Waste Management

Urban India generates about 55 million tonnes of municipal solid waste (MSW) annually (Source: Planning Commission Report, 2014). As per a 2009 report of the Department of Economic Affairs (DEA), per capita waste generation is increasing by about 1.3% annually. It is estimated that 10-25% of the total MSW generated in Indian cities is Construction and Demolition (C&D) waste, of which only 5% is recycled and reused. The total quantum of waste from the construction industry was estimated to be around 100 million tonnes per annum in 2018 (NITI Aayog, 2019). According to MoEF&CC, MSW generation is expected to reach 0.45 million tonnes per day (TPD) by 2031, and 1.19 million TPD by 2050. The relationship between solid waste and GHG emissions is well established. GHGs can be avoided through scientific management of waste. The first principle of the integrated waste management hierarchy is reduction of waste generation at source. Therefore, it is essential for cities to prioritise actions for waste reduction and accordingly plan their future waste management operations and infrastructure requirements.

On 2nd October 2014, SBM-U was launched by MoHUA, with the objectives of making the country Open Defecation Free (ODF) and promoting scientific SWM. With this vision, India has embarked on the journey of cleanliness, duly advocating compliance with the SWM Rules 2016, C&D Waste Rules 2016, and the Plastic Waste Management Rules 2016, among others. At the time of the launch of SBM-U, 26,000 TPD of waste was being treated, which has been enhanced substantially in the last 6 years of the Mission to approximately 96,000 TPD (as reported by the states/UTs in November 2020). The total waste generated is about 0.15 million TPD. About 98% of the total municipal wards have door-to-door collection, 68% of the total waste generated is processed, and 77% of the total wards practice source segregation. In order to enhance the progress and sustain the achievements, the proposal to continue the Mission under SBM 2.0 is under examination by the government.

Since 2016, in order to create healthy competitiveness and to evaluate the performance of ULBs, the Annual Swachh Survekshan (cleanliness survey) is carried out, under which the ULBs are ranked based on various parameters of cleanliness. In the first round of Swach Survekshan, 73 million-plus cities were evaluated. Similarly in 2017, the survey was conducted among 434 cities. Swachh Survekshan 2018 and 2019 covered 4,203 and 4,237 ULBs respectively. The Swachh Survekshan 2020 covered 4,242 cities, and introduced the concept of ‘Continuous Survekshan’ to ensure that the Mission outcomes are sustained through a continuous quarterly monitoring and verification.

SWM Rules 2016 emphasises on source segregation of waste into three streams (i.e., bio-degradable, non-bio-degradable, and domestic hazardous waste) and proper transportation and treatment of solid waste. The Rules insist that all industrial units, located within 100 km from the refused-derived fuel (RDF) and waste-to- energy plants based on solid waste, shall make arrangements within six months from the date of notification of these Rules to replace at least 5% of their fuel requirement by refused derived fuel so produced. As per the latest amendment to the Electricity Tariff Policy 2006 by the Ministry of Power, it is mandatory for the state electricity distribution companies (Discoms) to purchase all power generated from MSW at the rate determined by the appropriate authority. Further, as per the Policy on Promotion of City Compost, the Ministry of Chemicals & Fertilisers will provide a fixed market development assistance of INR 1,500/metric tonne of city compost for scaling up and consumption of the product. Initially, the marketing and promotion of city compost will be done through the existing fertiliser companies.

Urban Planning, Green Cover and Biodiversity

Urban areas in India are expected to house more than 40% of the country’s total population, and will contribute to over 75% of the national GDP by 2030 (Source: MoHUA, SCM). However, as the cities expand, the energy demand is expected to increase dramatcally, resulting in high GHG emissions and thereby contributing to the climate change. Since much of India’s future development is centred around cities and urban areas, consistent with the objectives of the Paris Agreement, cities urgently need to plan and implement climate actions in an integrated and inclusive way. This would include mitigation of GHG emissions and adaptation to climate change impacts to foster comprehensive social, cultural, economic, and environmental benefits.

The cost of poor planning of Indian cities is estimated between 1.2% and 6.3% of the GDP by 2050 (Mani, Bandyopadhyay, Chonabayashi, Markandya & Mosier, 2018). Therefore, there is an urgent need for urban planning reforms that can facilitate integrated urban and regional planning approaches to climate-sensitive development, with active public participation in a time bound manner. At the same time, adoption and enforcement of existing mechanisms and guidelines, such as the revised URDPFI guidelines 2014 on preservation and rejuvenation of water bodies, green and eco-sensitive areas, need to be strengthened by the Urban Development Authorities (UDAs) and Urban Local Bodies (ULBs).

As of July 2019, out of the 7,933 cities and towns, 2,843 have statutory Master Plans. The disaggregation of Master Plans in the form of Zonal Development Plans/ Local Area Plans /Layout Plans are rarely available for most cities and towns, leading to haphazard and unplanned growth. Moreover, a review of existing plans suggests that many towns and cities that have Master Plans or Development Plans, which do not match with the growing infrastructural requirements and emerging challenges arising out of climate change, environmental and infrastructure requirements. Besides, lack of data to enable risk-informed planning, fund scarcity, and lack of qualified human resources (urban/town planners) pose serious challenges in formulation, implementation, and monitoring of climate actions at the city level. Spatial and temporal data loss and damage due to disasters remain a gap. In addition, timely implementation and monitoring of various spatial plans and provision for revision, need to be enabled with the use of the latest technological tools, such as Geographical Information System (GIS) and Remote Sensing techniques. 

