` 50 / us $5 january 2013
Policy 05 n Focus City 06 n Special Feature 10 n Finance 12 n
Safety 13 n Water 14 n Green 16 n Waste 18 n Energy 20 n Transport
22 n Real Estate 24 n Housing 26 n E-Governance 28 n Events
30
Volume I l Issue 11 www.urbannewsdigest.in
13, 14, 15 March 2013, Delhi-nCr, InDIa
Organised by
Contd. on page 2...
Gender refers to the socially constructed roles and responsi-
bilities of women and men, in a given culture or location. These
roles are influenced by percep- tions and expectations arising from
cultural, political, envi- ronmental, economic, social, and
religious factors, as well as custom, law, class, ethnicity, and
individual or institutional bias. Therefore, gender sensitivity is
the ability to recognise gender issues, especially women’s dif-
ferent perceptions and interests arising from their unique social
location and gender roles.
Allied with the concept of gender sensitivity is the equally
important concept of gender mainstreaming and we cannot talk of
either in isolation. Gen- der mainstreaming is the pub- lic policy
concept of assessing the different implications for women and men
of any planned policy action, including legis- lation and
programmes, in all areas and levels. Mainstream- ing essentially
offers a plural- istic approach that respects the differences among
women and men.
The concept of gender main- streaming was first proposed at the
1985 United Nations Third World Conference on Women in Nairobi. The
idea was for- mally featured in 1995 at the UN Fourth World
Conference on Women in Beijing and was cited in the document that
resulted from the conference, the Beijing Platform for
Action.
Urban planning Gender-sensitive cities reflect society’s diversity.
They are barrier-free, have well-devel- oped infrastructure, are
inter- connected and offer spaces that can be interpreted and
utilised according to diverse needs.
Gender-based urban devel- opment is about promoting cit- ies that
respond equally to men and women. Since women expe- rience cities
differently, meet- ing women’s needs becomes critical to promoting
sustain- able and equitable urban devel- opment. Urban women, while
generally sharing specific gen- der interests arising from a common
set of responsibilities and roles, constitute a fairly diverse
group. There are elderly women, working women and women whose major
responsi- bility is in the domestic sphere. There are also women
who bal- ance multiple roles at the same time. Thus, urban
development planning must respond to the needs of these diverse
groups.
Gender-sensitive planning promotes social communica- tion and
defuses the potential for conflicts in a neighbour- hood with
usages that differ in levels of intensity by respect- ing the
living realities of men and women within the local community.
Traditional planning based on land-use separation has led to
fragmented urban environ- ments where residences, work- places,
shopping and leisure
districts are in separate spaces linked by extensive road and
transportation systems. These practices have been criticised for
isolating women at home, making access to services and facilities
inconvenient, and dis- couraging them from leading the life they
wish to lead.
Gender equality is one dimension of inclusive plan- ning, which was
endorsed by the UN-Habitat World Urban Forum. Urban planning cov-
ers a wide spectrum of con- cerns, including employment, housing,
open space, transport and environment, to name just a few.
A gendered planning prac- tice would be sensitive to gen- der
differences in the way the city is used/experienced and therefore
able to make more informed choices than by tak- ing standardised
approaches assumed to fit everyone.
Transport Women and men have dis- tinct transport requirements. Yet
transport planning often disregards women’s priorities because of a
focus on mobility rather than accessibility and a preoccupation
with the for- mal sector worker’s journey and itinerary. Women’s
travel needs frequently require trans- port outside of peak hours
and to alternative destinations from those of men. And yet cost-
cutting inevitably involves a
Focus Cities: Thiruvananthapuram & Kochi +O6
Special Feature: Integrated Water & Wastewater Management
+10
Gender sensitivity is the ability to recognise gender issues,
especially women’s different perceptions and interests arising from
their unique social location and gender roles. Let us take a look
at how we can incorporate the concept of gender sensitivity in our
cities
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reduction in off-peak services, a consequence of the economy
evaluation made by planners using conventional cost/ben-
efit measures that ignore the value of the trips women make in
their reproductive role.
As mothers and carers, women have to escort others. For example,
women are most likely to be the ones looking after young children,
elderly or sick relatives, and visiting schools and clinics. It is
women who assume most domestic and community management
responsibilities and women are prevalent in the informal
econ-
omy. Moreover in countries where patriarchy is pre-domi- nant,
working women usually have to juggle paid work with their household
responsibili- ties. Women, particularly from low income and middle
income communities are more likely to be dependent on public trans-
port. Where systems locate public transport on the edges of
residential areas, rather
than within them, women have to walk long distances and, in cases
like these, may be vulner- able to crime.
Affordable transport sys- tems circumvent critical desti-
nations and there are reports from most of the countries of the
world that women quite often face harassment while commuting on
these transport systems. Harassment on public transport can impede
the pro- ductivity of women because of its psychological impact on
them. Inadequate design of public transport infrastruc- ture, for
example, lack of atten- tion to proper lighting on plat- forms,
safety conditions in
waiting rooms, combine to constrain women’s access and limit the
positive distribu- tional impacts of urban public transport. A very
well-known example of sexual harassment women face on public trains
is on Tokyo’s famously congested commuter trains. In 2009, after an
increasing number of com- plaints from female commut- ers, the
National Police Agency
announced the setting up of a study group with railway oper- ators
to discuss measures to stop gropers.
Closer to home, according to a survey conducted in Decem- ber last
year by the Associ- ated Chambers of Commerce and Industry in India
(ASSO- CHAM), public transport and roadsides were places where
women faced high levels of sexual harassment. Accord- ing to the
report of the work- ing group on urban transport for the 12th Five
Year Plan, “The present scene of urban transport across India is
cat- egorised by sprawling cities, declining share of public trans-
port and non-motorised trans- port, focus on supply side yet with
low investments, sheer neglect of pedestrians, cyclists and public
transport users and increased motorisation lead- ing to pollution
and high road fatalities/injuries. The problem is getting further
aggravated by multiplicity of authorities/ departments involved in
urban transport, often with conflict- ing agendas, as well as a
lack of understanding of the authori- ties and public of various
issues relating to urban transport.”
The working group noted: “On account of lack of availabil- ity of
credible and quality public transport options, coupled with
increased affordability of peo- ple to own private vehicles, the
two-wheeler ownership rate in Class I cities at an all-India level
is expected to increase from 102 per 1,000 population at pres- ent
to 393 per 1,000 population by 2021, and for cars from 14 to 48 per
1,000 population by the same year. Thus the number of cars,
scooters and motorcy- cles in India is expected to grow more than
threefold by 2021.” While there was no gender- specific angle to
the study, it is clear that safe public transport for women,
especially if they are expected to participate as equal partners in
a democracy, is non-negotiable. A robust public transport, by the
very nature of its structure, ensures safety in terms of physical
num- bers. The report as such recom- mended greater public invest-
ment in public transport.
Therefore, initiatives encouraging safe public transit
for women and girls should not be limited to improving motorised
forms of transport. That is, well-maintained foot- paths,
pedestrian streets, well- lit sidewalks, bicycle lanes and locking
areas, and community bicycle-share programmes are all integral ways
of making cit- ies safe for women and girls, as well as making them
more friendly and liveable in general.
Early this year, the Ministry of Urban Development issued fresh
guidelines to all states to install preventive security apparatus
in all modes of pub- lic transport for safe travel of women and
children. The Secretary of the Ministry of Urban Development, Dr
Sud- hir Krishna, mentioning the urban bus specifications set by
the ministry, asked all states to ensure installation of LED sign-
boards, audio-visual passenger information systems and two cameras
on buses with two days of recording facility besides fix- ing
GPS/GPRS.
The ministry also raised concerns about the lack of safety features
in interme- diate public transport like auto-rickshaws and taxis.
Dr Krishna asked states to fol- low the G-Auto model launched in
Ahmedabad where auto- rickshaws are managed through a common
control cen- tre. He also asked state govern- ments to bring all
such vehicles under the GPS/GPRS network.
In conjunction with these efforts, public transit systems in
particular must be planned and designed to accommo- date women’s
specific needs in terms of the routes they travel, the times of day
they depend on public transit, the places they wait for public
transit, and the places they get dropped off by public
transit.
CASE STUDY Montréal is the second larg- est city in Canada. The
Comité Action Femmes et Securité Urbaine/Women and Urban Safety
Action Committee (CAFSU) was founded in 1992. It is a part- nership
between women’s groups, municipal authori- ties, city planners,
university research groups, public tran- sit officials, health
officials
and the police. CAFSU approached La Société de Transport de la
Commu- nauté Urbaine de Montréal, which runs the public transit
system on the island of Mon- tréal, to put in place a bus service
system to address issues of women’s safety in public transit at
night. The service would allow women to get off the bus between two
regular stops in order to decrease the walking distance to their
destina- tion. In 1994, the ‘Between Two Stops’ pilot project was
instituted to evaluate the viability of the service, which is
strictly for girls and women only. The project was made permanent
in Decem- ber 1996, with the service extending its hours.
