the people. He replaced it with an at-grade boulevard. “Flyovers serve only those in cars. People cannot walk a flyover.”

Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation and Credit Rating Information Services of India Limited will create mechanisms with which the corporation can enhance civic services

BMC, CRISIL join hands

services like water supply, sewerage, solid waste man-agement and storm water drainage. These bench-marks were set in order to facilitate critical reforms in the urban sector.

With CRISIL, the BMC will analyse the status of

these basic services and come up with time-bound solutions to solve any problems it finds. The All India Institute of Local Self-Government was appointed last year to carry out a study on the issue.

The BMC has declared

that for the next two finan-cial years, it will work to achieve the SLBs of 100 per cent house-to-house collec-tion and waste segregation. The corporation says that it has already achieved 70 per cent of its target for house-to-house collection.

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France offers urban development expertise

NEW DELHI: Keen on cooperation in the field of urban development, France has offered its

expertise in the sector to India with special focus on waste management. “...This (waste management) is a big issue. We will ask some French companies who specialise in this to come in January and meet Indian local bodies to propose solutions,” said Max Claudet, Cultural Counselor, at French Embassy on Dec 19, 2013. The embassy had organised a seminar on Indo-French local cooperation in urban development and interacted with officials of various Indian local bodies and municipalities to know about their challenges.

National painting contest on Water Conservation held

NEW DELHI: The Central Ground Water Board under the Ministry of Water Resources organised 4th National Painting Competition on Water Conservation for the students of classes VI, VII and VIII on Friday at NASC Complex, PUSA, New Delhi. The painting competition was aimed at generating awareness about conservation of water. This competition was held at three stages, i.e. school, state and national level. Over 26,000 schools and more than 19 lakh students participated at school level. Out of those, selected students took part at the state level, and finally, the national level contest followed.

Meet on biomedical waste for Chennai studentsCHENNAI: More than 50 NCC cadets at the Stanley Medical College (SMC) on Dec 20 participated in a seminar on biomedical waste management, organised with an objective to make the students understand the importance of biomedical waste segregation and disposal. While 85% of the waste generated by government hospitals is generic in nature, the remaining 15% of biomedical waste is infectious.

Six-laning of Vadodra-Surat section of NH-8NEW DELHI: The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has given its approval for six-laning of a 6.7-km stretch on the Vadodra-Surat section of NH-8, including construction of a new four-lane extra-dosed bridge across the Narmada River and two eight-lane flyovers in Gujarat. The cost is estimated at Rs. 503.16 crore including Rs. 17 crore as the cost of land acquisition, resettlement and rehabilitation. The project is covered in Bharuch district. The upgradation of this stretch will ensure smooth and safe traffic flow and substantial gains in terms of reduced Vehicle Operating Cost (VOC) and reduced travel time.

Kochi joins European Union projectKOCHI: In a development that could provide a major boost to its urban development initiatives, the city has been selected as a participant in a European Union project. The project is run with the support of International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI) and UN Habitat. The project will look for solutions in areas such as public transport, transport infrastructure, city logistics, integrated planning or sustainable urban mobility plans, network and mobility management.

JnNURM completes maximum projects

NEW DELHI: Till Nov 30, 2013, the Jawa-

har Lal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JnNURM) completed 217 out of 539 Urban Infrastructure and Gov-ernance (UIG) projects sanctioned in Phase-1 (March, 2005-March, 2012). Similarly, 322 projects were at various stages of completion on the given date. Also, out of 806 Urban Infrastruc-ture Development for Small & Medium Towns projects sanctioned in Phase-1, 413 were com-pleted, while 393 projects are in various stages of completion.

Kolkata locality says ‘no’ to plasticsKOLKATA: The residents of Bangur Avenue in east Kolkata actually live this dream, thanks to their local councillor Mriganka Bhattacharya. Plastic bags disappeared from this traditional residential locality much before the state government’s 2007 ban on plastic carrybags below 40 microns. He launched a personal drive against plastics in 2001, a year before the Union government banned the production, sale and use of thin plastic bags.

Union Minister for Water Resources Harish Rawat (centre) releases a calendar for the year 2014, at the 4th National Painting Competition on Water Conservation in New Delhi on Dec 27, 2013

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Complaint against Raipur civic babus just a call away

RAIPUR: Now, citizens of Raipur can lodge a complaint against municipal staff by calling a toll free number of the

local municipal corporation. The decision came after a series of complaints were lodged by people against some reported malpractices in the municipal body. Also, a review meeting of the Urban Development Department was conducted by Chief Minister Raman Singh, after which it was decided to allow the common man to put forth their grievances related to alleged corruption. The Chief Minister assured that all complaints would be looked into.

BMC to appoint 18 more structural auditors

MUMBAI: In a bid to expedite the structural audit process of municipal buildings,

the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has decided to appoint 18 more structural auditors, thus taking the total number to 46 in its panel, to carry out major repairs, rehabilitation and designs of municipal buildings in the city. After the Dockyard Road building collapse, in which 61 people were killed, the BMC decided to increase the number of structural auditors. Most of the civic hospitals, markets, fire stations and staff quarters buildings were constructed at least 30 years ago.

Lucknow civic body eyes cleaner city in 2014LUCKNOW: With an aim to make the city cleaner and greener in 2014, Mayor Dinesh Sharma inaugurated the most modern and technologically well-equipped control room for speedy redressal of public grievances recently in the Rubbish Removal Department near the Municipal Commissioner’s camp office in Gomtinagar area. The Lucknow Municipal Corporation has also formed a 17-point work agenda for this year which would emphasise identifying problem areas and solving them on a priority basis. A ‘citizen charter’ has also been formed for this task which ensures accountability of each department for completing the work within the time frame.

Rapid Metro formally inaugurated in Gurgaon

GURGAON: Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Dec 15, 2013 formally inaugurated the first intra-city service line in Gurgaon, Rapid Metro, a month after the mass transit service started commercial operations. The function was organised at the Sikanderpur Metro Station where both Rapid Metro and Delhi Metro converge. Mr Hooda and some Haryana ministers boarded a Rapid Metro train after the inauguration. The Phase-I of the Rapid Metro has been constructed at a cost of Rs 1,088 crore. The 5.1-km stretch touches six stations. The Rapid Metro began commercial operations Nov 14, 2013.

Planet likely to get hotter by 4°C by 2100CARDIFF: Scientists leading a research have said unless emissions of greenhouse gases are cut, the planet will heat up by a minimum of 4°C by 2100 – twice the level the world’s governments deem dangerous. The research indicates that fewer clouds form as the planet warms, meaning less sunlight is reflected back into space, driving temperatures up further still. The way clouds affect global warming has been the biggest mystery surrounding future climate change.

