Lakes can provide us the best opportunities for recreation and tourism. In addition to providing us with environmental benefits, healthy lakes and their shores also affect our quality of life and fortify our economic system. By storing and releasing large amounts of water during shortages, they can reduce the impact of floods and droughts. Lakes also work to replenish groundwater, positively impact the downstream water quality and maintain the biodiversity and habitat of the area.
Nagpur is one of India’s hottest cities. With each passing year, the heat in summer increases and citizens face its adverse effects. The city desperately needs environmental assistance, and lakes play a vital role in maintaining the temperature during summers. Lendi Lake situated in Tandapeth area of Nagpur is one such important lake. The lake has been highly contaminated and polluted by several sources.
Water contamination is a severe problem in India as almost 70 per cent of its surface water resources and a growing proportion of its groundwater reserves are contaminated with biological, toxic, organic and inorganic pollutants. For human consumption and other activities such as irrigation, these sources are often unsafe. Therefore degraded water quality can lead to water shortages as it limits water availability for both human consumption and other needs.
The Equi-City team conducted an awareness campaign on March 8, 2019, to promote awareness among local residents residing near Lendi Lake about the lake and its importance. The campaign began in the evening at 6:30 pm with a welcome speech by Shekhar Giradkar from the Equi-City team. Anusuya Kale, President, Swachh Association, Shefali Dudhwade, Secretary, Swachh Association, and Sunita, a local leader were also present during the campaign.
Shefali Dudhwade started the event with a small speech on cleanliness of lakes. Simultaneously, pamphlets were passed out to the nearby residents, shopkeepers and passersby. Anusuya Kale greeted everyone on the occasion of Women’s Day And during her talk, she discussed about the community sanitation and various ways to achieve it in a residential area. She encouraged citizens to keep their environment clean. She talked about the strategies and efforts Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) has been investing into sanitation programs and she asked citizens to help NMC in achieving a clean city. At the end, the nearby residents and the audience came forward and discussed the concerns they had in their locality regarding sanitation. The interaction of citizens with the Equi-City team was very productive. Equi-City team organized a painting competition for the kids in the locality on the theme ‘Clean India’ and the best painting received a little treat and loads of appreciation.
Overall the drive served in imparting behavioural changes in people and spread awareness on cleanliness among people to attain the objective of a clean lake.
Leadership workshops for NMC officials and elected representatives
The rising demographic and economic significance of cities would bring unprecedented challenges of urban governance in India. There is empirical evidence to show that the existing governance structure in urban areas is not equipped to handle such onslaught, which can only be countered by a wholesome and robust response that would allow the ULBs to act with speed, efficiency and accountability. Cities need leadership of high quality that combines vision, leadership, visibility, management and quick decision-making.
Among the many urban reforms needed to fix ailing city governance across India, the question of municipal leadership may be one of pivotal significance. Issues such as functional devolution to urban local bodies (ULBs), strengthening their fiscal health and their comprehensive empowerment as “vibrant democratic units of self-government” are indeed central to the governance of cities.
Architect Jaime Lerner, for example, who became mayor of Curitiba, Brazil, in 1971, put together the world’s first Bus Rapid Transit System for his city and created the Rede Integrada de Transporte (Integrated Transport Network). This caught the imagination of the entire world and was sought to be replicated in many cities. Tokyo’s powerfulgovernor, Yuriko Koike, for her part, gained popularity through her innovative leadership. She reappraised Tokyo’s venues for the 2020 Olympics and brought a fresh context to the relocation of the Tsukiji fish market. She decided on a comprehensive indoor smoking ban in Tokyo’s restaurants and public places and is working towards restoring her city as Asia’s leading international financial capital. There is also the example of Rudy Giuliani, former mayor of New York City, who won acclaim for his leadership skills in the aftermath of the terrorist attack in his city in September 2001. Xavier Trias, on becoming mayor of Barcelona in 2011, initiated the move towards crafting ‘Smart City Barcelona’. That catapulted Barcelona into one of the smartest cities in the world and made the city a pioneering centre for the Internet of Things industry. What these mayors had in common was that while they were strong, achievement-oriented personalities, they were also backed by long tenures and enormous authority at their command to convert their visions into reality.
Keeping aforementioned facts in mind, the Equi-City Team will seek to build capacities of elected representatives and municipal officials to play a leadership role in participatory forums and development of the city. They will be specially trained in leadership and handling the diverse needs of the local authorities.
The focus of the workshop will be to hone the skills of municipal officials and elected representatives to act as leaders and to think innovatively and holistically about the challenges they face and are able to follow through with real focus and determination to deliver results and public value.
The curriculum will include skill building to exercise leadership in the public sector, while developing innovative frameworks for addressing policy issues. The project will also draw upon the private and public sector resource base. Further, the workshop will brainstorm on how innovative partnerships and new models of collaborative governance can be developed given the context of the target city.
The activity will train 30 leaders each from among municipal officials and elected representatives who will play a key role in the various meetings and forums. They will reach out to various sections of the society. Special attention will be given to promoting women and minority communities.