All India Institute of Local Self-Government (AIILSG) in partnership with Indore Municipal Corporation (IMC) and Indore Smart City Limited organised a one-day conference ‘Urban Dialogues: Reimagining Indore’ on August 21, 2019, at Sayaji Hotel, Indore. The conference was aimed at understanding and analysing problems faced by Indore city and how in the opinion of the experts they could be resolved
Shankar Lalwani, Member of Parliament (Indore), was the chief guest. He inaugurated the conference by lighting the lamp. Anil Shrivastava, Mission Director NITI Aayog, Rajiv Agarwal (IAS Retd.), Director General of AIILSG, Ravi Ranjan Guru, Deputy Director General of AIILSG, Ashok Wankhade, Managing Editor of Urban Update, and Abhilash Khandekar, Senior Journalist, were present at the occasion. The inaugural session saw these eminent personalities putting forth their perspectives on the urban ecosystem of Indore.
Shankar Lalwani began his address by stating that developmental works in Indore are being done at a healthy pace. “Indore was ranked number 1 in Swachh Survekshan rankings thrice in a row”, Lalwani said while admiring the efforts of the city authorities and concerned departments in keeping the city clean and green. Lalwani informed that the master plan of Indore is now almost 100 years old. Although, the pre-existing master plan caters to almost every possible city problem, with time things have changed, scenarios have changed and even the problems. Therefore, a new master plan needs to be developed which could effectively address issues that the city is facing today and can further strengthen the green and clean infrastructure of the city. He also stated a few concerns about mobility in Indore and said that the traffic situation in the city has huge scope of improvement.
Mentioning a few historical facts, Lalwani informed that the first concrete road in India was constructed in Indore and it was durable enough that the authoritiesonly had to carry out a few repairsover the years. Indore was planned in such a brilliant manner that in early Indore poles were erected nearby residences and important buildings so that in case of any fire mishap, gases to extinguish the fire could be released easily. Talking about the city design and planning to make Indore better, he said that urban planners and city authorities need to plan ahead considering coming 50 years. He wrapped up his address by saying that he looks forward for positive outcomes from the conference that could help Indore in improving its urban ecosystem.
Rajiv Agarwal delivered the opening address of the conference. In brief, he welcomed everyone present and stated the objectives of the conference. “Urban Dialogues bring together various smart city officials, urban experts, municipal officials, and stakeholders to discuss upon initiatives that can be taken to enhance the development aspects and citizen services in the city”, said Agarwal.
Ravi Ranjan Guru discussed the role of AIILSG in empowering urban local bodies (ULBs). “We have more than 90 years of experience in supporting local governments”, said Guru. Further detailing the role of AIILSG in building a new urban India, Guru said the institute is working with Government of India on most of the ongoing development missions. “AIILSG not only focuses on providing training to various officials in order to improve the delivery of civic services but, we also work under missions like AMRUT, Smart Cities Mission, Skill India Mission and more”, AIILSG’s Deputy Director General added. Towards the end of his address, he talked briefly about the previous ‘Urban Dialogues’ conducted in Bhopal in which state UD Minister had announced that the new master plan of Bhopal would be launched within a year.
Abhilash Khandekar highlighted the contribution of Sir Patrick Geddes in the development of present day Indore. Admiring the current master plan of Indore which was prepared around 100 years ago, he said the mastermind behind the effective planning was Sir Patrick Geddes. Geddes’ work was highly appreciated and in 2016 architects and urban planners from Lucknow asked for details on works by Geddes, informed Khandekar. He said that Geddes was a man with foresight, as the Danish System of planning implemented in Indore gave the city underground sewage network and other drains connecting with the system. Khandekar further mentioned that Geddes was popularly known as ‘Garden City Advocate’ as his planning not only included space for buildings and streets but also open green spaces that made the city more livable unlike conventional cities of today.