Safety In order for women to be able to exercise their right to
free- dom of movement in cities, they must feel safe. Settlement
planning and design must pro- mote safety, given problems of crime
and sexual violence in many cities. ‘Safe’ design includes, for
example, good street lighting and parks that are overlooked, but it
ideally avoids creating deserted spaces or areas that are not
peopled for parts of the day, and places where attackers can easily
hide or where women are easily trapped, such as subways and
alleyways.
According to a survey con- ducted in December by the Associated
Chambers of Com- merce and Industry in India (ASSOCHAM), around 92%
of working women felt insecure, especially at night, in all the
major hubs of economic activ- ity, especially in the business
process outsourcing, infor- mation technology, hospital- ity, civil
aviation, health and garment manufacturing sec- tors. They have
been demand- ing suitable safety norms. Even women working in large
estab- lishments did not feel safe after dark, it said. The random
sur- vey, conducted among working and non-working women in
Delhi-National Capital Region (NCR), Mumbai, Kolkata, Ban- galore,
Hyderabad, Ahmed- abad, Pune and Dehradun
Contd. from page 1...
3URBAN NEWS DIGEST - January 2013 COVer stOry
revealed that almost all the respondents felt that the prob- lem of
insecurity faced by women was bigger than any other challenge in
India.
A positive step in mak- ing our cities safer was taken by UNICEF,
UN-Habitat and UN Women in 2011, when they launched ‘Safe and
Friendly Cities for All,’ a five-year pro- gramme that aims at
making women and children feel safer in their local neighbourhoods,
while improving their quality of life. This partnership ini-
tiative builds on prior expe- rience that all three organisa- tions
have accumulated on preventing gender-based vio- lence, using
innovative tools for child and youth engage- ment in urban settings
and promoting integrated crime prevention strategies in
cities.
By working with local munic- ipalities, women’s groups, child and
youth advocates, the joint initiative will focus on increas- ing
safety among women, youth and children, and preventing and reducing
violence, includ- ing sexual harassment and vio- lence against
women and girls in public spaces.
The new partnership will address these challenges by supporting a
variety of initia- tives in the participating cities. By working
with local author- ities and organisations on the ground, women and
young peo- ple will be able to identify those areas in their
neighbourhood where they feel most at risk, and find solutions
together.
Highlight: A collaborative approach in India improves women’s
safety In 2009, Safer Cities partnered with Jagori, a Delhi-based
women’s resource centre, to support a Youth and Girls Safety
Project in a resettlement area in New Delhi. The project works with
boys and girls in 1) reclaiming public spaces for recreation,
theatre and sport events, etc. 2) advocating and raising awareness
for girls’ safety through developing and disseminating community
radio and community theatre and photography. Other proj- ect
partners involved were: civil society organisations, women’s
groups, youth leaders and gov- ernment officials. The actions taken
contributed to: • An outreach of 2,355
households through the project; • Increased mobility of the
young girls and women, and they now confront issues of harassment
on the streets; • Active engagement of
young women and men in con- ducting safety audits and up- grading
of public space in the community; • The ability of young
women and girls to negotiate with boys and young men on the use of
public space in the community; • The ability of young
women and men to express themselves; • The ability of young
women and men to advocate and influence policy makers, media, urban
planners, police and the municipality.
The project is now reaching out to more households and other
communities and the model established is going to be replicated in
other cities and towns in India. During focus group discussions,
almost all of the parents said their daugh- ters were more
confident and able to move around alone.
Sanitation It is a common assumption that cities are far better
places than rural areas for accessing safe
and convenient water and san- itation services, but in develop- ing
countries, access to urban services often differs widely between
the rich and the poor, and between men and women. Women and girls
typically take responsibility for fetch- ing water when supply is
poor, and this can take hours out of their day, reducing time for
education, employment, child- care and rest. When relatives become
sick because of poor hygiene, it is also women and girls who bear
the greatest bur- den of care. A lack of separate- sex toilet
facilities in schools, including those in informal set- tlements,
can cause girls to miss classes or drop out of school in
adolescence. Thus, attention to gender issues in the design and
implementation of urban water and sanitation programmes can bring
wide health, social and economic benefits to women and their
communities.
Women and girls, far more than men and boys,face diffi- cult issues
of privacy, safety and health in finding spaces to relieve
themselves. Sanitation facilities should be improved at the
household and commu- nity levels to mitigate safety,
convenience and hygiene issues. The need to construct separate and
appropriate latrines for boys and girls in schools is also an
urgent issue.
Girls very often drop out of school once they reach puberty due to
the lack of private facili- ties at schools. Sanitation must be
given a higher profile and catered to as equally as water supply
services.
Water and sanitation util- ity managers and local author- ities
need to be trained in gen- der issues, and gender sensitive
strategies, need to be main- streamed within the norms and
standards of their work.
Linfen in China offers a sig- nificant lesson to Indian cit- ies.
It convincingly shows that simple, but vital things such as public
toilets are as critical as any large infrastructure proj- ect to
make cities liveable. For years, Linfen was one of the worst cities
in the world to live in. But, in the last four years, it has turned
around dramat- ically, improved living con- ditions and recently
won the UN-Habitat’s international best practice award for the Asia
and Pacific region.
At the core of Linfen’s revival and the reason for worldwide
attention is the ‘toi- let revolution’ that began in 2008.
Concerned by the poor quality and numbers of pub- lic toilets —
only 12 of them for a population of 600,000 — the local government
constructed and retrofitted 200 toilets in and around the city.
Smart design has changed people’s perceptions, and about 20 mil-
lion use them every year.
In contrast, Indian cities are grossly underprovided in terms of
public toilets. Pro- viding toilets to the 15 million urban
households that do not have them is a priority. Equally
important is to provide toi- lets in public places. Organisa- tions
such as Sulabh Interna- tional have done well to build low-cost and
easy to maintain toilets, but they are constructed more to address
the problem of inadequate toilet numbers at the household
level.
An inclusive city begins with the public toilet. There should be
‘potty parity’ — suf- ficient numbers of toilets for women users —
and special needs for the disabled must be accommodated. Local
bodies should compel all road build- ing and civic projects to
allo- cate space for this purpose. They could also try innovative
schemes such as the one prac- tised in the United Kingdom, where
the government pays private establishments to keep their toilets
open for public use. The health of a city is inextrica- bly linked
to its toilets and it is imperative to provide them in sufficient
numbers.
However, a ray of light was shown by the Ministry of Urban
Development, in the form of National Urban San- itation Policy
(NUSP). The vision for Urban Sanitation in India is, “All Indian
cities and towns become totally sani- tised, healthy and liveable
and ensure and sustain good pub- lic health and environmental
outcomes for all their citizens with a special focus on hygienic
and affordable sanitation facil- ities for the urban poor and
women.”
Housing Women, have traditionally been excluded from land own-
ership, this practice has con- tributed to their continued
poverty/insecurity. Only a very small percentage of women have
legal title to housing/ land. Among the poor, women land owners are
likely to be a negligible number. Women’s lack of title/ownership
makes them a voiceless and vulnera- ble constituency. Living in
ille- gal slums and the lack of land ownership denies the urban
poor any formal identity (ration or voter ID cards), forces them
into informal sector employ- ment, lowers their access to formal
credit/basic services (no formal bank account or availability of
collateral), and exposes them to rent seekers (work contractors)
and exploit- ative markets.
Women either do not work for wages or earn less than men. Because
of their lower earnings, women cannot afford to buy land/property,
raise credit from banks, or bear the tax burden from legal property
ownership. Being outside the tax net, they have a lower claim on
municipal resources. Hous- ing design like homes with in- the-house
facilities for water and toilets, neighbourhoods with better
linkages to markets, schools, child care, health, edu- cation and
transport services, can all increase women’s abil- ity to be more
productive and participative.
CASE STUDY Including women in a reset- tlement project for slum
dwellers living on railway tracks in Mumbai was initi- ated through
a partnership between the Mumbai Urban Transport Project (MUTP),
National Slum Dwellers Federation (NSDF), Mahila Milan – a women’s
organisa- tion and Society for the Pro- motion of Area Resource
Centres (SPARC). Nearly 11,000 families have been provided free and
permanent housing in small multi-storey apartments with about 6,000
families in ‘transit accommo- dation’. SPARC facilitated the
dialogue with communities, especially women and the poorest groups,
to develop and execute the resettlement plans. Besides inclusion of
women in designing houses, the effort was to ensure mini- mum
displacement with sus- tained income-earning capac- ity and
production levels. SPARC also enabled families to save up to manage
the addi- tional demands of permanent housing. Detailed household
surveys were undertaken by residents to ensure appropri- ate
targeting and to prevent leakages. Women were able to choose the
kind of hous- ing they moved into and par- ticipated actively in
develop- ing details of the resettlement programme and managing the
move. While allotting houses, existing commu- nity networks were
retained wherever possible. Where this was not feasible, SPARC
helped in integrating the resettled population with the host
community, to mini- mise adverse impacts on both communities.
