Urban Planning & Issues

[Krishnamoorthy K]

Planning area for 509 sq kms; includes 7 more villages

Caption: Suresh Kumar, S.A. Ramdas

By S.T. Ravikumar

Mysore, June 27- The master-plan for Mysore Local Planning Area (MLPA) for year 2031, which had been submitted to the government, has finally been given the approval.

The draft process for the MLPA had begun in 2009 and the same was submitted to the government in April 2011, disclosed District In-Charge Minister S.A. Ramdas, in an exclusive interview with SOM this morning. The proposal was approved by the Minister for Urban Development S. Suresh Kumar recently.

Ramdas said that as per the MLPA, four more villages on the city's periphery — three coming under Jayapura Hobli and four under Yelwal Hobli — will be included into the city limits, which is planned for a total area of 509 sq.kms. The initial proposal of 475 sq.kms has now been extended by another 34 sq.kms.

The draft for MLPA has been prepared by Sai Consulting Engineers, Ahmedabad, at a cost of Rs. 2.5 crore, the Minister said.

"The objective of the MLPA is to have a vision for Mysore City for the next 20 years to preserve the cultural heritage and 'royal city' characteristics," he said.

"MLPA also envisages to strengthen economic base of Mysore region with activities like cottage industries, IT, BT, food industries, tourism and traffic & transportation," the Minister said.

Objectives of MLPA:

1. To promote Mysore city as a destination for investment in non-polluting economic activities like IT & BT, service sectors and tourism related activities.
2. To promote and conserve the cultural heritage, preserve the natural characteristics of the city and it environs through special development regulations.
3. To plan for an emerging metropolis with options for mono/metro rail system, peripheral roads and suitable linkages with surrounding settlements, etc.
4. Planning to prevent misuse of natural landscapes.

Star of Mysore

Peripheral Ring Road to be growth engine of Mysore

[Krishnamoorthy K]

Nidhi Singhi, TNN | Jun 22, 2012, 06.30AM IST

LUDHIANA: The residents who have been troubled by the slow pace of sewerage laying projects might get some relief with the civic authority finally receiving the pending funds from Union urban development authorities under Jawahar Lal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM).

The Union urban development authorities have agreed to release the second installment in July after getting assurance from the civic body that it would implement all the said reforms as soon as possible. The civic officials were denied funds under JNNURM for 100% sewerage laying work in the city for failing to implement the reforms. The civic body had been asked to implement reforms like e-governance, online payment of water, sewerage and house tax bills, computerization of departments, creation and regular updating of official MC website, providing online birth and death certificates, property assessment, more usage charges from water and sewerage bills and double entry of MC accounts.

The funds were stopped by the central body when these reforms were not fulfilled despite several reminders. The sewerage project was estimated to cost Rs 241 crore when planned, which has reached Rs 267 crore including internal expenditures.

The civic body has so far got Rs 30 crore from central government and Rs 12 crore from Punjab. It would now get the second installment of Rs 30 crore from Centre. But the decision on grant for construction of dwelling units is still pending.

Additional commissioner (technical) Kamlesh Bansal says the second installment would hopefully be released in July, following which, they would be able to clear the dues and work would be completed faster. The residents, however, say they have been facing a tough time on several stretches where sewerage laying work is on for the past three years. "The sewerage lines were installed in our area, but these are not functional yet, because they are yet to be connected with main sewerage which is yet to be installed," says businessman Sanjiv Jain from Barewal.

A student and Dugri resident Kamaljit Singh says, "It was a tough job passing through Dugri main road when sewerage laying work was going on. Though the work is over now, problems have not come to an end, as the road remains to be constructed."

TOI

[Krishnamoorthy K]

By Raka Choudhury


Deshakalyan Chowdhury/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images

Public parks, playgrounds, and open space (accessible to all income groups) are integral for establishing a sense of community and promoting healthy lifestyles for all age groups.

There is an important relationship between urbanization and the economy, particularly as more and more Indians move to cities and economic growth stalls. While the focus of this connection is generally limited to the lack of urban infrastructure such as water, sewage, electricity, roads, and public transport, the infrastructure that affects of the quality of life in urban centers is often overlooked.

Public parks, playgrounds, and open space (accessible to all income groups) are integral for establishing a sense of community and promoting healthy lifestyles for all age groups.

In Delhi, thanks to numerous historic monuments and their associated grounds, as well as the Delhi Ridge, we are fortunate to have the highest percentage of green coverage among all Indian cities. According to the Forest Survey of India’s 2011 report, 20% of Delhi’s land was under forest cover in 2011. Indeed, Lodhi Gardens and the park around the Hauz Khas reservoir are fine examples of equitable open spaces in Delhi, although disability access is still problematic at both.

Gurgaon also has a number of large parks. Friends who occasionally visit with their families tell me that the 40-acre Leisure Valley Park in Sector 29 and the Tau Devi Lal Park in Sector 56 are clean, well-maintained open greens. I live not too far away, but I must confess that I have not visited either. In a place where crime against women is exceptionally high, being alone in a large park — where much of the area is not visible from adjoining buildings, public roads and sidewalks — just doesn’t seem like the best place to get my exercise or fresh air. This lack of perceived safety makes these Gurgaon parks unsuccessful, at least in my eyes.

So what does make an urban park successful? Enrique Penalosa, former mayor of Bogota, is renowned for his inspired vision of making the Colombian capital more sustainable, with a BRT (Bus Rapid Transit) system and miles of bicycle paths and greenways. He was recently at the International Parks Forum in Adelaide, Australia, where he commented: “The way to measure if a park is good, or better, is how much does it attract and retain people? Parks are for people; we’re not creating forests for monkeys, or koalas or kangaroos… We are talking about urban parks and the whole design should be around what will attract and retain the most people.”

While large parks are required and welcomed, Gurgaon also needs urban plazas and pocket parks (that are not within gated communities and can be accessed by all), preferably connected by a system of sidewalks and bike trails. Transparent edges that improve visibility help make these parks and plazas safe.

