Urbanisation : news and updates

What is the News?

Draft Master Plan for Delhi-2041 has been released in the public domain by Delhi Development Authority (DDA). Suggestions and objections have been invited from the public.

About Draft Master Plan for Delhi-2041:

• Draft Master Plan for Delhi has been prepared by Delhi Development Authority(DDA) in partnership with the National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA).
  • NIUA is India’s leading national think tank on urban planning and development. In 1976, NIUA was appointed as an apex body to support and guide the Government of India in its urban development plans.
  • Since then, it has worked closely with the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, alongside other government and civil sectors
• Objective: The plan has been prepared as a set of guidelines meant to be used in the policies for housing, construction, transport and environment over the next 20 years in Delhi.
• Vision: The vision for the plan is to “Foster a Sustainable, Liveable and Vibrant Delhi by 2041”.
• First Master Plan: The first master plan for Delhi was promulgated in 1962 under the Delhi Development Act of 1957. It was followed by the master plans of 2001 and 2021.

Key Focus Areas of the Draft Master Plan for Delhi-2041:

 Environment:

• Green Development Area (GDA) to be set up for incentivizing large-scale implementation of green economies.
• The polluting industries will not be permitted to operate within Delhi. The list of polluting industries will be periodically updated by the Delhi government and DDA.
• Enhancement of a “Green-Blue Infrastructure (GBI)” by taking into account the Aravali ridge, the Yamuna, forests, wetlands, parks and other assets.
  • GBI is an interconnected network of natural and designed landscape components, including water bodies and green and open spaces.
  • Blue infrastructure refers to infrastructure related to hydrological functions. This includes rainwater and urban stormwater systems as well as surface water
  • Green infrastructure refers to green spaces like parks, natural vegetation like trees etc.
• Dust management plan at construction sites
• Creation of a tree directory in order to preserve count the number of trees
• Promoting clean economic activities and minimized vehicular pollution by creating multimodal hubs and encouraging green mobility.

Read Also :-The Constitutional status of Article 35A

Economy:

• Promoting the concept of ‘24-hour city’ by fostering a night-time economy
• No new mixed-use streets: This means no commercial streets will be declared in residential areas
• New industrial areas to be developed as a hub of the clean economy (tech and cyber parks etc)
• Multi-use community work centres or co-working spaces to be developed
• Development of business promotion districts in industrial areas
• Providing infrastructure for the informal sector

Transport:

• Introduction of congestion pricing and dynamic parking charges
• Restriction of on-street parking
• Development of e-vehicles infrastructure
• Development of ‘cycling highways and enhancing walkability

Housing:

• Promotion of rental housing (permission to develop it in industrial areas, etc)
• Online portal for rental housing scheme
• Development of large-scale housing using land-pooling
• Redevelopment of unauthorized colonies

Heritage Public Places:

• Area-based improvement approach for revitalizing the commercial and socio-cultural hubs of the city. This includes areas like Connaught Place, Mandi House, Pragati Maidan and Shahjahanabad (Walled City).

Read Also :-India’s maritime domain

Source: The Hindu

What is the News?

The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs has launched the EatSmart Cities Challenge and Transport 4 All Challenge.

About EatSmart Cities Challenge:

• EatSmart Cities Challenge is organized by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs. The challenge is organised in association with the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India(FSSAI) under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
• Aim: The aim is to motivate Smart Cities to develop a plan that supports a healthy, safe and sustainable food environment.
  • This plan would receive support from institutional, physical, social, and economic infrastructure. Along with that the application of ‘smart’ solutions to combat food-related issues.
• Key Features of the Challenge:
  • As part of the Challenge, competition will organize among cities to recognize their efforts. This includes efforts in adopting and scaling up various initiatives under Eat Right India.
  • This will create an environment of the right food practices and habits. It also strengthens the food safety, regulatory environment and build awareness among the consumers.
• Eligibility: The challenge is open to all Smart Cities, capital cities of States /UTs, and cities with a population of more than 5 lakh.
• Selection: At the end of the first phase of the challenge, 11 cities will be selected. After that, these cities will go for deeper engagement for an extended period to implement their vision.

