INTERFACE BETWEEN CITY DEVELOPMENT PLANS AND … · INTERFACE BETWEEN CITY DEVELOPMENT PLANS AND MASTER PLANS D.S. MESHRAM Former Chief Planner, TCPO, Ministry of Urban Development

INTERFACE BETWEEN CITY DEVELOPMENT PLANS AND MASTER PLANS

D.S. MESHRAMFormer Chief Planner, TCPO, Ministry of Urban Development and Poverty Alleviation, Government of India

I T P I

JOURNAL

www.itpindia.org

ITPI JOURNAL3 : 2 (2006) 01-09

1. INTRODUCTION

In India, the nomenclature master plan anddevelopment plan is being used without muchdistinction. It is however, the Third Five Year Planthat defined the term ‘Master Plan’ as a statutoryinstrument for controlling, directing andpromoting sound and rational development andredevelopment of an urban area with a view toachieving maximum economic, social andaesthetic benefits. In fact, the master plan is avision document giving perspective of 20 to 25years keeping in view the future growth ofpopulation, economic development potential andecological improvements likely to come up duringthe plan period. Master plan is required to takenote of regional and national context, which havebearing on the development of different areas.While City Development Plan (CDP) is anchoredin the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban RenewalMission (JNNURM) with a focus on creating

economically productive, efficient equitable and

responsive cities. As per tool kit of the JNNURM, a

City Development Plan is both perspective and

vision document for the future development of a

city.

Accordingly, this paper attempts to study the

master plan concept with reference to CDP as

defined in the JNNURM and seeks to examine the

possibility of achieving interface between CDP and

master plan. A requirement of preparation ofCDPs under the Jawaharlal Nehru National UrbanRenewal Mission for selected 63 cities has causeda great deal of confusion in planning practicebecause it is not entirely clear where the CDPscould be located in the existing hierarchy of landdevelopment plans in these cities. In this paper it

is shown that an interface between CDPs and

master plans is necessary and possible. Both plans

could be linked together to better plan

implementation and realization of economic and

social objectives.

2. JAWAHARLAL NEHRU NATIONAL

URBAN RENEWAL MISSION

The Prime minister of India launched the Jawaharlal

Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM)

consisting of two sub-missions, one on urban

infrastructure and governance to be administered

by the Ministry of Urban Development, and the

other on basic services to the urban poor, to be

administered by the Ministry of Urban

Employment and Poverty Alleviation. The main

objectives of the missions are:

• Focused attention on integrated development

of infrastructure and services, in the cities

covered under the mission;

• Secure effective linkages between asset

creation and asset management so that the

infrastructural services created in the cities are

not only maintained efficiently but also become

self sustaining over time;

• Ensure adequate investment of funds to fulfill

deficiencies in urban infrastructural services;

• Planned development of identified cities

including peri-urban areas, out growths, urban

corridors, so that urbanization takes place in

a dispersed manner;

• Scale up the delivery of civic amenities and

provision of utilities with emphasis on universal

access to the urban poor;

ABSTRACT

A requirement of preparation of CDPs under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission for selected 63 cities has caused

a great deal of confusion in planning practice because it is not entirely clear where the CDPs could be located in the existing hierarchy

of land development plans in these cities. In this paper it is shown that an interface between CDPs and Master Plans is necessary and

possible. Both plans could be linked together to better plan implementation and realization of economic and social objectives.

2

• To take up urban renewal programme i.e.redevelopment of inner (old) city area toreduce congestion; and

• Provision of basic services to the urban poorincluding security of tenure at affordableprices, improved housing, water supply,sanitation and ensuring delivery of otheralready existing universal services of thegovernment for education, health and socialsecurity.

2.1 Components of the JNNRUM

To be implemented over the next seven years,the JNNRUM will entail investment partnershipsamong the central government, stategovernments and urban local bodies. Thecomponents which could be considered forfunding under the mission are:

• Urban renewal i.e. redevelopment of inner (old)city areas (this would include items likewidening of narrow streets, shifting of industrial/ commercial establishments from non-conforming (inner-city) areas to ‘conforming’(outer-city) areas to reduce congestion,replacement of old and worn-out water pipesby new / higher capacity ones, renewal ofsewerage / drainage / solid waste disposalsystems, etc. Land acquisition cost will not befinanced under this component;

• Water Supply and sanitation, including settingup desalination plants, wherever necessary;

• Sewerage and Solid Waste Management;

• Construction and improvement of drains /storm water drains;

• Laying / improvement / widening of arterial /sub-arterial roads and bridges to removetransport bottlenecks;

• Construction and development of bus andtruck terminals;

• Environmental improvement and citybeautification schemes;

• Construction of working women’s hostels,marriage halls, old age and destitute Children’shomes, night shelters with community toilets;

• Street lighting;

• Slaughter houses;

• Civic amenities like playgrounds / stadium,community halls;

• Hospital Waste Management; and

• Urban Transport

2.2 Funding Pattern

The funding Pattern under JNNURM is the

patnership amoung the Central Government,

State Government and Urban Local Bodies as

given in Table 1. Rs. 50,000 crore have been

reserved for a period of seven years to be given

as grant-in-aid for leveraging additional resources

in these cities.

D.S. Meshram / ITPI Journal 3 : 2 (2006) 01 - 09

Table 1. The Funding Pattern Under JNNRUM

Category of Towns / Cities Grant Loan fromfinancialinstructions

Centre State

Cities with 4 million plus population as per 2001 census 35% 15% 50%

Cities with million plus but less than 4 million population 50% 20% 30%as per 2001 census

Other Cities 60% 10% 10%

For setting up de-salination plants within 20 km. from sea- 80% 10% 10%shore and other than areas predominantly facing waterscarcity due to brackish water and non-availability ofsurface source.

Note: Land cost will not be financed except for acquisition of private land for schemes and projects in the north eastern states and

hilly states, namely Himachal Pradesh, Uttaranchal and Jammu and Kashmir.

3


Sl.No. City State Population in lakhs NCU Recommendation

Mega Cities

1. Delhi NCTD 128.77 NPC

2. Greater Mumbai Maharashtra 164.34 NPC

3. Ahmedabad Gujarat 45.25 NPC

4. Bangalore Karnataka 57.01 NPC

5. Chennai Tamil Nadu 65.60 NPC

6. Kolkata West Bengal 132.06 NPC

7. Hyderabad Andhra Pradesh 57.42 NPC

Million Plus Cities

8. Patna Bihar 16.98 NPC

9. Faridabad Haryana 10.56 SPC

10. Bhopal Madhya Pradesh 14.58 NPC

11. Ludhiana Punjab 13.98 NPC

12. Jaipur Rajasthan 23.27 NPC

13. Lucknow Uttar Pradesh 22.46 NPC

14 Madurai Tamil Nadu 12.03 NPC

15. Nashik Maharashtra 11.52 SPC

16. Pune Maharashtra 37.60 NPC

17. Cochin Kerala 13.55 NPC

18. Varanasi Uttar Pradesh 12.04 --

19. Agra Uttar Pradesh 13.31 NPC

20. Amritsar Punjab 10.03 NPC

21. Visakhapatnam Andhra Pradesh 13.45 NPC

22. Vadodara Gujarat 14.91 NPC

23. Surat Gujarat 28.11 NPC

24. Kanpur Uttar Pradesh 27.15 NPC

25. Nagpur Maharashtra 21.29 NPC

26. Coimbatore Tamil Nadu 14.61 NPC

27. Meerut Uttar Pradesh 11.61 NPC

Table 2. List of Identified Cities under JNNURM

2.3 Coverage under JNNURM

The mission is a ‘city based’ initiative to implement

urban reforms in 63 cities (Refer Table 2)

comprising of 7 mega cities, having population

more than 4 million, 28 metropolitan cities with

population 1 to 4 million and 28 other cities having

population less than 1 million; out of these 63

cities, 23 cities are mainly of religious and tourist

importance. It would also be intresting to notethat out of 63 cities identified under JNNURMexcept Varanasi town all appeared in the list ofNational Commission on Urbanization setup by theGovernment of India in 1985. Out of these 63towns, 50 towns are National Priority Cities (NPCs),and 12 towns are State Priority Cities (SPCs). Thus,it is quite clear that these towns / cities haspotentials for development.

4

Source : Report of the National Commision on Urbanization, Vol. II (August 1988), Governement of India

Note : NPC - National Priority Cities, SPC - State Priority Cities

Sl.No. City State Population in lakhs NCU Recommendation

28. Jabalpur Madhya Pradesh 10.98 NPC

29. Jamshedput Jharkhand 11.04 NPC

30. Asansol West Bengal 10.67 SPC

31. Allahabad Uttar Pradesh 10.42 NPC

32. Vijayawada Andhra Pradesh 10.39 NPC

33. Rajkot Gujarat 10.03 SPC

34. Dhanbad Jharkhand 10.65 NPC

35. Indore Madhya Pradesh 16.40 NPC

Cities with less than one million population

36. Guwahati Assam 8.19 NPC

37. Itanagar Arunachal Pradesh 0.35 NPC

38. Jammu Jammu & Kashmit 6.12 NPC

39. Raipur Chhattisgarh 7.00 SPC

40. Panaji Goa 0.99 NPC

41. Shimla Himachal Pradesh 1.45 NPC

42. Ranchi Jharkhand 8.63 NPC

43. Thiruvananthapuram Kerala 8.90 NPC

44. Impahl Manipur 2.50 NPC

45. Shillong Meghalaya 2.68 NPC

46. Aizawal Mizoram 2.28 NPC

47. Kohima Nagaland 0.77 NPC

48. Bhubaneswar Orissa 6.58 NPC

49. Gangtok Sikkim 0.29 NPC

50. Agartala Tripura 1.90 NPC

51. Dehradun Uttaranchal 5.30 SPC

52. Bodh Gaya Bihar 3.94 NPC

53. Ujjain Madhya Pradesh 4.31 SPC

54. Puri Orissa 1.57 NPC

55. Ajmer-Pushkar Rajasthan 5.04 SPC

56. Nainital Uttaranchal 2.20 SPC

57. Mysore Karnataka 7.99 NPC

58. Pondicherry Pondicherry 5.05 NPC

59. Chandigarh Punjab & Haryana 8.08 NPC

60. Srinagar Jammu & Kashmir 9.88 NPC

61. Mathura Uttar Pradesh 3.23 SPC

62. Hardwar Uttaranchal 2.21 SPC

63. Nanded Maharashtra 4.31 SPC


5

2.4 Urban Reforms

As the cities are attracting new activities, these

are preferred locations for investment of private

sector and even for foreign investors, these

opportunities needs to be encashed to improve

and to make cities more livable, healthy and safe

not only to those who could afford to live but

also to those who have little or no access to basic

facilities i.e. urban poor. To meet these challenges,

reforms are needed in urban sector specifically in

the areas of planning, fiscal, legal and

administrative aspects and urban governance.