Within Sector 29 in Gurgaon, there’s an example of a space that could have been a hugely successful urban park. A rectangular plot of land, about 2.5 acres in size, is surrounded by restaurants, bars and a big grocery store, while hotels and residential neighborhoods are within walking distance. However, the only view that patrons sitting at the windows of these up-scale restaurants are “treated to” is a public parking lot. What a wasted opportunity, both socially and economically.

Turning a parking lot like this into a park isn’t really that difficult. The nearby businesses could get together, have the space designed and constructed, and pay a monthly fee to have it cleaned and maintained. The increased footfall from creating a more attractive place would more than adequately recover the cost of these improvements. In an ideal world, the local government would pitch in and provide matching funds. Cities like New York have plaza programs where they work with non-profits to create neighborhood plazas and transform underused spaces into social public places. But that may be too much to expect in Gurgaon, just yet.

On the drive to Gurgaon from Delhi, along MG Road are a couple of big traffic roundabouts. The larger oval roundabout is the site of a power substation; the second, triangular in shape, is an improvised soccer field used by local teenagers. This spontaneity, integral to creating a vibrant and successful urban space, is what urban planners crave, but it also highlights the inadequacy of playgrounds in Gurgaon and other cities in India.

Fortunately, India’s Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports, Ajay Maken, appears to share this concern and has identified a rather progressive solution. Last month, he convinced Minister for Urban Development, Kamal Nath, to instruct local schools in Delhi to allow children living within a three kilometer radius to use their playgrounds after school hours. Gurgaon schools, however, have expressed reservations about adopting this policy, citing safety and maintenance of their playgrounds as their primary concerns.

The policy recommendation of converting school yards to playgrounds is reminiscent of a similar initiative undertaken by the City of New York. Implementing the recommendations of New York’s open space plan, 69 schoolyards were ready for use as community playgrounds within the first year of the plan. By 2030, some 254 sites will provide play space for over 300,000 children. Mr. Maken’s initiative is a great idea that has worked in other places, but it needs some refinement, especially to ensure that the responsibility for implementation is not single-handedly shouldered by the schools; in New York, public-private partnerships fund the redesign, improvements and maintenance of these parks.

A recent Gallup study found that 31% of Indians see themselves as “suffering,” up from just 8% in 2008. Could quality of life factors such as parks – where you can play or just escape the chaos of city life for a brief respite — be a factor?

The United States’ Trust for Public Land developed an approach to measure how well U.S. cities are meeting the need for parks. Factors such as the median park size, park acres as a percent of city area, spending per resident, playgrounds per 10,000 residents and percent of population within a 10-minute walk of a public park were taken into account. Indian cities do not have the same financial capability as U.S. cities, but even as we prioritize basic infrastructure improvements, it is important to simultaneously start thinking and incrementally implementing some quality of life improvements.

Our economy, especially now, can’t really afford to lose people because they want a better quality of life for their children.

WSJ

Urban Journal: Gurgaon Hit & Run Highlights Road Planning Shortcomings

[Krishnamoorthy K]

Bangalore: If you're not getting enough water or your tap sputters once too often, blame it on a jaw-dropping 40% loss in water transmission and distribution.

This was one of the findings in a survey conducted by the Centre for Science and Environment ( CSE) in 71 cities across India. The second volume of the seventh 'State of India's Environment report - Excreta Matters' was launched here on Thursday.

Water is distributed in Bangalore through a 4,400-km piped service. The city has 46 ground reservoirs and as many overhead tanks, holding 616 MLD ( Million Litres Daily) and 41 MLD, respectively . Despite that, the water supply is unequal . While the core municipality covers

100% of the population, smaller municipalities or urban local bodies get anywhere between 10% and 60% of water with the rest lost in distribution. Bangalore has 3,67,579 piped connections, of which 3,46,793 are domestic and the rest non-domestic . Every year, around 20,000 connections are added. Around 15,182 community taps cater to the urban poor, and still the water distribution figures remain elusive.

TOI

[Krishnamoorthy K]

NEW DELHI: In a big step towards resumption of work in the stalled housing projects of Noida 'Extension', a statutory committee of the NCR Planning Board (NCRPB) on Thursday approved the revised draft Master Plan-2021 for Greater Noida and recommended it to the board.

In October 2011, the Allahabad high court had stopped construction in the area saying the Master Plan had not been approved by the board.

Government sources said the NCRPB, headed by Union urban development minister Kamal Nath, is now expected to meet within a fortnight to look at the Master Plan. Once the board approves it, work can resume in the housing projects of Greater Noida, particularly in the area popularly known as Noida Extension.

"Though the board can make some suggestions when the plan is put before the members, the draft plan is likely to be cleared. The statutory committee is satisfied with the changes incorporated by the Greater Noida Authority," a source added.

The draft development plan for Greater Noida-2021 has included provisions for water supply, sewerage, drainage, power and solid waste management, as per norms.

"We have a complete and all-inclusive development plan before us. The authority has identified sites for solid waste management and has also earmarked them in the plan. It will not make any changes in future. All environmental issues have been addressed in the revised plan," said an official.

The revised plan has also incorporated a provision of keeping 16% of the urbanizable area as a green belt.

"The planning committee wanted to ascertain whether the revised draft Master Plan is in conformity with our regional Plan 2021, as directed by the high court. After some changes were made, we are recommending the draft plan to the board for approval," a senior NCRPB official said.

"We found that development in Greater Noida is better planned than other cities in NCR like Gurgaon and Faridabad. The existing green belt would be conserved by the authority and we have kept stringent conditions that there will be no conversion or shifting of the green belt by the authority," said an official who attended the meeting.

Green belts have been massively encroached upon across the country by urban development authorities. Most authorities taking advantage of provisions allowing compensatory forestation in other areas, which has no positive impact on the affected region. No such provision exists in the Greater Noida plan 2021.

As per the plan, the authority will allow industries using only non-polluting clean technology in this region. Environmental management plan being prepared by the authority will be an integral part of the Master Plan.

The authority has also increased the housing quota for economically weaker sections (EWS) and low income groups from earlier 5% to 20-25%. This will be adhered to while preparing sector layout plans.