Krishna Chaitanya, Additional Commissioner of IMC, spoke about the new initiatives of the corporation and its achievements in the recent past. He said that the delivery of civic services in the city is efficient and the corporation had taken serious steps supporting the center’s scheme ‘Jal Shakti Abhiyan’ by using sewage treated water to water parks, lawns in government buildings, fountains owned by municipalities, and wherever else possible. The ongoing works for river rejuvenation are also progressing in an improved manner.
Chaitanya further mentioned about the plantation drive conducted by the corporation officials in which they planted 50,000 saplings and are planning to plant 25,000 more. Moreover, the IMC is trying to devise solutions for more efficient utilization of energy and reduce the conventional energy usage by 60 per cent. Smart initiatives are being implemented in the city under the Smart City Mission to make Indore smarter and make citizens secure by implementing technological security measures for prompt action on any mishaps and prevention of
illegal activities.
Session1 –Smart city and solutions for improving civic services
Pashim Tewari, Technical Director of AIILSG, chaired the first session that focused on smart solutions for addressing mobility and other urban issues of Indore city. Anil Shrivastava, Mission Director, NITI Aayog, was the first speaker. He began his address with a note of disappointment saying that architects and urban planners are even today discussing the same problems which were discussed years back. Indore is one of the most important cities of Madhya Pradesh and vehicular movement in the city needs special attention. Increasing vehicular density in the city, narrow streets, and lack of proper parking spaces makes smooth movement in the city difficult. Shrivastava raised a concern saying that the Indian vehicular density is still less than countries like United States of America, China and those of Europe but, we are suffering with traffic jams, vehicular congestion and related issues. Further, he talked about electric mobility and said that India is one of the largest manufacturers of two-wheelers and is the fastest growing automobile industry in the world. We have set a goal to convert all the two-wheelers electric by 2023 and all the four-wheelers by 2025. Towards the end of his address, he said that there should be policies to promote sharing and pooling of two-wheelers for improving last mile connectivity.
Dr Kulwant Singh, CEO 3R WASTE Foundation and Former Asia Advisor, Urban Basic Services, UN-HABITAT, questioned the present transport infrastructure. He highlighted a few facts showing inability of Indore’s transport infrastructure saying, “In 2015, roads in Indore were stated most fatal.” He named traffic congestion the biggest challenge before Indore’s city management. He emphasized on the need for safe roads and to decongested streets. “Safety issues are largely due to roads being overcrowded with vehicles”, pointed out Singh. Congestion on streets leads to increase in greenhouse gas concentrations, pollution, energy consumption. Therefore, a paradigm shift is much needed to focus on “moving people not cars”, Singh added. Singh mentioned four zeroes as a key for effective traffic planning – zero air pollution, zero accidents, zero congestion and zero fossil-fuel-propelled vehicles.
Umakant Choudhary, Deputy Superintendent of Police (Traffic), started his address with a short video clip on road accidents that have occurred in Indore and have been captured in CCTV cameras. Choudhary stated that drunk driving, reckless driving, over speeding and distracted driving are the four major reasons for road accidents in the city. He mentioned that Indore has more than 20 lakh vehicles plying on the streets. Choudhary said that Indore police along with Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Indore, are trying to implement corrective measures considering 5Es – Educating people on road safety, improving Engineering techniques, Enforcement for traffic regulation, prompt response in Emergency situations, and Environment friendly initiatives. He also said that soon smart traffic systems will be installed in the city under the Smart City Mission. Highlighting the achievements made by the police department, he said that earlier in 2015-16 the department used drone cameras, CCTVs and other technological measures and was able to reduce accidents and deaths due to accidents by 46 per cent.
CA Vinod Agrawal, Partner, Borkar and Muzumdar, focused his address on two financial aspects –enhancement of revenue and control of expenditure. He raised concerns about tax collection system in the Indore and stated that “ULBs either do not have a proper tax collection system in place or the existing mechanism do not work as expected”.
One of the probable solutions he brought forward was outsourcing. Agrawal said that a few ULBs in other cities have tried outsourcing their tax collection work on a fixed commission basis and were able to improve their situation significantly. “This makes the process efficient”, added Agrawal.