SPARC negotiated a gov- ernment resolution based on socio-economic
criteria rather than land-based com- pensations and an amend- ment
in the State Slum Areas (Improvement, Clearance and Redevelopment)
Act in 2001 to protect all pavement and slum dwellers, who could
establish that their names were on the electoral rolls as on 1
January 1995, from demo- lition without rehabilitation. They were
also able to set up a people-friendly grievance redressal
mechanism.
Climate change and disaster management Gender has been identified
as one of several determinants of vulnerability to climate change
impacts for individuals, together with age, health status,
ethnicity, and (new) migrants. Individual assets and insti-
tutional factors (in particular knowledge, governance prac- tices
and urban planning) have been found to be important determinants,
as well. More- over, all studies point out link- ages between
poverty and vul- nerability. Thus, for women, several factors are
interwo- ven and are likely to add up to
4 January 2013 - URBAN NEWS DIGEST
exacerbate their vulnerabil- ity. Women’s exposure to cli- mate
hazards may be greater due to their lower income for instance
because of the loca- tion of low-income settlements in risk areas.
Their options for coping may be limited for exam- ple because of
the lack of assets and women’s duties related to family care.
However, the observed gender differentials vary across countries
and cit- ies, with smaller differentials in developed
countries.
However, it must be kept in mind women and girls are invaluable in
disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation processes if
real community resilience and sig- nificant reduction of disas- ter
impacts are to be achieved. Women must always be part of policy,
planning and implemen- tation processes.
Women and girls makeup 52% of the world’s popula- tion and are
among the most affected by disasters. Their experience, knowledge
and expertise are critical to climate change adaptation and
disaster risk reduction strategies and processes. Household adapta-
tion measures are more likely to take root if women are included in
processes from beginning to end.
As for disaster risk manage- ment policies and plans and related
decision-making pro- cesses, it is widely acknowl- edged that a
gender perspective is to be integrated. This includes risk
assessment, early-warn- ing systems, information, edu- cation and
training, including, for instance, gender training as an integral
component of edu- cation and training for disaster risk
reduction.
At the International Con- ference on Gender and Disas- ter Risk
Reduction in 2009, the ‘Beijing Agenda for Global Action on
Gender-Sensitive Disaster Risk Reduction’ was adopted, which
recommends actions to be implemented by 2015. These included:
‘Foster the linkage between disaster risk reduction and climate
change adaptation from a gender perspective through policy and
administrative measures;
Collect gender-specific data and statistics on impact of disasters,
carry out gender-sensitive vulner- ability, risk and capacity
assess- ments and develop gender-sensitive indicators to monitor
and measure progress;
Increase awareness of the public
and media on the gender-sensi- tive vulnerabilities and capacities
in disasters and gender-specific needs and concerns in disaster
risk reduction and management;
Support research institutions to study the cost-benefit and effi-
ciency of gender-sensitive policies
and programmes in disaster risk reduction, climate change adapta-
tion and poverty reduction;
Secure the actual application of disaster risk assessments as part
of development policy-making and programme formulation to pre- vent
disasters from making the poor even poorer;
Improve and mainstream a gender perspective and equal par-
ticipation between men and women in the coordination of disaster
pre- paredness, humanitarian response, and recovery through
capacity building and training;
Build and enhance the capac- ities of professional organisa- tions,
communities and pertinent national and local institutions to enable
gender mainstreaming into all development sectors.’
These recommendations were primarily targeted at governments.
However, they are also valid for local govern- ments and metro
regions, since these are the authorities to actually implement
actions on disaster risk reduction, early- warning systems and
response measures.
Last year on International Day for Disaster Reduction, the Head of
the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, Mar- gareta Wahlström,
called for women and girls to take lead- ership in disaster
management in a world where disasters are on the rise. She said,
“Over half of the 200 million people affected by disasters each
year are female. The best disaster
recovery programmes in the world involve women who have survived
such events. If we are to build true disaster resilience we need to
put the emphasis on their greater involvement before disasters
strike.”
Local governance It is often easier for women to participate in
local than at the national level, because eligibil- ity criteria
for the local level are less stringent, and local govern- ment is
the closest to the wom- en’s sphere of life. It can be the first
level that women can break into and as such it may serve as a
springboard to national pol- itics, by developing capacities and
gaining experiences.
Likewise local politics can be more interesting to women as they
are well acquainted with their community, being
the major users of space and services in the local commu- nity
(water, electricity, waste disposal, health clinics, and other
social services). They also participate actively in organisa- tions
in their neighbourhood, and it’s easier to involve these
organisations in formal politi- cal decision making at the local
level.
A gender-sensitive delivery system at the local level seeks to
ensure that both women and men have equal access to and control
over the resources and services. In order to optimally allocate and
manage scarce resources, information is needed that enables
municipal- ities to know who needs what resources, when and where.
A process of consultation, that involves both women and men is a
critical element for partici- patory development. The inte- gration
of a gender approach into policy, planning and man- agement will
make local devel- opment not only more equi- table but also more
effective. Consequently, allocation of resources to women may ben-
efit a wider development scope in which the interests of women and
men are served in a more balanced way.
Getting women into the mainstream of public office and the
bureaucracy is a vital part of engendering local governance.
Legislation plays an active role in supporting the oppressing
structures of society and thus
in maintaining women’s mar- ginalisation in the develop- ment
process. A gender-sen- sitive local governance has the
aim to legislate gender equal- ity and to promote and pro- tect
women’s rights. A World
Bank study demonstrates that greater participation of women in
public life reduces public sector corruption. Increasing women’s
engagement in pub- lic planning and debate makes good governance
sense, as it will bring about greater trans- parency and openness
of pub- lic agencies.
In India, state governments are doing their bit to empower women in
municipalities. Mad- hya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar, Kerala,
Karnataka, Orissa and Chhattisgarh have already reserved 50% seats
in their urban local bodies for women.
Employment Data from the 2011 census reveals that the population
of
urban women in India grew by 34% in the decade spanning 2001 to
2011. In the same period, their rural population grew by just over
12%. As a result, the sex ratio for urban areas jumped from 900
women per 1,000 men in 2001 to 926 in 2011, the highest decadal
increase since Independence
According to research by the Centre for Women’s Devel- opment
Studies, a Delhi-based research institution, the answer to this
mystery may be in increased migration of women from rural to urban
areas. Migration rates are higher among more educated and higher
income women com- pared to their less privileged counterparts,
according to the report. Over 56% of graduate women in urban areas
were migrants compared to 47% of illiterate women. More than 55% of
women in the top 10% ranked by income groups had migrated to urban
areas com-
pared to just 35% of women in the bottom 10th.
As we can see, urban areas are perceived to provide women with
better employment oppor- tunities than rural areas. Thus, pro-urban
planning policies are more likely to benefit women, because
exclusion of women from the workforce can never spell well for a
city. In this sce- nario, a compact city makes it considerably
easier for women to reconcile the requirements of work and family,
particu- larly those of parenting and career responsibilities.
Thus, a balanced urban development takes it into account the well-
being of the female population, who can and have contributed to the
growth of cities since the dawn of civilisation.
Because I’m a Girl: Urban Programme (BIAAG UP) Launched last year,
the Because I’m a Girl: Urban Programme (BIAAG UP) is an initiative
that seeks to engage girls in cit- ies around the world to explore
questions around gender inclu- sion, right to the city and safe
cities. BIAAG will be carried out in five cities globally includ-
ing Cairo, New Delhi, Hanoi, Kampala, and Lima.
BIAAG UP’s expected out- comes include increased safety and access
to public spaces for girls; increased autonomous mobility for girls
in the city;
improved access to quality city services, and increased active and
meaningful participation in urban development and governance. The
project will last five years and UN-Habitat with its expertise in
urban pol- icy development will offer con- sultation for the
project.
COVer stOry
The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has re-constituted the Planning
Commission and appointed the Parliamentary Affairs and Urban
Development Minister, Kamal Nath as its new ex-officio member,
replacing Jai- ram Ramesh.
“Yes. There is a reconstitu- tion of the Planning Commis- sion.
That was done by the Prime Minister’s Office,” the Commis- sion’s
deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia said. The deci- sion was
taken to put particular emphasis on urban develop- ment by the
government.
The other ex-officio members of the Commission are Finance Minister
P Chidambaram, Agri- culture Minister Sharad Pawar, Home Minister
Sushilkumar
Shinde, Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, Chemicals and Fer-
tilisers Minister M K Alagiri, Communications Minister Kapil
Sibal, Law Minister Ashwani Kumar, HRD Minister MM Pal- lam Raju
and Minister of State for Planning Rajeev Shukla.