Accordingly, massive central assistance to states

and urban local bodies under JNNURM has been

linked to the implementation of reforms at the

micro level that will provide necessary boost to

infrastructure development. Reforms comprise of

two sets (i) mandatory reforms i.e. core reforms

at urban local body level which aims at process of

re-engineering through deployment of technology

to enable more efficient, reliable and timely services

in a transparent manner, and (ii) optional reforms

include framework of state administration. Main

objectives of these reforms are to improve the

financial conditions of local bodies, their credit

worthiness, and ability to access market capital

for taking up new projects, secure public

participation and commercial sustainability in the

provision of services. The reforms identified under

JNNURM are given below:

2.4.1 Mandatory Reforms at ULBs and

Parastatal Agencies Level

• Adoption of modern accrual-based double

entry system of accounting;

• Introduction of a system of e-governance

using IT applications, such as GIS and MIS for

various services provided by them ;

• Reform of property tax with GIS. It becomes

a major source of revenue for ULBs and

arrangements for its effective implementation

so that collection efficiency reaches at least

85 per cent within next seven years;

• Levy of reasonable user charges with the

objective that the full cost of operation and

maintenance or recurring cost to be collected

within the next seven years. However, cities

and towns in the north east and other special

category states may recover only 50 percent

of operation and maintenance charges initially.

These cities and towns should graduate to full

operation and maintenance cost recovery in

a phased manner;

• Internal earmarking, within local bodies,

budgets for basic services to the urban poor;

and

• Provision of basic services to the urban poor

including security of tenure at affordable

prices, improved housing, water supply and

sanitation. Ensured delivery of other existing

universal services of the government for

education, health and social security.

2.4.2 Mandatory Reforms at State level

• Implementation of decentralization measures

as envisaged in 74th Constitution Amendment

Act. The State should ensure meaningful

association and engagement of ULBs in

planning, the function of parastatal agencies

as well as the delivery of services to the

citizens;

• Repeal of Urban Land Ceiling and Regulation

Act (ULCRA);

• Reform of Rent Control Laws balancing the

interests of landlords and tenants;

• Rationalization of Stamp Duty to bring it down

to no more than 5 per cent within next seven

years;

• Enactment of the Public Disclosure Law to

ensure preparation of medium-term fiscal plan

of ULBs and parastatal agencies and release

of quarterly performance information to all

stakeholders;

• Enactment of the Community Participation

Law to institutionalize citizen’s participation and

introduce the concept of the Area Sabha in

urban areas; and

• Assigning or associating elected ULBs with

“city planning function”. Over a period of

seven years, transferring all special agencies

that deliver civic services in urban areas to

ULBs and creating accountability platforms for

all urban civic service providers in transition.


6

2.4.3 Optional Reforms at States, ULBs

and Parastatal Agencies Level

• Revision of byelaws to streamline the approvalprocess for construction of buildings,development of site, etc.;

• Simplification of legal and proceduralframeworks for conversion of land fromagricultural to non-agricultural purposes;

• Introduction of Property Title CertificationSystem in ULBs;

• Earmarking at least 20-25 per cent ofdeveloped land in all housing projects (bothpublic and private agencies) for EWS and LIGcategory with a system of cross subsidization;

• Introduction of computerized process ofregistration of land and property;

• Revision of byelaws to make rainwaterharvesting mandatory in all buildings andadoption of water conservation measures;

• Byelaws for reuse of recycled water;

• Administrative reforms i.e. reduction inestablishment costs by adopting the VoluntaryRetirement Scheme (VRS), not filling postsfalling vacant due to retirement, etc., andachieving specified milestones in this regard;

• Structural reforms; and

• Encouraging PPP.

2.5 City Development Plan (CDP)

CDP has been anchored on the Jawaharlal NehruNational Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), which

aims at creating economically productive, efficient,

equitable and responsive cities. A city

Development Plan is both, a perspective as well

as a vision document for the future development

of a city. Developing a vision for the city is central

to the preparation of a CDP which in fact is a

statement of where the city wishes to go, within a

given time frame, and is often expressed in terms

of clear expectations. It defines the potential of

the city and reflects its unique attributes in terms

of comparative and competitive advantages,

values and preferences of the city’s residents. Theselection of a strategy under CDP is an extremelyimportant constituent, and needs to be done with

wide ranging consultations among keystakeholders. A strategy that links the urban poorwith service provision may be preferred, ascompared to the one that aims at expansion ofservice without any reference to its potentialbeneficiaries or target.

A City Investment Plan under CDP provides anestimate of the level of investment that will beneeded to implement the CDP. It is an estimateand approximation, and provides an order ofinvestment arrived at by using financial norms orstandards for service provision and upgradationor directly estimating the cost of implementing areform agenda. Yet another important aspect isto consider options and strategies for financingthe vision as contained in the CDP i.e. whether itwill be financed by the local government bymobilizing resources or in partnership with othertiers of government and financing institutions orwhether it will resort to capital market or will itencourage the private sector to finance this vision.All these options need to be systematicallyexamined while preparing the CDP.

In depth analysis and review of the existingsituation, covering the demographic, economic,financial, infrastructure, physical, environmentaland institutional aspects is important so as toidentify the strengths and weaknesses in the city’sdevelopment and to provide an understandingof what impedes service delivery andmanagement within the existing set up and whatcontributes to better service provision. The

analysis of demographic characteristics of a city

needs to be done in terms of the pattern of

population growth and its spatial spread within the

city. Besides, the economic base, it encompasses

the key sectors that drive the city’s economy like

mining and manufacturing, infrastructure such as

power and utilities, financial and banking services,

public services, tourism, or places of religious

importance. All these sectors need to be examined

so as to derive the lead sectors of the city’s

economy in order to maintain growth within the

lead sectors in a medium-term framework.

The financial profile of the city would indicate thestate of the city’s finances and the capacity ofthe city to be able to manage its finances and


7

mobilize resources for maintaining infrastructuralservices at prescribed norms and standards. Theanalysis needs to focus on assessing: (i) thefinancial status of the city government (as also ofother parastatal organizations responsible forservice provision); (ii) the status of current assetsand liabilities including outstanding debts; and (iii)analyzing the role of inter-governmental transfersin the finances of municipal governments. It willbe useful to examine if the levels of expenditureon municipal services are skewed in favor ofcertain areas compared with others e.g. the poorareas.

Infrastructure profile under a CDP refers to thecurrent state of infrastructure and utility systemsin the city. It indicates the adequacy or inadequacyof infrastructural services in terms of coverage,quantity, and quality, and attempts to identify thefactors responsible for inadequate developmentof infrastructure services. It measures the gapbetween demand and supply of differentinfrastructural services, and examines the factorsthat explain the gap, for example, is theinadequacy of the availability of water is due tolack of power: (i) the lack of investment, leakagesand thefts commonly observed in water andpower sector or ; (ii) low tariffs that serve as adisincentive to investment; or (iii) institutionalfragmentation. It reviews the costs of deliveringservices and compare them with recoveries madethere from.

The physical component of a CDP relate totopography that is the extent to which it acts asa constraint on development, natural drainagesystem, and availability of land. Given the servicedelivery concerns, this element of assessmentshould specifically deal with the availability of land,and land use organization. It should indicate thetotal land availability, allocation of land for differentuses and purposes, whether it has been done onthe basis of certain identified principles, and theirconsistency with the broader economic andinfrastructural base of the city. The analysis shouldcontain an assessment of the adequacy of landavailability and focus on the role of legal andstatutory provisions e.g. Urban Land (Ceiling andRegulation) Act, 1976 in making land available inthe market. It contains a survey and delineation

of areas and infrastructure that are in need ofrenewal, by establishing criteria for identificationof renewal areas.

Thus, it can be seen that the focus of CDP is onthe development of economic and socialinfrastructure, strategies affecting urban poor,strengthening municipal governance and theirfinancial accounting and budgeting system inbringing accountability and transparency andelimination of legal and other bottlenecks thathave stifled the land and housing market.

3. THE MASTER PLAN

The purpose of a Master Plan is to promote growthand guide and regulate present and futuredevelopment of towns and cities. It is aninstrument to work out land and infrastructurerequirements for various urban and rural uses,and allocate land for various uses to result inharmonious and sustainable distribution ofactivities so that towns / cities are provided with aform and structure within which they can performall their economic and social functions efficientlyand effectively. However, as indicated in variousrelevant acts, the scope of a master plan confines

to the broad proposals and allocation of land for

various uses such as residential, industrial,

commercial, recreational, public and semi-public,

etc. It proposes a network of roads and pattern

of streets and traffic circulation systems for the

present and the future. A master plan identifies

areas required to be preserved and conserved

and development of areas of natural scenery and

landscape together with preservation of features,

structures or places of historical, architectural and

scientific interest and environmental value. Master

plan includes zoning regulations for regulating

development within each zone. It also indicatesstages through which the plan is proposed to beimplemented. Thus, a master plan is an importantinstrument for guiding and regulatingdevelopment of towns and cities over a period oftime, and contributes to planned developmentboth conceptually and operationally.