About Transport 4 All (T4All) Challenge:

• The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs launched Transport 4 All challenge. The ministry is collaborating with the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy(ITDP), a Non-governmental organization.
• Aim: The aim is to develop digital solutions that will make public transport safe, affordable, comfortable, and reliable for all.
• Key Features:
  • Firstly, at the core of the challenge are citizens. They will not only define the problems and create solutions. But also help start-ups and cities to refine the solutions to meet their needs.
  • Secondly, the first edition of the T4All Challenge focuses on digital innovation. Thus, cities and start-ups will receive guidance to develop and test various solutions, learn from them and scale them. All this will build people’s trust in public transport and enhance their mobility.
  • Further, the solutions will make public transport—formal as well as informal— safe, convenient, and affordable for all.
• Eligibility: All the Smart Cities Mission cities, capitals of states and union territories (UTs), and all cities with a population of over 5 lakhs—are eligible for the Challenge.

Click Here to Read about TULIP

Source: PIB

What is the News?

National Institute of Urban Affairs(NIUA) in partnership with Bernard van Leer Foundation(BvLF) has launched the “Infant Toddler and Caregiver-friendly Neighbourhoods (ITCN) Training and Capacity Building Programme”.

About the ITCN Programme:

• The ITCN Programme is designed to build capacities of city officials and young professionals. It is for developing neighbourhoods within Indian cities that are friendly to young children and families.

Key Features of the ITCN Programme:

• Firstly, under the programme, city officials and young professionals will get skills through certified training and capacity building modules.
• Secondly, the training will take place through well-structured training modules. These modules are provided online through the National Urban Learning Platform (NULP).

About National Institute of Urban Affairs(NIUA):

• National Institute of Urban Affairs(NIUA) was established in 1976. It is a premier institute of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs,
• Purpose: It aims to bridge the gap between research and practice on issues related to urbanization. Further, it suggests ways and mechanisms to address urban challenges in the country.
• Significance: The institute has utilized its competencies in research, knowledge management, policy advocacy and capacity building to address urban challenges. Further, NIUA continuously strives to develop sustainable, inclusive and productive urban ecosystems in the country.

About National Urban Learning Platform(NULP):

• National Urban Learning Platform (NULP) is an initiative of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs and National Institute of Urban Affairs(NIUA).
• Aim: The platform aims to empower India’s urban functionaries, administrators, elected representatives, civil society, industry actors and other ecosystem players. The NULP also aims to empower them to build smart, inclusive, sustainable and resilient cities.

Source: PIB

What is the News?

Bombay Municipal Corporation(BMC) has been using the Miyawaki method to create tiny urban forests in the Metropolitan areas of Mumbai.

What is the Miyawaki Method?

• Miyawaki is an afforestation method based on the work of Japanese botanist Akira Miyawaki in the 1980s.

Process of Miyawaki Method:

• Initially, native trees of the region are identified and divided into four layers — shrub, sub-tree, tree, and canopy.
• After that, The quality of soil is analysed and biomass is mixed with it. Biomass mixing help to enhance the perforation capacity, water retention capacity, and nutrients.
• A mound is built with the soil and the seeds are planted at a very high density. Furthermore, the ground is covered with a thick layer of mulch.
• Multi-layered saplings are planted close to each other. This blocks sunlight from reaching the ground and prevents weeds from growing. It also keeps the soil moist.
• The close cropping also ensures that the plants receive sunlight only from the top. It enables them to grow upwards rather than sideways.

Benefits of Miyawaki Method:

• Faster Process and Dense Forest: This method creates mini forests. They grow 10 times faster and become 30 times denser and 100 times more biodiverse than those planted through conventional methods.
• Faster Regeneration of Land: Miyawaki forests are designed to regenerate land in far less time. It takes over 70 years for a forest to recover on its own.
• Self Sustainable: The saplings become self-sustainable after the first three years.
• Environmental Benefits: These mini forests help lower temperatures in concrete heat islands, reduce air and noise pollution, attract local birds and insects, and create carbon sinks.

Source: Indian Express

Anthropology Syllabus

What is the news?

The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs releases the rankings of the Municipal Performance Index(MPI) 2020.