Bengaluru needs Rs 80,000 crore for sustenanceBANGALORE: The ‘Garden City’ needs at least Rs 80,000 crore over the next five years to be sustainable, said State Urban Development Secretary PN Srinivasachari.Addressing a workshop on “Cities of the future: Smart and Sustainable” here on Dec 13, 2013 Srinivasachari said, “If Bangalore has to sustain its rapid growth and introduce sustainable solutions to manage its waste, water, environment and transport, the government should invest at least Rs 80,000 crore over the next five years.”

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GPS, CCTVs in public transport

Women cheer, industry smiles

he Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on Jan 2, 2104 gifted the commuters

this New Year a unified system of Global Positioning System (GPS) both at national level (National Vehicle Security and Tracking System) and state level (City Command and Control Centre) for tracking the location of specific vehicles through emergency buttons and video recording of incidents in public transport vehicles.

The project, estimated to cost Rs 1,405 crore, will be implemented within a period of two years in 32 cities in the first phase and 21 cities in

the second phase.The project was undertaken

following the December 16 gang-rape incident in Delhi. The government hopes that the move would help mapping and tracking of public vehicles, in addition to sensitising masses on crime against women.

While the announcement has already garnered thumbs-up from lot many Jyothis, who experience a harrowing time in public transport, it has also thrown open a floodgate of opportunities for the security devices industry.

The government decision is set to translate into a windfall gain not

just for the manufacturers of close-circuit television cameras (CCTVs) and GPS devices, but for all those associated with the sector – right from the technology provider to the retailer.

Demand of those devices for thousands of vehicles from 32 cities means a big business for the domestic security devices industry – bigger than anything it has seen in the recent times.

Now, while it remains to be seen whether the installed devices would be of any help in reining in the high rate of crimes again women, the government decision has already proved a booster for the industry.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs clears Rs 1,405-crore project to install tracking devices in public transport for ensuring safety of women on the move

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Future Cities

The Way Forward...

Cover Story

January 2014 | www.urbanupdate.in 1717

Policymakers have mostly taken lopsided view of the urbanisation process and pitched for location-specific solutions, ignoring that intertwined fate of villages and cities call for an integrated approach

ith cities fast turn-ing into hubs of economic activi-ties, India stands on the threshold

of a major socio-economic change. Statistics suggest by 2030, India’s total population will hit the figure of 1.5 billion — the largest in the world — and the urban dwellers alone will account for nearly 600 million of it — more than twice as much as in 2001.

As the population grows and op-portunities of gainful employment in rural areas shrink, the resultant fallout has been an unprecedented move-ment of masses to the urban areas. While it took 40 years for India’s ur-ban population to rise by about 250 million between 1971 and 2011, addi-tion of the next 350 million could take place within half that time.

What makes the situation scary is a policy vacuum on the part of succes-sive governments and ad-hoc meas-ures adopted by its agencies to tame the menace of unregulated urbanisa-tion. As a result, close to 24 per cent of the urban population continues to live in slums, where even basic necessities like drinking water, regulated power supply, hygienic living condition and proper public transport facilities are a far cry.

The current approach towards ur-banisation, analysis suggests, will result in slum population ballooning from 17 million to 38 million, water supply dropping to 65 litres per per-son against the benchmark of 150 and peak vehicle density touching 610 per lane kilometre against a benchmark of 112. In the given likely scenario, the ultimate casualty will be quality of life and the hardest hit will be the urban poor of the country.

Besides, since cities are going to be central to India’s economic growth, generate 70 per cent of the net GDP, account for 85 per cent of the total tax revenue and contribute towards a near four-fold increase in per capita income across the nation, it becomes all the more crucial to ensure a bal-anced urban development. In other words, perilous state of cities might

WBy Nirmal Anshu Ranjan

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spell trouble for the national economy itself.

POLICY VACUUMBut more often than not, India’s poli-cymakers have indulged in taking lop-sided view of the problem, and ended up putting forth location-specific solu-tions. They tend to ignore the fact that the fate of villages and that of cities are intertwined and that only an inte-grated approach can address the prob-lem in its real enormity.

Another major impediment to han-dling the problem of unregulated ur-banisation in a holistic manner has been lack of an institutional mecha-nism. This is so also because the Indian Constitution defines urban development as a state subject, and therefore, the solutions have remained piecemeal over the decades.

Other issues compounding the problem include reluctance among investors to commit resources to In-dia’s urban centres, fragmented data, opaque land transactions, and dearth of institutional capacity and shortage of trained urban professionals. How-ever, most endemic of them all has been absence of any strategy or vi-sion, or even the zeal to have one.

THE WAY FORWARDThe Planning Commission in its 12th Five-Year Plan Approach Report ad-mits that the pace of urbanisation poses an unprecedented managerial and policy challenge, “yet India has not engaged in a national discussion about how to handle the seismic shift in the makeup of the nation”.

Various studies in the past have suggested that India needs to work on areas like inclusive cities, urban governance, funding, planning, capac-ity building and low-income housing, among others, to manage its process of urbanisation.

Let funds flowThe Planning Commission, like a re-cent McKinsey Global Institute report, pegs the capital investment necessary to meet the projected demand of in-frastructure in Indian cities at $1.2 tril-

A McKinsey report, “India’s urban awakening: Building inclusive cit-ies, sustaining economic growth”, presents some startling indicators of the likely changes over the next 15-20 years:

♦ 590 million will live in cities, nearly twice the population of the United States today

♦ 270 million people net increase in working-age population. ♦ 70 per cent of net new employment will be generated in cities ♦ 68 cities will have population of 1 million plus, up from 42

cities today ♦ $1.2 trillion capital investment is necessary to meet projected de-

mand in India’s cities ♦ 700-900 million square meters of commercial and residential space

needs to be built – or a new Chicago every year ♦ 2.5 billion square meters of roads will have to be paved, 20 times

the capacity added in the past decade ♦ 7,400 kilometers of metros and subways will need to be construct-

ed – 20 time the capacity

INDIA BY 2030

lion. It cites that the current spending under the head is $17 per capita per year, whereas the most benchmarks call for $100.

The McKinsey’s report stresses that India needs to break away from its in-cremental approach to urban invest-ments as it will need to invest an aver-age of $60 billion (Rs 2,70,000 crore) annually. The need is even higher in Tier-I, where India needs to spend around $300 per capita annually.

Although achieving this huge fund-ing leap might look like a herculean task, the report goes on to suggest three possible ways to unleash sourc-es of funding that have been tradition-ally under-leveraged:

♦ Effective monetising of land as-sets: MMRDA in Mumbai has shown that it is possible as it used land asset sales to fund a proposed

Policy vacuum over the dec-ades on the part of succes-sive governments and ad-hoc measures resorted to by its agencies to tame the menace of unregulated ur-banisation has led to close to 24% of the urban popu-lation living in slums bereft of even basic necessities

$22-billion infrastructure pro-gramme;

♦ Ensuring five-fold increase in property tax collection to at least 0.3 per cent of property values through better assessment and compliance; and

♦ Promoting private sector partici-pation to finance building of in-frastructure – an opportunity that alone could be worth $12 billion a year.