A go-head to the plan will not only bring huge relief to home buyers, it would also put construction work back on track in the region. This will also have a huge impact on economic activities, besides employment generation.

TOI

[Krishnamoorthy K]

Bangalore, Jun 28, 2012, DHNS :

The City’s rapid growth has come at a heavy price – in the form of the loss of its lakes and ponds, according to a Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) report.

“These water bodies are now either repositories for sewage or have been turned into prime real estate,” a study conducted by the CSE revealed. “As a result, even with huge investments and projects for bringing water to the City – including the much debated Greater Bangalore Water and Sanitation Project (GBWASP) – the water crisis has become real and regular,” the report said.

According to the land use classification, bodies of water such as lakes, tanks and ponds, consituted four per cent of Bangalore’s metropolitan area in the past and were instrumental in providing the City with much of its drinking water. Such bodies were also responsible for recharging Bangalore’s groundwater.

But since their demise, the City has been forced to turn to the Cauvery river and only groundwater to meet its ever-growing needs, the report said.

There are currently no reliable estimates for the amount of groundwater still remaining in Bangalore.

“Some researchers have counted wells and studied tanker mafias but the information is limited to case studies,” said Sunita Narain, Director of the CSE. But she added that despite the damage done to the environment, Bangalore is making an effort to change.

“It is thinking big and trying out several new things. The real challenge for Bangalore in the coming years would be to turn that thought into action – learn to recycle and reuse. That is where the future lies,” she said.

BWSSB Chairman Gaurav Gupta said: “The power cost of supplying Cauvery River water is Rs 300 crore per year. Therefore, over a 30-year life cycle, the operations and management expenditure exceeds capital costs. We can get this in the form of grants and loans, but what about covering the operation costs of sourcing water from a distance.”

Currently, however, Bangalore is still looking to the Cauvery for water.

The Cauvery River Water Disputes Tribunal has earmarked 600 cusec (or 1,470 MLD) of water from the river for the City. But this river water is being contested as farmers say their fair share is being taken away for cities and industries.

The CSE director has also pointed out that drawing water from Cauvery is inefficient.

“Distance leads to high transmission losses, it leads to high costs of energy and high costs of repair. Therefore, it is important that the City looks at developing local water bodies,” she said.

Deccan Herald

[Krishnamoorthy K]

Rohith B R, Bangalore, June 30, 2012, DHNS:



There is an urgent requirement of commuter rail for Bangalore. Different transport authorities need to work in tandem to achieve the task.

Trapped in the middle of a humongous traffic jam, you might be left cursing your fate, your roads, the traffic police, the State government and the vehicles that keep invading the City’s overburdened roads.

And then you look up to those Namma Metro pillars, promising you the glitzy urban rail, a dreamlike escape from the mundane, hellish ride down below.

Yes, there seems no escape for Bangaloreans but harbour their collective hopes on those 114 kilometres of Metro lines, and fancy the 405-km Commuter Rail System (CRS) starts chugging with the 60-km Light Rail Transit (LRT).

So, if Bangalore makes that decisive shift from road to rail, commuters can breathe free. That is a real possibility, because the draft report on implementing the CRS has been submitted to the Directorate of Urban Land Transport (DULT), the Namma Metro is gathering steam with trial runs of the Green Line, and the Detailed Project Report (DPR) on the LRT is under progress.

Also in the pipeline is the high-speed rail link to Bengaluru International Airport (BIA), to be implemented by the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL). Combine all these rail systems and you are looking at adding an impressive 515 km to the City.
This will be besides the existing rail network of the South Western Railway.

Yet, the projects aren’t without challenges. The issue now is whether these ongoing and proposed “projects on wheels” are feasible or adequate to meet the commuting needs of a City that continues to clock mindboggling growth. Does this network of different rail services help us tackle the mega challenge of decongesting the City? If so, what precautions should our civic agencies and the State government take while executing these projects?

Deccan Herald spoke to civic experts, traffic experts, government officials and the common man himself to throw more light. Nilanjana R, an urban planner, is convinced that boosting public transport is a must, simply because the population density of the Silicon City is set for a steep hike in the coming decades.

While the present population of Bangalore district is around 95 lakh as per the 2011 census, the projected population for 2031 is a whopping 118 lakh! The population density in the City, which was 2,985 per sq km in 2011 census, has crossed 4,378 as per 2011 census. In the coming years, Bangalore will only get denser.

More rail services, she says, would definitely be better since it is a cheaper and better mode of public transport.

RITES (Rail India Technical and Economic Services), in its draft report on commuter rail, mentions that Bangalore has not yet actively tapped the huge potential the railway system has. The Mumbai suburban and Chennai suburban trains’ share of their city’s public transport needs no explanation, the report notes.

The report also talks about how a passenger-friendly rail system could decongest Bangalore by bringing commuters from the suburban areas into the City and take them back within a span of a maximum 90 minutes. Commuter traffic mainly originates at the suburban hamlets or towns and satellite cities situated at a distance ranging between 30 km and 100 km from the main hub Bangalore.

As such requirement cannot be met either by road or by monorail or by Metro, there is an urgent requirement of commuter rail for Bangalore. Different transport authorities need to work in tandem to achieve this, the report says.

The different civic agencies are required to co-ordinate efficiently to implement the different rail-related projects. Bangalore Airport Rail Link (BARL) Director (Projects) C Jayaram says, irrespective of the rail or any public transport project, civic authorities have been directed by the government to be in tune with the Comprehensive Traffic and Transportation Plan (CTTP) as well as the Comprehensive Development Plan 2015.

“The CTTP is like the Bible for all civic agencies and we ensure that our plan didn’t violate the guidelines in it. For example, we have made sure that LRT intersects the Metro corridor and other mass rapid systems for better connectivity. Further, LRT and other rail projects have been drawn up after a detailed analysis of the traffic density and a field survey,” says Jayaram.

On the draft report of the commuter rail, DULT commissioner V Manjula says at the project report level they should make it sure that opinions of all stakeholders connected with the project are taken. “We have already circulated the draft report on commuter rail to the South Western Railway, BBMP, transport department, etc. Only after receiving the opinion of the respective stakeholders, we will move towards finalising the report,” she says.

