Prepare National Development Plan 2040 - Inclusive of Settlement Planning and Design Guidelines for India

Time has come to prepare National Development Plan - 2040, along with guidelines for National Guidelines for Settlement Planning and Design (GSPD) taking national vision, infrastructure requirements and demographic needs on settlements. Its time to shed differential planning for Urban and Rural Areas, instead it can be national, state and regional planning inclusive of all settlements, its resources and development needs. Lets begin people's planning ...now..It must provide guidance on appropriate practices and technologies and it does not replace the need for professional experience and judgement.

Climate change may exacerbate the problems caused by poor urban management. For example, poor storm water drainage systems and urban-induced soil erosion result in flash flooding. Increased storm intensity due to climate change would exacerbate such problems.
 Cities are particularly vulnerable to climate change because they are slow to adapt to changes in the environment and they have entrenched dependencies on specific delivery mechanisms for critical services.
 The effective management of the interface between urban residents and their surrounding environment producing sustainable social-ecological systems needs to the addressed. Similarly the concept of climate resilience in the context of urban social-ecological systems needs to be further developed.
 Water demand in urban centres is growing rapidly, placing undue stress on water supply systems. Investment in waste water treatment works has not remained in line with the growth in demand and use.
 Informal settlements are vulnerable to floods and fires, exacerbated by their location in flood- or pondingprone areas and on sand dunes; inferior building materials; and inadequate road access for emergency vehicles.
 Cities and dense urban settlements consume large amounts of energy.

If there is no plan what you review? Promises are not real for Indian Government

The rejection of Planned Development of the country by the new government since 2014, has resulted in allocation of budget to departments and state based on the sourced knowledge. The NITI Ayog the renamed and totally new version of policy making has made poor progress in understanding the needs of country. It has selectively picked the points based on the party Manefesto rather than working paper by experts. The masters voice is loud and clear to the babus and experts in Ayog (ex-employee's of Planning Commission) to follow the new change  to suit the political bosses.

The series of programs floated has no serious basis, or re-worked old programs or simply renamed, an political excercise on the behest of party in power. The plan periods would be lapsed in 2017, before be see the end of Nehruvian era. May be the birth of market economy with India slated to poise to lead the Asia with more investments, flow of money, able -skilled people, ease of doing business etc. But whether the country can look inwards into the problem of Agriculture, Market, Urbanization, Water, Environment, Climate Change etc which are global concern. The fundamental shift in Macro economics and political think is still to be directed and questioned by those who are running it. The higher education institutes, experts and market leaders are supporting the current agenda as they had supported earlier agenda. No particular school of thoughts holds point since we are slated to follow the leader.

The development track or the world community is watching the change in India silently, knowingly well its shortfall in dealing with social, infrastructure and economic issues. They want to control the Indian economy and time is right now to enter and convince the political bosses. What PMO during UPA-II cannot do due to call for 'inclusive growth' where the rights based approach was adopted by the policy makers. Now the current government is preparing the grounds for big bang reform with expected investments, flow of funds  and hopes into Indian economy. Whether these would also enhance the risks, stop social funding or remove the subsidies from majority etc. can be debated in next phase of govt.

Two years have passed with drastic change in plan system, and entry of market is awaited, it would be too late it does not kick up by this year end. Lets hope that we sense the market well, and desires of people who feels government has failed them by not understanding their needs of hunger, unemployment, poverty and agriculture. 

Believe it or Not Smart City, Digital India and Make in India is not just slogan

During past 18 months and more we are made to believe the strength of the government is in its resolve to pursue the popular programs so listed by new dawn of digital era who wish to take the world economy upfront. It was said, India is now getting prepared to take the economy by its horn, the projections even after months have been bullish by the agencies. Even though the market did not respond so well to the call for investment it tanked to lowest level post diwali, The investors in the infrastructure is hard to come by, given the budgetary provisions which might foresee the light within next week should give boost to investment climate. The basics are right for India, but the digital divide which shortened due to penetration of mobile telephony made to believe the real strength of Indian people and enterprise is yet to come.

The strong linkages established in the government programmes like Smart City, Digital India and Make in India makes us believe the government is serious, but not so good feeling when we look at the penetration of the program. The participation of the state government is low, and corporate are shying away from making the commitments. The revival of the Smart city program with more cities are likely to join is hard when cities do not commit easily to the pending reforms. The infrastructure and investment plans where all in place in so called 'Smart cities' when during the earlier phases of JNNURM the City Development Plans were prepared. There is ample scope for reforms but the state's not ruled by the party in power at the center finds it hard to accept, mostly due to political polarization in development agenda.