With these changes, Tier-I and Tier-II cities would be able to fund as much as 80-85 per cent of their require-ments, and the balance can come from the Central and state governments, the report recommends.

Who will lead?By 2030, India’s largest cities will be bigger than many major countries in terms of both population and econom-ic output, but despite the 74th Amend-ment to the Constitution, local self-governments are run as extensions of state governments.

The Planning Commission report insists that meaningful reforms must happen to enable true devolution of power and responsibilities from the states to the local and metropolitan bodies, in keeping with the amend-ment.

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To achieve substantive changes in city governance, India has a series of options to choose from, including converting its largest cities into full-fledged states, e.g. Delhi. Since this is politically difficult, India must at the least institutionalise directly-elected metropolitan mayors in its 20 largest cities on the lines of the UK – a parlia-mentary democracy, in which India’s governance architecture is rooted.

Planning for the surgeIt is absolutely necessary to plan in a clear-headed manner to help connect land usage with urban flows, which would, in turn, ensure that a city’s in-frastructure is capable of delivering basic urban services. For example, a metropolitan master plan sets out the overall strategy for the economy, mass transit, land usage and affordable housing. If the traffic on London roads today is less disorderly compared to most of the other big cities in the world, the credit goes to the planners who visualise the number of peak-time vehicles 20 years from now.

Emerging cities should learn from the mistakes of Tier-II cities, many of which suffer from the lack of an inte-grated 40-year concept plan and a 20-year master plan integrated across sec-tors. Today, no emerging city in India has a well-analysed 2030 master plan. It is vital for municipalities in emerg-ing cities to create these plans profes-sionally to avoid an urban chaos.

It’s doableIt’s time India moved beyond debat-ing whether urbanisation is good or bad, and act with meticulous planning and full sincerity, so as to prevent ur-banisation from going haywire.

Although the task ahead may ap-pear a daunting one, it can be accom-plished provided it is addressed with a clear vision of the future shape of things. After all, it was only recently that China witnessed transformation-al changes and on a similar scale. All India needs today is transition from the current state of deep inertia to one of a deep commitment to change backed by a sense of urgency.

Coping with Urbanisation needs empowerment of ULBs

Jatin ModiPresident, AIILSG

India’s rapid urbanisation clearly indicates an inescapable urban future. Cities are emerging as the engines of economic growth. Si-multaneously, rising migration is fuelling chaos in urban centres. It is critical to preserve and promote the economic and social viability of our cities. Cities, however, seem unprepared to contend with these emerging challenges.

The 74th Amendment to the Constitution and the 10th Five-year Plan clearly stipulate the need for decentralised urban governance and empowerment of the cities as the third tier of the government. It is widely recognised that such em-powerment is critical to the emer-gence of cities that are inclusive, transparent and sustainable.

At the same time, cities also need to be efficient in equitable service delivery and ensure a decent qual-ity of life for all their citizens. This they must do in partnership with city stakeholders allowing space and voice especially to the poor and women.

This requires empowerment of urban local bodies for governance, planning and management of cit-ies, and settlement with efficiency,

effectiveness and sustainability.But, experiences suggest, capaci-

ty building is the biggest challenge in implementing reforms at the lo-cal government level. The capacity for project preparation, appraisal, monitoring and implementation is limited to the urban local bodies (ULBs) level.

Besides, both states and ULBs have to implement reforms in a time-bound manner. The ability to execute these reforms is wanting in several cases. Besides, the response from all the states has not been uniformly well: some have come up with more project proposals while others have lagged behind.

National and local governments need to formulate coherent and sustainable capacity building strat-egies to provide institutional and professional support to all levels of capacity building through ex-change of information and experi-ence.

For such a network to succeed, it is essential that it has at its centre a strong and active core with suf-ficient international standing and resources to give it the intellectual authority and ability to initiate and coordinate action nationally.

BytesJanuary 2014 | www.urbanupdate.in 2727

Integrated approachRajesh Jain, MD, Wapp Systems

Urban water shortage and sanitation issues are some of the chal-lenges we face in our cities today besides energy shortfall. Over-dependence on ground water and pumping water over long stretch-es leads to energy consumption and wastage through leakages. Similarly, municipal bodies spend a lot of money over waste collec-tion with no effective waste management success stories, and also threatening environment and public health in the process.

Three urban innovationsProf Chetan Vaidya, Director, School of Planning & Architecture

Three important urban innova-tions taking place in India in recent times are reform-based national urban renewal mission (JnNURM), an urban knowl-edge networking programme called Peer Experience and Reflective Learning (PEARL) and Use of Mobile Networks for Governance in Rajkot. Jn-NURM has focussed attention on the policy makers working to offset the challenges faced by urban India. It has succeeded in ensuring that governments commit to reforms in govern-ance, though the commitments have not always been kept.

The PEARL programme has been keeping track of impor-tant lessons in city reforms, and identifying and document-ing good practices – both on-line and otherwise. The Rajkot Municipal Corporation, on the other hand, has started a mo-bile governance programme with the aim of providing infor-mation instantly. The city has divided services in three parts – Alert Services, Interactive Services and Management Ser-vices. All the three innovations have met with success, though large-scale replication/transfer of these innovations will call for institutional strengthening and appropriate capacity develop-ment programmes.

Waste disposal Vs recyclingIrfan Furniturewala, MD, Hanjer Biotech

There is a need to identify municipal solid waste man-agement as a resource recycling activity rather than a disposal exercise. In keeping with this perception, Hanjer has developed its homegrown patented green technology to recycle and recover resources such as Biogas, Energy, Fuel oil and Compost as its second generation products out of mixed municipal solid waste.

We believe that this modular technology can be repli-cated not only in its 20 plants in various cities but also across metros and other small towns. It has a self-sustainable business model with 85 percent recycling capability of waste, which is in line with the global objective of reduc-ing landfills.

The Multi Product Waste Recycling and Minimization technology [MPWRM] is an ideal solution for the large volumes of unsegregated, low-value waste being generated in Indian cities. This technological solution can be adopted by all towns and cities as a Proven Best Practice solution for their waste.

Honeywell: Committed to saving livesMario Maura, Marketing Leader, Honeywell Life Safety

Honeywell Life Safety has introduced an innovative product for the Indian market called FAAST – Fire Alarm Aspiration Sensing Aspiration Technology. It raises alert at the earliest stages of a fire. In Acclimate™ mode, the detector automatically adjusts itself to prevailing environmental conditions, so as to keep nuisance

alarms at bay. FAAST has low cost of ownership and is backed by expert support.