According to Mahesh H S, another urban planner, developing a rail network is a welcome move, but one should agree that no single mode of commuting, be it rail or road or metro rail, can fully gratify the commuting needs of Bangalore. BMTC buses, which are the traditionally preferred means of transport for commoners, should be made better use of as a supplement feeder network for the upcoming rail network. The best possible mix of different modes of public transport should be the approach for any urban planning.

Growth centres such as Mandya, Ramanagaram, Hosur, Hoskote, Tumkur, and Bangarapet surrounding Bangalore City should also be kept in mind while planning public transport for Bangalore. Only then the pressure on Bangalore will ease, he contends.

Namma Metro

• Length: Phase 1 (42.3 km), Phase 2 (72.09 km)=114.39 km
• Connectivity: Considering Majestic as the starting point till Whitefield in the east, Kengeri in the west, BIEC along Tumkur Road in the north and Anjanapura Township in the south. Also, two new lanes under phase 2, namely from Jayanagar to Electronics City and Nagavara to Gottigere
• Estimated cost: Phase 1 (Rs 11,609 crore) and Phase 2 (Rs 25,000 crore) = Rs 36,609 crore
• Status: 6.7 km under phase 1 operational, and DPR for phase 2 accepted
• Expected date of completion: Phase 1 by May 2014 and Phase 2 by 2017-18

High-speed rail

• Length: 35 km, estimated cost: Rs 6,000 crore
• Connectivity: MG Road to Bengaluru International Airport
• Status: Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation has been as signed to take up the project task with Central assistance
• Expected date of completion: Not yet set

Commuter rail

• Length: Projected 405.60 km
• Connectivity: To connect Bangalore City with suburbs in the districts, namely Bangalore Rural, Mandya, Kolar, Chikkaballapur and Tumkur
• Estimated cost: Not yet set
• Status: Draft project report under State government review
• Expected date of completion: Not yet set

LRT/Monorail

• Length: 60 km (includes 41.3 km of light rail transit (LRT)
• Connectivity: Two out of five corridors under LRT:
  JP Nagar to Hebbal and Toll Gate on Magadi Road up to the proposed peripheral ring road. Other corridors
  include Jaraganahalli to Cantonment, Kathriguppe Road to National College and Hosur Road to Bannerghatta.
• Estimated cost: Rs 6,400 crore for LRT
• Status: DPR under progress for LRT corridors
• Expected date of completion: Not yet set

Deccan Herald

Ride on Metro, pedal to work

[Krishnamoorthy K]

Chitra Unnithan, TNN Jul 2, 2012, 02.49AM IST

AHMEDABAD: Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar may have whipped up a political storm with his scathing attacks on Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi, but, when it comes to giving Patna a makeover, the Bihar CM does not mind a Gujarat influence.

Based on Gujarat's town planning schemes, Ahmedabad's Centre for Environmental Planning and Technology (Cept) University has prepared a master plan for Patna's town planning scheme. The draft, which has been approved in principle, will guide planned urban development in Bihar.

In January 2011, the Bihar government had approached Cept to prepare a city development plan for Patna, which had been facing civic issues, especially water-logging, waste management and unplanned constructions.

Cept is now ready with the new town planning scheme for Patna, which will be announced in August by Nitish Kumar. During discussions with Cept and Patna-based consultants, representatives of the Bihar government had requested that Bihar's urban plan should be similar to that of Gujarat.

"Cept has submitted its recommendations along with the master plan to the Patna city authorities, which has been approved. The plan is based on Gujarat's town planning model," said Utpal Sharma, dean, Faculty of Planning & Public Policy at Cept University.

As part of the task, Cept prepared a master plan, which covers areas like town planning, urban flood and solid waste management, housing plans for poor, public transport, industrial area infrastructure development and even tourism.

Cept has also proposed conservation measures for heritage structures in Patna, which is an important pilgrimage centre for Buddhists from all over the world.

"Patna is different from other cities and has its own charm, history and stories. But the city is quite congested and had not been planned for the last 20 years. We had to keep all these aspects in mind while planning the city's development," Sharma added.

TOI

What are the difference between this plan and Hafeez Contractor's plan? Turn to post #632 in previous page.

[Krishnamoorthy K]

Nauzer K Bharucha, TNN | Jul 2, 2012, 10.02PM IST

MUMBAI: In the city's lucractive construction industry, floor space index (FLI) has become perhaps, more precious than gold. What was once meant as a crucial tool for town planning when it was introduced over four decades ago, has today been turned into a commodity.

On the other hand, the powerful builders' lobby has been rooting for a substantially higher FSI as a panacea for solving the city's housing problem. FSI is the ratio of the permissible built up area vis-a-vis the plot size. Although the FSI is still restricted to the standard 1.33 for the island city and 2 (with TDR) for the suburbs, the government over the past decade hiked it manifold for a slew of schemes including redevelopment of slums, housing authority colonies and cessed properties.

Among the most controversial decision of the government recently has been to offer a huge FSI bonanza to builders if they construct multi-storey public car parks on a portion of their land and hand them over to the BMC free of cost. The FSI could go up to as high as 4 in this scheme. Experts have pointed out that while the cost of constructing a car park for the builder is barely Rs 1,000 a sq ft, his selling price of a flat in an area like central Mumbai could be Rs 25,000 a sq ft.

Some of Mumbai's leading developers announced ultra-luxury skyscrapers after the state urban development department (UDD) liberally sanctioned their public car parking proposals. In the Parel-Sewri-Worli belt itself, the UDD has cleared over 25,000 car parks. This has raised eyebrows that it was done more to benefit builders get higher FSI. Last year, chief minister Prithviraj Chavan reviewed the policy following a slew of complaints. In 1998, the then Shiv Sena-BJP offered builders virtually unlimited FSI to builders for redeveloping old cessed properties in the island city. This resulted in skyscrapers sprouting up on narrow plots in congested and traditionally low-rise localities.