About Municipal Performance Index(MPI), 2020:

• It is a framework to assess and analyze the performance of Indian Municipalities. Performance is evaluated based on their defined set of functions.
• It provides citizens with a better understanding of their local government administration.
• The MPI has been undertaken for the first time in the country.

Note: Both Ease of Living Index and Municipal Performance Index(MPI) released together. Both indexes provide a holistic view of the performance of cities across India.

Parameters: The index ranks municipalities based on five parameters which are:

1. Services: It includes an assessment of all functions that citizens experience on a daily basis.
2. Finance: It measures municipalities based on how they manage public funds and how their agency is accessing financial resources.
3. Planning: It examines the level of preparation, implementation, and enforcement of urban planning.
4. Technology: It measures the digital coverage of municipality services and the extent to which it empowers its citizens to access such services.
5. Governance: It deals with aspects of municipal bodies and their governance mechanism.

Coverage:

• The index examined the sectoral performance of 111 municipalities (with Delhi being assessed separately for NDMC and the three Municipal Corporations).
• Classification: It has classified municipalities based on their population:
  • Million+ (municipalities having over a million population) and
  • Less than Million Population.

Key Findings:

• Million+ category: Indore has emerged as the highest-ranked municipality followed by Surat and Bhopal.
• Less than Million category: New Delhi Municipal Council has emerged as the leader followed by Tirupati and Gandhinagar.

Significance of the index:

• MPI provides a detailed understanding of municipalities’ functionalities and the extent of their development and capabilities.
• It also seeks to raise awareness among citizens and key stakeholders regarding their local government bodies and build greater transparency and accountability.

Source: Business Standard

What is the news?

The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs releases the rankings of the Ease of Living Index (EoLI) 2020.

About Ease of Living Index,2020:

• Developed by: Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs in 2018.
• It is an assessment tool. By this tool, quality of life and the impact of various initiatives on urban development are assessed.

Parameters: The index evaluates cities based on the following parameters:

• Quality of Life (35%): It looks at the indicators for decent urban life. These indicators include affordable housing, access to clean water, basic education, healthcare facilities, safety and security and recreation avenues.
• Economic Ability (15%): It captures the economic well-being of citizens. It is done by evaluating the level of economic development and inequalities in a particular city.
• Sustainability (20%): It evaluates the availability of green spaces, green buildings, level of energy consumption. Moreover, the quality of natural resources such as air, water, and the city’s ability to withstand natural disasters are also assessed.
• Citizen Perception Survey (30%): It provides a perception of the city residents. Thus, it allows citizens to evaluate the level and quality of development in their respective cities.

Coverage: The index assessed 111 cities by bifurcating them into two categories:

• Million+ populated cities (those with a population of more than a million) and
• Less than A Million populated cities (those with a population of less than a million) along with all the cities under the Smart Cities Program.

Key Findings:

• Million+ category: Bengaluru has emerged as the top performer. It is followed by Pune, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Surat, Navi Mumbai, Coimbatore, Vadodara, Indore, and Greater Mumbai.
• Less than Million category: Shimla is at the top in this category. It is followed by Bhubaneswar, Silvassa, Kakinada, Salem, Vellore, Gandhinagar, Gurugram, Davangere, and Tiruchirappalli.

Significance of the index:

• The findings from the index can help guide evidence-based policymaking.
• It also promotes healthy competition among cities. It encourages cities to learn from each other and advance their development trajectory.

Source: The Hindu

What is the News?

The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs launches the City Innovation exchange(CiX) platform.

About City Innovation exchange(CiX) Platform:

• The platform aims to connect cities to innovators. It will help to design innovative solutions for pressing urban challenges.
• The platform is built on the philosophy of ‘everyone is an innovator’.
• The Smart Cities Mission will partner and effectively collaborate with Startup India, Atal Innovation Mission, AGNIi, and other initiatives in the Indian Innovation ecosystem.
• Currently, the platform has more than 400 start-ups, 100 smart cities, more than 150 challenges statements, and over 215 solutions.

Significance of the platform:

• The platform brings together Citizens-Organisations -Academic Businesses-Government to co-create solutions for the future of Urban India.
• The platform will help cities in adopting solutions that will enhance the quality of life for their residents. Moreover, it will significantly improve the Ease of Doing Business.
• It will also be a significant addition to the growing innovation ecosystem of India as it focuses on fostering innovative practices in cities.