Towards sustainable water futurePawan Mathur, Director, Water & Heat, Itron India

India today faces several water issues, including limited access to drinking water, losses in leakages and the quality of water. Together with population multiplication and fast urbanisation, these factors further push the demand for water, making it a basic necessity and a precious resource.

With these challenges staring in India’s face, innovative technologies can come handy to ensure an efficient distribution of water and reduce non-revenue water (NRW) – a drab on a sustainable water future. Advanced meter reading technology (AMR) can enable accurate billing for water consumption. This creates accountability for water use, helping to keep water costs affordable and distribution efficient.

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HERITAGE CITIESWonder That Is India

ndia boasts of rich cultural heritage, with numerous an-cient structures dotting the landscape of the country. At many locations across the

country, there are large forts construct-ed by the kings to get protected from enemies and fight with them.

There are protected and unprotect-ed monuments, individual and groups of buildings of archaeological archi-tectural, historical and cultural signifi-cance, public spaces including land-scapes, parks and gardens, and street layout defining identifiable neighbour-hoods or precincts.

As India is a land where four ma-jor world’s religions, Hinduism, Bud-

dhism, Jainism and Sikhism origi-nated, the heritage sites here do not belong to any specific religion and present a mixture of the real India — the secular India.

Cultural heritage of a country serves well as historical roots which connects its people to their ancestors and with the history of their land. But in recent times, rapid urbanisation in India has accelerated the pace of change in all aspects of life, particularly in urban environments. A majority of Indian cities and towns are exposed to strong extraneous and fast-growing agents of change that disturb the delicate bal-ance that exists between the physical, social, cultural and ecological aspects

of the urban settlements.

The UNESCO bidWith a view to strengthening Indian cities and towns to cope with these changes that threaten to destroy In-dia’s diverse heritage, the United Na-tions Educational, Scientific and Cul-tural Organisation (UNESCO) took the initiative to form the Indian Herit-age Cities Network (IHCN). The move intends to bring together representa-tives of various Indian historic cities and towns on a common platform to discuss their problems and share expe-riences and good practices for sustain-able development and conservation of their unique cultural heritage.

Rapid urbanisation in India has accelerated the pace of change in all aspects of life and threatens to

destroy its diverse heritage

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The IHCN was founded as a pro-gramme by UNESCO’s New Delhi Office at an international conference on Indian Cities of Living Heritage in September 2006 at Jaipur, Rajasthan. Established with the endorsement of the Ministry of Urban Development, Government of India, together with 10 Indian cities, several institutions and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and seven French cities as well as the French heritage cities’ as-sociation, Association Nationale des Villes et Pays d’Art et d’Histoire (AN-VPAH), IHCN has since grown to en-compass more than 20 cities.

Heritage as urban resourceHeritage is an important resource for cities. In a bid to ensure this resource maintains its importance and place in the economic and cultural profile of the city, it is necessary to make sure that the infrastructure it requires is ad-equate and in place. Overall environ-ment of the city is also an important factor in heritage promotion.

With the intention of preparing a conservation plan for heritage protec-tion and development, it is essential to begin by recording and analysing the role that heritage plays in the so-cio-economic and cultural life of the city, by using such indicators as the number of visitors, number of people dependent for their livelihood on her-itage, income that heritage generates for the city, etc.

Indian cities and their heritageMYSORE: Mysore Master Plan 2031 has put in place a mechanism to conserve heritage environs of the city even.

The city with the majestic Mysore Palace, the royal mansions, heritage public buildings, gardens, water bod-ies and planned markets showcases an indelible impression of the vision of the Maharajas, their Dewans and other brilliant luminaries on the City Municipality as early as 1862.

Mysore is also called the City of Pal-aces as a number of palaces are located in the city. Mysore Palace or Ambavi-las Palace, the main palace of Mysore, is one of the most visited monuments in India. The city boasts of over 200 historical structures, and most of them are properly maintained.

A few years ago the Government of India chose the royal city as a ben-eficiary under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (Jn-NURM). The JnNURM implementing authorities undertook a Rs. 2.9-crore project for improving the heritage structures and Rs. 51.82-crore project for development of the core zone.

GWALIOR: Gwalior, the momen-tous city with a rich past is positioned in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. This historical city is beauti-fully placed on the main New Delhi-Mumbai and New Delhi-Chennai rail route amid its olden charm. About 300 km from Delhi, the city holds immense significance for both Madhya Pradesh and India. Being an extremely old city, historic and massive forts have made it

quite popular.Today, Gwalior easily finds itself

amid the most developed Indian cit-ies with the mass production of the items like cotton, yarn, paint, ceram-ics, chemicals, and leather products. Tourism in Madhya Pradesh has got a boost from Gwalior, and the city catches the attention of tourists for its art and handicraft products. The forts, monuments and palaces are all there to mesmerise one and all.

DELHI: Delhi is one of the few met-ropolitan cities with a high concentra-tion of heritage structures: 155 national

monuments and another 1,000 cultur-ally important places. Various histori-cal periods have left their imprint and turned the city into a remarkable mo-saic. Shahjahanabad is a magnificent example of 17th century Mughal urban planning; Mehrauli, built around the 12th century QutubMinar, is the oldest urban settlement in the city; and New Delhi or Lutyen’s Delhi is an amazing expression of 20th century garden city principles.

UDAIPUR: Udaipur, also known as the City of Lakes, is famous for its Ra-jput-era palaces. It is a popular tourist destination in India. The lakes, palaces and vibrant culture attract many for-eign and domestic visitors. The well-known Lake Palace covers an entire

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island in the Pichola Lake. Many of the palaces have now been converted into luxury hotels. The city is often called the “Venice of the East”.

KOLKATA: During the British colo-nial era from 1700 to 1912, when Kol-kata (formerly known as Calcutta) was the capital of British India, it witnessed

a flurry of frenzied construction activ-ity of magnificent buildings largely influenced by the conscious intermin-gling of Neo-Gothic, Baroque, Neo-Classical, Oriental and Islamic schools of design. Unlike many north Indian cities, whose construction is predomi-nantly based on simplicity, the layout of much of the architectural variety in Kolkata owes its origins to ornamental European styles and tastes imported by the British and, to a much lesser ex-tent, the Portuguese and French.

The buildings were designed and inspired by the tastes of the English gentleman around and the aspiring Bengali rich men. Many of the major buildings of this period are well main-tained and several buildings have been declared as heritage structures.

VARANASI: The city of Varanasi is unique in the architectural, artistic and religious expressions of tradition-al Indian culture and is, even today, a living example of this culture. The city--in the past and in the present-

-is an exceptional testimony to living traditions in religious faith, rituals and myriad festivals, traditional and ancient forms of worship and belief that are still practised in the varied ex-pressions of asceticism, spiritual and meditative exercises, education, mu-sic, dance, handicrafts and art forms, passing from one to other generations.