Master plans are generally prepared for periods of20 to 25 years. Population projection for suchplans is in fact a difficult task even though variousscientific methods are adopted by planners. It is a


8

well known fact that actual population always

surpasses the projected population. Therefore,

land requirements proposed for projected

population also falls short and so is the case with

proposed infrastructure as well.

It is not denying the fact that collection and

compilation of information required on various

parameters is a time consuming process because,

firstly, upto date and reliable information is not

available and secondly, collection of information

calls for fresh field surveys every time a master

plan is prepared. Compulsory acquisition of land

for public purposes is opposed tooth and nail by

owners of land, which leads to corrupt practices

of changing land use proposals and ultimately

causing delays. Besides, a master plan approval

process is yet another cause of delay.

Ensuring effective involvement of citizens in plan

preparation and implementation is seldom resorted

to because in the present practice of master

planning, public suggestions and objections are

invited by giving only a public notice that too only

after the draft development plan is prepared.

Active participation is largely confined to land

owners whose properties are adversely affected.

Planning is a continuous process involving not only

plan preparation but also plan implementation.

Due to ineffective implementation of plans, planning

proposals become irrelevant and meaningless and

plan document becomes ineffective. In India, the

root cause of urban maladies is disconnection of

plan preparation and plan implementation. Thus,

over the years, dichotomy has emerged between

what has been proposed in a master plan and

what has happened on the ground. In large

number of cases investment opportunities have

been made use of in contradiction to master plan

proposals, which have led to the emergence of

development trends in the directions contrary to

that of master plans. If investment strategy goes

contrary to master plan, economic chaos are sure

to prevail. Orderly growth of urban centers

therefore calls for making available adequate

resources and adoption of investment strategies

in accordance with the direction indicated in the

master plan for effective implementation.

Strategies for raising funds required for planimplementation are generally not an integral partof a master plan. For example Master Plan forDelhi, 1962, 2001 and 2021 are silent oninvestments required and sources of funding.While the Report on the Development Plan forGreater Bombay, 1964 ends with the hope ofraising financial resources for plan implementationby noting, ‘with little sacrifice on the part of allcitizens and sympathetic attitude of state andcentral governments towards Corporation’sproblem, this plan can be translated into reality’.Lack of financial resources on one hand andabsence of dovetailing of physical planning withfiscal planning has been largely responsible forlopsided and unplanned growth of our urbanareas. Land use planning without any link withinfrastructure investment leads to a situationwhereby investment is driven by the demand ofalready developed areas leaving new areas withinadequate investments. Implementation of masterplans in Maharashtra even though differs from onemunicipal body to another, depending upon theirfinancial strength, yet it can be safely assumedthat implementation has not been more than 30percent.

Major reason for poor implementation of masterplans is not far to seek. Urban local bodies withoutexception suffer from very weak resource base.

Their incomes are much less compared to the ideal

level of expenditure. Demands on these institutions

are very heavy, while the resources available with

them are very few. Because of the archaic urban

land policies and rent control acts, income of local

bodies has remained static. These urban local

bodies are also plagued with high levels of

corruption, poor managerial capacity, lack of

technical expertise and constant interference of

elected representatives. These bodies are

spending nearly 50 percent on establishment,

about 30 percent on maintenance of utilities and

10 to 15 percent on development works. It is

therefore not surprising that execution of

development plan suffers (Patharkar, 1995). In

spite of these limitations as mentioned above, theconcept of statutory master plan has been invogue over the last four decades and it has nodoubt made discernable impact in regulating andguiding the development of cities and towns.


9

Without master plans the situation would have

been much worst in our towns and cities

4. INTERFACE BETWEEN CDPS AND

MASTER PLANS

Under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban

Renewal Mission (JNNURM), it is mandatory to

prepare City Development Plans (CDPs) for 63

selected cities. A CDP will provide vision and

perspective for the future development of the city.

But as mentioned earlier, the focus of CDP is more

on the development of economic and social

infrastructure, strengthening of municipal

governance, financial accounting and other

bottlenecks. It could also be noted that the main

objectives of reforms under the JNNURM are to

improve the financial conditions of local bodies and

their credit worthiness and ability to access market

capital. Besides the main objectives of the JNNURM,

it is to secure focused attention on integrated

development of infrastructure and services, secure

effective linkages between asset creation and

assets management, ensure adequate

investments of funds to fulfill deficiencies in urban

infrastructure services, scale up the delivery of

civic amenities and provision of utilities with

emphasis on universal access to the urban poor

and planned development of cities identified under

the mission. On the other hand master plan aims

to promote growth and regulate present and

future development of towns and cities. It is an

instrument to work out space and infrastructure

required and to allocate land to various uses for

harmonious and sustainable distribution of land

so that towns and cities are provided with a form

and structure within which it can perform all its

economic and social functions effectively and

efficiently. It also gives zoning regulations for

harmonizing the development in each zone.

As noted earlier, a master plan is a statutory

instrument for guiding and regulating

development of towns and cities over a period of

time and contributes to planned development bothconceptually and operationally. Master plan alsotakes the cognizance of the regional linkages unlikeCDP where emphasis is city based. The emphasisof CDP is also more on identification of set ofprojects under JNNURM guidelines as given insection 2.1 above, which may compel urban localbodies to devise ways and means to lift more fundsfrom central and state kitty. However, it is notdenying the fact that CDP highlights certainimportant aspects like preparation of financialprofile of a city, investment plan and strategy planand infrastructure profile in preparation of CDP,which will go a long way in realizing harmoniousand sustainable development of towns and cities.These aspects which even though are emphasizedin the master plan but always are down played.Thus, it would be advisable to integrate the CDPand master plan, as the objective of both thedocuments is the same i.e. ‘future developmentof city’. For all the 63 cities identified underJNNURM, master plans are in operation. For megaand metro cities second and third generationmaster plans are in force which are statutorydocuments prepared under relevant acts, if thecognizance of this fact is not taken bothdocuments may work in cross purposes and chaosare sure to prevail.

5. CONCLUSIONS

In order to avoid contradictions between thesetwo documents, it is advisable to achieve interfacebetween both the documents. The best way is toidentify the projects under the JNNURM in CDP inconformity with master plan proposals, which willalso give an edge to the CDP.

REFERENCES

Town and Country Planning Organization (1995) Master Plan

Approach: Efficacy and Alternatives, Town and Country

Planning Organization, New Delhi.

Patharkar, A.R. (1995) Master Plan Approach and its

Alternatives

http://urbanindia, nic. in / mud-final-site / programs /

urbandevelopment / nurm. htm.


TRENDS OF PLANNING AND GOVERNANCE IN METROPOLITAN INDIA

DR. ASHOK KUMARDepartment of Physical Planning, School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi

ABSTRACT

This paper discusses the prominent trends of privatization of urban planning and centralization of governance with a particular focus

on how privatization and centralization is being achieved by central as well as state governments by following exclusionary policy

framing strategies even when loud claims for decentralization of planning and governance by elected urban local bodies are being

made. The author examines the issue of privatization of urban planning by closely examining the policy framing processes of Special

Economic Zones, and City Development Plans apart from the development of townships by the private builders and the JNNURM in

general.

1. INTRODUCTION

Although most of the states in India still carry outplanning of their major urban areas throughmaster plans, a new trend of planning by theprivate sector is also fast emerging. This trend iscomplex and dissipates in terms of planningpractices. It could be seen in the form ofdevelopment of special economic zones,development of private townships by thecorporate builders as in the states of Haryana,Uttar Pradesh, etc., and a recent initiative toprepare City Development Plans under theJawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission.

As far as urban governance is concerned, thetrend of centralization of decision makingprocesses has clearly developed in spite of thefact that Government of India amended theConstitution in 1992 to devolve powers to urbanlocal bodies. The 74th amendment to theConstitution of India, among other things,provided for the establishment of MetropolitanPlanning Committees to prepare spatial plans forthe entire urban agglomeration with a populationof one million plus. As per 2001 census there are35 metropolitan areas in India. So far only onemetropolitan planning committee has beenformulated in Kolkata and is made operational.Maharashtra has enacted legislation for theformation of MPCs in Mumbai and othermetropolitan areas. Another five states are at thevarious stages of establishment of suchcommittees.

My contention is that even if metropolitan planningcommittees are established in all the metropolitanareas, still devolved urban governance may not

become the reality due to the flawed nature ofthe constitutional amendment, which left criticalcomponents of decentralization to the discretionof the state governments. For instance,decentralization may not happen becausemembers of the metropolitan planningcommittees are indirectly elected and certainpercentage is nominated by the state government.However, it will be an improvement over theexisting bureaucratic system being run by the civilservants.

This paper will discuss both these trends ofprivatization of urban planning and centralizationof urban governance with a particular focus onhow centralization is being achieved by central aswell as state governments by followingexclusionary policy framing strategies even whenloud claims for decentralization of planning andgovernance by elected urban local bodies arebeing made. The paper has four divisions. Afteran introduction in the first section, the authorexamines the issue of privatization of urbanplanning by closely examining the policy framingprocesses of Special Economic Zones, and CityDevelopment Plans apart from privately buildtownships. The third section provides a discussionon the governance of India’s metropolitan areasafter the devolution of powers to make spatial plansthrough indirectly elected MPCs. The last sectionprovides some concluding remarks.