AGNIi – Accelerating Growth of New India’s Innovations

• Nodal Agency: It is a program of the Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India and a Mission under the Prime Minister’s Science, Technology, and Innovation Advisory Council(PM-STIAC).
• Purpose: It helps commercialize Indian technological innovations. It supports technology initiatives by connecting owners of innovative and new solutions with the market.
• Implementation: It is executed at Invest India, India’s National Investment Promotion Agency.

Source: PIB

[Answered]In the coming decade, India’s cities need to focus on governance and sustainable development. In light of this, discuss various reasons for the poor performance of urban local bodies in India. What should be done to improve urban local governance?

What is the News?

NITI Aayog has prepared a Draft National policy on Migrant workers.

Issues with the Existing Law on Migrants:

Inter-State Migrant Workers Act, 1979

• It was designed to protect labourers from exploitation by contractors. It safeguards their right to non-discriminatory wages, travel and displacement allowances, and suitable working conditions.
• However, this law covers only labourers migrating through a contractor. It does not cover independent migrants.

About the Draft Policy on Migrant Workers:

Approach: The draft policy describes two approaches to policy design:

• Handout Approach: It focuses on cash transfers, special quotas, and reservations. It also means providing aids instead of skills.
• Rights-Based Approach: It enhances the agency and capability of the community. Thereby, it promotes an individual’s own natural ability to thrive.

The Draft policy rejected the Handout approach and opted for a rights-based approach.

Salient features of the Draft Policy:

• Implementation by: Ministry of Labour and Employment should be the nodal Ministry for implementation.
• Special Unit: Ministry should create a special unit to help converge the activities of other Ministries. This unit would manage migration resource centres in high migration zones.
• Central Database: The policy calls for the creation of a central database of migrant labours.
• Role of Panchayats:  Panchayats should maintain a database of migrant workers. It would issue identity cards and passbooks to workers. Moreover, it would also provide migration management and governance through training, placement and social-security benefit assurance.
• Inter-state migration management bodies should be set up to cover the nation’s key migration corridors: Uttar Pradesh and Mumbai; Bihar and Delhi; Western Odisha and Andhra Pradesh; Rajasthan and Gujarat, and Odisha and Gujarat.
• Migrants Workers Section: Labour Departments in Each state should establish a migrant workers section. labour officers of source states and destination states should work collectively.
• Migrants Children Education: The Ministry of Education should take measures for migrant children’s education. It should map migrant children and provide local-language teachers in migrant destinations.
• Housing for Migrants: The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs should address issues of night shelters, short-stay homes and seasonal accommodation for migrants in cities.
• Grievance Cells: The National Legal Services authority(NALSA) and Ministry of Labour should set up grievance handling cells and fast track legal responses. It should work on issues like trafficking, minimum wage violations, and workplace abuses and accidents for migrant workers.
• Migrants should be the target of Disaster Risk Reduction(DDR) programmers in urban centres.

Source: Indian Express

What is NITI Aayog?

What is the news?

Telangana has achieved 100% tap water connections to all schools and Angan Wadi Centres (AWCs) under 100 day Special Campaign.

The other states like Andhra Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Goa, Haryana and Tamil Nadu, also achieved this target.

Centre’s 100-day Special Campaign:

• On 2nd October 2020, Ministry of Jal Shakti had launched the 100-day Special Campaign. It was to ensure piped safe water to all schools and anganwadis under the Jal Jeevan Mission.
• The campaign was launched in order to ensure safe potable piped water for children.  Children are more susceptible to water-borne diseases.

What has been achieved so far?

• So far, 1.82 lakh grey water management structures and 1.42 lakh rain water harvesting structures had been constructed in all schools and AWCs.
• In all, 5.21 lakh schools and 4.71 lakh AWCs had been provided with piped water supply and around 8.24 lakh assets in these institutions had been geo-tagged.

Mission Bhagiratha:

• It is a flagship programme of the Telangana government.It is aimed at providing safe drinking water to every household.

Click Here to read about Jal Jeevan Mission

 Source: The Hindu

 Read also:-

Food security to nutritional security in India

What is the news?