POLICY Kamal Nath appointed as the new ex-officio member of
Planning Commission
New national water policy gets green signal
Bilbao Mayor Iñaki Azkuna bags 2012 World Mayor Prize
The National Water Resources Council gave its green sig- nal to the
new National Water Policy with Prime Minis- ter Manmohan Singh
point- ing out that legal structures on water are inadequate. He
called for judicious use of the water resources.
“We need to rise above polit- ical, ideological and regional
differences and also move away from a narrow project- centric
approach to a broader holistic approach to issues of water
management,” he said.
The new policy seeks to solve the alarming crisis in the water
sector and lay a road- map on principles of equity,
sustainability and good governance.
“We have improved on the 2002 policy to meet the chal- lenges of
the future,” said Water Resources Minister Harish Rawat.
Iñaki Azkuna, Mayor of Bil- bao, Spain, has been awarded the 2012
World Mayor Prize.
The prize is awarded by the City Mayors Foundation, the
international thinktank for local government, which organises the
World Mayor Project.
The prize, which has been given since 2004, honours mayors with the
vision, pas- sion and skills to make their cities incredible places
to live, work and visit. The win- ner receives the artistically
acclaimed World Mayor tro- phy, while the two runners up are given
the World Mayor Commendation.
Mayor Azkuna was the choice of the judging panel,
comprising the fellows of the City Mayors Foundation, fol- lowing a
nine-month pub- lic nomination and voting process.
Nashik to offer new parking policy in industrial areas The Nashik
Municipal Cor- poration (NMC) is consider- ing allowing industry
bodies to set up parking spaces adja- cent to their compound walls
along the road.
Parking spaces earlier put up by industries, adjacent to the
compound walls along the roadside, were demolished during an
anti-encroach- ment drive by the civic body and Maharashtra
Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC).
Now a new policy for devel- opment of the space between compound
walls of indus- tries and the edge of roads in industrial areas of
Nashik is in the pipeline.
A senior NMC official said, “We are chalking out such a policy. Our
major objective is to avoid encroachments along the roads and to
beau- tify the roadside spaces. The industries will be allowed
to
develop them on their own. We are also planning to allow them
[industries] to set up parking lots adjacent to com- pound walls
along the roads. The new policy is expected in a few months.”
In an attempt to ensure safety of the women in Delhi, Delhi
Development Authority has proposed a series of pilot proj- ects and
studies under a new urban development pro- gramme. To make the
capital’s transport system more effi- cient, the so-called
transit-ori- ented development (TOD) pro- gramme was notified
recently. The plan’s objective is to enhance individual access to
Delhi’s expanding Metro rail and public bus network.
“Transit-oriented develop- ment addresses all aspects of pedestrian
safety on roads, such as better street-crossings and lighting at
bus-stops. Moreover,
it ensures the entire land area around Metro stations is uti- lised
in an optimum, multi-pur- pose manner, which will result in public
spaces becoming more active, less secluded and more accessible to
all citizens,
including women, the elderly and children,” said Ashok Bhat-
tacharjee, Director of Planning at the Unified Traffic and Trans-
portation Infrastructure (Plan- ning and Engineering) Centre, or
Uttipec.
Uttipec is an agency within DDA responsible for planning all
transport and traffic infra- structure-related projects in the
national capital.
DDA to implement new urban plan to ensure women’s safety
PCB wants 94-crore projects to be included in city development
plan
The Pune Cantonment Board (PCB) has given the Pune Municipal
Corporation (PMC) a suggestion to incor- porate its development
proj- ects worth 94 crore in the revised City Development Plan
(Phase II) under Jawa- harlal Nehru National Urban
Renewal Mission (JNNURM). These projects include a
sewerage management sys- tem, storm water drainage system for the
entire can- tonment area, a sewerage treatment plant and a proj-
ect involving solid waste management.
Kamal Nath, Minister of Urban Development, Government of
India.
Iñaki Azkuna, Mayor, Bilbao, Spain.
Harish Rawat, Minister of Water Resources, Government of
India.
FOCUS CITY God’s Own Capital Takes A Leap
The grass is now greener in the ‘Evergreen City of India’–
Thiruvananthapuram. Thiru- vananthapuram also called Trivandrum,
the capital of Kerala, was once only known for its lush flora and
coastal wealth, but now it is turn- ing out to be much more than
what it stood for traditionally. Apart from a super boom in
tourism, shipping and seafood industries, the metropolis is rapidly
progressing in indus- tries such IT, biotechnology, education,
finance and bank- ing, studios and animation and automobiles.
The city has a population of 752,490 according to the 2011 census
and interestingly there are more women in Thiruva- nanthapuram than
men. The sex ratio is 1,064 females to every 1,000 males.
As the largest city in Ker- ala, Thiruvananthapuram is
strategically important for both military logistics and civil
aviation. Unfortunately, the city centre is increasingly facing
more pollution and traffic problems, due to infra- structural
blocks and envi- ronmental factors. To match up with this pace,
authorities have undertaken several proj- ects in the city.
Monorail A detailed project report (DPR) on the Thiruvananthapuram
monorail was recently submit- ted by Delhi Metro Rail Corpo- ration
(DMRC) Principal Advi- sor E Sreedharan. The DPR says that in the
first phase, elevators will be installed at six major sta- tions
Technocity, Kazhakoot- tam, Sreekaryam, Pattom, Sec- retariat and
Thampanoor. To prevent passengers from fall- ing off the platform
edge onto the railway tracks, all stations will have platform
screen doors (PSDs).
The monorail, which is expected to be completed by 2018 will be 22
kms long and have 19 stations from Technoc- ity to Karamana.
Initial foot- fall is estimated to be around 2.46 lakh per day and
3.27 lakh by 2041-42. The project comple- tion cost is estimated at
3,590 crore and the monorail will be fully elevated on circular
pil- lars, along the median of the road, with a ground clearance of
5.5 metres.
“Initially we will deploy driv- ers in the train though it can run
driver-less. While Route 2 will take around five years to be
completed, Route 1 section from Technocity to Kariavattom can be
commissioned in 30 months
after the turn key contractor is finalised. The Route 3 section of
8 km from Kesavadasapuram to Karamana can be commis- sioned only
along with Route 2, thereby making it a ‘critical factor’ for those
taking up the monorail project,” Sreedharan said.
The track would be on a two- metre wide median through the centre
of NH 47. Four fly- overs would also come up at
Kariavattom, Sreekariyam, Ulloor and Pattom-Plamoodu as part of the
project. The mono rail would have three cars with a seating
capacity of 520.
Kerala State Monorail Cor- poration (KSMC) is in the pro- cess of
hiring managers for the project. “Currently we are into the process
of recruiting man- agers who will be asked to coor- dinate and
supervise works. They won’t directly participate
in the construction work. Once through with that process,
recruitment of other staff will begin,” Harikesh, Managing Director
of KSMC said.
Airport as multi-modal hub A feasibility study to develop the
international airport as a multi-modal hub in the trans- port
system will be soon car- ried out by the Kerala Road Fund Board
(KRFB). A
7URBAN NEWS DIGEST - January 2013
multi-modal transport hub concept covers all modes of transport,
including air, bus, rail and water.
The airport is suitably located to draw synergies from all these
modes, with minor changes. The project is being backed by the
Airports Authority of India. A collabor- ative process between
airport management and the state had been suggested for implement-
ing it.
This project also looks into the cleaning of the Parvathy Puthanar
canal which flows right in front of the new ter- minal building.
Once cleaning is done, it can connect tour- ist hot-spots such as
Kova- lam and Alleppey backwaters “As of now, we are just find- ing
ways to fund this project. We have already conducted a meeting in
this regard. Also, an effective technique to clean up the canal is
being looked upon by the water resources engineers,” Principal
Secre- tary VJ Kurien said who has been given additional charge of
interstate waters in the Water Resources Department.
Tourism Last year Kerala became the number one travel
destination
in the Google’s search trends for India. Kerala received 9.4
million domestic visitors last year while the number of for- eign
tourists was 0.8 million.
Now the state government has got proposals to operate seaplane
operations. The gov-
ernment wants to set up jet- ties from where seaplanes can land and
take-off — each at Thiruvananthapuram, Kol- lam, Alappuzha and
Kochi.
Apart from this, the govern- ment has an agreement with Indian
Railways, where an additional bogie in Trivan- drum-Kozhikode Jan
Shatabdi Express and the Maveli Express will be added. These bogies
will be converted into
a completely exquisite facility that will attract a lot of
tourists.
To lure more visitors, Ker- ala is promoting green tour- ism. A
Responsible Shopping
Corridor (RSC) has been set up from Kesavadasapuram to East Fort in
Thiruvananthapuram
as part of the efforts to pro- mote eco-conscious shopping. The
main focus of RSC is to encourage shoppers to buy eco- friendly,
organic and fair-price products not manufactured in sweatshops,
encourage recy- cling and work to improve civic and health
amenities at stores and shopping centres.