2. PRIVATIZATION OF URBAN

PLANNING

2.1 Private Bourgeois Urban Enclaves

The states of Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and othershave enacted laws to enable private sector

I T P I

JOURNAL

www.itpindia.org

ITPI JOURNAL3 : 2 (2006) 10-20

11

participation in urban development. Builders couldlawfully purchase land from individual farmers andassemble it for urban development after securingnecessary permissions from the state governmentin respect of sub-division plan of a colony. Oncethis plan is approved, corporate builders candevelop and sell properties in the open market atprices decided by them. A small percentage offlats and plots are set aside for the poor who areresidents of the state. In this way large scale urbandevelopments have taken place around Delhi. InHaryana private colonies such as Palam Vihar bythe Ansals and Sushant Lok by DLF are prominentapart from other numerous developments.Several of these developments started in the early1980s and are now on the verge of completion.Lakhs of people live in these areas and thousandsof businesses are run from these urban enclaveslargely dependent on the private automobile forcommuting.

Who has benefited from the construction of suchurban enclaves? To answer this question it isnecessary to take a quick snapshot at the recenthistory of planning in the growing metropolis ofDelhi. In the 1980s Delhi was facing severe housingshortages because of the inability of the DDA toconstruct adequate number of dwelling units formiddle and lower income groups. Egalitarianleanings led the Government to insist on theprovision of housing by the public sector alone.On the other hand, continued immigration to thecity further aggravated housing shortages. Theseshortages were seen as an opportunity by stategovernments of Uttar Pradesh and Haryana.Grabbing this opportunity to make fast bucks, thestate governments of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh,however, followed different paths to realize theirsimilar unstated objective. While Uttar PradeshGovernment developed new town of Noida in the1980s and much later Greater Noida, stategovernment of Haryana straight away took tothe policy of housing development by the privatesector by enacting the law.

Both policies achieved its ends of making hugegains for the state governments and the rich andmiddle classes. Due to huge housing shortages inDelhi, even those small percentages of plots andflats meant for the poor were taken up by therich and growing middle classes. Further, since

location of these newly developed urban areaswas comparatively away from the mother city andlacked decent public transport systems coupledwith high dwelling unit costs worked against theinterests of the poor and lower middle classes.Thus, largely higher income groups, and thoseinvestors who wanted to park their money forsometime before shares pick up, benefited. Thispolicy continues even today in a number of statesincluding Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.

2.2 Special Economic Zones

Imagine Government of India and local planningauthorities have planned to privately develop thearea equivalent to 50 times that of the area ofurban Delhi without much discourse with thepublic. Also imagine that Government has handedover these areas to the private sector for planningand development in growing and hugely strategiclocations like Mumbai, NOIDA, etc. One might wantto research the reasons, which led theGovernment to take such a decision of remarkableconsequences. These far reaching provisionspertaining to colossal development of land forindustry and services are made through theSpecial Economic Zones Act, 2005 and the SpecialEconomic Zones Rules, 2006.

A policy of special economic zones has beenadopted by the Ministry of Commerce andIndustry, Department of Commerce through anact of Parliament on 23rd June 2005 (Governmentof India, 2005). Under these statutory provisionsGovernment of India has already given a go aheadto over 140 special economic zones spread over40,000 hectares involving investment ofRs.100,000 crore with a potential to generate5,00,000 jobs (Sidhartha, 2006: 22).

When governments in the UK, west Europeancountries and the US introduced such planninginstruments, they did so because it becamedifficult for them to regenerate declining inner citiesand derelict docklands and run down industrialareas by using only public funds. Government ofIndia on the other hand has handed over hugechunks of land near growing urban areas or atother strategic locations such as near airports orseaports to the private sector, and has relaxed anumber of important development controlregulations. In the case of SEZs, Government ofIndia and state governments have minimum

Dr. Ashok Kumar/ ITPI Journal 3 : 2 (2006) 10 - 20

12

planning and development controls. The SimplifiedPlanning Zones Act, 2005 is silent on therelationship of the SEZs located in or near cities,with the existing master plans and regional plans.The SEZs located around Mumbai are the importantcase in point. Non-existence of public debate anddiscourse on huge policy changes with remarkableconsequences for the people is the first steptowards centralization.

According to section 53 of the SEZs Act, 2005, aspecial economic zone is ‘deemed to be a territoryoutside the customs territory of India for thepurposes of undertaking the authorizedoperations’ (Government of India, 2005). Thisimplies that government will provide significantconcessions in terms of tax holidays and otherdirect and indirect benefits. It is feared that in orderto take advantage of those benefits, even thoseunits will locate in the SEZs, which otherwise wouldhave located themselves at any other location oftheir choice. This gives undue advantage to theprivate enterprises in terms of non-payment oflegitimate taxes due to the public exchequer.

Government of India believes that SEZs will attractRs.1,00,000 of inward investment including FDI.It argues that tax incentives are necessary toattract this investment. But tax incentives to worldclass industries like information technology, andgems and jewellery would mean that Governmentof India is depriving the public of legitimate taxesthat could have been collected for the publicexchequer. This is double loss of the public, one inthe form of incentives and the other as tax holidaysfor 10 years. Earlier experience is also not veryencouraging. Economic and Political Weeklyeditorial of April 2006 reported that revenue lostdue to export linked schemes was Rs.53,430 crorein 2004-2005 (Economic and Political Weekly,2006: 1301).

Second, the minimum size of an SEZ varies from1,000 hectare to 10 hectare. Sub-rule 2 of rule 5of the Special Economic Zones Rules, 2006provides that the minimum area for a multiproduct SEZ will be 1,000 hectare or more. But ifsuch SEZ is established in the north eastern states,and Himachal Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Jammu andKashmir and Goa, the minimum area would be200 hectare. Further, if such an SEZ is exclusively

established for providing services, its minimumarea could be as low as 100 hectare. Sector specificSEZs will have the minimum area of 100 hectarein general and 50 hectare in northeastern andother above mentioned 4 states. For electronicsSEZ the minimum area shall be 10 hectare, andfor SEZs focusing on biotechnology, non-conventional energy, gems and jewellery sectors,the minimum area shall be 10 hectare. For freetrade and warehousing SEZs, the minimum areashall be 40 hectare (Government of India, 2006).

Since SEZ is a unique spatial and economicinstrument to attract inward investment andpromote exports, it looses its significance if thesize is reduced to tens of hectares. To operateefficiently the SEZs require world classinfrastructure such as water, power, roads, airportsand ports, etc. for manufacturing world classgoods and providing world class services fromthese areas. Smaller size to the extent of 10hectare or even 100 hectare does not allowenough space to build exclusive world classinfrastructure. EPW editorial dubbed this policyas ‘unnecessary giveaways’ and noted: SEZs aresupposed to attract investment because they doaway with the inherent disincentives anddistortions within the host economy that inhibitexport growth. These might include licensingcontrols, foreign investment ceilings, poorinfrastructure, high import duties and tax andlabour rigidities. In India, customs tariffs have comedown dramatically since the economy wasliberalized in 1991; direct and indirect taxes havebeen rationalized and reduced progressively. Anumber of export incentive schemes such asadvance licensing and duty drawbacks are alreadyin existence and in the process of being madeWTO compatible. Moreover, though infrastructuralfacilities could be enhanced within the SEZ itself,transport costs and efficiency can not beseparated from larger rail, port and road networksof the country that still continues to posetremendous problems. As the facilities /advantages accessible within an SEZ becomeincreasingly indistinct from those available in thedomestic tariff area, fiscal incentive in particularbegin to appear more as expensive andunnecessary giveaways (Economic and PoliticalWeekly, 2006: 1301).


13

Equally scathing comment is made by theEconomic Times through its editorial published on11 May 2006. The Economic Times editorialaccused the Government of India of perpetuatinga ‘scam’ through its SEZ policy. ‘The present policyof setting up of SEZs of a few hundred acres inexisting towns is nothing less than a real estatescam made doubly juicy with enormous taxarbitrage’ (The Economic Times, 2006: 14).

The EPZ, an earlier avatar of the SEZ has fairedbadly almost on all important indicators. Forexample, the share of EPZ exports to totalmanufacturing exports increased from 0.14percent in 1973 to 5.2 percent only in 2002.Although it is an increase but share of EPZs remainsinsignificant. The average annual growth ofemployment generation also declined from 50.2percent in 1966 to 5.2 percent in 2002.Production efficiency in terms of rate of exportsper unit of employment also declined particularlyafter 1980s (Aggarwal, 2004: 11-13).

Third, apart from thoughtless privatization, thepolicy of the SEZs ushers the age of heightenedbureaucracy and intense centralization.Governance of the SEZs is handled by the Ministryof Commerce and Industry along with theconcerned central ministries and stategovernments. As per section 9 of the SEZ Act,2005, the Board of Approval will ‘ensure orderlydevelopment of the Special Economic Zones’ bygranting approvals for the setting up of SEZs, bygranting approvals of authorized operations in theSEZs and by granting approvals for development,operation and maintenance of the SEZs. Section8 of the SEZs Act, 2005 provides details aboutthe constitution of the 18 members Board ofApproval. Chairperson, members and membersecretary are all senior bureaucrats of Governmentof India. An officer not below the rank of anAdditional Secretary to Government of India willbe the Chairperson. Members will include twoofficers not below the rank of a Joint Secretary toGovernment of India representing the departmentdealing with revenue; one officer not below therank of a Joint Secretary to Government of Indiarepresenting the department dealing witheconomic affairs; a maximum of ten more officernot below the rank of a Joint Secretary toGovernment of India representing departmentsor ministries of commerce, industrial policy and

promotion, science and technology, small scaleindustries and agro and rural industries, homeaffairs, defence, environment and forests, law,overseas Indian affairs and urban development;a nominee of the concerned state government;the Director General of Foreign Trade or hisnominee, Development Commissioner of theconcerned area; and a professor from an IIMnominated by Government of India. In addition,the Board of Approval will have the MemberSecretary who will be an officer not below the rankof a Deputy Secretary to Government of India.Above composition clearly establishes that this 18member body will be predominantly made up ofsenior bureaucrats. This kind of economic policydoes not go well with decentralized democraticgovernance. An equally powerful committee calledApproval Committee is set up under section 13and 14 for each SEZ to approve import andexport of goods and services to and from theSEZ, to approve setting up of units in the SEZ,monitor utilization of goods and services, monitorcompliance of conditions attached to letter ofapproval, etc. Development Commissioner to beappointed by the central government is thechairperson of the Approval Committee along with8 members: five officers of central governmentrepresenting various ministries including revenueand economic affairs, two officers of theconcerned state government and arepresentative of the concerned developer whowill attend meetings as a special invitee. This furtherperpetuates a cobweb of bureaucraticgovernance, which is only deepened by thesetting up of Special Economic Zones Authoritywhich is also headed by the DevelopmentCommissioner for each SEZ as stipulated insections 31 to 34 of the SEZs Act, 2005.