For instance, in areas like Nana Chowk and Girgaum, 40-storeyed towers have proliferated with barely any open spaces around them. The city has thus been left with an uneven skyline with all norms of town planning thrown out of the window. Till the mid-1970s, the city had different FSI for different areas. For instance, Tardeo had 1.66, Grant Road had 1.33, Ballard Estate had over 2 while builders who had cornered plots in Backbay Reclamation were given FSI of over 3 by the then political dispensation.

It was only in 1977 that FSI was rationalised to 1.33 in the island city and one for the suburbs. Even this was found to be too high by some experts who pointed out that the city's infrastructure would not be able to bear the load. But in the subsequent decades, with the clamour for higher FSI growing, the state government started hiking it under the guise of social housing. Unfortunately, changes in FSI norms were mainly done to derive political advantage It was meant to be a simple town planner's physical instrument of defining how construction should be done. What we are seeing today is the most weird use of FSI as if its a panacea for every thing. As one architect put it, "arbitrary increase of FSI will convert this metropolis into a necropolis.''

TOI

State formally hikes slum FSI

Maharashtra Regional Town Planning Act sections challenged

[Krishnamoorthy K]

RituSharma
Posted: Jul 02, 2012 at 0527 hrs IST

Ahmedabad Bagging another project of international reputation, the CEPT University has been awarded the “Demonstration Programme for Heritage Management in Indian Cities”. Implemented by the World Bank at the request of Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, this programme is anchored by the Ministry of Urban Development.

The programme that will cover three pilot cities - Ajmer-Pushkar (Rajasthan), Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh) and Hyderabad (Andhra Pradesh) - has been taken off this week with the field trips by CEPT team members to these cities. It aims at providing national policy makers including the state governments and urban local bodies with practices, institutional arrangements as well as financial and management incentives that can assist them in incorporating cultural heritage into their overall city development planning framework.

“It was realised that cities are not able to cope up with rapid urbanisation. This has resulted in a major setback to the cities with a heritage legacy. For instance, Pushkar witnesses millions of visitors each year and in the absence of effective planning and measures from the local bodies and the residents, it is not only on the perils of a major devastation, of both culture and environment,” said Prof Saswat Bandhopadhyay from Faculty of Urban Planning at CEPT, who is coordinating the project.

The reason for selecting Ajmer-Pushkar, Varanasi and Hyderabad was the diversity in topography, history and culture of these cities. This one-year programme will be implemented in two phases. Phase one that is already started will test methodologies in these three heritage cities which will be further mainstreamed during phase two.

The primary aim of this study will to assist these cities as how to incorporate the cultural heritage in the cities development plan. Also, the heritage cell at each city will be strengthened and tools for heritage management will be developed.

Expert teams from five different areas has been roped in. These areas include urban planning, urban heritage, urban governance, urban regulation and urban infrastructure. The programme is expected to build blocks for implementation of suggestions and mechanisms suggested through Government of India, Urban Development and poverty reduction schemes, especially, Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), Rajiv Awas Yojna (RAY), Swarna Jayanti Shahri Rozgar Yojana (SJSRY) and World Bank financed projects.

express india

[Krishnamoorthy K]

KOCHI: Kuldip Singh, the original architect of the Marine Drive development project, may hail from New Delhi, which has set the benchmark for metro rail projects in the country.

But he sure does not share Kochi's enthusiasm for the metro, which he feels the city can do without and claims would increase congestion!

Coming from someone who is into urban planning, it may come as a surprise, but Singh is also not impressed by the Delhi metro, which caught the country's imagination and is being replicated in major cities. "I have personally opposed elevated metros in Delhi, Bangalore and the proposed ones in Hyderabad and Pune.

The metro project as conceived in Kochi will degrade the central area of the city and the M G Road stretch. It can turn destructive for the city," he said in an interview with TOI, instead calling for an underground metro system for Kochi.

For someone, who can't stand elevated metros, Singh gave a surprise again and proved to be a man of contradictions by claiming that he had provided consultancy for the Delhi and Bangalore metros! "I provided consultancy service for the Delhi and Bangalore metro rail projects in design and architecture," he said.

But then Singh is very hard to please. He is not happy with the first phase of development of the 1.5 km Marine Drive stretch which he conceived, and feels it could have been carried out in a better way if Greater Cochin Development Authority ( GCDA) had full control over the project.

"When the project was executed 35 years ago, there were several constraints including financial, environmental and administrative, before the executing agency. And due to all these constraints it was not possible to enforce detailed control over the execution of the project," said Singh, claiming that all environmental issues were addressed during the execution of the project.

Expressing his displeasure over the maintenance of the waterfront, which is a popular hangout for city residents, he said that greater attention needs to be paid for the walkway. "The maintenance of open space, which is an important asset for the city, in Marine Drive should be given utmost importance. Despite the availability of open space, it has not been used much," he said. Singh has to his credit New Delhi-based projects such as City Centre and Saket District Centre.

TOI

[Krishnamoorthy K]

SINGAPORE: India will launch the $40 billion second phase of its urban renewal mission in about four months, Urban Development Minister Kamal Nath told delegates attending the World Cities Summit here today.

The Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JnNURM) phase II would be carried out over the next five years as India works to cover its infrastructure deficit throughout the country and manage massive urbanisation programmes, he told the Summit's opening plenary session.

"The challenge is not only to bridge the deficit but to also to build for the future," Nath said, adding that India has spent close to $15 billion on the first phase of the mission which was launched in December 2005.

The Central Government would use the second JnNURM phase to support infrastructure development in states.

He highlighted water, sewage and transportation among the main challenges for India in building capacities in cities.

Among success achieved to date, he singled out the development of metro systems in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad and Jaipur.

Nath disclosed that project reports were being finalised on building metro in every city with a population of two million.

"Though only 31 per cent of the India is urbanised, yet we have second largest urban population in the world. As India grows, the growth preceded infrastructure," he said.

Meanwhile, Nath welcomed the nomination of Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation for the Lee Kuan Yew City Prize 2012.

"Certainly Indian cities have achieved a lot and certainly the Indian cities will achieve a lot," he said after addressing the plenary session.

