This new year let’s focus on preparedness and resilience

This is always that time of the year when we look into the future and visualize what the coming weeks and months will bring us. We also wish and hope for things that will make our world a better place.

A recent video of the Mumbai Trans Harbour Link gives us a glimpse of a new world. Many of us marveled at the engineering feat which is expected to cut short the travel time between Sewri in Central Mumbai and Nhava Sheva in Navi Mumbai from about 2 hours to just 15-20 minutes. This is the outcome of the big thrust on urban infrastructure in the last several years and gives a taste of things to come. On the railways front, after the launch of a large number of Vande Bharat trains, there is much more to look forward to in terms of modernized stations, high speed trains and better amenities. In several other areas, there is much to look forward to in our quest for a better future.

Amidst the above, our cities will likely face some challenges in the new year and beyond. These will require sharper focus and determined effort to address. Relentless urbanisation driven by migration will continue to be a pre-dominant trend. Along with this will come challenges related to housing, service delivery, mobility, etc.; these challenges are now very real and policy interventions at the national and state levels are in place. Yet, there could be some which could spring surprises and test our capabilities. One such is climate related events. Instances of extreme precipitation in several cities causing flash floods, thereby disrupting normal life while also causing loss of lives and property are frequent. We have also seen instances of extreme hot weather in the summers prompting authorities to temporarily shut down schools, issue heatstroke advisories, and take other precautionary measures. Some experts warn that such events may increase in frequency and intensity. Therefore there is need to build preparedness and resilience in cities. There is need for conservation of the natural ecology in our cities including preservation of water bodies, wetlands, and biodiversity. Alongside is the need to beef up enforcement to check violation of environmental laws. Apart from climate issues, healthcare could also pose unforeseen, unexpected anxieties. While the earlier COVID pandemic is now well behind us, newer strains of the virus have emerged in different parts of the country raising fresh concerns each time. Cities will need to be in constant vigil to detect any such dangers in time and respond appropriately.

Be it the service delivery and mobility needs of citizens or the challenges presented by climate change and public health issues, local governments will be at the centre of all the action. Among their key tasks, building resilience will be a crucial one. This will require constant capacity building of local body personnel so that they are well-equipped to respond to the complex and ever-changing needs of cities and a dynamic external environment in a just, fair, equitable, and sustainable manner. We at AIILSG have been partnering the local bodies across the country in this vital mission and will look forward to engaging in this task with even greater vigour in the coming year and thereafter.

We shall look forward to views and inputs from our readers and well-wishers in enabling us build more resilient and sustainable cities.