2.3 Urban Renewal and the City

development Plans

Urban renewal world over has been used as a policyfor injecting new lease of life in derelict areas. Innercities of Europe and America are prime examplesapart from docks and old industrial areas inEngland. Main vehicle for implementation of urbanrenewal programmes in western countries hasbeen specially created autonomous agencies suchas urban development corporations and enterprisezones in England. Private board members on thesecorporations have steered development with


14

largely private sector investments. Public fundswere used for initial development of derelict sites.

Plans prepared by the UDCs could override policiescontained in the development plans prepared byduly elected local planning authorities. Generallythese areas were devoid of any population and ifat all there were few people living in some of theseareas, their opinions were not even sought. As faras the issue of equity is concerned, a large numberof authors have concluded that these attemptsat urban renewal were inequitable to the localpeople particularly in respect of providingemployment (Spaans, 2004).

In India urban renewal involves redevelopmentas it was done in the plague ravaged Surat in theearly 1990s by implementing town planningschemes. Success of the programme and thehealth benefits enjoyed by the entire Surat cityincluding people living in slums and squatters hascontributed to development, which is fairlyequitable. The city is now regarded as the secondcleanest city in India after Chandigarh. In Delhiexamples of urban renewal could includeredevelopment of area around the Red Fort, whichincluded widening and reorganizing of roads andplanning for parking, etc. Similarly sporadic effortsto renew urban fabric have been made in othercities of India.

However, recently Government of India haslaunched the Jawaharlal Nehru National UrbanRenewal Mission under which it has promised toinvest Rs.100, 000 crore in 63 large and smallcities. Scale and scope of the JNNURM is large andlikely to affect large number of people. Therefore,the issue of inclusive and democratic governancemust be raised because participation is theprecondition for equitable development, which ismeaningful for the poor and excluded.

The issues of bureaucratic governance andcentralization are important in the case of JNNURMalso. For example, it is not very clear who willimplement the various programmes designedunder the JNNURM? It is being suggested thatlarge corporate organizations will be establishedby central government for the implementation ofthe JNNURM. Possibility of establishment of suchorganizations is real if we look at the pastexperience. When states were busy inimplementing the 73rd and 74th amendments to

the Constitution of India in 1993, the Ministry ofUrban Development initiated a programme titled‘Infrastructure Development in Mega Cities’, andMumbai Metropolitan Region DevelopmentAuthority, Kolkata Metropolitan RegionDevelopment Authority, Tamilnadu Urban Financeand Infrastructure Development Corporation,Andhra Pradesh Urban Finance and InfrastructureDevelopment Corporation and Karnataka UrbanFinance and Infrastructure DevelopmentCorporation were designated the nodal agenciesfor sanctioning funds for the implementation ofthis programme in Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai,Hyderabad and Bangalore. From this account itbecomes very transparent that why centralgovernment is not insisting on the enactment oflegislation for the formulation of metropolitanplanning committees in four of the abovementioned five cities? Fortunately this scheme willbe subsumed in the JNNURM.

Role of elected urban local bodies is further blurredby these attempts of centralization. What kind ofinvolvement, for example, could be expected fromthe duly elected urban local bodies and speciallycreated committees such as district planningcommittees and metropolitan planningcommittee? One must remember that urban localbodies have been created by an amendment tothe Constitution of India.

City development plans are being prepared for63 cities selected under the JNNURM by theconcerned state governments. Like in the case ofSEZs, presence and influence of centralgovernment is very strongly visible. In order tospeed up the process of preparation of CDPs,central government has prepared a panel ofconsultants. State governments could inviteconsultants, including the ones entailed in thepanel prepared by central government, to prepareCDPs. This process has already begun and byMarch 2006, ten CDPs are prepared and another15 are at various stages of preparation by theconsultants (see Table 1 for details).

Megalopolis like Kolkata, Greater Mumbai, Delhi andChennai are also taking steps to prepare CDPs.While the CDPS of Kolkata and Greater Mumbaihave been sent to NIUA, NIPFP and others forevaluation, Delhi and Chennai are still the initial

stages of CDP preparation. Other cities which are


15

Table 1. Status of Approval of CDPs, 2006

City Date of receipt by Appraisal Date of receipt of Present StatusCentral Government Agency Appraisal Report

Hyderabad 1 March 2006 NIUA 20 March 2006 Negotiated and Signed

Vijaywada 1 March 2006 NIUA 20 March 2006 Negotiated and Signed

Vishakhapatnam 1 March 2006 NIUA 20 March 2006 Negotiated and Signed

Ahmedabad 27 January 2006 NIUA 20 March 2006 Negotiated and Signed

Rajkot 27 January 2006 NIUA 24 March 2006 Negotiated and Signed

Surat 27 January 2006 NIUA 24 March 2006 Negotiated and Signed

Bhopal 16 February 2006 NIPFP 13 March 2006 Negotiated and Signed

Indore 16 February 2006 NIPFP 13 March 2006 Negotiated and Signed

Nagpur 13 February 2006 NIPFP 17 March 2006 Negotiated and Signed

Pune 13 February 2006 NIPFP 10 March 2006 Negotiated and Signed

Source : Ministry of Urban Development (2006).

also in the process of preparing CDPs areChandigarh, Raipur, Vadodara, Mysore, Jabalpur,Ujjain, Nanded, Kohima, Coimbatore, Madurai andAsansol. Concerned cities and state governmentsand central government are indeed in the mission-mode.

Once the City Development Plans are preparedby the private consultants, these will be evaluatedby the National Institute of Urban Affairs andNational Institute of Public Finance and Policy onbehalf of Government of India. This clearly showsa shift of control over land, from the stategovernments to central government. This is aclear infringement on the rights of the stategovernments because land is a state subject asprovided in the Constitution of India. Outcomesof the policy and processes adopted for theformation of CDPs are very similar to the policyoutcomes of the SEZs at least in terms ofprivatization and centralization.

But the process of CDP preparation is altogetherclear. I will offer one illustration to explain this point.Even before the exercise of preparing the list ofconsultants could be completed by centralgovernment, the first tender was awarded toCRISIL, a private rating agency for Pune city,which has no experience of preparing spatial planswhatsoever. Financial rating agency could not betrusted to formulate CDPs for all people,particularly for the urban poor. Now the questionis where the people of the city are situated in thisprivatized process of plan making, and what role

the duly elected urban local bodies are likely toplay? This is a process of reversing decentralizationand decision making by locally elected bodies. Itseems that ‘the entire Mission formulation andrelated actions have been orchestrated byagencies such as the World Bank and USAID whichhave a vested interest and long history ofpromoting neo-liberal developmental policies.These goals are sought to be smuggled throughthe Mission under cover of its apparent benignintent’ (Raghu, 2005: 2).

In spite of the fact that the process of preparingCDPs has been privatized and made completelybureaucratic resulting in centralization, the onlysilver lining is that these plans could be used atsub-regional level to integrate policies and projectsemanating from urban and rural local bodies. Evenfor this to happen requires that like master plans,CDPs must become statutory documents and alsofit into the existing town and country planninglegal frameworks. This arrangement mightadditionally assist MPCs (in the case of CDPs ofmillion plus cities) in effectively performing theirduties of coordination and integration, andprioritization of policies and projects.

3. METROPOLITAN PLANNING BY

INDIRECTLY ELECTED MPCS

Institutions are significant because they facilitateformulation and implementation of public policiesincluding distributive policies. Before assessingimpact of policies on people in terms equity,


16

inclusion, etc., it is equally important to examinehow these policies are framed because policyframing processes affect policy outcomes.Inclusive policy framing is likely to be moretransparent and equitable than is otherwisepossible. Similarly, exclusionary processes of policyframing may end up benefiting few and excludinga large number of stakeholders. In the case ofparticipatory governance, examination of policyframing processes is even more important.

Recently Government of the National CapitalTerritory of Delhi and Government of West Bengalhave been trying to implement the 74thamendment to the Constitution of India. While aforeign donor that is the USAID, has been guidingthe Government of the National Capital Territoryof Delhi, for the formulation of local governmentstatute and byelaws, Government of West Bengalhas legislated for the establishment of MPC onlyto scuttle decentralized governance in Kolkata. Iwill illustrate these points by providing twoexamples, one, attempt for securing backdoorapproval of the Delhi Municipal Corporation(Amendment) Bill, 2005, and two, composition ofthe Kolkata Metropolitan Planning Committee. Bothstate governments emphasize that they areattempting to implement the 74th constitutionamendment. But I will show in the followingaccount that both efforts are not only in violationof the Constitution of India in so far as the 74thamendment to the Constitution of India isconcerned, these are also attempts to centralizelocal decision making processes.

Let me first take up a discussion on Delhi.Government of the National Capital Territory ofDelhi has been pushing hard for the approval ofDelhi Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Bill,2005 (Ministry of Urban Development, 2005). InOctober 2005, the Delhi Government presentedthe Bill to the Union Home Ministry and a decisionis awaited. Similarly, Municipal Corporation of Delhihas been trying hard to introduce new system ofimplementation plans, ‘Local Area Plans’, throughamendments to the Unified Building Byelaws.

