The goal to create sustainable urban spaces can only be achieved by taking small and consistent steps at the very local level. Municipal governance oversees the implementation of such laws which assist a region to become a safer and better space. There are various categories under municipal governance ranging from fire safety, traffic, to roads and bridges, water supply, public health, etc. But, compliance with these laws has been often found to be inadequate which becomes the cause of economic, infrastructural and social loss. The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the importance of strictly adhering to the guidelines which were issued by the Centre and state governments. Compliance with the provisions of masks and social distancing became important for the health of entire community. As per the official data, within two years, 46 lakh people were penalised for not wearing masks just in Mumbai. This is despite the strictness and fines imposed by the administration and local bodies for flouting the norms of COVID-19 appropriate behaviour (CAB).
Recent drives of local bodies on encroachments have brought up forth the issue of compliance. The Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation since 2021, has carried out over 150 demolitions in their drive to remove encroachments and illegal structures on public spaces and government land. In Gurugram, cycle tracks built by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) in 2017, on the side of the highways from Signature Towers to Rajiv Chowk to IFFCO Chowk were encroached by cab drivers, food vendors, and mechanic shops. This prompted the local authorities to build segregated cycle tracks.
Increasing urban population necessitates building adequate urban infrastructure, policies, and regulations, but for smooth operation of a city, compliance on part of citizens is as important. The Central Road Research Institute has cited encroachments and roadside parking as primary cause of congestion and severe traffic problems on Delhi’s internal roads. The capital city built multilevel parking structures in congested areas such as Lajpat Nagar and Green Park to provide people with affordable parking spaces, as a solution to congested roads in the areas, however, residents continue to park their vehicles on the roadside and there remains larger absence of supervision to
ensure compliance.
One more issue which has been coming to the fore time and again is compliance of the fire safety norms. The capital city of India witnessed over 2100 fire incidents in the month of May, this year. Officials from the city’s fire department have noted that in most of the factories or commercial buildings where fire broke out, the owners did not have a No Objection Certificate from Delhi Fire Services (DFS). The DFS cited unchecked mushrooming of illegal factories, unauthorised colonies, congested roads, which are currently present in every major city of India, as reasons for frequent fire incidents
in Delhi.
Rules and regulations under local governance are introduced to ensure maintenance of infrastructure and safety for citizens. India right now is struggling to ensure compliance of years old policies and regulations; challenges for the urban local bodies are only going to surge on the front of compliance with newer policies and regulations that await introduction in view of the issue of climate change and global warming.
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