NEW DELHI: All India Institute of Local Self-Government and Urban Update organised the first panel discussion of Infocomm India GoVIRTUAL event organised by Infocomm India on Wednesday, September 15. This year, the event is being held virtually due to COVID-19 restrictions.
The first panel discussion was held from 10:45 AM to 11:30 AM and was moderated by Abhishek Pandey, Editor, Urban Update. The session was titled ‘Key Considerations for Future Urban Development and Planning in India’. The panellists of the event included Sanyukta Bhatia, Mayor, Lucknow Municipal Corporation; Prof (Dr) Ashwani Luthra, Director, Centre for Sustainable Habitat, Guru Nanak Dev University; Saleha Sapra, Co-Founder, City Sabha; and Golagani Hari Venkata Kumari, Mayor, Greater Vishakhapatnam Municipal Corporation.
The experts discussed the role of cities in post-pandemic revival and the representatives of urban local bodies (ULBs) showed the importance and contribution of local bodies in the path towards revival and future planning in India. Pandey said, “The main challenges in India’s urban development scenario is decentralisation and proper implementation of the 74th Amendment Act, 1992.”
“When we took the initiative of building 1000 parks on dumping grounds in Lucknow, the people took part and helped us to achieve our goal. This shows the importance of public participation,” Bhatia added while speaking about the contribution of ULBs in the planning of cities.
While commenting on community awareness, Sapra said that if people are aware of their needs, it will lead to the development of a better society. Infocomm India event is being held on September 15 and 16 between 10:00 AM and 6:00 AM.