The people are now made to believe in virtual environments, the sales pitch of the e-comm. sites coupled with delivery prangs shows the purchasing power of the Indian consumers. But with lack of growth in real estate sector, and slowing of demands in key sectors, there is hard learning for the manufacturers to stay back in competition. The India's share of global trade might have marginally improved with little scope for economic revival very soon when trade from India can become competitive. The global rich and poor divide during the current economic slow down and poor revival does not through enough to give boost to India's Make in India programe. The skills required to stay competitive demands for the global change in the manner we produce the things, the labour intensive industries shows slow progress, with machine based productions gains competitive edge. The industrial and manufacturing base needs an improvement in the country side and rural India to raise the demands of the consumable goods. 

The entrepreneur developments and poor funding disbursal's from the key banks does not make the change as desired by the 'Modi Sarkar'.  The recent drubbing in state elections, and not being able to perform the legislative functions at the centre frustrates the ministries. The BJP ruled states even do not perform to expectation and shows the poor political upmanship to steer the economy forward. The hope for change when millions of Indians wants to join reflects in the lack of infrastructure investments in rural India, the investors looking for the space in the ever growing cities, mostly metropolitan cities. 

Cabinet Approves SMART and AMRUT Mission in India

Union Cabinet approves Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation and Smart Cities Mission to drive economic growth and foster inclusive urban development

In a determined bid to recast the urban landscape of the country to make urban areas more livable and inclusive besides driving the economic growth, the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi today approved Central Government spending of about one lakh crore on urban development under two new urban missions over the next five years. The Cabinet has approved the Smart Cities Mission and the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation of 500 cities (AMRUT) with outlays of Rs.48,000 crore and Rs.50,000 crore respectively. Under the Smart Cities Mission, each selected city would get central assistance of Rs.100 crore per year for five years. Smart City aspirants will be selected through a ‘City Challenge Competition’ intended to link financing with the ability of the cities to perform to achieve the mission objectives. Each state will shortlist a certain number of smart city aspirants as per the norms to be indicated and they will prepare smart city proposals for further evaluation for extending Central support. This Mission of building 100 smart cities intends to promote adoption of smart solutions for efficient use of available assets, resources and infrastructure with the objective of enhancing the quality of urban life and providing a clean and sustainable environment. Special emphasis will be given to participation of citizens in prioritizing and planning urban interventions. It will be implemented through ‘area based’ approach consisting of retrofitting, redevelopment, pan-city initiatives and development of new cities. Under retrofitting, deficiencies in an identified area will be addressed through necessary interventions as in the case of Local Area Plan for downtown Ahmedabad. Redevelopment enables reconstruction of already built-up area that is not amenable for any interventions, to make it smart, as in the case of Bhendi Bazar of Mumbai and West Kidwai Nagar in New Delhi. Pan-city components could be interventions like Intelligent Transport Solutions that benefits all residents by reducing commuting time. Under smart cities initiative, focus will be on core infrastructure services like: Adequate and clean Water supply, Sanitation and Solid Waste Management, Efficient Urban Mobility and Public Transportation, Affordable housing for the poor, power supply, robust IT connectivity, Governance, especially e-governance and citizen participation, safety and security of citizens, health and education and sustainable urban environment. Smart City Action Plans will be implemented by Special Purpose Vehicles(SPV) to be created for each city and state governments will ensure steady stream of resources for SPVs. The two missions are interlinked. AMRUT adopts a project approach to ensure basic infrastructure services relating to water supply, sewerage, septage management, storm water drains, transport and development of green spaces and parks with special provision for meeting the needs of children. Implementation of this Mission will be linked to promotion of urban reforms such as e-governance, constitution of professional municipal cadre, devolving funds and functions to urban local bodies, review of Building bye-laws, improvement in assessment and collection of municipal taxes, credit rating of urban local bodies, energy and water audit and citizen-centric urban planning. 10 percent of budget allocation will be given to States/UTs as incentive based on achievement of reforms during the previous year. A reform matrix with timelines would be circulated to States in the Guidelines. This Mission will be implemented in 500 cities and towns each with a population of one lakh and above, some cities situated on stems of main rivers, a few capital cities and important cities located in hilly areas, islands and tourist areas. Under this Mission, States get the flexibility of designing schemes based on the needs of identified cities and in their execution and monitoring. States will only submit State Annual Action Plans to the Centre for broad concurrence based on which funds will be released. In a significant departure from JNNURM, Central Government will not appraise individual projects. Central assistance will be to the extent of 50 percent of project cost for cities and towns with a population of up to 10 lakh and one-third of the project cost for those with a population of above 10 lakh. Central assistance will be released in three instalments in the ratio of 20:40:40 based on achievement of milestones indicated in State Annual Action Plans. AMRUT seeks to lay a foundation to enable cities and towns to eventually grow into smart cities. The Cabinet also today approved Central funding under AMRUT to the projects sanctioned under JNNURM and not completed. JNNURM projects relating to urban development sanctioned during 2005 -2012 and achieved physical progress of 50 percent availing 50 percent of central assistance released and those sanctioned during 2012-2014 will be supported till March, 2017. Accordingly, 102 and 296 projects respectively will get Central support for balance funding to complete these projects. Central spending approved for the next five years under the two new Missions assumes significance in the backdrop of the approved Plan outlay of Rs.42,900 crore for JNNURM that was implemented over nine years between 2005 and 2014. Out of this, actual Central assistance released was Rs.36,398 crore. Further to today’s Cabinet approval, a minimum investment of over Rs. 2 lakh crore would flow into urban areas over the next five years (2015-16 – 2019-20) since States and urban local bodies would mobilise matching resources ranging from 50 percent to 66 percent. In addition, substantial private investments would be mobilized by states and urban local bodies through PPP model as required to meet project costs. The architecture of the Smart Cities Mission and AMRUT is guided by the twin objectives of meeting the challenges of growing urbanization in the country in a sustainable manner as well as ensuring the benefits of urban development to the poor through increased access to urban spaces and enhanced employment opportunities. Source: Press Information Bureau, INDIA, April 2015