Urban environment consists of many aspects, including waterbodies, open spaces, and built-up areas. The waterbodies and open spaces help people adapt better to the adverse impacts of extreme climate events besides combating the urban heat island effect. These also combat water crisis, acting as reservoirs for draining, retention for groundwater recharge, for protection in case of floods, and for maintaining biodiversity. Further, local sources of freshwater decrease the dependence on energy for pumping purposes.

Similarly, sufficiently large and protected green spaces reduce the impact of human activities on climate, while biodiversity helps in carbon sequestration, air and water purification, mitigation of impacts of environmental pollution, noise reduction, and microclimate regulation. The effects of climate change and disasters (natural and man-made) are faced by urban inhabitants, and impact urban infrastructure. As effects of climate variability leading to extreme events are becoming more severe and frequent, the incidents of damage to urban infrastructure are also increasing. Therefore, all cities should be able to identify their potential hazards, vulnerabilities, and risk as well as be prepared for a prompt response mechanism to combat any disaster situations, including robust plans for recovery, reconstruction, and rehabilitation to ‘build back better’.

Energy and Green Buildings

Housing and buildings (residential and non-residential) are essential sectors of a country’s economy and known as growth escalators, which directly impact the quality of life. The construction sector of India, including housing accounts for 8% of GDP and employs 12% of the total workforce. Buildings consume 1/3rd of the global energy output and produce around 20% of the total GHG emissions.

In the wake of increasing frequency of extreme events, such as floods, heatwaves, coastal flooding, storm surges, etc., it is critical to mainstream and implement retrofitting of climate adaptation measures in the building sector. While there are various guidelines and regulations in this sector to promote sustainability and address climate change impacts, there is a need for structured mainstreaming of various approaches and mechanisms in the existing city-level frameworks with appropriate implementation, monitoring, and verification protocols. Further, the challenges prevailing in the sector include knowledge gaps at various levels, issues related to enforcement and implementation, high upfront cost of green technology, and limited technological development.

With 50% of the building stock that is expected to be constructed by the year 2030 yet to be built, electricity consumption in residential and commercial buildings is bound to increase. Further, 80% of GHGs in India are generated from the present energy demand in fossil fuels, such as coal, natural gas, and oil. The Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), a statutory body under the Ministry of Power, Government of India, estimates that electricity consumption in the commercial building sector alone in India is expanding at a rate of over 9% per year. Similarly, as per the National Institution for Transforming India (NITI Aayog), Government of India, the electricity consumption in the residential sector is expected to increase 6-13 times by 2047. Therefore, India’s real estate sector will play a crucial role in addressing the climate-related challenges, especially in reducing energy demand and other resource requirements in terms of electricity consumption for heating and cooling, land and material requirement, and other infrastructural demands. Energy production must shift to cleaner, renewable energy sources (such as, solar photovoltaics (PV), solar thermal, wind energy, hybrid-hydel power, small hydro, geothermal energy, tidal energy, biogas, waste-to-energy, etc.).

There are several programmes designed by MoHUA, Ministry of Power (MoP), Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) through the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) and its State Nodal Agencies, Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL), Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) and others, to develop energy efficiency in cities and shift to renewable energy sources. For example, MNRE has a Solar Cities program that is designed to support cities to prepare a roadmap to transform to ‘renewable energy cities’ or ‘solar cities’. Similarly, BEE has a Municipal Demand Side Management (MuDSM) program for reducing electricity consumption in municipal services, promoting energy-efficient appliances, and a Green Building Star Rating program that the cities can take advantage of to achieve energy and cost savings in providing various municipal services. EESL has Municipal Energy Efficiency Programme (MEEP), Street Lighting National Programme (SLNP), and Unnat Jeevan by Affordable LEDs and Appliances for All (UJALA), that the ULBs can implement for promoting energy-efficient technologies in their cities. Under AMRUT, over 6.2 million streetlights were replaced with energy-efficient LED street-lighting. SNLP has been instrumental in replacing over 5 million street lights in over 500 cities in India, leading to 1.35 billion kWh of energy savings and cost saving of INR 7.42 billion every year. The cities can also take advantage of the solar street-lighting program through Atal Jyoti Yojana (AJAY) - an initiative of MNRE.

It is important to note that, even though the upfront costs for green building technologies are high, over long term, the life cycle cost, including O&M, is considerably lower. It is evident from research that the life cycle cost of green buildings is 24-28% less compared to conventional buildings. 

Similarly, the building sector has implemented policies and codes, which elaborate on energy efficiency in residential and commercial building sector - Model Building Bye Laws (MBBL), 2016, National Building Code (NBC), 2016; the Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC); the Eco- Niwas Samhita, 2018, and the schemes deployed by BEE. During the last decade, these policies and guidelines have been revised to address and incorporate the emerging needs of the sector. MBBL 2016 has provided guidelines for sustainable buildings to reduce energy and water consumption to 50% of the present consumption in conventional buildings. NBC developed by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) was updated in 2016 to include a chapter on ‘Approach to Sustainability’. ECBC 2007 document developed for commercial buildings was revised in 2017 to address the energy performance of the buildings at three levels. In 2018, ECBC for residential buildings “Eco Niwas Samhita 2018” was also launched. However, the ECBC document applies only for new construction and does not apply to existing buildings and renovation projects. For existing buildings, BEE has launched a scheme ‘Star Rating of commercial buildings’ with the objective of building a foundation for enhancing energy efficiency in buildings. Besides, the Green Rating for Integrated Habitat Assessment (GRIHA) stipulates green building guidelines for both new and existing buildings.

Urban in India

Urban settlements in India consist of:  

Statutory Towns: All places with a municipality, corporation, cantonment board or notified town area committee as declared by the state law. 

Census Towns: Places which meet the following criteria: 

✓ a minimum population of 5,000; 

✓ at least 75 per cent of male main working population engaged in non-agricultural pursuits; 

✓a population density of at least 400 persons per square kilometre.