Varanasi, also known as Benares or Banaras, is located on the banks of the Ganges in Uttar Pradesh, has been known for the innumerable temples there, as also their magnificent archi-tecture. Many of its temples were plun-dered and destroyed by Mohammad Ghauri in the 12th century. The city has been a cultural centre of North In-dia for several thousand years.

BHUBANESWAR: Bhubaneswar is the capital city of the eastern Indian state of Odisha and better known as a Temple Town and Cathedral City. The city is a true representative of Odishan architecture and exhibits the architec-tural grandeur of the state at its peak. The Lingaraj temple is the foremost site and draws a huge flow of the Hin-du devotees from everywhere.

Besides many of beautiful temples,

Bhubaneshwar is also known for its museums, and the Odisha State Mu-seum is one of them. The museums in the city clearly depicts the glorious past it has gone through, and travellers make out the magnificence of the city with a wide set of sculpture, coins, cop-per plates, stone inscriptions, armours, Bronze Age tools, natural history, etc.

AURANGABAD: Aurangabad is a historical city in the northern part of the state of Maharashtra and in the western region of India. The city boasts of a rich past and has seen the dominance and ruin of many dynasties in its course of survival. Established by a local Muslim noble Malik Ambar at some stage in the early 16th century, the city fascinates travellers from all parts of the globe.

The city is well-known for the sites like Bibi-ka-Makbara, the mausoleum of Aurangzeb’s queen and several Bud-dhist cave temples. The city has the “poor man’s Taj Mahal”, as a replica of the Taj Mahal is built here. The city was earlier called Fatehpur and later renamed as Aurangabad by Mughal emperor Aurangzeb.

THIS PLACE COULD BE YOURSCALL NEHA SHARMA +91 96544 [email protected]

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INFRA PROJECTSthat could shapeIndia’s urban future

3THETOP

DELHI MUMBAI INDUSTRIAL CORRIDORhis project incorporates Nine Mega Industrial zones of about 200-250 sq. km., high speed freight line, three ports, and six airports; a six-lane intersection-free expressway connecting the country’s political and fi-nancial capitals and a 4000 MW power plant. Several

industrial estates and clusters, industrial hubs, with top-of-the-line infrastructure would be developed along this corridor to attract more foreign investment. Funds for the projects would come from the Indian government, Japanese loans, and investment by Japa-nese firms and through Japan depository receipts issued by the In-dian companies.

A band of 150 km (Influence region) has been chosen on both sides of the Freight corridor to be developed as the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor. The vision for DMIC is to create strong eco-nomic base in this band with globally competitive environment and state-of-the-art infrastructure to activate local commerce, enhance foreign investments, real-estate investments and attain sustainable development. In addition to the influence region, DMIC would also include development of requisite feeder rail/road connectivity to hinterland/markets and select ports along the western coast.

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METRO RAIL NETWORK

GOLDEN QUADRILATERAL

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he Metro fever is catching up in smaller cities, thanks largely to the success of Delhi Metro. Cities like Chandigarh, Ludhiana and Bhopal are making a case for Metro, even though they

don’t qualify because of the population cut-off.Creating a world-class Metro rail infrastructure in a con-

gested and regulation-heavy city like Delhi was a daunting task. With two million people hitching a ride every day, Delhi Metro Rail has become a new way of life. As the Delhi Metro covers more ground, more and more people have shifted to this mode of transport.

Some 200 trains cover 70,000 km everyday on 190-km-long Metro corridors in Delhi. The numbers can only in-crease once another 140 km in new lines are added by 2016.

Roughly, Rs 523 crore is saved annually in fuel costs whereas the cost in terms of time of passengers saved per year works out to a whopping Rs 2,978 crore, according to a study.

While Metro rail is successfully running across four cities, more metro rail systems, and monorail are being built to ca-ter to the increasing needs of people in cities.

The first rapid transit system in India was the Kolkata Met-ro, which started operations in 1984.

It was followed by the Chennai Mass Rapid Transit System (MRTS) in 1995.

olden Quadrilateral (GQ) high-way project connects four met-ros - Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai and Chennai, and other cities such as

Pune, Bengaluru, Ahmedabad, Kanpur and Surat. The network covers a length of 5,846 kilometres with four-and six-lane highways.

According to the latest update available from the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), 99.71 per cent of the project work was finished at the end of January last year. Some re-cent reports suggest the project is 99.99 per cent complete now.

The benefits of the GQ are manifold: better movement of products and people, more choice of locations for initiating industrial activity, re-duced wastage for the agriculture sector, and a decrease in vehicle operating costs and time.

The initial completion date for the GQ project was December 2003. But the project got delayed due to problems in acquiring land, arranging funds and awarding contracts. There was no cost overrun, though. The project cost is Rs 32,492 crore, which is slightly less than the Rs 34,300 crore estimated in 2005.

NHAI has been slow in six-laning of the net-work through the public-private participation model even though it was approved almost six years ago. In the fifth phase of the National High-way Development Plan, the government had ap-proved the six-laning of 6,500 kms of four-lane highways comprising the GQ and some other high-density stretches through public-private collaboration. Currently, around 2,800 kms are six-lane highways.

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Stand-alone citieSUCLG drives forward the UN mission to achieve sustainable development goal beyond 2015 through empowerment of local and regional authorities in the urban world

Standing alone to

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon poses for the lens on Dec 12, 2013 after receiving 157 letters from Mayors, Governors and their associations and civil society partners calling for inclusion of an Urban SDG in the new development agenda

By Team Urban Update

Centre Stage


R

♦ For the first time in recorded history, more people are living in urban areas than in rural

♦ In such a scenario, it becomes critical for the actors in the urban space to act immediately, effectively

♦ It is important that urbanisation be socially equitable, economically viable and environmentally sustainable

♦ UCLG’s mantra of stand-alone urban goal is to show the way out of the urbanisation haze

‘Urban Age’ Vs UCLG Mantra

“We are living in the ‘urban century’... By the

middle of this century, 70 per cent of all people

will be living in cities...”

Ban Ki-moonUN Secretary General

An Appealing Campaign

The UCLG campaign has al-ready garnered support of over 160 local and regional leaders, local government associations and working partners in over 40 coun-tries

eckless and haphazard urbanisation, fraught with multiple risks, has the experts globally sit

up and scratch their heads on how to bring about a balanced urban devel-opment while also ensuring enough resources for the future generations to come.

With less than 1,000 days to go be-fore the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) expire, the focus has now shifted to the plan of action be-yond 2015. Several United Nations bodies and other concerned organisa-tions are busy devising strategies to come to terms with the challenges of urbanisation post-2015.