Business and IT hub The city contributes 80% of software exports
from the
state, and was selected as the fourth hottest IT destination in
India. The city was rated as the best two-tier metro with IT/ ITES
infrastructure, and sec- ond in terms of availability of human
talent.
India got its first and largest technology park in Thiruvan-
anthapuram – Techno Park. It has over has 4 million sq ft of
built-up area, and is home to over 270 companies, employ- ing
nearly 38,000 profession- als. Currently work on Phase 3 of the
project is going on and is nearing completion. With the
commissioning of the third phase, the total area of Tech- nopark
will be 333 acres, with a total built-up area 7.1 million sq
ft.
The Phase IV of Tech- nopark is also referred to as the Technocity
project. It involves a mixed use—IT, bio- technology,
nanotechnology, commercial and residential development spread over
500 acres of land.
The new buildings, built at a cost of 292 crore, are also
considered to be Asia’s largest
buildings to get Leadership in Energy and Environmen- tal Design
(LEED) gold rat-
ing from the Indian Green Building Council for energy
efficiency.
ChALLenGeS Solid waste and sewage management With every passing
day, solid waste and sewage problem is growing bigger in Thiruvan-
anthapuram, which was once considered as exceptionally clean and
lush green city. The civic body hasn’t been able to come up with an
integrated and sustainable solid waste man- agement plan.
Admitting that solid waste management is a difficult task to
manage, Mayor, K Chan- drika said, “Innovations are required to
solve this problem. Rapid urbanisation is taking place and it is
through these innovations, we can step into a clean future. People
should also be made aware and actively participate.”
Drinking Water With successive monsoon fail- ure, the city faces
severe drink- ing water shortage. The situa- tion is likely to grow
worse but plans announced by the govern- ment are yet to be
materialised. In a letter to the state Chief Min- ister Oommen
Chandy, local MP Shashi Tharoor has urged to immediately lay down
pipe- lines to carry water from the Neyyar dam to the Aruvikkara
reservoir which is only 10 km away. “A necessary long-term measure
would be construc- tion of check dams along the approximately 33km
connect- ing channel between the Pep- para dam and the Aruvikkara
reservoir to save excess water flowing from the former struc- ture
in times when the inflow to that dam is substantial, fol- lowing
good rains,” Tharoor suggested.
Sadly, only 50% of the drink- ing water supplied in the city is
accounted for. “Out of 300 mil- lion litres there is a record of
only 150 million litres. It could be distribution loss, leak or
illegal connections. If these are checked, automatically the con-
dition will improve,” a Kerala Water Authority (KWA) offi- cial
said.
To tackle the situation, the state government has initiated setting
up water advisory com- mittees. The water authority has directed to
install drink- ing water kiosks in all the constituencies.
fOCus CIty
Port Of Progress
Kochi, situated on the south- west coast of India, has never played
such a major role in the country’s economy as it does today. It is
a major port city in India by the Arabian Sea and is part of the
district of Ernakulam in the state of Ker- ala Not just in terms of
overseas trade, ship building, tourism, marine products and
minerals, but also most recently in unex- plored multi-million
dollar industries such as art. The first ever prestigious global
art festi-
val Biennale, otherwise held in art capitals of the world such as
Italy and Rome, came to Kochi very recently. And this is only the
tip of the industrial iceberg that’s Kochi.
With a population of 601,574, Kochi is the most densely popu- lated
city in Kerala. Kochi City, part of Greater Cochin region, ranks
first in the total number of international and domestic tourists in
Kerala. The district is also widely referred to as the commercial
capital of Kerala.
To match up with city’s pace, civic and administrative
agencies have their own plans to enhance its infrastructure.
Kochi Vision-2030 The main focus of Vision 2030 is on sustainable
development, water-based development, pro- tection of the
environment and utilisation of technological advancements.
Aiming to elevate Kochi to a global city and give it the status of
a metro, the Greater Cochin Development Author- ity (GCDA) compiled
a devel-
opment report. The report discusses every developmen- tal activity
and infrastructure requirements for the city with a far-sighted
vision for 2030.
The report outlines the need to introduce international tech-
nologies to better manage gar- bage. The need to have simi- lar PPP
module for sectors like waste management, health, education,
government ser- vices, housing, water supply and power transport
was also stressed. The Swiss Challenge method, a new bidding pro-
cess that helps private sector
initiative in core sector proj- ects, should be encouraged so that
newer and better ideas are brought up by entrepreneurs.
The second phase of the development of Kochi’s Marine Drive,
International Trade Cen- tre and a Logistic Centre are among the
various projects that would be taken up under the
first phase of Vision 2030. Meanwhile, a team of 16
experts emphasised the need for a master plan to develop Kochi as a
metropolis. The team stressed the need to put in place a Greater
Cochin Metro- politan Authority – an agency with more autonomy to
exe- cute development projects in the area comprising Kochi Cor-
poration, neighbouring munic- ipalities and panchayats. “We are
thinking to incorporate the
existing projects into the new scheme. This will help extend our
reach to the suburb areas and satellite towns,” said GCDA Chairman
N Venugopal.
Kochi Metro The foundation stone for the first phase of the 26-km
Kochi Metro Rail system was laid
in September last year. The estimated cost of the project is around
5,181 crore and is expected to be completed in 2016. The first
phase of work will connect Aluva to Petta and will be divided into
three stages. Each stage will be approxi- mately 8 km and all 22
metro stations will have a parking space.
Preparatory work for the system, which includes build- ing railway
over bridges,
repaving roads and land acqui- sition, is in progress. Currently
Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), which is undertaking
construction of Kochi Metro Rail project, has completed preliminary
work on pathways on both sides of North railway overbridge.
The second phase of the project has also been given the
in-principle nod by Kochi Metro Rail Limited (KMRL). The current
plan for Phase II is to extend the metro from Aluva to Angamaly via
the Cochin International Airport at Nedumbassery, Petta to Tri-
punithura and branch line from Palarivattom to InfoPark, Kochi via
Kakkanad.
Out of the total cost, the Cen- tral Government will make a
contribution of around 1,002 crore, the Kerala Government 1,772
crore and 2,174 crore will be raised as loan from Japan
International Coopera- tion Agency (JICA). Recently, a fact-finding
team from JICA inspected the Kochi Metro and expressed satisfaction
over the works being carried out by Metro agencies.
National Highways/City Roads/ Water ways The National Highway (NH)
47 connects Salem to the city of
Kochi via Coimbatore, Palakkad and Thrissur. The entire stretch of
NH47 passing through Kochi and its urban agglomeration has four/six
lanes.
Preliminary work on the proposed 1,400-crore ring road project
connecting Vyt- tila Mobility Hub-Kakkanad- Info Park-Kalamassery
is in progress. The semi-ring road will begin from the hub to Kani-
yampuzha, Seaport-Airport Road, Infopark, SmartCity area,
FOCUS CITY
9URBAN NEWS DIGEST - January 2013 fOCus CIty
Kalamassery HMT premises and to Vallarpadam Container Terminal
Road. “Once ready, it will make a difference to Kochi’s
infrastructure,” the State Public Works Minister, VK Ibrahim Kunju,
said.
A proposal to develop a 64-km long four-lane access- controlled
outer ring road con- necting National Highway 47, airport and sea
port is also on the anvil. The road begins from Marine Drive and
ends at Kum- balam on NH 47.
Even as transport develop- ment agencies discuss the need to
integrate various modes of transport, the State Water Transport
Department (SWTD) has come up with a plan to revamp its fleet and
utilise solar energy to bring down the fuel cost. The department
plans to introduce solar boats and set up chemical toilets in
existing boats.
Tourism Tourism in Kochi is one of the strongest drivers of the
local economy. The Kochi port is one of the leading ports that
inter- national cruisers call on reg- ularly. Keeping this in mind,
Kerala Tourism Development Corporation’s (KTDC) plans to revamp its
existing shopping complex and parking space near Broadway. The plan
envis- aged two levels of car parking – ground floor and basement,
the top floor would exclusively cater to shopping. Kiosks, res-
taurants, handicraft show- rooms and other outlets, which have the
potential to attract tourists, are also included in the
project.
Kochi has also emerged as the country’s most-preferred cruise
destination. A cruise facilitation centre, recently built with the
financial support from the Union Tourism Ministry and Kerala
Tourism, came into operation. The facility, set up on 1,600 sq mt
area, is fully air-con- ditioned, with all modern ame- nities, such
as duty-free shops, cafeteria/souvenir shops, cus- toms and
immigration clear- ance facilities and X-ray scan- ning machines
for baggage of embarking and disembarking passengers, among
others.
Business and IT hub Over the last couple of years there has been
tremendous industrial and IT-related growth in the city. The reason
being good availability of elec- tricity, fresh water, long coast-
line, backwaters, good bank- ing facilities, presence of a major
port, container trans- shipment terminal, harbour terminal and an
international air terminal. Kochi contributes around 14.47% of the
state’s GDP, the highest among all the districts in the state.