The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs shortlisted 25 cities for the ‘Nurturing Neighbourhoods Challenge’. This challenge is covered under the Smart Cities Mission.

About Nurturing Neighbourhoods Challenge

• It is a three-year initiative hosted by the Smart Cities Mission, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, in collaboration with the Bernard van Leer Foundation and World Resources Institute(WRI) India.
• All cities with a population above 5 lakhs are eligible to participate.
• Purpose: The challenge aims to enable Indian cities to focus on early childhood development (0-5-year-old children). The focus will incorporate into the planning and management of Indian cities.
• Objectives:
  • Promote early childhood centric approach among Indian cities.
  • Facilitate demonstration of early childhood centric solutions.
  • Catalyse cities to the mainstream and implement solutions in the long-term.
  • Develop a peer to peer network of nurturing cities.
  • Collect and analyse data related to young children and their caregivers.
• Who can apply? The challenge is open to all Smart Cities, capitals of States and UTs, and other cities with a population above 5 lakhs.
• Cities Selected under the challenge: The following cities have been selected for the Challenge: Agartala, Bengaluru, Coimbatore, Dharamshala, Erode, Hubballi, Hyderabad, Indore, Jabalpur, Kakinada, Kochi, Kohima, Kota, Nagpur, Rajkot, Ranchi, Rohtak, Rourkela, Salem, Surat, Thiruvananthapuram, Tiruppur, Ujjain, Vadodara and Warangal.
• Benefits to Selected Cities: Cities will receive technical assistance and capacity building. It will be helpful to develop, pilot and scale solutions that enhance the quality of life of young children.
• Over time, the programme will enable cities to incorporate a focus on early childhood development into the planning and management of Indian cities.

Source: PIB

What is the News?

The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs launched a  Pilot Pey Jal Survekshan.

About Pey Jal Survekshan

• It is a drinking water survey launched in 10 cities under Jal Jeevan Mission (Urban).
• Ministry: Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.
• Purpose: It will ascertain the equitable distribution of water, reuse of wastewater in target cities. Moreover, it will map water bodies with respect to the quantity and quality of water.
• Coverage: It will cover 10 cities; Agra, Badlapur, Bhubaneswar, Churu, Kochi, Madurai, Patiala, Rohtak, Surat, and Tumkur.

Key Features:

• The survey will be monitored through a technology-based platform. This platform will monitor the beneficiary responses.
• Authorities will collect data through various methods; face-to-face interviews with citizens and municipal officials, on-call interviews, water sample collection, laboratory testing, and field survey.
• Based on the learnings of the pilot survey, this exercise will extend to all Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) cities.

 Source: AIR

Source: The Hindu

Gs2: Devolution of Powers and Finances up to Local Levels and Challenges Therein.

Synopsis:  The Budget allocation for improving Urban Mass transport is welcome. Yet much is needed to be done to achieve inclusive urbanisation.

Background:

• In the recent budget, Finance Minister announced fund allocation for improving the Urban mass transport system.
• A sufficient amount is allocated for the Kochi, Chennai, and Bengaluru Metro projects.
• Budget allocation for the Metro projects in the three cities is commendable. It provides greater certainty for these cities to meet their targets.
• However, the budget allocation for improving bus transport will not be adequate.
• The budget allocation for expanding the bus transport system is (₹18,000 crore) under the PPP model.

Issues in the Budget proposal for Bus Transport system?

• India’s ratio of buses to population is a low 1.2 (per 1,000 people) compared to 8.6 in Thailand and 6.5 in South Africa. Some states like Karnataka are exceptions with the above national ratio.
• Moreover, Private bus services is a politically sensitive matter in some states with government monopolies in bus services.

What further needs to be done to improve Public transport in Urban India?

The challenge of urbanization needs multiple interventions apart from supplying grants to Metro and bus system

1. First, State governments control the Urban development instead of city administrations. They have failed to operationalize the nodal authorities to regulate transport.
2. Second, Common mobility cards are still in pilot mode. It would help citizens, use bus, train, and feeder networks seamlessly.
3. Third, Metro and bus services are expensive compared to the per kilometer cost of a two-wheeler.
4. Fourth, Census 2011 identified no. of Census towns. But Urban local bodies are not yet established here. They lack access to funding, infrastructure, and capacity to meet the needs of large populations. Hence, the Recognition of census towns as urban bodies will provide the flow of necessary funds to these growing urban conglomerations.