Taking a cue from the United Na-tions Sustainable Development Solu-tions Network (SDSN) report of June 2013 and the Rabat Declaration of July 2013 -- both stressed the need to

further empower local and regional authorities for an inclusive urban de-velopment, the Barcelona-headquar-tered United Cities and Local Govern-ments (UCLG) and its members have launched an “Awareness Campaign for a Stand-Alone Urban Goal”.

The campaign aims to influence the post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for recognition of the

crucial role the sub-national govern-ments play as engines and actors of a holistic growth. Urban objectives, like reducing poverty to the minimal and making cities sites of opportunities in an environment-friendly manner, cannot be achieved without empow-ered regional and local authorities, it underlines.

However, since complications in the urbanisation process are a direct off-shoot of unabated migration of rural masses and rural poverty to the cit-ies, the awareness drive emphasises that an urban goal be not only cities-centric but also entail a territorial ap-proach, with due consideration to re-gional and rural-urban linkages.

The UN Secretary General’s report to the General Assembly, issued in July 2013, also acknowledges the sub-national governments as key actors of sustainable development on account

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of their proven contribution to ad-dressing local challenges, and in turn influencing the resultant outcomes on a global scale.

The Indian ContextIndia’s population has already crossed 1.2-billion mark and is expected to swell by another 300 million within the next couple of decades, while the urban headcount is likely to shoot up significantly – from 377 million in 2011 to 590 million by 2030.

This rural-to-urban movement is happening primarily because an in-creasingly large number of employ-ment-seekers are headed for cities, where nearly two-thirds of the country’s economic output is being recorded.

A McKinsey Global Institute report observes: “Surging growth and em-ployment in (Indian) cities will be a powerful magnet...projections show India’s urban population soaring from 340 million in 2008 to 590 million in 2030. And this urban expansion will happen at a speed quite unlike any-thing India has seen before. It took India nearly 40 years (between 1971 and 2008) for the urban population to rise by nearly 230 million. It will take only half the time to add the next 250 million.”

In this backdrop, need for a sustain-able urban development is not just rel-evant to the country, rather it calls for immediate execution of such a plan,

The United Cities and Local Govern-ments (UCLG) represents and de-fends the interests of local govern-ments on the world stage, regardless of the size of the communities they serve. Headquartered in Barcelona, the organisation’s stated mission is: “To be the united voice and world advocate of democratic local self-government, promoting its values, objectives and interests, through cooperation between local govern-

ments, and within the wider interna-tional community.”

The UCLG has presence in and participation of over 140 of the 191 UN member-states spread over sev-en world regions, representing over half of the world’s total population. Its members include individual cit-ies and national associations of local governments, which represent all the cities and local governments in a single country.

♦ Rapid urbanisation is an important transformative phenomenon that will reshape the world as we know it, having impacts beyond the lives of city-dwellers

♦ Many of the consequences of urbanisation will have a global impact. At the same time, cities have the potential to offer solutions to global challenges

♦ An urban goal should not only be geared towards cities but should entail a territorial approach, with due consideration to regional and rural-urban linkages

♦ Promote urban and land use planning for more efficient spatial management and innovative infrastructure design and service delivery

♦ Ensure resilience to climate change and disaster risk reduction

UCLG Campaign

About UCLG

Centre Stage


Crowding India

India’s population has crossed 1.2-billion mark and is expected to swell by another 300 million within the next couple of decades, while the urban headcount is likely to shoot up from 377 million in 2011 to 590 million by 2030

“...We must tackle governance reform in regional governments and strengthen their capacity to raise funds for infrastructure...”

Isher Judge AhluwaliaChairperson, ICRIER

♦ Educate and focus attention on urgent urban challenges and opportunities to reduce growing inequalities in urban areas, protect the environment and ensure resilience

♦ Mobilise and empower all urban actors around practical problem solving, enhancing the participation of urban stakeholders

♦ Promote integrated and innovative infrastructure design and service delivery to address the specific challenges of urban poverty and access to infrastructure, particularly for slum dwellers

♦ Promote urban and land use planning for more efficient spatial management and innovative infrastructure design and service delivery

♦ Ensure resilience to climate change and disaster risk reduction ♦ Promote inclusive and participatory governance built from the

bottom up and taking into account social and cultural realities and demands

Aims of Stand-Alone Urban Goal

dia has achieved in the past decade. In addition, between 19,000 and 25,000 kilometers of road lanes would need to be built every year (including lanes for bus-based rapid transit systems), nearly equal to the road lanes con-structed over the past decade.”

The observation aptly underscores the gigantic task staring in the face of the nation if it were to secure the goal of sustainable city planning so as to herald social and environmental eq-uity while also improving the lives of the people.

The case of urban India is also the story of urban space in East Asia, South Asia and sub-Saharan African region, where most of the population concentration is expected to take place in the next 15-20 years, UN pro-jections suggest.

At a seminar, “Urban Asia: Financ-ing Liveable Cities”, organised under

the aegis of Asian Development Bank (ADB) in New Delhi in May last year, experts suggested possible ways to make urbanisation sustainable in In-dia. Most of the speakers underlined the need for investment to strengthen infrastructure in cities but not before ensuring a better equipped regional and local governments that can un-derstand and handle the local issues best.

In this context, Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER) Chairperson Isher Judge Ahluwalia observed, “Regional governments are responsible for in-frastructure development, and they are facing such issues as establishing a revenue model for infrastructure investment, and mobilising private funding through PPPs (public-private partnerships).”

Ms Ahluwalia then discussed poli-cies to address these issues. “First, we must tackle governance reform in regional governments and strengthen their capacity to raise funds for infra-structure. Strengthening the organi-sational capacity of regional govern-ments is a precondition for the central government to transfer infrastructure funds to regional governments. Also, to realise inclusive growth, we need to improve the connectivity between large and small cities, as well as be-tween cities and rural areas.”

so that the urban populace does have access to a reasonably good health-care facility, enough drinking water, a reliable power supply system and a dependable public transport network.

The Way AheadWhile urbanisation has fuelled eco-nomic growth in the Indian cities, it has also resulted in a huge strain on the existing physical infrastructure. Overcrowding, rampant growth of slums, disparities in living conditions and inequity in access to services are endemic in the country.

In most cities, the critical infrastruc-ture is woefully inadequate, techno-logically outdated, increasingly fragile and insufficient to meet even the cur-rent requirements of all its residents.

Talking of the need for infrastruc-ture expansion in cities, the McKinsey report points out: “...to meet urban de-mand, the economy will have to build between 700 million and 900 million square meters of residential and com-mercial space a year. In transporta-tion, India needs to build 350 to 400 kilometers of metros and subways every year, more than 20 times the capacity-building of this type that In-

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Eco-Friendly alternative to bricks

An

he growth in India’s economy and popula-tion coupled with ur-banisation has resulted in an increasing de-

mand for residential, commercial and industrial buildings as well as other infrastructure. Studies suggest that out of the total constructed area exist-ing in India in 2030, about 70 per cent would be the ones coming up between 2010 and 2030.