Urban Development: India 5000 v/s 100 cities

The government of India with new leader in place looks for creating 100 cities down the line for the sake of investment. The projected growth of population for the urban India stands 500 million plus in next decade. The existing 5000 plus large, medium and small towns are vying for the investment. Except 68 JnNURM cities and 140 medium size town the country did not see much of investment in rest of the towns and cities. The current population of urban India has more than 70 percent population residing in little more than 150 one lac plus towns. These towns except the metropolitan cities have very shabby infrastructure and poor connectivity. There is lack of housing, infrastructure and transportation the key drivers for the city growth. The million plus cities are readied with metro, mass transit and expanded housing sector for the population, but the reality market has not picked up since most of the expected consumers in the cities vanished during last 5 years. The empty housing stock (mostly priced high) remains the concerns for the developers who are further looking to offer the houses to the needy at reasonable prices.

The thought for the new cities might have been emerged from the multi-national investors who may not be looking for the existing cities for the key investment in infrastructure but may offer investment in new destinations. These new areas are triggered by the industrial investments, express highways and rail/road corridors. The proposed 100 towns are expected to emerge from the thin air without any serious recommendation from the Urban Development ministry itself. The government so much guided by the industrial lobby (not known) that they have given go ahead with allocation of funds for looking at it. The existing towns though trying hard to improve did not find much support from the state governments often look for the central push for the reform (which did not come during first phase of renewal mission). The small and medium where the industrial have been trying to investment owing to its proximity to large urban centres needs serious look for the infrastructure investment often face poor treatment from the decision makers.

The oversized Delhi, Mumbai , Kolkata, Chennai and other select class I towns gets more funds since it remains the power centre in most of the states. Let it be but there is need to invest in second rug towns instead for looking at fresh 100 towns. Who is going to populate the towns, why do we need this approach and why neglect the existing town? etc would be questions asked. Even after six decades we still need a well guided urban policies, the lights emerging from the urban areas of China has been source of inspiration from many of our policy makers but they seldom see the neglect of hinterland and controlled population. The country needs a serious look on its approach at the cities.

The political differences, industrial investments and lobbying by the industrial houses have directed the recent policy shift towards the 100 new towns but we have to set the methodology to improve the delivery of services.  

Master of Urban Planning at Vallabh Vidyanagar, JOIN the Change...

A tale of two cities by CSE, New Delhi

I could not resist to relay story by CSE, New Delhi worth reading by fellow planners, Thanks to them..

EDITORIAL: A tale of two cities 
by Sunita Narain
======================================================
I travelled to two different cities in two different states last week—Indore and Guwahati. I came back with images identified by common distinctions: piles of garbage and glitzy new shopping malls. Is this our vision of urban development? There is no question that cities are imploding; growth is happening faster than we ever imagined. Construction is booming and expansion is gobbling agricultural land.