Unlike a large majority of the states in the country,Government of the National Capital Territory ofDelhi so far has not implemented the 74thamendment to the Constitution of India fordecentralization of decision making to localgovernments and formation of the DelhiMetropolitan Planning Committee. Even at present

major administrative decisions including masterplan making and implementation are taken underthe Delhi Development Act, 1957, MunicipalCorporation of Delhi Act, 1957, New Delhi MunicipalCouncil Act 1994, Delhi Land Revenue Act 1954,and Government of National Capital Territory ofDelhi Act, 1991. In practice this means that masterplan making, its implementation and land usechange decisions are being taken by a centralgovernment agency i.e. DDA, which is primarilyaccountable to two officers: an IndianAdministrative Service officer designated as Vice-Chairman and another Lieutenant Governorappointed by the central government.

However, all this changed in the last five years. Anunexpected source that is USAID-India has beensuccessful in encouraging the Government ofNational Capital Territory of Delhi to implement the74th constitution amendment. To kick start thisprocess, the USAID-India sponsored a nationalworkshop on the Model Municipal Law in November2003 (Ministry of Urban Development, 2003).Further, two workshops were held with the helpof this foreign donor in September 2004 at Jaipurand in November 2004 at Kolkata. Among others,the Union Ministry of Urban Development,Government of Rajasthan, Government of WestBengal, NIUA and USAID-India attended all threeevents. It was pledged that efforts must be madeto implement the 74th amendment to theConstitution of India. Since then USAID, Americanfunding agency has been leading the campaign.

When one sees that a simple exercise of passinglegislation to implement the constitutionalamendment could not be carried out by theGovernment of National Capital Territory of Delhisince the last 13 years of passing the constitutionalamendment, and it takes a foreign donor’sintervention, one begins to wonder whether thestate government is serious about the politicaldecentralization agenda.

As far as the Unified Building Byelaws areconcerned, these must be amended by theGovernment of the National Capital Territory ofDelhi in consultation with local planning authoritiessuch as Delhi Municipal Corporation, DelhiDevelopment Authority, New Delhi MunicipalCouncil, etc., and the public at large before seekingthe final approval from the Ministry of UrbanDevelopment. Before sending the amended


17

byelaws to the Ministry of Urban Development, itis expected that Delhi State Assembly mustdebate and reflect on them. Like in the case ofthe Model Delhi Municipal Corporation(Amendment) Bill 2005, it can be seen that all legalprocedures and processes have been overlooked.

Provisions of the Delhi Municipal Corporation(Amendment) Bill, 2005 pursues a reformistagenda, a market led private participation in mostmunicipal decisions whereby local governmentremains on the sidelines and acts as the enablerto facilitate private sector provision of services.Local authority budget will be more concernedwith balancing the books and place less emphasison employment generation, decent health careand education for the poor. Spirit of the DelhiMunicipal Corporation (Amendment) Bill, 2005seems to make perfect match with the statedobjectives of the USAID-India. This is only naturalbecause of the policy framing process being ledby the same agency.

Whatever might have happened in the nationalcapital, we always expect that the ‘Capital ofMarxism in India’ will do a better job as far as theinterests of the public are concerned? One mustgive credit to the West Bengal Government forestablishing the first and so far only metropolitanplanning committee in the country in 1994 underthe West Bengal Metropolitan Planning CommitteeAct, 1994, just two year after the constitutionalamendment. However, the rules to implement theMPC legislation were framed only in 2001. Thismeans it took 7 years to make the MPCoperational. When the MPC was made operationalit raised more questions than it answered(Government of West Bengal, 1994).

At present the KMPC has 60 members out of which40 are directly elected and 20 members arenominated by the state government fromamongst the elected members of the urban localbodies and sarpanches of village panchayats

within the Kolkata Metropolitan Area. KolkataMetropolitan Area is the largest urbanagglomerations in the country with a populationof 14.8 million in 2001. This area is governed by 3Municipal Corporations, 38 Municipalities and 133Gram Panchayats distributed in different districtslike Kolkata, Howrah, Hooghly, Nadia, 24Paraganas (N) and 24 Paraganas (S).

The Kolkata Metropolitan Planning Committee didnot usher a new era of decentralized metropolitangovernance. On the contrary, efforts have beenmade to maintain the status quo or perpetuatemore centralization. For example, Chief Ministerof West Bengal has been nominated the Chairmanof the Kolkata Metropolitan Planning Committeeand Minister In Charge Municipal Administrationand Urban Development has become the Vice-Chairman. Second, Kolkata MetropolitanDevelopment Authority has been designated asthe secretariat of the Committee. With KolkataMetropolitan Development Authority beingheaded by a nominated state level politician and asenior bureaucrat as Member Secretary, theKolkata Metropolitan Planning Committee showslittle devolution of power to urban localgovernment. It has been completely overtakenby the bureaucrats and state level politicians. Littleor no political space is left for the locally electedpoliticians.

One could not comprehend when a reassuringstatement was made by Asok Bhattacharya,Minister In Charge Municipal Affairs and UrbanDevelopment, at the Second Workshop on ModelMunicipal Law in November 2004:

The West Bengal Government is ideologicallycommitted to democratic decentralization. Thiscommitment is reflected in the state Municipal Acts.[It] is political decentralization and notadministrative decentralization that constitutes thecore. [The] Municipal Administrative ReformCommittee has submitted its report on theworking of the ULBs and some of itsrecommendations have been implemented.

Perhaps the Left Ideology has also gottransformed in a changing neo liberal politics ofIndia set in the backdrop of fast globalizing Indianeconomy. Apart from this there is a fundamentalflaw in the Constitution amendment in respect ofdevolution of planning powers to local politiciansas pointed out earlier.

3.1 Representative Character

The 74th amendment to the Constitution of Indiaprovided that MPCs would be indirectly electedbodies from among the elected members ofmunicipalities and chairpersons of panchayats. The

Parliamentary Standing Committee whoserecommendations were accepted and inserted in


18

the Constitution thus noted: ‘In order to impart ademocratic character to the said Committees notless than two-thirds of the members of suchCommittees should be elected by and fromamongst, the elected members of themunicipalities and Chairpersons of the Panchayats

in the metropolitan area in proportion to the ratiobetween the population of the municipalities andof the Panchayats in that area. The other detailsrelating to composition of the said Committees,the manner of filling the seats therein, the

representation in such Committees ofGovernment of India and the Government of theState and other organizations and institutions, thefunctions relating to planning and co-ordinationfor the Metropolitan area to be assigned to suchCommittees and the manner in which theChairpersons of such Committees shall be chosenmay be left to the State Legislatures’.

Since MPC is made up of indirectly electedchairpersons of panchayats and members of


Fig. 1. Constitution of the Metropolitan Planning Committees

243ZE. Committee for Metropolitan planning.-

(1) There shall be constituted in every Metropolitan area a Metropolitan Planning Committeeto prepare a draft development plan for the Metropolitan area as a whole.

(2) The Legislature of a State may, by law, make provision with respect to-

(a) the composition of the Metropolitan Planning Committees;

(b) the manner in which the seats in such Committees shall be filled:

Provided that not less than two-thirds of the members of such Committee shall be elected by,and from amongst, the elected members of the Municipalities and Chairpersons of the Panchayatsin the Metropolitan area in proportion to the ratio between the population of the Municipalitiesand of the Panchayats in that area;

(c) the representation in such Committees of the Government of India and the Governmentof the State and of such organizations and institutions as may be deemed necessaryfor carrying out the functions assigned to such Committees;

(d) the functions relating to planning and coordination for the Metropolitan area whichmay be assigned to such Committees;

(e) the manner in which the Chairpersons of such Committees shall be chosen.

(3) Every Metropolitan Planning Committee shall, in preparing the draft development plan,-

(a) have regard to-

(i) the plans prepared by the Municipalities and the Panchayats in the Metropolitanarea;

(ii) matters of common interest between the Municipalities and the Panchayats,including coordinated spatial planning of the area, sharing of water and other physicaland natural resources, the integrated development of infrastructure andenvironmental conservation;

(iii) the overall objectives and priorities set by the Government of India and theGovernment of the State;

(iv) the extent and nature of investments likely to be made in the Metropolitan area byagencies of the Government of India and of the Government of the State andother available resources whether financial or otherwise;

(b) consult such institutions and organizations as the Governor may, by order, specify.

(4) The Chairperson of every Metropolitan Planning Committee shall forward the developmentplan, as recommended by such Committee, to the Government of the State.

19

municipalities, their first loyalty lies with thesebodies rather than metropolitan committees orurban agglomeration as a whole. Politicians will haveno interest in those areas which do not form theirelectoral territory. Therefore, even if local politiciansare made chairperson and vice-chairperson, theKMPC will remain incapable of looking after theentire Kolkata Metropolitan Area. It is thereforeimportant to replace existing indirectly electedMPCs with directly elected ones by voters of theKolkata Metropolitan Area.

Second important point is that critical decisionshave been left to the discretion of stategovernment, which could alter the nature of theMPCs and thereby spirit of the 74th constitutionamendment (see Fig. 1). For example, selectionor election of the important office bearers such aschairperson, vice chairperson and secretary of anMPC, and the manner of filling one third of theseats onto the MPCs are not matters of detail asviewed by the Parliamentary Standing Committeeand the 74th Constitutional amendment. On thecontrary, these are matters of high level policyformation, which could not be left to an interestedparty like the state government. It must beremembered that devolution of powers atmetropolitan level will certainly reduce stategovernment control in metropolitan areas. Onemust remember that development authoritieswere largely established for exercising control overland in large cities. Therefore, in order to continueto hold on to power, state governments wouldlike to do everything possible under their controlto maintain the status quo. This explains KMDAhas been retained as the technical arm of theKMPC. It could genuinely expected that in futureDDA becomes the technical arm of Delhi MPC andMMRDA that of the Mumbai MPC.