Also, building construction in India is estimated to grow at a rate of 6.6 per cent per year between 2005 and 2030 (McKinsey and Company, 2009), and the building stock is expected to

multiply five times during this period, resulting in a continuous increase in demand for building materials.

The bulk of building materials is currently derived from locally avail-able clay, soil, sand and gravel. Solid fired clay bricks are the most widely-used walling materials in the country. However, over the past few decades, development of other materials, such as solid/hollow concrete blocks, fly-ash bricks, Cement Stabilised Soil Blocks (CSSBs), Fly Ash-Lime-Gyp-sum (FaL-G) blocks and Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (AAC) blocks, has created viable alternatives to bricks.

The building materials production

Lightweight Autoclaved Aerated Concrete blocks are fast overtaking the traditional solid fired clay bricks as an environment-friendly building walling alternative

Manish Tiwari, CEO, Biltech

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industry in India, particularly when seen in the light of future demand of those materials, could have long-last-ing implications in terms of natural resource depletion, future energy de-mand, local pollution, contribution to greenhouse gas emissions as well as socio-economic condition of a signifi-cant number of low-income workers.

But somehow, there is still very limited understanding of the broad-er environmental consequences of building materials relating to natural resource depletion, energy, environ-ment and socio-economic aspects. Therefore, there is an imperative and urgent need to have a comprehensive plan for development of walling mate-rials production in India.

Buildings are large entities and, as such, they impact the environment in various ways. Present-day designs clearly consume large quantities of physical resources, such as materi-als and energy in their construction, maintenance and use. This can also have adverse effects on loss of ecolog-ical amenity and biodiversity, which remain difficult to assess, to date.

If we are going to raise buildings in an ecologically-sustainable manner, or even substantially reduce the en-vironmental impacts of current con-struction approaches and practices, it will be necessary to consider the impacts of a building over its full life-cycle.

The life-cycle of a building material

can be considered to have five stages — mining/extraction/harvesting, pro-cessing, use in construction and dem-olition of structures built with those materials. For most building materials, the major environmental impacts oc-cur during the first two stages, but as waste-disposal problems increase, the impacts associated with the demoli-tion stage are also a cause of concern.

A comprehensive assessment of materials used for wall construction encompasses the following:

• Consumption of resources andraw materials including water

• Consumption of energy for pro-duction and transportation (em-

bodied energy) • Operational energy of buildings

resulting from material (thermal) properties

• Productivityorefficiency• Emissions of greenhouse gas

(GHG)–CO2• Regionalairpollutantemissions–

Particulates,SO2,NOx• Socio-economicbenefits

When compared with solid/hollow concreteblocks,fly-ashbricks,CSSBsand FaL-G blocks, Aearted Autoclaved Concrete has emerged as the bestwalling material alternate, and this technology is gaining prominence in both public and private sectors. AAC,enjoyingahistoryofover100

years, scores the highest when com-pared to all the conventional alterna-tives and has been heralded as the building material of the new millen-nium. It is a lightweight and environ-ment-friendly solution for all building walling needs.Currently, there aremore than 325

manufacturing plants worldwide that annually produce more than 25 mil-lioncubicyardsofAAC.China,Rus-sia and Europe are among their big-gest users. In India, its presence has seen significant increase over the last two decades, andmore than 40 pro-duction plants are in various stages of implementation across the country.

Prod

ucts


dbHMS Building SimulationIs a company that focuses on in depth Indian climate and culture, the company offers contextual and innovative solutions to green engineering to design buildings with minimum energy consumption and lowest carbon footprint

Features ♦ Engineering services like mechanical, electrical, plumbing

and fire fighting and lighting ♦ Sustainable green design that involves passive design

like geothermal, earth tunnels, active passive like design integration, intelligent building and control design

♦ Green certification like IGBC, LEED, Eco-housing facilitation and GRIHA certification

♦ Advance Energy, stimulation studies on building system and commissioning and energy audits

Solar RickshawThe best Local Conveyance option in cities

Features ♦ Solar Rickshaw is absolutely Non Pollutant Conveyance ♦ Solar Rickshaw is also an employment opportunity ♦ Solar Rickshaw need no CNG, PETROL, or DIESEL as

fuel options

Purafil Emergency Gas Scrubber Purafil has been the world leader in the engineering and manufacture of gas-phase air filtration media, systems,

and air quality monitors

Features ♦ The water-wastewater solutions eliminate unwanted

odours and purify the air to create a pleasant, healthy atmosphere

♦ It is economical and effective solution for eliminating sewage odours, preventing toxic gas releases and

providing corrosion control ♦ Known as chemisorption, this process converts odours

to harmless

ProductsJanuary 2014 | www.urbanupdate.in 4141

Trilux’s Viatana LEDTrilux’s lighting company has launched a new product called Viatana LED lights. With its unique reflector technology, it ensures optimal lighting of streets and parking lots and thus lessens the danger of accidents

Features ♦ Attractive: The timeless luminaire design of the Viatana

achieves a high recognition factor and long acceptance ♦ Future-safe: The modular luminaire construction enables

easy replacement of the standardised LED modules ♦ Efficient: The latest free-form reflector technology for

optimal illumination and intelligent switching concepts for power reduction ensure a high level of economy

♦ Robust: A high protection rating and high quality materials enable a long service life in outdoor areas

Intergraph Geospatial 2014The company builds upon the foundation

introduced in 2013 of a united, modern, and dynamic portfolio, broadening the reach of our customers.

It integrates the technologies across product lines, honing in on the importance of strong analytical

tools, the cost savings associated with managing big data, and the ubiquity of mobile

Features ♦ Create Customised Solutions , Spatial Modelling

♦ Mobile: Real-Time Updating & Reporting ♦ Intergraph Mobile MapWorks

♦ Intergraph Mobile Alert

Kirloskar pumps’ Solid Handling PumpsSolid Handling Pumps (SHM) are horizontal non-clog

pumps having single stage, single suction with back pull out type design. SHS are vertical non-clog pumps for wet

pit applications. These pumps are widely used in paper industries, water carrying gravel.