Pashim Tewari focused his entire address towards data driven mobility and data fetching mechanisms. He said that firstly there is a need to set up a mechanism to accumulate data and this was first realized when the Government of India implemented Smart Cities Mission.
Therefore, the government specifically appointed data officers to fetch data through research, surveys and other methods. Further talking about mobility, in reference to earlier talks during the session, Tewari said that “The problem is not only about passenger vehicles but all the vehicles including commercial, private, cargo, etc. plying on city roads, as each of them acquire space”. Supporting the fact, he said, “Cities work on logistics. Industries require resources which are daily pumped in the city.” Therefore, movement of every type of vehicle will be there, it is the matter of how things can be managed effectively. He ended by saying, “We can design better urban roads, and resolve issues in city without impacting its lifestyle.”
Session 2 –Sustainable Indore: Environment, water rejuvenation and development
The second session saw participation of eminent speakers – Janak Palta, Bhalu Mondhe, Raghav Chandra and Suryanarayan Krishna. VK Madhavan, CEO, Water Aid (India) chaired the session. It began with VK Madhavan questioning the current scenario and management of the Indore city. “Will Indore be able to manage its water demands without lakes? Is leaving only 10 per cent area for parks, and other open spaces is part of smart development?”Such were the concerns raised by Madhavan. He further mentioned a few facts before opening the session like 40 per cent of the Indore’s population lives in slum areas. About 50 per cent of the city does not have proper sewage connections.
Janak Palta, Founder-director of Jimmy McGilligan Centre for Sustainable Development, in her address urged that Indore with its rich heritage should not be reconstructed but developed in such a way that the heritage is preserved while the city turns smart. She urged that people should come together to conserve the environment. “People should make conscious efforts to reduce pollution, environment should not be taken for granted”, she added. Raising concerns about sustainable development and upcoming generations, she said that it is important to educate the children about the delicate condition of natural resources. Hence, the imparting of knowledge is essential to equip the next generation with capabilities to deal with future problems. Further commenting on implementation of smart solutions under Indore Smart City and data collection, Palta said that data should reflect the actuality of the situation as polished data misleads citizens into averting from the severity of the situation that we actually face. She ended her address saying “If we sustain our relationship with environment, we will see sustainable development in future.”
Bhalu Mondhe, President, The Nature Volunteers, emphasized on conservation of waterbodies and flora and fauna. Mondhe said that water bodies are of utmost importance, these are not only essential for human existence but also for species like migratory birds and local fauna. Giving example of Sirpur Lake, he said that it can be an interesting seasonal destination as exotic birds find their way here. Earlier, this lake used to supply water to major parts of the city. However, since the 70s, illegal encroachments, dumping of waste and other such activities resulted in degradation of the water quality of the lake, added Mondhe. As per Mondhe, such activities have brought Indore to a state where out of eight only three lakes are left today. He further showed a documentary on his and his team’s efforts in reviving Sirpur lake which is today one of the healthiest natural ecosystems of the city with rich local flora and various migratory birds and reptiles residing at the spot. A jogging track had been built near the lake for people to experience the natural and scenic beauty and encourage preservation of waterbodies in the city.
Raghav Chandra, Former Principal Secretary, Urban Development & Housing, Government of Madhya Pradesh, said that urban development is the need of the hour, supporting his statement with the fact that more than 50 per cent of India’s population will live in cities in the near future. He further said that agriculture has a finite impact on economy and hence, efforts should be made to support cities as they are the economic hubs. A visible progress in urban development was seen after the launch of JnNURM scheme, Chandra added. Giving example of China, Chandra said, we must look forth to China who has invested huge sum of money on their urban areas to push their economy. Also, a concept like sponge cities is an amazing concept displaying efficient process of water preservation and management. Further promoting the concept of sponge cities Chandra said, “Water storage is costing various cities across Madhya Pradesh crores annually”. Laying out few suggestions he said, rainwater harvesting should be incorporated in residential buildings as well. Chandra further added that master plan should be modified time and again to incorporate housing for all. Closing his speech, he said that “Indore should not rest on its waste management laurels as there are various other issues as well which the city authorities need to deal with”.