Cities: 

Urban areas: with a population of at least one 100,000 (0.1 million). The others are termed as ‘Towns’.

Metropolitan Cities: Cities with a population of at least 10 100,000 (1 million).

Urban Agglomerations (UAs): Continuous urban spreads constituting a town and its adjoining urban outgrowths (OGs) or two or more physical contiguous towns together and any adjoining urban outgrowths of such towns. A UA must consist of at least one statutory town, and its total population of all constituents put together should not be less than 20,000 as enumerated in the Census of 2001.

Size Class Classification (population):

Class I: 100,000 and more

Class II: 50,000 to 99,999

Class III: 20,000 to 49,999

Class IV: 10,000 to 19,999

Class V: 5,000 to 9,999

Class VI: Less than 5,000

Rural - Urban Areas

Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM) suggested changing definition of rural-urban areas in India. EAC-PM member in a working paper titled ‘What is Urban/Rural India’ suggested that government needs a more dynamic approach to define rural-urban areas.

Current Definition of Rural and Urban settlements:

As of 2017, any settlement that is not considered 'urban' is automatically considered 'rural'.

There are 2 types of urban settlements

✓ Administratively urban settlements are those that are governed by an Urban Local Body (ULB).

✓ Census Urban Settlements are those that have a population greater than 5000, 75% of male population working in non-agriculture, and a density of 400 people per sq. Km.

Problems with current labelling of settlement:

✓ Current classification often inadequate in capturing speed and scale of urbanization in India.

✓ Panchayats in de facto urban areas are ill equipped in terms of human resources.

✓ Slow transition from rural administrative panchayats to ULBs results in incorrect standards of services being applied; unmet requirements of local public goods, etc.

Solutions provided by EAC-PM:

✓Establish “trigger mechanisms” which automate transition from rural to urban settlement after prescribed threshold is reached.

✓ Ministries should utilise census and other settlement wide indicators to determine rural definition that best suits their particular programme’s mandate.

Visakhapatnam to get Andhra Pradesh’s first energy saving building

 

Visakhapatnam will get Andhra Pradesh's first model super ECBC (energy conservation building code)-complaint building. The Union Ministry of Power-led Bureau of Energy Efficiency has come forward to offer financial support to Andhra Pradesh State Energy Conservation Mission for construction of this super ECBC-compliant building in Visakhapatnam. According to the state officials, this will be the third such building in the country.

The super ECBC buildings aim towards a near zero energy consumption for new commercial buildings and are more efficient than the normal ECBC buildings. The ECBC buildings consume 25 percent less energy, while the super ECBC buildings save around 50 percent electricity. With addition of renewable energy on-site, the super ECBC buildings can easily become net zero in energy consumption.

Andhra Pradesh has adopted ECBC-2017 code and included it in building bylaws. The state incorporated the ECBC compliance in the online development permission management system. Andhra Pradesh is the only state in the country that has issued a government order for setting up energy conservation cells in all government departments.

Definition of Urban Area

In the Census of India 2011, the definition of urban area adopted is as follows:

a) All statutory places with a municipality, corporation, cantonment board or notified town area committee, etc.;

b) A place satisfying the following criteria:

> Population is more than 5000.

> 75% of the male population engaged in non-agricultural occupations.

> A density of population of at least 400 per sq. km.

    Keeping the above criterion of 'urban area' in mind, urbanisation, in general, can be defined as the sM from a rural society to an urban society. It involves an increase in the number of people in urban areas during a particular year or period. It is the outcome of social, economic and political developments that lead to urban concentration and growth of large cities, changes in land use and transformation from rural to metropolitan pattern of organisation and governance.

    It has been viewed as an important factor in the areas of economic transformation, orchestrating the breakdown of the feudal order and talung societies to higher levels of social formation. Urbanisation is intrinsically connected and irrevocably enlaced with the development process, as an essential strand in the contemporary economic system.

    Urbanisation implies a cultural, social and psychological pmss whereby people acquire the material and non-material culture, including behavioural patterns, forms of organization, and ideas that originated in or are distinctive of the city. Although the flow of cultural influences takes place in both the directions towards and away from the city -there is substantial agreement that the cultural influences exerted by the city on non-urban people are probably more pervasive than the reverse.

Urban Planning Principles

Urban Development of a country / state / district / region primarily depends on how effectively the urban settlements, that is, town, city, metro or mega city have been planned and managed. Urban planning and management come within the broad ambit of urban governance. So technically it can be stated that growth of urban sector of a country, which contributes maximum percentage of GDP, depends on good governance of its urban areas. In this regard, good governance has 8 criteria, but its basic premise is to plan and manage the urban areas well. Hence the Planning of settlements - urban or rural occupying land/space is equally important as is economic planning. 

The principles of urban planning encompass knowledge of various fields like geography, economics, sociology, engineering and architecture. The guiding principles of urban planning starts with forecasting the population for whom the plan is to be prepared followed by the major 7 aspects to be suitably planned and provided: 

i) Housing 

ii) Public and Semi-Public Offices 

iii) Commercial facilities 

iv) Recreation Centers

v) Roads and Transportation 

vi) Green Belt / Green Cover 

vii) Zoning. 

Statutory and non-statutory plans prepared as part of the Urban Planning give due cognisance to applicable principles of planning. Yet, due to various interest groups, we commonly observe significant variation in the principles and real life situation. 