Way forward

In this context, the Centre should start working with State governments to integrate key areas with its transport vision. Such as affordable inner-city housing, access to civic services and health care, and enhanced sustainability, greenery, and walkability. Only integration can bring about inclusive urbanisation.

What is the News?

In the Budget 2021-22, the Government has announced the launch of Jal Jeevan Mission(Urban).

About Jal Jeevan Mission(Urban):

Nodal Ministry: Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs

Objective: To provide universal coverage of water supply to all households in all 4,378 statutory towns, through functional taps.

Duration: The duration of the mission is over five years.

Features of the Jal Jeevan Mission

• It will rejuvenate the water bodies to facilitate sustainable fresh water supply and the creation of green spaces.
• It will promote a circular economy of water through the development of city water balance plan in each city. The plan will focus on recycling/reuse of treated sewage water and water conservation. 20% of water demand is to be met by reused water.
• Awareness Campaign: Information, Education, and Communication (IEC) campaign is proposed. It will spread awareness among the masses about the conservation of water.
• Pey Jal Survekshan will be conducted in cities. It will ascertain the equitable distribution of water, reuse of wastewater, and mapping of water bodies
• Technology Submission For water: It is proposed to leverage the latest global technologies in the field of water.
• PPP Model: The mission has mandated that cities having a million-plus population will take up PPP projects. These projects shall constitute a minimum of 10% of their total project fund allocation.

Funding:

• For Union Territories, there will be 100% central funding.
• For North Eastern and Hill States, central funding for projects will be 90%.
• Central funding will be 50% for cities with less than 1 lakh population, one-third for cities with 1 lakh to 10 lakh population, and 25% for cities with the million plus population.

Source: The Hindu

What is the News?

The Finance Minister launched Swachh Bharat Mission Urban 2.0 along with Jal Jeevan Mission(urban).

Swachh Bharat Mission Urban

• Launched in: It was launched in 2014 by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.
• Swachh Bharat Mission Urban 1.0: The focus of the mission was to make urban India open defecation free (ODF). As well as, 100% scientific solid waste management.

Swachh Bharat Mission Urban 2.0:

• The mission would be implemented over five years — from 2021 to 2026
• Focus: Following are focus areas of Mission:
  • Faecal sludge management and waste water treatment,
  • Source segregation of garbage,
  • Reduction in single-use plastic,
  • Reduction in air pollution by effectively managing waste from construction and demolition activities and
  • Bioremediation of all legacy dump sites.

Jal Jeevan Mission(urban)

• Aim: It aims at universal water supply in all urban local bodies. It will facilitate 2.86 crore household tap connections as well as liquid waste management in 500 AMRUT cities.
• Duration: The scheme will be implemented over the next 5 years.

Jal Jeevan Mission(Rural): It launched in 2019. It aims to provide every rural household with a tap water connection by 2024. Nearly 30 million tap water connections have been provided under this so far.

Source: The Hindu

What is the News?

Niti Aayog has released a  megacity plan for Little Andaman. The plan is a part of its Vision Document titled “Sustainable Development of Little Andaman Island”.

Facts:

• Aim: To leverage the strategic location and natural features of the Little Andaman island. A new greenfield coastal city will be developed as a free trade zone. The city will compete with Singapore and Hong Kong.

Zones: The document has proposed the development along the three zones:

• Zone 1: It will spread along the east coast of Little Andaman. It will be the financial district and medi city and will include an aerocity and a tourism and hospital district.
• Zone 2: It will spread over 85 sq km of pristine forest in Andaman. It will have a film city, a residential district and a tourism Special Economic Zone(SEZ).
• Zone 3 — It will spread over 52 sq km of pristine forest. It will be a nature zone. It will be further categorised into three districts: an exclusive forest resort, a nature healing district and a nature retreat, all on the western coast.