Features ♦ Solid size up to 105 mm

♦ Back pull-out design ♦ Gland packed / Mechanical Seal

♦ 50 Hz / 60 Hz availability ♦ Also available in vertical execution

Even

ts


Energy Storage India

04 - 06December 2013 Mumbai, India

The expo focused on the growing energy needs in India. This event

created awareness among the stakeholders and technology

providers across the globe for the development of Indian power and

industry sector

IFSEC INDIA 2013

05 - 07 December 2013

India Expo CenterGreater Noida

This exhibition is India’s largest and most prestigious security & fire safety for top security professionals

The event was beneficial for creating awareness in specific waste solutions

like collection, sorting, processing, treating, coverting, recycling

and reusing

Clean India Pulire

05 - 07December 2013 Mumbai, India

ET ACETECH-Delhi

05 - 08December 2013New Delhi, India

The expo focused on energy/water conservation, safety, security & fire

protection, water technologies, paints, coats & wall coverings,

air conditioning & refrigeration, decorative & architectural lighting,

home & office automation

Ahmedabad hosted a unique exhibition called Infratech for three days, from 3rd-5th January, 2014 for technical experts and professionals related to steel, cement, and power

and mining industries to get aware of the modern market trends and latest

business opportunities

Water LiveExpo

08 - 10January 2014

CODISSIA Trade Fair Complex

Coimbatore

Another water conservation exhibition called The Water Live -

Water Expo, a three day event to be held Coimbatore, offers the launch

of the latest products offers that promotes water technology products

and equipment

Infratech

03 – 05 January 2014YWCA Club

Ahemdabad

EventsJanuary 2014 | www.urbanupdate.in 4343

ELECRAMA-2014 is poised for a quantum leap in terms of event experience, ambience, context,

commerce. Manufacturers, traders, utilities, consultants and decision

makers from over 100 countries will converge here

ELECRAMA

08 - 12January 2014

Bangalore International Exhibition Centre

Bangalore

Everything About Water Expo

09 - 11 January 2014

NSIC Exhibition Complex

New Delhi

An exhibition on water conservation and management called ‘Everything About Water’, where representatives

from irrigation, ground water and municipal authorities, pollution control board, technocrats and

decision makers will learn the tools and techniques on water recycle

Karpagam College of Engineering has been successfully organizing the International Conference on Intelligent Systems and Control

(ISCO) since 2006. The ISCO 2014 is themed on “GREEN CHALLENGES

AND SMART SOLUTIONS”

ISCO

10 - 11 January 2014

Karpagam College of Engineering

Coimbatore

ICONCE

16 - 17January 2014 JIS College of Engineering

Kolkata

The year’ first International Conference on Non Conventional Energy in the field of Renewable

Energy Source. The aim of this conference is to encourage

the exchange of discussion on alternative energy and

related research

The expo would help noted professionals to gather and analyse

the latest market trends and industry happenings on water softening,

engineering, chemicals and drinking water industries. Informative trade

conference sessions, with renowned industry

Water Expo

20 - 22January 2014

Chennai Trade CentreChennai

The 22nd Convergence India

21 - 23 January 2014

Pragati MaidanNew Delhi

The Exhibitions India Group is organising South Asia’s largest ICT Expo called 22nd Edition

of Convergence India 2014. Themed as “Connecting India” it is an international exhibition and conference that aims to focus on

new-age technologies and merging business solutions

Urb

an A

gend

a


Agenda for tomorrow’s CitiesWhy is chaotic state of affairs in our cities? Did India err while doing the urban planning, or did it do it at all? Well, as a nation, India has terribly lacked in vision and strategy for a contemporary urban development

ndia like other developing countries on the globe has seen an urban surge: migra-tion of people from rural areas to cities in search of oppor-

tunities has been a trend over the re-cent past all over the world. But, sadly though, the crowding of urban space and overall deterioration of quality of life in cities has been far worse in In-dia than in most parts of the world.

But why is this state of affairs in our cities? Did we miscalculate the scale of urbanisation in India? Did we err while doing the urban planning, or did we do it at all? Well, the answer to all such queries lies in the fact that we as a nation have terribly lacked in strate-gy or vision for a contemporary urban development, or even the keenness to have a policy that suits the needs of present-day urbanisation.

Although there are a number of fac-

tors leading to our lagging behind in the global competitiveness, we can broadly focus on five areas of urban sphere to make up for the past mis-takes.

HOUSING: This is one area that has been a victim of neglect over the dec-ades. Successive governments have failed to erect adequate dwellings in urban areas for people in general and the working class in particular. That explains why nearly 24 per cent of the urban population continues to live in slums, where even basic civic ameni-ties are a luxury.

As the need for low-cost housing in cities has been acutely felt since long, the governments of the day need to mobilise adequate resources for the purpose and focus on hous-ing for all. A framework for financing affordable housing solution can solve

APRESH MISHRAMANAGING EDITOR

I

Urban A

gendaJanuary 2014 | www.urbanupdate.in 4545

much of the problem.

WATER AND SANITATION: Given the unabated movement of masses from the rural to urban areas, by 2030, the number of people projected to be living in Indian cities stands at a whopping 600 million. This will lead to water supply dropping to 65 litres per person against the benchmark of 150. With ground water level shrinking fast, providing water to city-dwellers in an economical way would be a huge challenge. But our planners are yet to take into account the long-term impli-cations of our callous attitude towards water consumption.

No different is the case of sewage disposal mechanism. In the absence of adequate investment in the area, raw sewage is being done away with by dumping into the rivers and other water bodies, thus causing immense damage to the ecological balance. It’s time for serious planning, backed by firm financial commitments.

TRANSPORT AND TRAFFIC MAN-AGEMENT: Chaos on roads is com-mon to virtually all cities, big or small, as India has an awfully inadequate transport infrastructure. Although some new concepts like Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) are being executed in Delhi, Ahmedabad and Pune, they seem going the wrong way for want of supporting infrastructure. Moreover, the thrust of policies has ap-parently been on looking for ways to

promote motor cars. It is not difficult to make out that this is not a sustaina-ble way of growing a city. The govern-ment needs to pay attention to devel-oping transport infrastructure which is built around public transport.

PUBLIC HEALTH SYSTEM: Previ-ously, it was rural areas alone where healthcare services would be in poor shape. But with the rising load on ur-ban hospitals, all of our cities have seen collapse of public healthcare fa-cilities for the poor citizens. One can see emergence of numerous super-specialty hospitals on the public land, given to private hands at low prices on the promise of serving poor peo-ple, but the promise is never fulfilled. For ensuring affordable medical care, there is an urgent need to create a pool of healthcare centers around the cities.

EFFECTIVE POLICING: Secure cit-ies would be but a pipedream in the absence of effective policing. But un-able to cope up with the pressure of providing security to an ever-growing urban populace, the police administra-tion seems crumbling down. Policing, which is synchronised with the com-munity and is receptive to the needs of the poor, has largely been neglected. Lack of integration with the localities creates huge mishaps. In such a situ-ation, there is an increasing need of community policing. Creating polic-ing in 21st century also calls for a sys-tem which involves citizens.

Mail us at [email protected] ?SUGGESTIONS

Although there

are a number

of factors

leading to our

lagging behind

in the global

competitiveness,

we will have to

go in overdrive

mode to make

up for the past

mistakes

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