But the quality of life is no better. In most parts there is traffic, dust, air pollution and most of all the chaos of unplanned growth. Road expansion is eating up lines of shady trees—in Guwahati I saw the most majestic trees hacked down mercilessly. The city’s lungs are going, and so are its sponges, as waterbodies are making way for buildings. In Indore its residents will tell you that the names of the colonies are the names of the lakes they are built on. In Guwahati, the airport has been built by killing the grand Deepor beel. First a road was built (obviously without culverts to channelise the water), then as the waterbody died, it was filled to undertake new construction. This year, as always, Guwahati airport was flooded and air traffic disrupted.

The two cities are different ecosystems, so they should have had different water and waste issues. One is located in the relatively dry Malwa plateau and the other in the high-rainfall region on the banks of the mighty Brahmaputra. But both cities have acute water stress, even as rain leads to swamping of cities, disrupting life and destroying property. Both cities have no water culture. Both are drowning in their waste.

Indore, because of its location, had a rich tradition of lakes. Rain water was harvested and stored in structures, which recharged groundwater. Then, in 1977, the city brought Narmada water from some 110 km to the city. Indore should have had enough to drink and to swim. But 35 years later, the water has still not reached all distribution pipelines. Over 50 per cent of the 172 million litres per day of water it sources is lost in distribution, which means there is far more costs but far less water to supply. The city water utility has no money to repair and extend its water system. It spends all it has and more in just electricity costs of bringing the water. Politicians are vying with each other to bring the water from the Maheshwar dam. The recent jal samadhi by the Maheshwar dam-displaced has met with enormous anger from Indore’s power elite. They say they need the dam’s water at all costs. They do not care if the people, whose land has been submerged by the dam, have not received compensation or been resettled.

The same power elite never demand systems to deal with the sewage they flush out of their homes. In Indore, the sewage system was constructed in 1936 at the time of the Holkars. Independent Indore has added to it insignificantly. The bulk of the sewage pours into its rivers, Khan and Saraswati, and Piliyakhal Nullah, untreated. It forgets that the Khan pollutes the Kshipra; the main water source of the neighbour, Ujjain.

Guwahati is no different. When I went in early October, floods were still ravaging the city. This was the third pulse of flooding, which began in early June. Residents explained that the intensity and duration of floods had made life impossibly difficult. They also spoke of desperate water shortages in this region of plenty. Worse, life-giving water is now the cause of diseases—death by dengue fever was top news in Guwahati.

This is when both cities have options to do things differently. They are yet to build all their homes, roads and water and sewage systems. They can execute a plan, which allows them to modernise but with quality of life intact and even better. This requires not to want to grow in the way Delhi, Mumbai or any other “old-growth” city has.

For instance, they should not repeat the mistake of allowing fleets of cars to take over their roads. Indore was an enlightened city to plan for a bus-based future. Some years ago it invested in new buses, rationalised routes, created systems for efficient operation and put GPS in place to track and inform customers. Now cost of bus fuel is up, fares have not been revised and buses are losers. Still the majority of the city population rides or walks, even though the city’s footpaths are long gone. Indore is now building a bus rapid transit (BRT) corridor. It has a many foreign and Indian consultants to design the system but the people of Indore have no idea what is being proposed and why BRT is important. So they already hate it.

Guwahati’s footpaths are gone as well, taken over by mounds of garbage. The city has taken the route of its bigger cousins. It has put the task of garbage disposal out to a concessionaire, who, it hopes, will sweep the city clean. It does not. Instead, Guwahati could collect, segregate and compost garbage at the household level. It could reserve areas in colonies for environmental services. This way it would not have to first collect and then transport the waste. It would not have to live in filth.

In the end Indore and Guwahati will be the creations of their people. The only question is whether they will be dreams or nightmares. 

You can post your comments on this editorial online at http://www.downtoearth.org.in/content/tale-two-cities

MUP Admissions, APIED, VV Nagar

Bhaikaka Centre for Human Settlement, APIED,

Sardar Patel University (V.V. Nagar) ANAND

Masters in Urban Planning

(Recognized by Institute of Town Planners India, ITPI, New Delhi)

Applications Invited from eligible candidates for the Masters in Urban Planning (MUP) full time course. Following are the details;

Course Duration : two years (Four Semister)

Eligibility: B.Arch/B.E.(Civil)/MA/MSC in Economics/Sociology/Geography or other equivalant degree specified in admission brouchure.

Tentative Admission Schedule: Application Acceptence: Last week July/Admission - 1st Week Aug.

For More information call

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Course Coordinator (MUP)

09898353419

www.apied.edu.in