Challenges for Mega-City

There are certain factors that could prevent the sustainable development of Little Andaman namely:

• Lack of good connectivity with Indian mainland and global cities
• Fragile biodiversity and natural ecosystems
• Certain Supreme Court notifications can pose an impediment to its development.
• Presence of indigenous tribes and concerns for their welfare
• 95% of Little Andaman is covered in forest, a large part of it is the pristine evergreen type.
• Some 640 sq km of the island is Reserve Forest under the Indian Forest Act.
• Nearly 450 sq km is protected as the Onge Tribal Reserve, creating a unique and rare socio-ecological-historical complex of high importance.

Source: The Hindu

Why in News?

According to Government data, a total of 1.1 crore houses has been approved under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban), of which more than 70 lakh houses are under various stages of construction and more than 41 lakh houses have been completed.

Facts:

• • Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana(Urban): It was launched by the Ministry of Housing and Urban affairs in 2015.
  • Aim: To provide Central assistance through States/Union Territories (UTs) for providing houses to all eligible families/beneficiaries by 2022.

Verticals: The mission seeks to address the housing requirement of the urban poor including slum dwellers through program verticals :

• • Slum rehabilitation of Slum Dwellers with participation of private developers using land as a resource
  • Promotion of Affordable Housing for weaker section through credit linked subsidy
  • Affordable Housing in Partnership with Public & Private sector
  • Subsidy for beneficiary-led individual house construction/enhancement.

Key Features of the Scheme:

• • Beneficiaries of the scheme include Economically weaker sections (EWS), low-income groups(LIGs), and Middle Income Groups(MIGs).
  • The Mission is being implemented as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS) except for the component of credit linked subsidy which will be implemented as a Central Sector Scheme.
  • The houses constructed with central assistance under the mission should be in the name of the female head of the household or in the joint name of the male head of the household and his wife and only in cases when there is no adult female member in the family, the dwelling unit/house can be in the name of a male member of the household.

Article Source

News: World Economic Forum(WEF) has released a report titled “Indian Cities in the Post-Pandemic World”.

Facts:

• About the report: The report has been produced in collaboration with IDFC Institute, Mumbai.
• It compiles insights from leading global and Indian urban experts across seven thematic pillars— planning, housing, transport, environment, public health, gender and vulnerable populations.
• Purpose: The report highlights the country’s most pressing urban challenges that were exacerbated by the pandemic. It also provides insights for translating the lessons learned from the pandemic into an urban reform agenda.

Key Takeaways from the report:

• Impact on Cities: Cities have borne the maximum brunt of the covid-19 outbreak, but they will also be key to India’s post-pandemic growth. They account for nearly 70% of the country’s GDP and an average of 25-30 people migrate to cities from rural areas every single minute.
• Households: About 25 million households in India—35% of all urban households cannot afford housing at market prices.
• Impact on Different Population Groups: The impact of the pandemic has been profoundly uneven on different population groups. Vulnerable populations, including low-income migrant workers have suffered the dual blows of lost income and weak social-protection.

Recommendations:

• Greater decentralization and empowerment of local governments, which will allow for more proximate and responsive governance.
• Collection of data to help cities in managing and directing emergency operations during a crisis.
• Government have to create a new urban paradigm that enables cities to be healthier, more inclusive, and more resilient.
• Ensure the infrastructure that has adequate functional capacity, aligned with current and future demands.
• Prioritise action on environmental sustainability, air pollution and disaster management in urban rebuilding efforts.
• Prioritising inclusivity by addressing the biases and impediments faced by women and vulnerable populations in accessing urban opportunities.

Source : Click here

News: The Urban Governance Index 2020 has been released.

Facts:

• Published by: The index has been published by Praja Foundation, a Mumbai-based think tank.
• Purpose: The index ranks states to indicate where they stand in terms of real empowerment of grassroot democracy and local self government.
• Themes: The ranking is based on these main themes— how empowered elected city representatives and legislative structures are; how empowered the state’s city administration is; how empowered the citizens are and finally the fiscal empowerment and financial autonomy of the state.

Key Takeaways:

• Topped by: Odisha was ranked first in the index followed by Maharashtra, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.
• Worst States: Jharkhand, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Manipur and Nagaland performed the worst in the index.

Source: Click Here

News: IIT-Bombay researchers have released an Urban Quality of Life Index.