Suryanarayan Krishnan, Market Practice Head, Piramal Water Pvt. Ltd., the last speaker of the session, focused his address on water related issues in the city. He said that urbanization will impede on natural resources especially on water resources. This may lead to insufficient supply or shortage of water supply for the citizens, he added. Suryanarayan further said, piped water is a responsive way to provide water to people but, citizens residing in unauthorized colonies and slums do not have access to piped water. Hence alternates like off-grid water solutions should be implemented, added Suryanarayan. Further talking on technical aspects, he said that measurement and monitoring process can point out exactly how we can improve the situation of water in cities. Adopting solutions like rainwater harvesting even for residential buildings can help improve the situation. Treated water can be utilized for watering gardens, parks, washing and other domestic usage, said Suryanarayan while concluding his address.
Valedictory session
The valedictory saw participation of Ravi Ranjan Guru, Deputy Director General of AIILSG, Ashok Wankhade, Managing Editor, Urban Update, Abhilash Khandekar, Senior Journalist and Kumar Dhananjay, Consulting Editor, Urban Update.
Ravi Ranjan Guru put forth a summary of the discussions that took place during the day. He released the ‘Indore Declaration’ and thanked all the speakers and the participants for their presence at the conference. Ashok Wankhade in a few words described how Indore has done wonders in waste management sector but, it’s time the city should think about resolving other issues like water supply, sanitation, implementation of smart initiatives for better management and security of the citizens.
He said that there was a time when he used to live in Indore, the city had seen a lot of changes since then. Kumar Dhananjay delivered his vote of thanks address thanking all the eminent speakers, guests and the audience for making the conference a success. ‘Urban Dialogues: Reimagining Indore’ ended on a high note putting forth experts’ suggestions, probable solutions to address the present urban problems and an insight for the architects, city planners and authorities to plan with foresightedness, not only for present but for the coming 50 years.
Urban Dialogues Indore Declaration
- The city & State (political and administrative) authorities need to be proactive in their approach towards city management. They must enhance the futuristic vision and plan for situations to come up in next 50 years.
- Indore Municipal Corporation implemented a new plan for recycle and reuse of treated sewage water where the water is utilised to water parks, utilised in fountains and other public areas for cleaning purposes.
- Central government has released a sum of Rs 475 crores for the augmentation of Indore Airport terminals in order to increase its capacity.
- Mobility is at the center stage of economic development of Indore.
- Safety of citizens on roads has seen a quantum jump in recent years by technological interventions and will be further strengthened to take care of pedestrians also.
- Engineering sections needs to be further bolstered for better street and other city works.
- User charges are a must for sustainable financial management.
- Data needs to be used for real implementation on ground.
- Food security is important for sustainable inclusive development of Indore.
- Kachra-free Indore and a kachra-free lifestyle for a Swachha and Sundar Indore.
- Indore needs to preserve its heritage while embracing the new urbanisation.
- Illegal encroachment, untreated sewage and dumping of garbage has polluted lakes and ponds of the Indore city. Earlier Indore had many lakes and today only few are left.
- Indore should not rest on waste management laurels and should continue its efforts to maintain its number 1 position and further improve the city’s ecosystem and pollution.
- Rainwater harvesting on the lines of china for capturing 70% or more rainwater for recharging wetlands and ground water aquafers. Waste water recycling needs to be adopted as a healthy habit.
- The Master Plan is expiring soon and hence large scale, multi-sector consultations should begin now and citizens be involved prior to finalising the plan and NOT after publication of it.
- Efforts made by the authorities should not be restricted to only records and books but the changes must be visible to the citizens.
- Indian cities should look forward to off-grid solutions to cater requirements people who are unable to afford the services.