Formation of the Kolkata Metropolitan PlanningCommittee shows that West Bengal stategovernment has been able to retain as muchpower within the state apparatus as possible bynominating Chief Minister as the Chairperson ofthe KMPC, one of his ministers as the vice-chairperson and a senior bureaucrat as itssecretary. Secretary of KMPC will have full controlover Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority,being its in charge. The KMDA is the technical armof KMPC. Retaining development authority showsthat state control has increased rather thanreduced after the formation of KMPC because now

state government could also continue to exercisecontrol over KMPC through nominatedchairperson. Thus democratic deficit atmetropolitan agglomeration level has increasedrather than reduced. It may be also argued thatsince the Chief Minister is at the helm of affairs asfar as KMPC and KMDA is concerned, policies’formation and implementation could be quickeneddue to his overarching political influence. But thisrequires time and attention from the chief ministerwhich comes at premium from a person who hasto look after the entire state. Most of the timework of KMPC will be done through and by thebureaucrats. If this power gets shifted to localpoliticians for whom metropolitan agglomerationbecomes their political market for re-election, theywill certainly devote more energy for policyformation and implementation.

3.2 Inter-agency Coordination

A large number of municipalities and panchayatsform part of metropolitan areas. This is particularlyso in the case of megalopolis such as Kolkata,Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Bangalore, etc. Forexample, in Greater Bangalore area there are 9municipalities and 69 panchayats, and in Kolkata3 Municipal Corporations, 38 Municipalities and 133Gram Panchayats. In fact this was the primaryreason to establish MPCs. Before finalizing theinsertion of article 243 ZE in the Constitution ofIndia, the Joint Parliamentary Committee providedthe following rationale for the formation of MPCsin metropolitan areas.

There are twenty-three metropolitan cities in thecountry where the metropolitan area wouldencompass not only the main City Corporationbut also a number of other local bodies, bothurban and rural, surrounding the main CityCorporation. By the end of the century, thisnumber may rise to about forty-five. To ensurethat there is an orderly development of the vastarea, proper plans need to be drawn up inassociation with the plan of the main city.Considerable investments in these cities are alsoundertaken by Central and State governmentagencies. It is necessary to co-ordinate theseinvestment plans with the development plans andrequirements of the metropolitan city.

There is, therefore, need for a suitable planningmechanism, which would take care of theinteraction between the various local bodies, both


20

rural and urban in such metropolitan areas. Atpresent, the system that is adopted in manymetropolises is the creation of a metropolitandevelopment authority. The functions assignedto the metropolitan development authority differfrom case to case. In some cases, they are onlyplanning bodies while in some cases they take onexecutive function, particularly of major schemes.Further, at present, these bodies are notdemocratic institutions. The Governmentnominates them. The Committee therefore, feelsthat there should be a provision for constitutionof a Metropolitan Planning Committee to preparea draft development plan for the metropolitan areaas a whole.

But if there is a need of inter-agency co-ordination,is it automatic that a new overarching body iscreated to achieve it? Without identifying what isrequired to be coordinated, it is onerous to decidewhat kind of body is required? Since co-ordinationis required to manage interdependencies that isthe degree of dependence of one agency on theother (Kumar, 2000), it becomes a complex taskto find out appropriate mechanisms of co-ordination. This means co-ordination mechanismswill be different for different kind of dependencies.For example, dependencies between the DDA andMCD are intense as compared to dependenciesbetween the DDA and DUAC. This raises anotherimportant issue that is dependencies themselvesdepend on the nature of objectives and functionsbeing pursued by different agencies involved inthe governance of the metropolitanagglomeration. If the completion of a function ofone agency requires intervention of anotheragency, certainly there is greater dependencebetween these two or more agencies than thoseagencies where there is no such requirement.

4. CONCLUSIONS

The trend of privatization of plan making is visiblyunderway as it is shown by examining the processof CDP preparation. Similarly the SEZ, 2005 statuteallows large scale development of land by theprivate sector. Both policies have their origin inthe need to meet the demands of free enterprise,which in itself is not a bad idea. But these policiessimultaneously impose large costs on the publicin the form giveaways and democratic deficit. Thatis so because this kind of thoughtless privatizationhas led to centralization i.e. shift of power to decide,

from duly elected urban local bodies and the stategovernments to central government. There is noneed to underscore that land is a state subject.

Lack of enthusiasm both at central and state levelto formulate and operate MPCs in most of thestates has been comprehensively debated invarious forums. However, this paper has shownthat even if all MPCs are established under theexisting flawed constitutional provisions and in themanner in which it is done in Kolkata, it will notensure devolution of power to governmetropolitan areas. Since MPCs are indirectlyelected bodies its members could not ensureimpartial metropolitan wide governance becausetheir own political constituency is located not inthe metropolis but in a ward or village.

REFERENCES

Aggarwal, A. (2004) Export Processing Zones in India: Analysisof the Export Performance, Working Paper No. 148, IndianCouncil for Research on International Economic Relations, NewDelhi.

Environmental Planning Collaborative and Times ResearchFoundation (2005) Guidelines for the Preparation of Local AreaPlans, Environmental Planning Collaborative, Ahmedabad.

Economic and Political Weekly (2006) Editorial, Economic andPolitical Weekly, Vol. XLI, No. 14, pp. 100-1301.

Government of India (2004) Constitution of India, Ministry ofLaw and Justice, Government of India, New Delhi.

Government of India (2005) Special Economic Zones Act, 2005,Ministry of Law and Justice, Government of India, New Delhi.

Government of India (2006) Special Economic Zones Rules,2006, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India,New Delhi.

Government of West Bengal (1994) West Bengal MetropolitanPlanning Committee Act, 1994, Government of West Bengal,Kolkata.

Kumar, A. (2000) Some Problems in the Coordination of Planning:Managing Interdependencies in the Planning of Delhi, India,Space and Polity, Vol. 4, No. 2, pp. 167-185.

Ministry of Urban Development (2003) Model Municipal Law,Ministry of Urban Development, Government of India, NewDelhi.

Ministry of Urban Development (2005) Delhi MunicipalCorporation (Amendment) Bill, 2005, Ministry of UrbanDevelopment, Government of India, New Delhi.

Ministry of Urban Development (2006) Status of Proposals,

http://urbanindia.nic.in/moud/programme/ud/jnnurm.htm

Raghu (2005) Urban Renewal Mission: Whose Agenda? People’sDemocracy, Vol. 29, No. 42, pp.1-6.

Sidhartha (2006) Shanghai Dreams, Sunday Time of India, Vol.6,No.84, p.22.

Spaans, M. (2004) The Implementation of Urban RegenerationProjects in Europe: Global Ambitions, Local Matters, Journal ofUrban Design, Vol. 9, No.3, pp.335-349.

The Economic Times (2006) At Least 1,000 sq km, That should

be the size, The Economic Times, Vol. 33, No. 95, p.14.


PROMOTION OF RENEWABLE ENERGY IN RURAL INDIA

AJAY KUMAR VINODIALecturer, Department of Architecture, MITS, Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh

DR. NAJAMUDDINEmeritus Professor, Department of Architecture and Planning, IIT, Roorkee, Uttaranchal

ABSTRACT

There is no doubt that India is facing a serious problem of adequate energy supply. Condition of energy supply in rural India is even

more serious. According to Government of India only 37 percent of rural households had electricity connections in 1997. As per

census 2001, only 43 percent of rural population has electricity. Providing electricity to all rural people is still a challenge for the nation,

and it is very difficult to cover all villages under electric grid due to their remote geographical locations. It is argued in this paper that

the best way to solve this problem is to make use of renewable energy sources especially in remote villages. Many efforts have been

made in this direction to meet this challenge but could not achieve targets. Still India has ample potential of renewable energy, which

is required to be exploited.

1. INTRODUCTION

Economic growth, the world over is driven byenergy, whether in the form of finite resourcessuch as coal, oil and gas or renewable such ashydroelectric, wind, solar and biomass energy.Energy generation and consumption powers thenation’s industries, vehicles, homes and offices.Energy also has significant impact on the qualityof a country’s air, water, land and forest resources.For future growth to be both rapid and sustainable,a nation needs to be as resource efficient andenvironmentally benign as possible.

India ranks sixth in the world in terms of energydemand accounting for 3.5 percent of world’scommercial energy demand in 2001. With a grossdomestic product growth of 8 percent set for theTenth Five Year Plan, the energy demand isexpected to grow at 5.2 percent. Although,commercial energy consumption has grownrapidly over the last two decades, a large part ofIndia’s population does not have access to it. Percapita energy consumption is also low evencompared to some of the developing countries.

Primarily commercial energy demand grew almostthreefold at an annual rate of 6 percent between1981 and 2001 to reach 314.7 million tonnes ofoil equivalent (MTOE). India’s incremental energydemand for the next decade is projected to beamong the highest in the world. India’s commercialenergy demand is expected to grow even morerapidly than in the past as it goes down thereforms path in order to raise standards of living.

This clearly shows that India will continue toexperience an energy supply shortfall through theforecast period. This gap has been exacerbatedsince 1985 when the country became netimporter of coal. India has also been unable toraise its oil production substantially in the 1990s.Rising oil demand of close to 10 percent per yearhas further led to sizable oil import bill.

In addition, government subsidizes, refined oilproduct prices, compounding the overallmonetary loss of the government. India’s rapidlygrowing economy will drive energy demandgrowth at a projected annual rate of 4.6 percentthrough 2010. This is the highest incrementalenergy demand rate of any major country.

2. PRIMARY COMMERCIAL ENERGY

RESOURCES

India’s energy use is mostly based on fossil fuels.Although the country has significant coal andhydro resource potential, it is relatively poor in oiland gas resources. As a result it has to depend onimports to meet its energy supplies. Geographicaldistribution of available primary commercial energysources in the country is quite skewed with 77percent of the hydro potential located in thenorthern and north eastern region of the country.Similarly, about 70 percent of total coal reservesare located in the eastern region while most ofthe hydrocarbon reserves lie in the west.