The main aim of Urban Planning is to provide good quality of life to the occupants of urban settlements. This aim can be achieved by formulating the objectives and adopting strategies to provide or maintain the major following four aspects that are essential for urban dwellers/people. 

i) Convenience/Comfort: This includes provision of physical infrastructure such as electricity, adequate water supply, transport facilities, easy disposal of sewage and waste. The recreational amenities comprising of open spaces, parks, town halls, playgrounds, malls, stadiums, auditorium etc. are also essential for comfort of people. 

ii) Aesthetics: This can be understood by natural elements within and surrounding the urban settlement and also by giving architectural finishes to its various components. It not only includes natural elements but also architectural control on public as well as semi-public buildings, ancient architectural buildings, temples, churches, buildings of cultural and historical significance. 

iii) Environment: This can be understood with the approach that activities of man should not have negative impact on both the built and natural environment. In the current context, it also includes impact on climate change. 

iv) Good Health: The objective of health is accommodated in urban planning by making right use of land for right purpose by providing social infrastructure, parks and playgrounds for the public, by maintaining the pollution of various forms to the lowest possible degree etc. 

Sports city

Sports  City  defines  a  large  developed  area  with  all  kind  of  sports  infrastructure  facility  to  support  organising  and  hosting  different  sports  activities  in  a  city.  Basically  it is a concept of “City within City” which provides a regular series  of sports  venues, sports academies,  providing  a platform for youth development, recreational  sports  facilities,  residential  and  commercial  developments,  together  with  all  the  related  amenities.  The  purpose‐built  city  is  supported  by  service  facilities  like  schools,  medical  facilities  for  sportsmen  and  residents,  hotels,  community  centres  and entertainment venue.  And eventually  all the events  of sports city translate their  activity  into  economic generation  for an economically sustainable sport city.

Medi‐City

The concept of modern medical cities or special health care facilities as been in place  for  some  time,  but  has gained  renewed interest,  particularly in  rapidly  developing  economies. The concept of a medi city or  health  city  defines a cluster of hospitals, a  holistic healthcare  centre; a large hospital sprawled across acres of land. Medi‐city  can  be  a  new  township  or  a  zone  of  a  city,  where  medical  facilities  are  provided  releasing pressure from  the main  city or to promote medical tourism attracting new  sources of  economic  growth.   

Medi‐cities  have  been  designed  to  be  comprehensive  in  scope  and  incorporate  advanced  technologies and  medical practices. The scale and scope of medical cities  usually  demands  an  advanced level  of  care,  both in  technology  and  approaches  to  create an attractive  destination  for care  to ensure the high level of patient volumes  required  to support such a large setup. 

Special Purpose Plan

Special Purpose Plan can be prepared for specific developmentsectors depending on  its economic  and environmental  importance. Depending on the urgency of the need  and  priority  of  the  sector  requiring  special  treatment  and  covering  special  aerial  extent, Special Purpose Plans  for specific subjects can be prepared. 

However, these  plans  are  to  be  within  the  framework  of  the  Regional  Plan,  Development  Plan  or  Local Area Plan  in the jurisdiction of the local authority.   

These plans  may also emerge  to serve  the purpose of  urban planning needs under  different  Central  and  State  Government  grants,  funding  schemes /  programmes  with an aim to:  

✓ Encourage  reforms  and  fast  track  planned  development  of  cities,  peri‐urban  areas, out‐growths, urban  corridors,  and others,   

✓ Scale‐up  delivery  of  civic amenities and  provision  of  utilities with emphasis  on  universal access to the urban poor, 

 ✓ Special focus on urban renewal programme,   

✓ Supplement to budget documents on ULBs,  

✓ Sustainability, Environmental and heritage protection,   

✓ Theme based development such as tourism, IT etc.  

Infrastructure in Urban Planning Framework

Urban planning is considered as one of the important tools for managing urban growth as well as for the provision of a framework for public goods and services, according to the spatial planning hierarchies and scales. Infrastructure services, thus, form a very important component of urban planning and city development strategies, ensuring a better quality of life for their citizens.

In India, however, the process of urban planning itself has been evolving and lacks a serious clarity of purpose and ground-level implementation. It is estimated that around 100 Indian towns and cities have updated forms of urban planning directing their urban growths. Also, the subject of urban planning, being a “state subject”, the content and approach vary significantly from state to state.

Although a national guideline of Urban and Regional Development and Plan Formulation (URDPFI) guidelines of 2014 exists at the national level, however, the guideline is rarely followed or understood well by the state-level implementation agencies. A typical statutory urban plan, thus a long-term proposal for urban land use and development control regulations.

The majority of these planning proposals are long term land use control proposals, based on “predict and provide” type philosophies. These plans generally lack sound infrastructure proposals as well as a good road map towards resource mobilisation. As a result, the majority of these planning proposals remain under-realised on the ground.

In the early 2000s, the strategic planning tools like City Development Strategies (CDS), followed by City Development Plans (CDPs) and Slum Free City Plans, during the National Urban Renewal Mission and later, Smart City Plans (SCPs), HRIDAY City Heritage Plans (CHPs), City Mobility Plans (CMP), among others, gained substantial popularity due to their clear focus on infrastructure and linkages with the national level funding.

The National Urban Renewal mission also popularized the notion of “Detailed Project Reports or DPRs” for funding of infrastructure proposals. Such funding opportunity being available at the national level, the significance of a city-level spatial planning or city master plans got further diluted and DPRs became more attractive for the city administration.

As a part of its reform agenda, the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) has introduced the preparation of GISbased Master Planning and a subscheme on Local Area Planning (LAP) and Town Planning schemes (TPS). The sub-scheme on LAP and TPS is a step in the right direction towards the creation of much needed spatial planning hierarchy in the urban context.