"But the scale is so large, we have to endeavour to see many more cities nominated for awards," he told PTI in comments on Ahmedabad being given special mention in the award.

ET

[Krishnamoorthy K]

x-post

Originally Posted by JhonJ

Motorists take over cycle tracks in Jayanagar

Schoolchildren are scared to cycle on City’s roads, bicycle enthusiasts are bullied by motorists and those driving powered vehicles believe that they rule the road.
But things may be changing *- at least on paper.



source:http://www.deccanherald.com/content/...le-tracks.html

[Krishnamoorthy K]

SINGAPORE: Highlighting the strong growth in its urban population, India, one of the densest nations in the world, today said that it is working on ways to use its land more efficiently.

India's 12th Five-Year Plan outlines the need to increase efficiency in land use, as urbanisation increases and the number of Indian cities rises to 70 in the next decade from 55 at present with the flow of population shift from rural areas, Urban Development Minister Kamal Nath told the World Cities Summit here.

"We are working to formulate land use plans with town and city planners," Nath said at a session on "In Focus: India", pointing out that land was inefficiently used in India at present.

"If you take the population, and divide with the available land area, it is one of the dense countries in the world," he said.

Elaborating, Nath said "If you take away the mountains, the forests, the deserts, the rivers and the lakes from the Indian land mass, the density of land-population will be very high."

"So, we have to look at more efficient use of land," he stressed, underlining the need to have strategic management for land assets.

He also highlighted the strong growth in urban population, estimating between 600 million to 700 million from 2020 onwards from the current level of over 400 million, which had grown by over 40 per cent from 285 million in 2001.

Reflecting the growth of urbanisation in India, the number of towns have increased by 55 per cent to 8,000 in 2011 from 5,161 in 2001, he said.

The India session, as part of the ongoing World Cities Summit, also highlighted various development plans including industrial and residential townships, as well as waste water management as part of massive infrastructure projects in the country, estimated to cost USD 1 trillion a year.

Nath said India would need a number of investment-based models of private public partnerships (PPP) in implementing the massive projects.

The PPP has been successful in a number of infrastructure projects but more similar schemes would be required to continue large scale development, he said, pointing to the challenges of managing mega developments in the coming decade with participation from the investment-savvy private sector, the people and the government institutions.

"We are appraising various PPP models and like to get a basket of PPP models", said Nath, adding that one successful PPP model would not necessarily fit for another project.

ET

[Krishnamoorthy K]

By Meera Bhardwaj | ENS - BANGALORE 04th July 2012 08:19 AM


Cerebra has proposed to set up one of India’s largest recycling plant at Narsapur near Bangalore. | EPS

The IT hub of Bangalore generates more than a thousand tonne of electronic and electric waste every month, but how it dispose off and recycle it is a big question mark. The mounting e-waste and absence of proper scientific disposal has necessitated the introduction of new regulations and the need for setting up of e-waste recycling units.

Till date, only two recycling units, one in Dobbespet and the other in Kumbalgod have come up in the city while rest of the sanctioned units are still on paper.

With the E-wastes (handling and management) Rules, 2011 coming into effect from May this year, it becomes very necessary to address this complicated issue and make the producers and bulk consumers more responsible.

Till now, discarded items like television sets, refrigerators, washing machines, air-conditioners, telephones, mobile phones, computers, laptops, printers, and other IT and telecommunication equipment used to find their way to the scrap dealers and finally to the landfills in the aftermath of its dismantling in the most unscientific way. But now with the introduction of the new regulations, more people and corporates have to come forward to tackle the recycling issue that involves handling of hazardous chemicals.

In this regard, one such company, Cerebra who has been till now handling collection, dismantling and refurbishing of e-wastes has proposed to set up one of India’s largest recycling plant at Narsapur near Bangalore with the company planning to make it fully operational by March, next year.

What are recycling products?

How many of us are aware what goes into the making of an electronic or an electrical equipment like mobile phone or a computer ? And, after the product has served its purpose, it is considered dead, ready for dismantling and recycling. If these metals can be extracted and recycled, we can address the problem of scarce raw materials, tackle indiscriminate mining and meet the demand for electronic and electrical products. “Why do the mining when it is readily available on the surface of the earth in the form of E-waste and that can meet the ever growing needs of the E & E industry,” says an expert.

For example, a mobile phone is made up of these rare earth and precious metals

• 250 milligrams of Silver
• 24 milligrams of Gold
• 9 milligrams of Palladium
• 9 grams of copper
• 3.8 milligrams of Cobalt

While, a Laptop is made up of :

• 1000 mg of Silver
• 220 mg of Gold
• 500 grams of Copper

TNIE

[Krishnamoorthy K]

BANGALORE: Birds chirping and squirrels squeaking. Very soon, those are the perhaps the only sounds you'll hear in the sprawling 400-acre Indian Institute of Science (IISc) with its authorities all set to ban the movement of motorized vehicles on the 100-year old campus.

Kickstarting the green movement will be Namma Cycle, a project under which primarily students and visitors can rent bicycles at the gate and go to their destination. Operated through a mobile-operated software, the first thirty minutes will be free of cost. Then, for one hour, she has to pay a rent of Rs 2 and if it's for two hours, the charge will be Rs 7. Starting with 50 cycles from four different stations, project managers will closely look into cycle design and technical issues in the initial days. "We're going to monitor the movement of bicycles and maintain the fleet. The entire system will be integrated to a primary server so that there's accountability," said Murali Ramanath, director of the project.

Electric vehicles

Next, it'll be the turn of electric vehicles (commonly seen on golf courses). They'll be procured from a private firm and the IISc administration will take take the vehicles against a nominal operational sum. Depending on the response, it'll decide on buying them. "These will all be either eight seaters or twelve seaters and initially we'll get 12 vehicles. These buggies will be placed at entrances to pick up and drop visitors to one of several designated stations on campus," said an expert closely working on the project.

"We have submitted the proposal and are awaiting the final clearance for electric vehicles," said Prof TG Sitharam of IISc who is coordinating this project.