Facts:

• About the Index: The index has compared the quality of life in various cities in India and ranked them on the basis of various categories such as water, power, electricity, literacy rate, employment rate among others. For the first time, the index has factored in gender parity.

Key Takeaways:

• Mumbai has topped the index followed by Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai.
• Among Gender Parity, Chennai is the most women-friendly city and Patna the least.
• Jaipur has the highest crime rate against women and Chennai recorded the lowest crime against women.
• The gap in literacy rate between men and women is the widest in Jaipur (13.2%) and lowest in Kolkata (5.4%).Literacy was the highest in Pune (91%) and the lowest in Hyderabad (83%).
• The unemployment levels for women in Patna is higher than the other cities, the gap stood at 346 which is four times the urban average score of 73.

Context- A radical shift is needed in our approach towards disaster mitigation and management. Government can handle cyclones better by investing in town planning and infrastructure.

What are the reasons of no major casualty or lesser destruction by cyclone Nivar?

Cyclone Nivar- It is the fourth cyclone that has taken shape in the North Indian Ocean region this year. The reason for lesser destruction are-

1. Correct weather forecasting– IMD has pointed the track of the cyclone very early and his help with adequate warnings and evacuation from the coast.
2. Disaster preparedness – The NDRF deployed 25 teams and disaster management equipment in the coastal areas of Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Andhra Pradesh.
3. Government readiness – The Tamil Nadu government has shown brisk readiness in handling the acute challenge of a severe weather event.

What are the concern concerns?

1. Unplanned development– Unplanned development, encroachments in riparian zones, failure of flood control structures, unplanned reservoir operations, poor drainage infrastructure, deforestation, land use change and sedimentation in river beds are exacerbating floods.

• Indiscriminate encroachment of waterways and wetlands, inadequate capacity of drains and lack of maintenance of the drainage infrastructure.

2. Governments have not shown the rigour to collect and publish data on annual flooding patterns, and measure the peak flows in the neglected rivers and canals to plan remedies.

Way forward-

• The aftermath now presents an opportunity to make a full assessment not just for distribution of relief but also to understand the impacts of extreme monsoon weather.
• Governments and local bodies should hardwire urban planning and invest heavily for a future of frequent disruptive weather.
  

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Why India should Invest More in Research and Innovation System?

Context: Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call for a reimagining of urban planning and development to make cities and towns healthy and liveable after COVID-19.

More on news:

• PM emphasised resetting the mindset, processes and practices for safe urban living, and acknowledged that governments actually do little for the working millions at the Bloomberg New Economy Forum.

Discuss the spread of pandemic in urban areas and associated issues.

• Spread of pandemic: The top 10 cities affected worldwide accounted for 15% of the total cases, and data for populous Indian cities later showed large spikes that radiated into smaller towns.
• Reason for the spread: Rapid transmission in Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru and Chennai was the unavoidable outcome of densification and an inability to practise distancing norms.
• In Dharavi, which has one of the world’s highest slum densities, epidemiologists point an apparently low viral impact to screening and herd immunity.
• Social impact: The pandemic’s full social impact, especially among the poorer people has not been adequately measured here or elsewhere.
• Housing: Good and affordable housing is the basis of a sustainable and healthy city.
• Well-designed rental housing that is the key to protecting migrant labour and other less affluent sections remains poorly funded.
• Mumbai is estimated to have added only 5% of rental housing in new residential construction (1961-2000), and that too led by private funding.
• Enforcement of laws:  Laws on air pollution, municipal solid waste management and water quality are hardly enforced, and tokenism marks the approach to urban mobility.

What can be done?

• Schemes: An opportunity to make schemes such as the Centre’s Affordable Rental Housing Complexes deliver at large scale and focus on new good houses built by the state.
• Demand and supply: The Ministry of Housing could work by digitally combining and transparently publishing data on demand and supply for each city.
• Learning from the past:  Past menaces such as cholera, the plague and the global flu pandemic a century ago led to change such as sewerage, waste handling, social housing and health care that reduced disease. Something on the same lines should be done about the pandemic.
• Government should show the political will to reinvent cities after the pandemic is over.
  

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Urbanisation : news and updates