However, the present approach of GIS-based Master Plan preparation focuses mainly on the mapping of urban geographic features and lack its focus on planning aspects of infrastructure, urban poverty, and city economy. In some states, GIS-based Master Planning is viewed as a parallel planning process, but again not harmonised with the state-specific statutory planning process.

The Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 11.3 states, “By 2030, enhance inclusive and sustainable urbanisation and capacity for participatory, integrated and sustainable human settlement planning and management in all countries”. Being at the forefront of the urbanisation trends, India remains a key actor in the global sustainability agenda.

National Urban Policy

The Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs, Government of India has come out with a National Urban Policy Framework (NUPF)-2018 which outlines an integrated and coherent approach towards the future of urban planning in India. The NUPF is structured along two lines. Firstly, at the NUPF’s core lie ten sutras or philosophical principles, which include: 

(i) Cities are Clusters of Human Capital; 

(ii) Cities require a ‘Sense of Place’ (i.e. Indianness); 

(iii) Not static Master Plans but evolving Ecosystems; 

(iv) Build for Density; 

(v) Public Spaces that encourage Social Interaction; 

(vi) Multi-modal Public Transport Backbone; 

(vii) Environmental Sustainability; 

(viii) Financially Self-Reliant; 

(ix) Cities require Clear, Unified Leadership; and 

(x) Cities as Engines of Regional Growth. 

Secondly, the ten sutras are applied to ten functional areas or pillars of urban space and management as demonstrated in Figure 1. These ten pillars are: Urban Economy; Physical Infrastructure; Social Infrastructure; Housing and Affordability; Transportation and Mobility; Urban Planning and Design; Urban Finance; Urban Governance; Urbanization and Information System; and Environmental Sustainability. Within each functional area, the status quo and its challenges are analyzed, key priorities are formulated, and specific possible actions points suggested. The vision underpinning NUPF 2018 is to see cities as complex and changing agglomerations of people who are constantly interacting with each other, with socio-economic institutions and with the built environment. The NUPF recognizes that the urban evolution takes place slowly but, once embedded, its impact can remain in place for decades or even centuries. Therefore, this Policy framework would go a long way for sustainable urbanisation in the country.

Failure of Master Plans

Nearly one-fourth of the urban population in India lives in slums and around 80 percent of urban workers are employed in the informal economy. Informal housing and workplaces do not find a place in the outdated model of spatial planning followed and implemented in India. 

The master planning model implemented in India is rooted in the 1947 Town and Country Planning Act of the United Kingdom. The UK changed its planning paradigm in 1968. However, India continues to follow it in the original form. This model is not linked to the income distribution structure of cities and ignores the fact that a large segment of the population in cities belongs to the poor and low-income groups. It also does not integrate inclusion into planning, financing, and governance in cities. It fails to plan for “informal city” and recognizes only the formal sector. 

The city master plans have failed to provide adequate space for the poor to live, work and vend. The land allocation process adopted by the Government planning agencies ignores the needs of the urban poor for housing and informal activities carried out in non-conventional workplaces. While the master plans have invariably allocated space for shopping malls and high-end commercial activities, they have failed to allocate space for informal markets and vending zones. 

The master plans have also neglected mixed landuse zoning, which is appropriate for Indian conditions, with large numbers engaged in home-based work and street vending. The lack of legal recognition to the informal sector urban planning has led to frequent evictions of the urban poor from homes and workplaces in the name of master plan enforcement and world-class city. 

Master Plans in India conceive a grand vision and end-state spatial form, unrelated to the real urban economy. The technocratic master plans rely on a non-participatory process. They treat areas with similar characteristics as ‘conforming’ for the high and middle-income segments while regarding slums in the same area as ‘nonconforming’ and ‘illegal’.

Outgrowth

The Outgrowth is a viable unit such as a village or a hamlet or an enumeration block and clearly identifiable in terms of its boundaries and location. While determining the Outgrowth of a town, it has been ensured that it possesses the urban features in terms of infrastructure and amenities such as pucca roads, electricity, taps, drainage system for disposal of waste water, etc. educational institutions, post offices, medical facilities, banks, etc. and physically contiguous with the core town of the Urban Agglomeration. 

On the basis of above criteria, in 2011 Census a total of 474 Urban Agglomerations were identified against 384 in the preceding Census (i.e., 2001 Census). Similarly, a total of 981 Outgrowths was identified in 2011 Census, against 960 in 2001 Census.

Urban Agglomeration

Proposals regarding Urban Agglomerations (UAs) forwarded by the State/UT Directorates of Census Operations are scrutinized and finalized in Social Studies division. In 1961 Census the concept of 'Town Group' was adopted to obtain a broad picture relating to urban spread. This was refined in 1971 with the concept of Urban Agglomeration to obtain better feedback in regard to urban contiguity, processes, trends of urbanization and other related matters. This concept remained operative in 1981, 1991, 2001, and in 2011 Censuses without any change or modification. 

An Urban Agglomeration is a continuous urban spread constituting a town and its adjoining outgrowths (OGs), or two or more physically contiguous towns together with or without outgrowths of such towns. In some cases, railway colonies, university campuses, port areas, military camps, etc. would have come up near a statutory town outside its statutory limits but within the revenue limits of a village or villages contiguous to the town. Each of these individual areas may by itself not satisfy the criteria for it to qualify as an independent urban unit but may qualify to be clubbed with the existing towns as their continuous urban spread (i.e., an Outgrowth). For the purpose of identification of Urban Agglomerations following criteria are adopted: 

(a) The core town or at least one of the constituent towns of an urban agglomeration should necessarily be a statutory town. 

(b) The total population of an Urban Agglomeration (i.e., all the constituents put together) should not be less than 20,000 as per the Preceding Census. 

In varying local conditions, there were similar other combinations which have been treated as urban agglomerations satisfying the basic condition of contiguity.