Major business sectors include con- struction, manufacturing,
shipbuilding, transportation/ shipping, seafood and spices exports,
chemical industries, information technology (IT), tourism, health
services and banking.
Various technology and industrial campuses, includ- ing the
government-promoted InfoPark, Cochin Special Eco- nomic Zone and
Kerala Indus- trial Infrastructure Develop- ment Corporation
(KINFRA) Export Promotion Industrial Park-operate in the outskirts
of the city.
Several new industrial campuses — SmartCity at Kakkanad, Cyber City
at Kalamassery — are under con- struction in the suburbs of the
city. Smart City Kochi is an IT Special Economic Zone under
construction in Kochi with a minimum 8.8 million sq ft of built-up
space, out of which at least 6.21 million sq ft will be
specifically for IT/ITES/ allied services. The project is expected
to create over 90,000 direct jobs.
The private operator NeST is building a Special Economic Zone
specifically for electron- ics hardware, spanning an area of 30
acres.
CHALLENGES On the one hand, Kochi is wit- nessing rapid
urbanisation, on the other, the city suffers from poor sanitation,
vector prob- lem, heavy pollution and unem- ployment. Kochi was
ranked the 24th most polluted city in India by the Central
Pollution Control Board. Water logging too has become a major
problem in the
city. Though authorities have been working a suitable and
sustainable way to resolve it, nothing concrete has yet come out.
“We are working towards ending this problem and we are making a
draft proposal now,” said Mayor Tony Chammany.
Drinking water Shortage of potable water is a major concern in the
city. Very often there are water shortages in different parts of
the city. The quantity of saline in Periyar river by industrial
pollutants generally aggravates the entire problem.
Recent water scarcity and a drought-like situation in the dis-
trict has forced Kerala Minister for Excise and Ports K Babu to
take immediate redressal mea- sures. “Emergency measures need to be
taken immediately to solve drinking water scarcity in the area. We
would also ask the government for relief mea- sures,” Babu
said.
The officials have been directed to extend the pipe- line networks
of various drink- ing water projects to drought- prone areas. Local
bodies were also asked to submit irrigation and drinking water
project pro- posals that could be taken up on short-term and
long-term basis. Cleaning of canals and digging
of bore-wells would be under- taken on a war-footing.
Kerala Water Authority (KWA), the organisation dis- tributing
drinking water in dif-
ferent areas in the city, plans a 190 mld drinking water proj- ect.
As per the plan, water will be drawn from Periyar and a
treatment plant will be con- structed at Kalamassery. Fur- ther,
implementation of a water project planned under Jawa- harlal Nehru
National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) will be expedited. Once
com- pleted this project will ensure 100 mld water to the
city.
Another ambitious project, Pazhoor drinking water scheme which took
off after long delay in August last year is expected to bring an
additional volume of around 100 million litres of water a day for
West Kochi and its neighbouring panchay- ats. The 201 crore-project
was sanctioned for the corporation under the Jawaharlal Nehru
National Urban Renewal Mis- sion way back in 2007. The project is
to bring water from the Muvattupuzha River to Kochi and its
suburbs, which are facing acute drinking water shortage.
Slums Central and state government main agenda has been to
clear
slums and improve the living conditions of the people. Slums in
Kochi are often shifted from one place to another without
giving a long-lasting solution. The effort taken to create the
basic amenities was not satis- factory for a vast majority of the
slum dwellers.
Currently over 24,775 fam- ilies are residing at 240 differ- ent
colonies in the city. Under the central government spon- sored
scheme, Rajiv Awas Yojana (RAY), redevelopment of slums or new
houses rang- ing from 25 sq mt to 45 sq mt will be given to slum
dwell- ers. The Union Government is also considering giving an
exemption to the city to pro- vide individual housing loans to BPL
families under the RAY scheme. The civic body will be able to
provide more than 10,000 houses to the homeless in the city if
individual housing scheme can be provided under RAY. The government
has plans to make the city slum- free by 2016.
Integrated Water and Wastewa- ter Management (IWWM) is an
integration of water, consump- tion and the resulting wastewa- ter
generated. Wastewater can be defined as any water that has been
adversely affected in qual- ity by anthropogenic (human impact on
the environment) influence. The system ensures efficient use of
water and con- verts wastewater into clean water for, both, potable
ad non- potable purposes.
Wastewater in this con- text is converted from being a major
environmental prob- lem into a valuable resource, for the benefit
of society in gen- eral. Although investment in the short term may
seem high, this has a positive impact for both the economy and the
environ- ment in the long term.
The rationale for IWWM Water-related problems are increasingly
recognised as one of the most immediate and seri- ous environmental
threats to humankind. Water use has more than tripled globally
since 1950, and one out of every six humans does not have regular
access to safe drinking water. Lack of access to a safe water
supply and sanitation affects the health of 1.2 billion people
annu- ally (WHO and UNICEF, 2000).
In urban areas, demand for water has been increasing steadily,
owing to population growth, industrial development and expansion of
irrigated peri- urban agriculture. Many parts of the world are
facing changes in climatic conditions, such as rainfall patterns,
flood cycles, and droughts, which affect the water cycle.
To top it of there is a press- ing problem of the generation of
wastewater in the world, because an estimated 90% of all wastewater
in developing coun- tries is discharged untreated directly into
rivers, lakes or the oceans. Such discharges are one of the causes
of rapid growth of de-oxygenated dead zones in the seas and
oceans.
Already, half of the world’s population lives in cities, most of
which have inadequate infra- structure and resources to address
wastewater manage- ment in an efficient and sustain- able
way.
By 2015, the coastal pop- ulation is expected to reach
approximately 1.6 billion peo- ple with close to five billion
peo-
ple, becoming urban dwell- ers by 2030. By 2050 the global
population will exceed nine bil- lion. Twenty-one of the world’s 33
megacities are on the coast, where fragile ecosystems are at risk.
Thus, the situation is likely to get worse in the absence of
immediate action to manage wastewater successfully.
Faced with these challenges, there is an urgent need to improve the
efficiency of water use and wastewater manage- ment. In this bleak
scenario Integrated Water and Wastewa- ter Management has the
poten- tial to measure up to a demand- ing task.
RECYCLING AND REUSE Recycling and Reuse form the core methodology
of Integrated Water and Wastewater Man-
agement. Wastewater reuse has become increasingly important
in water resource management for both environmental and economic
reasons. Wastewa- ter reuse has a long history of applications,
primarily in agri- culture, and additional areas of applications,
including indus- trial, household and urban, are becoming more
prevalent.
With such an increase in applications, there is a con- current
recognition that water resource management and proper water cycle
maintenance requires up-to-date knowledge about basic practices,
bene- fits and potential risks, capac- ity building of
practitioners and planners, and appropri- ate policy frameworks to
pro- tect human health and the environment.
In cities and regions of developed countries, where
wastewater collection and treat- ment have been the common
practice, wastewater reuse is practised with proper attention to
sanitation, public health and environmental protection. The
situation is different in many developing countries owing to the
lack of appropriate capacity and resources to enforce strict
wastewater treatment stan- dards for its reuse.
Water and wastewater reuse has various benefits. First, recy- cled
wastewater can serve as a more dependable water source, containing
useful substances for some applications. For exam- ple, the
quantity and quality of available wastewater may be more consistent
compared to freshwater, as droughts and other climatic conditions
tend to have a less pronounced effect on wastewater genera- tion.
With adequate treatment, wastewater can meet specific needs and
purposes, such as toi- let flushing, cooling water, and other
applications. The reuse of treated wastewater is particu- larly
attractive in arid climates, areas facing demand growth and those
under water stress conditions. Some wastewa- ter streams also
contain useful materials, such as organic car- bon and nutrients
like nitrogen and phosphorous. The use of nutrient-rich water for
agricul- ture and landscaping may lead to a reduction or
elimination of fertilizer applications.
Secondly, wastewater reuse leads to reduced water con- sumption and
treatment needs, with associated cost savings. In many
applications, reusing wastewater is less costly than using
freshwater, with sav- ings stemming from more effi- cient water
consumption and a reduced volume of additional wastewater
treatment, as well as associated compliance cost savings. The
infrastructure requirements for advanced water and wastewater
treat- ment may also be reduced. For instance, many areas with ade-
quate water resources and a growing urban population have
experienced increased water consumption, both on a per capita and
total basis. Meeting such a growing demand often requires the
additional devel- opment of large-scale water resources and
associated infra- structure. By meeting some of the water demand
through wastewater reuse additional infrastructure requirements and
the resulting financial and environmental impacts can be reduced
or, in some cases, elim- inated altogether.