Studentspeak

* This is the most welcome green movement in recent times. No other campus in my knowledge has been able to declare their premises motorized vehicle-free and it's sure to add to the beauty of our beautiful campus. Vehicles pollute and even congest the campus and this will also help authorities keep it clean.

Sreevalsa Kolaphayar | final-year PhD student

* As of now, 60%-70% students use bicycles on campus and 10% use private vehicles. With the introduction of electric vehicles and bicycles, they'll have an alternative to motor vehicles inside the campus. It'll be wonderful to see electric vehicles and cycles go around our green campus.

Pankaj Jain | PhD student

TOI

[Krishnamoorthy K]

MUMBAI: Town planning and zoning laws barely exist in Mumbai, one of the most populous global cities.

Bars and restaurants are allowed in residential buildings while malls and shopping centres proliferate in congested enclaves. Vehicles clog narrow by lanes while monstrous constructions are permitted in low-rise areas.

In cities around the world, residents have a say in all major planning exercises and developers have to negotiate hard with the local government on how they would help augment the surrounding infrastructure before sanctions are given for mega construction projects.

In fact, developers have to pay to set up civic or social infrastructure in the neighbourhood. On the other hand, in Mumbai, an archaic stipulation under the Mumbai Region and Town Planning Act (MRTP) charges builders a meagre amount as development charges to the city's municipal corporation.

Unfortunately, zoning laws are not as malleable in any other urban city as in India. Its implementation here is ad hoc and has contributed to significant changes in urban landscape across cities in India. Like the striking lack of open spaces in the island city of Mumbai. In the past, authorities have allowed the construction of the country's largest residential towers in Tardeo - two 60 storey high rises - without any environmental impact study nor informing local residents about their objections and suggestions.

In another case, as many as four shopping complexes were allowed to come up within a radius of 100 metres on Bandra's Linking Road, one of the most congested arterial roads in the city. Many of these complexes do not even have provisions for car parking.

In densely populated areas like Girgaum, Grant Road and Nana Chowk, controversial government policies have allowed skyscrapers to come up on narrow roads and alleys. Experts say it is the lack of proper zoning laws and the frequent amendments to the city's development plan that has resulted in rampant and haphazard development, especially in congested localities. Zoning shapes the city and regulates building size, population density and the way land is used. However, the situation in Mumbai does not augur well and the impact will be felt in the years to come.

TOI

Retail Banking In Slumdog City Seen Booming With Wireless
IIHS announces a course on Integrated Urban Disaster Risk Reduction

[Krishnamoorthy K]

June 12, 2012 By V. Kamalakar Rao | DC Visakhapatnam

The Centrally-sponsored Jawaharlal Nehru Natio-nal Urban Renewal Missi-on (JNNURM) expired this year, but many projects that were sponsored under the scheme have not yet been completed. Projects like the bus rapid transit system (BRTS), flyover, underground drainage, 24x7 drinking water sch-eme, housing, etc. have not yet seen the light of day.

The Centrally-sponsored Jawaharlal Nehru Natio-nal Urban Renewal Missi-on (JNNURM) expired this year, but many projects that were sponsored under the scheme have not yet been completed. Projects like the bus rapid transit system (BRTS), flyover, underground drainage, 24x7 drinking water sch-eme, housing, etc. have not yet seen the light of day.

While admitting tardy progress of projects under JNNURM, Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) officials maintained that they had already appealed to the Centre to extend the JNNURM term upto two years at least, to complete all pending projects by 2014, and the Centre had extended its duration up to 2014.

“Nine projects at a cost of Rs.600 crore were completed in the past five years. Anot-her 11 at a cost of Rs.1,200 cro-re are under progress and likely to be completed by 2013 or 2014,” GVMC chief engineer Jayaram Reddy told this correspondent.

According to information received from the GVMC th-rough the RTI Act, P. Srini-vasu, secretary of the Asso-ciation for Regional Tribal Development (Urban Wing), GVMC, said they could har-dly complete works sanctioned under the JNNURM.

Underground drainage was 75 per cent done while 66 per cent of flyover project from Vemana Mandir to the railway station was completed. Another much-awaited project, the BRTS of the Pendurty transit corridor has seen only 62 per cent of works.

DC

Funds sanctioned for projects in delhi go unused
Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation may lose JNNURM funds as many projects lie unfinished
Hyderabad: Construction of JNNURM houses hangs fire
Monitor JNNURM projects, centre tells Gujarat government
New Delhi: JNNURM buses to be redesigned
Thiruvananthapuram: JICA water supply for 84,000 more people from month-end
Varanasi awaits strengthening of rainwater drainage system
Centre sanctions 60 more buses, Nagpur Municipal Corporation refuses
Nagpur Municipal Corporation's water meter lab in shambles within year
Ludhiana: More central funds to speed up sewerage laying

[Krishnamoorthy K]

Mumbai: Global advisory firm KPMG has selected six upcoming urban infrastructure projects in the country, including the USD 90-billion Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC), amongst its top 100 innovative global infrastructure projects.

The DMIC project comes under the global connectivity list and is placed as the second most-innovative project among the 100 most innovative projects.

The development of sustainable urban infrastructure is one of the greatest challenges of the 21st century, the agency said while releasing the report titled Infrastructure 100: World Cities Edition here Tuesday.

The report was released at the World Cities Summit in Singapore recently.

The project will cut across five states, linking the Capital with Mumbai It has an influence area of 320 million people and plans to include a high-speed rail network for freight, a six-lane expressway and a 4,000-mw power station.

The corridor includes the development of industrial production centres along its length, including nine industrial zones and 24 new cities. The plan is to create a globally competitive business environment.

The other domestic projects in the list are the Chennai Solar Economic Zone (under the urban energy infra category) being developed by on a 312-acre site by GMR Solar. But when completed it will be a 3,700-acre zone intended to attract high-tech investment to the growth-corridor between Bangalore and Chennai.

The third is the Sabarmathi Riverfront Development Project (in the urban regeneration and environmental improvement initiative currently underway in Ahmedabad, involving reclamation of a 10.5-km stretch of the banks of the Sabarmathi to create public space for cultural and civic institutions.