Census Town and Statutory Town

 The definition of a town is as follows: 

(a) All places which have been notified under law and have local bodies like municipal corporations, municipalities, municipal committees, municipal boards, municipal town committees, cantonment boards, notified areas, notified area committees, town committees, town areas, town boards, town municipalities, sanitary boards, nagar panchayats, etc., irrespective of their demographic characteristics. 

(b) All other places which satisfied the following criteria: 

(i) A minimum population of 5,000 (All villages having a population of 4000 or more at the Census 2001 were identified). 

(ii) At least 75 per cent of the male main working population engaged in non-agricultural pursuits (while applying this criterion, the workers engaged in the agricultural activities, namely (a) Cultivators, (b) Agricultural Labourers and (c) Plantation, Livestock, Forestry, Fishing, Hunting and allied activities were excluded for computing the percentage of workers engaged in non-agricultural pursuits). 

 (iii) A density of population of at least 400 per sq. km. (villages that satisfied the above two criteria and had a density of 400 persons per sq. km. were classified as Census Towns).

The units that fall under category (a) above are designated as “Statutory Towns” and those in category (b) are designated as “Census Towns”. In Census 2011, a total of 7,933 towns were identified. The corresponding number in Census 2001 was 5,161. Out of these, as many as 4,041 were designated as Statutory Towns and 3,892 were designated as Census Towns. The corresponding numbers in Census 2001 was 3,799 and 1,362 respectively.  

Urban Fires

Urban fire occurs primarily in cities or towns with the potential to rapidly spread to adjoining structures. These fires damage and destroy homes, schools, commercial buildings, and vehicles.

Urban fires have a devastating impact on:

✓ People's health due to asphyxiation, release of the toxic gases and explosions/bursts caused by it.

✓ Communities due to the breaking up of economic activities and environmental destruction.

Fire safety regulations in India: 

✓ Constitutional Provisions: Fire Services come under Twelfth Schedule (Article 243W), so either municipalities or the State Government/UTs look regulate it through local building bye laws.

✓ National Building Code of India 2016 (published by Bureau of Indian Standards) was issued to the States to incorporate the recommendations in their building byelaws with detailed provisions under Part – IV “Fire & Life Safety” on fire prevention, life safety and fire protection including General Exit requirements and Standards for construction.

✓ In 2020, Ministry of Health & Family welfare circulated strict guidelines stipulating third-party

accreditation for fire safety.

✓ NDMA has stipulated requirements for fire safety in public buildings, including hospitals.

Sustainable City Development

UN-Habitat has identified multi-hazard vulnerabilities, urban sprawl, weak urban mobility and “green-blue disconnect” as the pressing issues for Jaipur city.

UN-Habitat has based its findings on a Sustainable Cities Integrated Approach Pilot (SCIAP) project, as part of which the “sustainable urban planning and management” component was implemented in collaboration with the Jaipur Development Authority and Jaipur Greater Municipal Corporation.

Sustainable city: 

A sustainable city is one designed to address social, environmental, and economic impact through urban planning and city management. A sustainable city offers a good quality of life to current residents but doesn't reduce the opportunities for future residents to enjoy. 

Key sustainability issues faced by Indian cities :

Climate change: 

✓Cities are one of the main contributors to India’s GHG emissions through industrial, vehicular and domestic emissions, energy demands, changes in land use etc. 

✓Urban areas/cities are highly vulnerable to climate change events like flooding, sea level rise, cyclones, heat waves, water stress, among others. 

✓ Burdened infrastructure, congestion and traffic. 

✓ Declining green (trees, parks, fields etc.) and blue (lakes, ponds etc.) spaces which increases threats like urban flooding, Heat island effect etc. 

✓ Threats to people’s physical and mental wellbeing due to deterioration of air and water quality, light and noise pollution, lack of green spaces etc. 

✓ Lack of affordable housing pushing marginalized populations into disaster prone areas and informal settlements. 

✓ High waste generation and limited capacity to collect and utilize solid and liquid waste. 

Key barriers in sustainable cities development in India:

✓ Low environmental awareness of urban population resulting in unsustainable lifestyle. 

✓ Inefficient funding for necessary investments which are not economically viable. 

✓Segmented approach in city’s political and operational structures result in poor integration of plans and actions. 

✓Insufficient transfer of knowledge on sustainability management and sectoral solutions, which are needed for improving environmental performance. 

✓Lack of integrated planning resulting to sustainable development strategies not being largely taken into account in development plans and not being addressed cohesively in different policy areas.  

Way Forward:

✓Increasing nature in city’s infrastructure and built environment through nature-based solutions (NbS) for infrastructure. 

✓Improving Urban governance models by mainstreaming citizens health and wellbeing and biodiversity in decision-making.

✓Adopting systems approach in which complex interactions between systems (e.g. healthcare, education and environment,) are mapped, and the outcomes of each action are measured and reported in totality. 

✓Prioritizing circular economy and bio-inspired innovations for economic competitiveness. 

✓Utilizing novel investment models like Debt-for-nature swaps. 

Integrating Energy Use, Transport and Urban Planning

While infrastructure development is the key component to building livable and sustainable cities, energy is the fuel to keep the city running. From telecommunication systems, freight railroads, hospitals, schools, transportation, water and sewage network, buildings and parks, energy is a fundamental pillar of any economy. Electricity is the most commonly used form of energy in residential, commercial and industrial sectors. The International Energy Agency (IEA) has called electricity “crucial to human development” and “one of the clearest and undistorted indications of a country’s energy poverty status.” Experience from the recent pandemic further demonstrates the importance of electricity to all economic activity, prosperity, livelihoods and human well-being. 