Finally, by reusing treated wastewater for these
Integrated Water & Wastewater Management SPECIAL FEATURE
11URBAN NEWS DIGEST - January 2013 sPeCIaL feature
Best Practice: Singapore NEWater Singapore NEWater is the brand
name given to reclaimed water produced by Singapore’s Public
Utilities Board(PUB). More specifically, it is treated wastewater
(sewage) that has been purified using dual-mem- brane (via
microfiltration and reverse osmosis) and ultraviolet technologies,
in addition to con- ventional water treatment pro- cesses. The
water is potable and is consumed by humans, but is mostly used for
industry requir- ing high purity water.
The Singapore Water Recla- mation Study (NEWater Study)
was initiated in 1998 by the Pub- lic Utilities Board (PUB) and the
Ministry of the Environ- ment and Water Resources (MEWR). The aim
of this study was to determine if NEWater was a viable source of
raw water for Singapore’s needs. NEWater and desalination were
explored as means to reduce reliance on water imported from
Malaysia, which has been a source of fric- tion over the years.
Also, while the Malaysian government is bound by two treaties to
sell Sin- gapore water until 2011 and 2061, it is under no
obligation to do so
after these dates. In 2001, PUB began an effort
to increase water supplies for non-potable use. Using NEWa- ter for
these applications would reduce the demand on the res- ervoirs for
potable water.Sin- gapore has a total of four oper- ational NEWater
factories, at Bedok, Kranji, Ulu Pandan and Changi. For educational
pur- poses, there is a Visitor Centre located within the NEWater
fac- tory in Bedok, near the Singa- pore Expo Tanah Merah MRT
Station.
How wastewater turns to NEWater? NEWater is the product from a
multiple barrier water reclama- tion process: • The first barrier
is the con-
ventional wastewater treatment process whereby the used water is
treated in the Water Reclama- tion Plants. • The second barrier,
and
first stage of the NEWater pro- duction process, uses microfil-
tration/ultrafiltration to filter out suspended solids, colloidal
particles, disease-causing bacte- ria, some viruses and protozoan
cysts. The filtered water that goes through the membrane
contains only dissolved salts and organic molecules. • The third
barrier, and sec-
ond stage of the NEWater pro- duction process, utilises reverse
osmosis (RO). In RO, a semi- permeable membrane filters out
undesirable contaminants, such as bacteria, viruses, heavy metals,
nitrates, chlorides, sul- phates, disinfection by-prod- ucts,
aromatic hydrocarbons, and pesticides that cannot pass through the
membrane. At this stage, the water is already of potable quality. •
The fourth barrier, and
third stage of the NEWater production process, acts as a safety
precaution. UV disinfection is used to ensure that all organisms
are inactive and the purity of the product water guaranteed. With
the addition of some alkaline chemicals to restore the pH balance,
the NEWater is ready for use.
The quality of NEWater consistently exceeds the requirements set by
USEPA and WHO guidelines and is, in fact, cleaner than the other
sources of Singapore’s water.
applications, more freshwater can be allocated for uses that
require higher quality, such as for drinking, thereby contribut-
ing to more sustainable resource utilisation.
Urban applications In urban areas, the potential for introducing
Integrated Water and Wastewater Management is quite high, and it
may play a significant role in controlling water consumption and
reduc- ing its pollutant load on the environment. A large percent-
age of water used in cities for various activities does not need
quality as high as that of drink- ing water. So, dual distribution
systems (one for drinking water and the other for reclaimed water)
have been utilised widely in various countries, especially in
highly concentrated cities of the developed countries. This system
makes treated waste- water usable for various urban activities as
an alternative water source in the area, and contrib- utes to the
conservation of lim- ited water resources. In most
cases, secondarily treated domestic wastewater followed by sand
filtration and disinfec- tion is used for non-potable pur- poses,
such as toilet flushing in business or commercial prem- ises, car
washing, garden water- ing, park or other open space planting, and
firefighting.
Recycling wastewater for drinking The technology for recycling
wastewater for drinking has existed for decades. One pio- neer was
Windhoek, Namibia, which began sending treated effluent into the
potable water system in 1968. El Paso, Texas, has injected treated
wastewater into an aquifer since 1985, after mingling with
groundwater, it eventually gets pumped up for reuse as potable
water. Similar American systems, especially one in Southern
California that began operating in 1976, helped inspire Singapore
to go ahead with its larger-scale project.
INDIA’S TRYST WITH IWWM The Indian government is encouraging water
recycling
and reuse in order to address the growing mismatch between demand
and supply, and plans to offer incentives to states that adopt
policies to increase water recycling and reuse.
Water reuse projects are expected to help state govern- ments cut
their total water investments by half, while also creating new
capacity. Strict environmental laws now dic- tate that industrial
concerns must recycle water to the ter- tiary level before
releasing it back into surface water sources like rivers and
lakes.
The union government wants to reward states that manage their water
demand more efficiently. It is setting up a bureau of water
efficiency that will benchmark the amount of water used in certain
produc- tion processes.
Notable ventures Delhi has signed an agreement with Singapore to
set up waste- water treatment plants that will generate ‘new water’
for the city’s consumption. The city’s water supplier, the Delhi
Jal Board (DJB), has been propos- ing to set up ‘new water’ plants
to reduce the gap between demand and supply. The water board has
signed an agreement with the Singapore Cooperation Enterprise (SCE)
and Temasek Foundation, Singapore (TF), to share their experience
in plan- ning and design of recycle and reuse of treated sewage and
wastewater on a public private partnership (PPP) basis.
This programme will be sup- ported by Temasek Foundation
with a grant amount of SGD 463,149 and co-funded by the DJB. Under
the partnership a water reclamation plant of 40 MGD will be set up
at the Cor- onation Pillar plant and impact three to four million
consumers.
Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board has also signed a
Memorandum of Understand- ing with Singapore Coopera- tion
Enterprise and Temasek Foundation, to share technical expertise in
reusing wastewa- ter for potable purposes, stake- holder engagement
and public acceptance.
Meanwhile, Japan Inter- national Cooperation Agency (JICA) has
agreed to fund a recycling water project, known as ‘Waste to
Wealth,’ in Hyderabad at three major sew- erage treatment plants
(STPs) located at Amberpet, Nagole and Nallacheruvu in the city.
The total storage capacity of these STPs is 541 million litres per
day, with the one in Amber- pet being Asia’s largest. “The
Municipal Administration &
Urban Development (MA&UD) gave us clearance to set up a
recycling water project with JICA funding,” said M Saty- anarayana,
Director, (Proj- ects), Hyderabad Metropoli- tan Water Supply &
Sewerage Board (HMWS&SB). After sep- arating the recycled water
from sewerage water, the board will supply it to agri-based indus-
tries, tanneries, floriculture units and vegetable growing units,
officials said.
The water board will also lay separate pipelines connecting the
recycling plants with indus- tries to supply water. The board will
sell the recycled water after an agreement is reached with the
industries and other cus- tomers. “We will fix the price based on
the quantity of recy- cled water and location of the industry,” he
said. This way, the water board would not only generate income, but
will cur- tail current spending of indus- tries, which runs into
lakhs of rupees per month and also save the ground water.
In a bid to assist people from economically weaker sec- tions (EWS)
to buy their own homes, the Ministry of Housing
& Urban Poverty Alleviation intends to reach out to almost a
million households through
the Rajiv Rin Yojana (RRY). The project provides subsi- dised loans
to marginalised people for buying houses.
According to the revised terms, a household from the EWS will be
provided a loan
of up to 300,000 for buying a house with a 5% interest sub- sidy a
year and a repayment period of up to 20 years.
Under the same scheme, households in the low- income group (LIG)
category will get loans up to 500,000 and with the same terms and
conditions.
“We have floated a cab- inet note on increasing the loan amount in
the EWS and LIG category, which is under inter-ministerial
consultation now. We have said we expect around a million people to
benefit from the scheme. That is our target but it will depend on
the funds we get from the government in the budget,” said a senior
Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation Ministry official.
At present, the highest loan limit in the EWS category is 1 00,000
and in the LIG cate- gory is 1 80,000.
RBI allows $1bn ECB for promoting low-cost housing
National Housing Bank to raise $200 mn through ECB
The National Housing Bank (NHB) has announced it will acquire $200
million in the next quarter under the exter- nal commercial
borrowing (ECB) window allowed by the Reserve Bank.
“We are looking at raising up to $200 million under the new
external commercial bor- rowing (ECB) window opened by RBI for
low-cost housing. We will soon approach RBI for its permission. The
money will be used to fund retail
housing,” said NHB Chair- man and Managing Director R V
Verma.
Though the sales figures are not encouraging in the major markets,
Verma said he is expecting a 20% growth in the housing finance this
fiscal. On December 17, the Reserve Bank permitted real estate
developers and hous- ing finance companies to raise up to $1
billion through ECBs in the current fiscal to endorse low-cost
residential projects.
Govt keen on increasing loan amount to low-income group
The Reserve Bank of India has given the nod to real estate
developers and hous- ing finance companies to raise up to $1
billion through external commercial bor- rowings (ECBs) in the cur-
rent fiscal to promote low- cost housing projects.