The fourth project is the Gorai Dumping Ground Scientific Closure project in Mumbai (recycling and waste management), which has been used as a major dumping ground for waste. The site spans 19.6 hectares and has been operational since 1972.

The closure has had a major social impact as the dump was located next to residential areas, posing health risks and contaminating local water supplies.

Closure of the site in 2009 involved reforming the existing heap and sealing it off with impermeable surfaces. There are plans to install a power plant at the site which will run on methane gas generated by the decomposing rubbish, said the report.

The next is the Education City Dantewada in Chhattisgarh that will provide a polytechnic, a middle school, a sports complex, an industrial training institute with workshops and residential quarters for staff and students.

The sixth project is the New Delhi Sewerage Masterplan (recycling and waste management) being developed on a PPP model with Aecom, as the Capital's current sewerage system only connects 55 percent of its residents to the central network. The project seeks to cover the entire 1,500 sq km area of the Capital.

The report further notes that the current estimates suggest that the country's infrastructure deficit is creating significant challenges for sustained economic growth.

The government is planning to spend USD 1 trillion or around 10 percent of the GDP in ports, airports, highways, railways and other key infrastructure projects during the next five years.

"Country's need to boost economic growth combined with a growing population requires a globally competitive business environment with state-of-the-art infrastructure to facilitate both local commerce and foreign investment," KPMG India head, infrastructure advisory group, Arvind Mahajan said.

The project in the Infrastructure 100: World Cities Edition are made up of around 20 projects selected by independent judging panels of industry experts from Asia Pacific, the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Africa and are broadly listed under 10 categories, including urban mobility, global connectivity, urban regeneration, education, healthcare, water, new and extended cities, recycling and waste management, urban energy infrastructure, and communications infrastructure.

The top-ten projects include East side access project in New York; Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor; the Oresund Regional Development project in Denmark and Sweden; the Princess Nora Bint Abdul Rahman University for Women in Riyadh and the Royal London Hospital, London.

Tuas II Desalination Plant, Tuas, Singapore; the Tianjin Eco City, Tianjin, China; the deep tunnel sewerage system connecting Kranji to Changi, Singapore; the Cidade Intelligente Bezios project under the urban energy infra scheme in Brazil; and the BRICS Cable Project in South Africa and Mauritius are also among the top 10 projects.

PTI

Zee News

[Krishnamoorthy K]

Asit K Biswas : Sat Jul 07 2012, 01:08 hrs

* Why must households pay first-rate costs for third-grade water delivery?

Water management in India’s big cities is worse than ever, though both technologically and economically, there is no reason why citizens should not have uninterrupted access to safe water. The problems and solutions are well known, and yet, the situation has only deteriorated in cities like Delhi, Chennai or Mumbai.

The standard excuse, that there is not enough water, seems valid on the surface, but further study reveals that the urban water crisis is avoidable, and entirely created by institutional and management deficiencies and lack of sustained political will.

Take the case of Delhi Jal Board (DJB), from whom it is impossible to get any reliable information. When we forced the DJB to provide available data under the Right to Information Act, we were surprised at how a utility with over a billion dollars in assets could be run in such a cavalier fashion, with unreliable or anecdotal information. For example, it does not reliably know how many consumers it has, what their per capita water use is, how much water it loses due to leakages and unauthorised connections, how much staff it has per 1,000 connections. It does not have a business plan on cash flow and expenditure for the next five years, let alone over the long-term. It is simply impossible to manage any large business, public or private, without a good, functional and up-to-date management information system.

Furthermore, the DJB’s management process is fundamentally flawed. In other countries, water utilities are managed by professionals who are responsible and held accountable for their performance. The head of DJB is an IAS officer who, when she or he takes charge, knows virtually nothing about water, or how a large and complex utility should be professionally managed. The average tenure of such officers is short, usually two-and-a-half to three years. By the time they understand the complexities of the problem and start planning solutions, they are gone. They are never held accountable, for their performance. In contrast, the average stay of a utility head in an important US or European utility is around eight years. They are selected on the basis of their ability to run a major utility, and directly accountable for the performance of the utilities.

Unless Indian megacities also hire professional utility managers, their water-related problems will only get worse. Current water losses from major urban centres run from 35 to 60 per cent. This means some one-third to two-thirds of treated water never reaches the intended consumers. Yet, a city like Phnom Penh has reduced its water losses from nearly 80 per cent in 1993 to 5 per cent in 2011 through professional management. The current director general of Phnom Penh’s water supply authority had spent some 18 years on the job. During his tenure, the city successfully provided clean water that could be drunk straight from the tap. Water is available 24 hours a day for both rich and poor households. Every household pays for clean water. Phnom Penh’s is a public water utility where consumers pay for operation, maintenance and investment costs. It does not receive any funds from the city. It provides excellent service and has been consistently profitable over the past decade.

In contrast, each household in a city like Delhi has been forced to become a mini-utility. When water comes for a few hours a day, each household stores it in underground tanks, and then pumps it to an overhead tank. Each household has its own treatment system provided by the private sector. Ten years ago, people used simple carbon filters, now they are being forced to use membranes and reverse osmosis to treat water because of the steady deterioration of water quality.

Even when households receive water free from a city, they pay for construction of underground and overhead tanks, cleaning of both the tanks every two months, electricity costs for pumping up water several times each day, and operation and maintenance of water treatment systems from a private sector company. Our analyses for Kolkata show that if the corporation provided water service efficiently, and if all households paid for these services fairly, they would save at least 35 per cent of what they are paying now.

Unfortunately, all households in cities like Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai or Chennai are now paying first-rate costs for third-grade water delivery services. Cities have been offering many excuses for this incompetence, but there is no persuasive technical, economic or social reason why Indian cities cannot have 24-hour drinkable water services. The fact that not a single Indian city has such a service is an indictment on the terrible status of urban water management.

Asit K. Biswas is the founder of the Third World Centre for Water Management and Distinguished Visiting Professor of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, Singapore
express@expressindia.com

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