Further, there is a desire and ambition to transition to “Net Zero” as articulated by the Government and private sector. Net-zero refers to a state in which the amount of carbon emitted by a country into the atmosphere is offset by absorbing an equivalent amount of greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. At the 26th Conference of Parties (COP26), India committed to a net-zero carbon emissions target by 2070. Given that India will continue to urbanize rapidly, it is possible for the Indian cities to adopt sustainability targets including the “Net Zero” goal well ahead of the national target by 2070. Achieving “Net Zero” by 2070 will require cities to take lead and adopt ambitious targets.

India has transitioned from an electricity deficient economy to a one with significant surplus and exports. However, the transition to Net Zero will require significant investments and institutional capacity to deploy clean energy projects, and strengthen the electricity grid. Downstream investments in the distribution systems will be crucial even though the grid has expanded to connect most households. The recent supply-side constraints due to fuel-related challenges, however, highlight the need for further reforms in the sector.

The increase in electricity coverage has however not been accompanied by improvement in the quality of power supply. India ranks 80 out of 137 countries on the quality of electricity supply (World Economic Forum, 2018). High losses and tariff below costs mean that distribution companies (Discoms) are unable to invest in network upgrades and maintenance. Achieving sustainable urbanization will require high-quality electricity as cities expand vertically, 24x7 operations become the norm and the digitalization levels expand with 5G networks. These trends will further accelerate with wider adoption of the Internet of Things (IoT), digital security systems and integrated utility management platforms (on the Integrated Resource Management principle).

Cities thrive on movement - it enables interactions, trade, and livelihoods. Transport is thus a key enabler for the cities. Traditional urban planning in India often ignored this critical dimension, though transport started to feature prominently in the urban discussions over the last two decades. Despite several interventions, the implementation of reforms has been challenging, resulting in a significant gap in the provision of safe and sustainable public transport. Advancements in the electric drive train and battery storage in the last few years mean that electric vehicles are increasingly available and economical, especially for public transport. 

The recent tender floated by Convergence Energy Services Ltd (CESL) for 5,450 electric buses, discovered very competitive prices, close to the operational cost of diesel buses. Therefore, the interlinkages between transport and electricity are expected to increase. The imminent electrification of the transport sector and centrality of electricity in the urban development and sustainability means that the integration of energy in policies and planning for cities is an unrealized opportunity. 

Indian cities have till now not placed due emphasis on sustainability. Further, fractured mandates across multiple agencies, lack of coordination across departments and a short-term “bandage approach” to infrastructure development have led to suboptimal outcomes. This approach has undermined sustainability, and compromised resilience and the quality of life. Limited budgets and the lack of financial autonomy at the municipal level have also been a barrier to high-quality infrastructure development and adequate focus on sustainability.

Transferable Development Rights (TDR)

Transferable Development Rights (TDR) means an award specifying the Built-Up Area (BUA) an owner of a site or plot can either sell or utilize - in-situ / elsewhere, in lieu of the land foregone on account of surrendering / gifting land free of cost to the ULB’s (Municipal Body, Urban Improvement Trust, Urban Development Authority), required to be set apart for public purpose as per the Master Plan or for road widening, recreational use zone, etc. The award is in the form of a TDR Certificate issued by the Competent Authority. The TDR Certificate inter-alia should mention the area surrendered and the cost of that area as per the circle rate. These certificates are regulated under the building Bye-Laws or in conjunction with TDR guidelines framed by State Governments from time-to-time.

TDR is a technique of land development, which separates the development potential of a particular parcel of land from it and allows its use elsewhere within the defined zones of the city. It allows the owner to sell the development rights of a particular parcel of land to another. This entitlement is over and above the usual FSI available for receiving plot in accordance with the prevailing laws and regulations, which entitles a landowner to construct additional built‐up area on his existing building or vacant land. This is generally used for redevelopment of inner-city zones and for reconstruction/ re‐ development and has been tried out in numerous cities/ States. However, it has its prospects and consequences as experienced from the implementation in various cities. For instance, unbridled pooling of TDRs could damage the urban form, TOD strategies, quality of public spaces, etc. Hence it should be used carefully within a predefined spatial framework.

Swachhotsav 2023

Swachhotsav 2023 was launched by Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) on International Zero Waste Day (IZWD) 2023. Swachhotsav campaign aims at galvanizing participation and leadership of women to realize the goal of ‘Garbage Free Cities’.  The first IZWD has been jointly facilitated by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the UN Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat).  MoHUA said that 1,000 cities are targeted to become 3-star Garbage Free Cities (GFC) by October 2024 under the Swachh Bharat Mission Urban (SBM-U) 2.0.  GFC-Star rating protocol was launched in 2018 under SBM-U 2.0 to encourage a competitive, mission-mode spirit among Urban Local Bodies (ULBs).

Key achievements under SBM-U:

✓Urban India has become Open Defecation Free (ODF).

✓ All 4,715 Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) completely ODF,

✓ 3,547 ULBs are ODF+ with functional and hygienic community and public toilets and

✓ 1,191 ULBs are ODF++ with complete faecal sludge management.

✓ Waste processing in India has gone up by over four times from 17% in 2014 to 75% today.

About SBM-U 2.0:

✓ It is being implemented as a centrally sponsored scheme by MoHUA and envisages to make all cities ‘Garbage Free’.

✓ It focuses on source segregation of solid waste, utilizing the principles of 3Rs (reduce, reuse, recycle), etc for effective solid waste management.