The funds raised through ECBs could be used either for developing
low-cost housing or for providing loans up to 25 lakh to indi-
viduals for buying units with a price tag of 30 lakh or less.
Slum rehabilitation proj- ects will also be eligible for raising
ECBs. Develop- ers with at least five years’ experience in
residential
projects and those who have not defaulted in any of their financial
commitments to
banks or any other agencies will be eligible to raise funds
overseas.
The State Bank of India, the leading bank in the country, is
putting in all efforts to expand its retail home loan portfolio.
According to a senior SBI offi- cial, the bank will allow exist-
ing borrowers to shift their home loan by waiving the third-party
guarantor clause.
There is an added advan- tage of lower interest rate— 10% for loans
up to 30 lakh and 10.15% for loans above 30 lakh. It is also
revealed that SBI is offer- ing loans for third homes at the same
rate as regular home loans.
State Bank waives guarantor for shifting home loans
IDBI kicks off scheme for urban poor
The Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBI) has launched the
‘Urban Financial Inclusion Programme’ (UFIP) in Mumbai to develop
and expand its banking facilities for those living out of the
banking services in urban areas.
It intends to open the programme by initiating
liability business, by offering savings bank and current account
facilities, recurring deposits and fixed deposits for the common
man.
There is ample possibility for offering insurance and investment
services to the people by imparting financial literacy, the bank
said in a statement.
FINANCE
R V Verma, Chairman and Managing Director, NHB.
Better ambulances on way Rickety, old and ill-equipped ambulances
will soon be shown the door. The central government is drafting a
strict code for emergency vehicles with the help of an expert panel
appointed by the Min- istry of Road Transport and Highways for this
purpose.
As a part of the revised rules, transport vehicles trans- formed
into medical vans will be phased out and new ones equipped with
latest technol- ogy are to be added. The new ambulances will be in
“bril- liant white”, and designed in a way that they do not
break
or come apart even if they overturn.
The ceiling, interior side- walls and doors of patient’s
compartment will be non-per- meable and resistant to disin-
fectant. The new patient cabins to be installed will also have a
digital display panel to show status of oxygen supply.
Highway Ministry officials said there would be four cate- gories of
ambulances based on patients’ condition — medical first responder,
patient trans- port vehicle, basic life support ambulance and
advanced life support ambulance.
As every city pledges to be safe for its citizens, so does Pan-
aji, an otherwise carefree cap- ital of the party state, Goa. The
Corporation of the City of Pan- aji (CCP) is in the process of
installing CCTV in key areas in the city to keep crime at bay and
monitor unlawful activities.
Close circuit cameras have so far been placed at different points,
including Miramar cir- cle, Church square and Dona Paula, and the
drive will soon see more up. If the trial run is successful, say
sources in the authorities, 28 major areas are proposed to be
covered under the project. Panaji police sta- tion and traffic cell
have already given their inputs to the CCTV vendor.
Public transport authorities in Ahmedabad are working towards
video-taping activ- ities inside public buses for
greater safety of citizens. The Ahmedabad Janmarg lim- ited (AJL),
which is behind BRTS in the city, is plan- ning to put in place an
elec- tronic surveillance system by September this year.
“Electronic surveillance inside BRTS buses will be a big help,”
said a senior police official, approving of the move. AJL plans to
share the video footage with the police on a daily basis in order
to monitor day to day activities and stay alert in case of lurk-
ing danger.
State govt to implement measures to control accidents on
Mumbai-Pune expressway To avoid accidents on the Mum- bai-Pune
expressway stretch,
the Maharashtra state govern- ment has proposed to imple- ment
several short and long terms measures.
“A modern trauma care cen- tre will soon be approved by
the government. It will be well- equipped ambulance,”
District
Collector Vikas Deshmukh said while inaugurating the road safety
fortnight pro- gramme at Urse toll plaza on the expressway.
Deshmukh said that
awareness about road safety should spread among all people and he
lauded the road safety fortnight, which was being observed just at
the start of the new year. He released a book- let and a compact
disc on ‘safe driving’ on the occasion, and also inaugurated a
special van designed to spread awareness about road safety in
schools and colleges.
Every year 2,000 people die in road accidents in Pune dis- trict.
“This is an issue of serious concern. The causes of accidents
should be investigated thor- oughly. There is a need to have a
separate driving license for the expressway,” said District Police
Superintendent Manoj Lohia.
Disaster management to be introduced in college curriculum Students
across India will now have the option of choosing disaster
management studies as an optional subject at the under- graduate
university level. In a new move, the University Grant Commission
has directed vice chancellors of 566 universities to gear up to
introduce disaster management as a subject. UGC has also sent out
the syllabus of the concerned subject for uni- versities to plan
and prepare.
The decision comes as a part of a bigger exercise by the Union
government, whereby disaster management has been put on high
priority.
“If teachers and young peo- ple in each city, district, block or
village can understand and
explore avenues of reducing disaster risks, efforts would
contribute towards minimis- ing losses and saving lives,” said a
report by a four-member expert committee appointed by the UGC,
which came up with the proposal.
Panaji gets under CCTV
Ahmedabad to monitor in-bus activities
A historic five year Regional Plan of Action for the application of
space technology for addressing natural disasters and achieving
sustainable development goals has been adopted by the coun-
tries in the Asia Pacific region. The meeting was held under the
patronage of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia
and the Pacific (ESCAP) from December 18-20 and co-organ- ised by
the Thai Space Agency, Geo-informatics and Space Tech- nology
Development Agency (GISTDA).
Dr. Noeleen Heyzer, Under- Secretary-General of the United Nations
and Executive Secre- tary of ESCAP, said, “Space
applications are more advanced and affordable than ever before, but
the region has yet to experi- ence the full potential that they can
present.” National gov- ernments were also urged to use space
technology and GIS applications.
Significantly, several coun- tries offered to share satellite data,
space products and services related to disaster risk manage- ment
and sustainable develop- ment with developing countries in the
region. Countries were also requested to improve coor- dination
across various agencies making use of space technology and GIS
applications, and ensure that these applications are incor- porated
into national disaster risk reduction and sustainable development
plans.
To pilot a new integrated urban planning and management model,
UN-Habitat is look- ing for city partners to help cities build
resilience against disasters.
“This is founded on the principles of ‘resilience’ which
dynamically underpin and improve capacity to protect city people
and their assets. Urban resilience refers to the ability of any
urban system to with- stand and recover quickly from
so-called ‘critical events’,” said Dan Lewis, the agency’s Chief of
Urban Risk Reduction.
The new City Resilience Profiling Programme (CRPP) will offer a
forward-looking, multi-sectoral, multi-hazard, multi-stakeholder
approach integrating all functional aspects of human settlements to
planning and developing urban settlements through a four-year
research and devel- opment initiative.
Asia-Pacific adopts five-year plan of action to reduce natural
disasters
UN-Habitat looks for city partners for resilience programme
SAFETY
WATER 2013 World Water Day dedicated to water cooperation
Mumbai residents to get SMSes about water cuts
In December 2010, the United Nations General Assembly declared 2013
as the United Nations International Year of Water Cooperation. The
first World Water Day was held in 1993. In reflection of this dec-
laration, the 2013 World Water Day, which will take place on 22
March 2013, also will be ded- icated to water cooperation.
The campaign for the World Water Day 2013, coordi- nated by United
Nations Edu- cational, Scientific and Cul- tural Organisation
(UNESCO) in cooperation with United Nations Economic Commis- sion
for Europe (UNECE) and with the support of United Nations
Department of Eco- nomic and Social Affairs (UNDESA), UN-Water
Decade
Programme on Advocacy and Communication (UNW- DPAC), UN-Water
Decade Programme on Capacity Development (UNW-DPC), on behalf
UN-Water, will focus attention on the importance of freshwater and
advocate the sustainable management of freshwater resources.
Celebrations through- out 2013will include featured events at
UNESCO headquar- ters in Paris, as well as many other events
organised by var- ious stakeholders around the world. Such events
will seek to promote actions at all levels in relevant areas
including edu- cation, culture, gender, the sci- ences, conflict
prevention and resolution, as well as ethics, among others.
The residents of Mumbai will receive information about water cuts,
water bills and other water-related informa- tion via SMS, as per
the plan of Brihanmumbai Munici- pal Corporation (BMC). Cur-
rently, the only way to provide such information to the public is
through the media.
According to BMC offi- cials, a software devel- oped for this
purpose is in its final stage. The BMC has high hopes that mes-
sages relating to water bills will boost revenue by way of timely
payments by citizens.
Ramesh Bamble, Chief Engi- neer of BMC’s hydraulic department,which
deals with water issues, said details to send the messages have
been relayed to the information and technology department. Last
year, the civic body had urged citizens to register their cell-
phone numbers with them.
A civic official said such messages will help citizens make timely
arrangements in case a tem