Water Bodies - First Census Report

For the first time in the history of the country, the Ministry of Jal Shakti has conducted the first-ever census of water bodies across the nation. The census provides a comprehensive inventory of India's water resources, including natural and man-made water bodies like ponds, tanks, lakes, and more, and to collect data on the encroachment of water bodies. The Census also highlighted disparities between rural and urban areas and varying levels of encroachment and revealed crucial insights into the country's water resources.

The census was launched under the centrally sponsored scheme, “Irrigation Census” in convergence with the 6th Minor Irrigation Census in order to have a comprehensive national database of all water bodies. The information on all important aspects of the water bodies including their type, condition, status of encroachments, use, storage capacity, status of filling up of storage, etc was collected. It covered all the water bodies located in rural as well as urban areas that are in-use or not in-use. The census also took into account all type of uses of water bodies like irrigation, industry, pisciculture, domestic/ drinking, recreation, religious, ground water recharge etc. Census has been successfully completed and the All India and State-wise reports have been published.

The key features/findings of the Census are as follows:

> 24,24,540 water bodies have been enumerated in the country, out of which 97.1% (23,55,055) are in rural areas and only 2.9% (69,485) are in urban areas.

> Top 05 States in terms of number of water bodies are West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and Assam which constitute around 63% of the total water bodies in the country.

> Top 05 States in terms of number of water bodies in urban areas are West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh and Tripura, whereas in rural areas, top 05 States are West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and Assam.

> 59.5% of water bodies are ponds, followed by tanks (15.7%), reservoirs (12.1%), Water conservation schemes/percolation tanks/check dams (9.3%), lakes (0.9%) and others (2.5%).

> 55.2% of water bodies are owned by private entities whereas 44.8% of water bodies are in the domain of public ownership.

> Out of all public owned water bodies, maximum water bodies are owned by Panchayats, followed by State Irrigation/State WRD.

> Out of all private owned water bodies, maximum water bodies are in hands of Individual owner/farmer followed by group of individuals and other private bodies.

> Top 05 States which lead in the private owned water bodies are West Bengal, Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and Jharkhand.

> Out of all 'in use' water bodies, major water bodies are reported to be used in pisciculture followed by Irrigation.

> Top 05 States wherein major use of water bodies is in pisciculture are West Bengal, Assam, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh;

> Top 05 States wherein major use of water bodies is in irrigation are Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, West Bengal and Gujarat.

> 78% water bodies are man-made water bodies whereas 22% are natural water bodies. 1.6% (38,496) water bodies out of all the enumerated water bodies are reported to be encroached out of which 95.4% are in rural areas and remaining 4.6% in urban areas.

> The information on water spread area was reported in respect of 23,37,638 water bodies. Out of these water bodies, 72.4% have water spread area less than 0.5 hectare, 13.4% have water spread area between 0.5-1 hectare, 11.1% have water spread area between 1-5 hectares and remaining 3.1% of water bodies have water spread area more than 5 hectares.

Smart Cities Mission

Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs informed that 86% of funds have been utilised and 69% of projects completed under Smart Cities Mission.

About Smart Cities Mission:

>  Smart Cities Mission is Centrally Sponsored Scheme launched in 2015 under Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.

>  The main objective of the Mission is to promote cities that provide core infrastructure, clean and sustainable environment and give a decent quality of life to their citizens through the application of‘smart solutions’.

>  100 cities have been selected to be developed as Smart Cities.

Mission comprises 3 model:

* City improvement (retrofitting),

* City renewal (redevelopment)

* City extension (greenfield development).

>  The Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) is created by each city to implement the Smart Cities Mission (SCM) at the city level.

* The SPV will be a limited company incorporated under the Companies Act, 2013 at the city-level, in which the State/UT and the ULB will be the promoters having 50:50 equity shareholding.

* The private sector or financial institutions could be considered for taking equity stake in the SPV, provided the shareholding pattern of 50:50 of the State/UT and the ULB is maintained and the State/UT and the ULB together have majority shareholding and control of the SPV.

Issues in Smart Cities Mission:

>  Lack of Suitable Infrastructure for Smart Cities: Smart city initiatives need the support of physical and IT infrastructure.

> Transparency and Data Privacy: Smart cities rely on gathering and analysing data from various sources which can cause privacy issues.

> Financing: Maintaining smart cities requires a lot of resources and not all cities have the financial capacity to enact smart city initiatives.

> Data Processing Capacity and Efficiency: Smart cities need a reliable and efficient way to process and analyze massive amounts of data.

> Slow progress: Only around 20 cities are likely to meet the June 2023 deadline; the rest will need more time.  The sluggish pace of progress suggests that the project management and execution are inadequate, leading to a wastage of resources and causing delayed benefits for the citizens.

> Against decentralization: SPVs limit the powers and autonomy of local governments. This goes against the 74th Amendment Act, 1992 which encourages decentralization.

Suggestions:

>  Strict Timeline for Completion of Projects: Smart Cities Mission has completed only 69% of the planned projects, indicating the need for a strict timeline for project completion. It is essential to ensure that the projects are completed on time to achieve the desired results.

>  Need for a Long-Term Program: Smart Cities Mission should be a long-term program, not restricted to five or six years as currently envisioned. This will provide sufficient time to address the social and economic problems facing these towns and cities.

>  Building Managerial and Financial Capacities: Training programs should be organized to build the managerial and financial capacities of the staff employed by the Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs) and urban local bodies.

> Empirical Studies on SPVs: Empirical studies should be undertaken on the SPVs in cities that lag behind in implementation to understand the reasons for the delay.

> Mobilising Funds: The Centre, state governments, and urban local bodies should make a greater effort to mobilize funds for the Smart Cities Mission. More revenue needs to be generated through efficient taxation, and alternate sources of financing.

> Ensuring Cyber Security: Smart cities should be made cyber secure by ensuring data security and encryption.