In 1995 coal accounted for 63.3 percent of India’sprimary energy production while petroleum 18.6

I T P I

JOURNAL

www.itpindia.org

ITPI JOURNAL3 : 2 (2006) 21-28

22

percent, hydroelectricity 8.9 percent, natural gas8.2 percent, and nuclear power only 1 percent.Even today this situation has not changed much.At present India’s electricity is generatedoverwhelmingly by coal to the tune of 70 percent.Hydroelectricity ranks a distant second that isabout 25 percent, followed by natural gas, nuclearpower, oil, and renewable sources, which accountfor the remaining 5 percent.

Current fuel mix is expected to change slightlythrough the forecast period ending in 2010. Coalwith 65 percent share is projected to remainroughly the same as in 1995, while hydro with 14percent and natural gas with 10 percent will havehigher shares of total production. Oil productionwill decline sharply, and contribute only 9 percentshare. Overall, India’s energy production wasaround 8.8 quadrillion Btu (quads) in 1995. By2010, India’s energy output is expected to reach16.4 quads. In comparison, China’s total energyproduction was 11.7 quads in 1970, 35.6 quadsin 1995, and is forecast to rise to 64 quads by2010.

2.1 Coal

Geological coal reserves of the country areestimated at 220.98 billion tonnes (bt) in 2001.Out of this, proven reserves are 84.41 bt, while98.55 bt are indicated reserves and 38.02 bt areinferred reserves. Coal continues to remain theprincipal source of commercial energy accountingfor nearly 50 percent of total supplies. About 70percent of power is generated by coal and ligniteand this trend is likely to continue in the foreseeablefuture.

Current estimates of geological lignite reserves inIndia are 34.76 bt spread over Tamilnadu andPondicherry (87.5 percent), Rajasthan (6.9percent), Gujarat (4.9 percent), Kerala (0.31percent) and Jammu and Kashmir (0.37 percent).Lignite deposits in the southern and westernregions have emerged as an important source offuel supply for states of Tamilnadu, Rajasthan andGujarat. Over the years, considerable emphasishas been placed on the development of lignite forpower generation. Lignite production is likely toincrease from 24.3 million tonnes in 2001-2002

to 55.96 million tonnes in 2006-2007.

2.2 Oil and Natural Gas

Latest estimates indicate that India has around

0.4 percent of the world’s proven reserves of

crude oil. As against this, the domestic crude

consumption is estimated about 2.8 percent of

the world’s consumption. Balance of recoverable

reserves as estimated in the beginning of 2001 is

placed at 733.70 million tonnes (mt) of crude and

749.65 billion cubic meters (BCM) of natural gas.

Share of hydrocarbons in the primary commercial

energy consumption of the country has been

increasing over the years, and is presently

estimated at 44.9 percent (36 percent for oil and

8.9 percent for natural gas). Demand for oil is likely

to increase further during the next two decades.

Transportation sector will be the main driver for

the projected increase in oil demand.

Consequently import dependence for oil, which is

presently about 70 percent, is likely to increase

further during the Tenth and Eleventh Plans.

2.3 Hydro Electric Potential

The key advantage of hydroelectric power is the

ability to store energy and flexibility of its useduring peak load periods. India is endowed witheconomically viable hydro potential. CentralElectricity Authority (CEA) has assessed India’shydro potential to be about 148,700 MW ofinstalled capacity. Hydroelectric capacity currentlyunder operation is about 26,000 MW and 16,083MW is under various stages of development. TheCEA has also identified 56 sites for pumped storageschemes with an estimated aggregate installedcapacity of 94,000 MW. In addition, a potential of

15,000 MW in terms of installed capacity is

estimated from small, mini and micro hydel

schemes.

2.4 Nuclear Resources

Nuclear energy has the potential to meet the

future needs of electricity demand in the country.

The country has developed capability to build and

operate nuclear power plants observing

international standards of safety. Current installed

capacity of nuclear power plants is 2,860 MW

accounting for 2.8 percent of the total installed

capacity of the country. Nuclear Power

Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) proposes to

increase the installed capacity to 9,935 MW by

Ajay Kumar Vinodia / Dr. Najamuddin / ITPI Journal 3 : 2 (2006) 21 - 28

23

2011-2012. Future strategies focus on three-

stage nuclear power programme for the optimal

utilization of available nuclear energy resources.

The first stage of 10,000 MW is based on

pressurized heavy water reactor (PHWR) using

indigenous natural uranium resources. The second

stage is proposed to be based on fast breeder

reactor (FBR) technology using plutonium

extracted by reprocessing of the spent fuel from

the first stage. In the third stage, the country’s

vast thorium resources will be utilized for power

generation.

2.5 Renewable Sources of Energy

India is endowed with abundant natural and

renewable resources of energy viz., sun, wind and

biomass. The country has been able to achieve

significant capacity addition of 1,367 MW through

wind farms. India now ranks fifth in the world after

Germany, United States, Spain and Denmark in

the generation of wind energy. Available renewable

resources need to be exploited by giving a

commercial orientation, wherever possible. It may

be necessary to continue with subsidies in the case

of socially oriented programmes to meet the

energy requirements of rural areas, particularly

remote villages, which may be difficult to service

through the conventional power grids in the near

future. Apart from these resources, the country

has significant potential for ocean thermal, sea

wave power and tidal power.

2.6 Wind Power

India is the wind superpower with an installed wind

power capacity of 1,167 MW and has generated

about 5 billion units of electricity and fed into the

national grid so far. In progress are wind resource

assessment program, wind monitoring, wind

mapping, covering 800 stations in 24 states with

193 wind monitoring stations in operation. In all

13 states of India have a net potential of about

45,000 MW.

2.7 Solar Energy

Solar water heaters have proved to be the mostpopular so far and solar photovoltaic (PV) fordecentralized power supply are fast becomingpopular in rural and remote areas. More than7,00,000 PV systems generating 44 MW have

been installed all over India. Under the waterpumping program more than 3,000 systems havebeen installed so far, and the market for solarlighting and solar pumping is far from saturated.Solar drying is one area, which offers very goodprospects in food, agricultural and chemicalproducts drying applications.

3. ALTERNATIVE SOURCES OF ENERGY

3.1 SPV Systems

More than 7,00,000 PV systems of capacity over44 MW for different applications are installed allover India. The market segment and usage ismainly for home lighting, street lighting, solarlanterns and water pumping for irrigation. Over17 grid interactive solar photovoltaic generatingmore than 1,400 KW are in operation in 8 statesof India. As the demand for power growsexponentially and conventional fuel based powergenerating capacity grows arithmetically, SPVbased power generation can be an importantsource to meet the expected shortfall. Especiallyin rural area where the likelihood of conventionalelectric lines is remote, SPV power generation isthe best alternative.

3.2 Solar Cookers

Government has been promoting box type solarcookers with subsidies since long time in the hopeof saving fuel and meeting the needs of rural andurban populace. There are community cookersand large parabolic reflector based systems inoperation in some places but solar cookers, as awhole, have not found the widespread acceptanceand popularity. A lot of educating and pushing willhave to be put in before solar cookers are madean indispensable part of each household at leastin rural and semi-urban areas. Solar cookers usingparabolic reflectors or multiple mirrors which resultin faster cooking of food would be more welcomethan the single reflector box design is. This is howsome observers and users of the box cookersfeel.

3.3 Solar Water Heaters

A conservative estimate of solar water heating

systems installed in the country is estimated at

over 4,75,000 sq mt of the conventional flat plate

collectors. Noticeable beneficiaries of the


24

programme of installation of solar water heatersso far have been cooperative dairies, guesthouses, hotels, charitable institutions, chemical andprocess units, hostels, hospitals, textile mills,process houses and individuals. In fact in Indiasolar water heaters are the most popular of allrenewable energy devices.

4. RURAL ENERGY DEVELOPMENT IN

INDIA: A CRITIQUE

Recognizing the critical role that energy plays inthe development of rural areas, Government ofIndia has taken several initiatives in the past topromote a fuel switch to the use of fossil-basedfuels, such as kerosene, by introducing heavysubsidies and setting up extensive ruralinfrastructure. Likewise, the government has alsobeen active in improving the supply of bio-fuels,and has introduced new and renewable sourcesof energy, as alternative fuels, to meet demandsof the rural populace.

Energy for agricultural pump sets has been oneof the major programmes of the government inrural areas. This programme was initiated in theearly 1950s along with other policy measures suchas the under pricing of power for irrigation. The1980s saw two significant efforts to address ruralenergy problem. In 1981 and 1982, thegovernment launched the National Project onBiogas Development (NPBD), and in 1983 theNational Programme on Improved Chulhas (NPIC).The NPBD is the largest rural energy programmein terms of investment and the NPIC is the largestin terms of number of devices provided.Additionally, in 1982 the Department of Non-Conventional Energy Sources (DNES) was set upfor research and development, demonstration,and dissemination of renewable and rural energytechnologies. In 1987, the Indian RenewableEnergy Development Agency (IREDA) wasestablished under the DNES for developing,promoting, and financing commercially viable newand renewable energy alternatives in the country.In 1992, the DNES was upgraded to a full-fledgedministry that is the Ministry for Non-ConventionalEnergy Sources (MNES).

Recognizing an extremely area specific nature of

the rural energy problem and wide variations that

exist in the socio-cultural environments in rural

areas, an attempt towards decentralized area

based energy planning at the block level was made

through the Integrated Rural Energy Programme

(IREP). This programme was started as part of

the Sixth Five Year Plan, and at the village level,

the Urjagram programme started during the

Seventh Five Year Plan. Other major programme

for energizing rural areas has been that of rural

grid extension. Rural electrification programme of

the government, which is the largest rural energy

programme today, claims to have electrified more

than 85 percent of 5,80,000 villages in the country

(Central Electricity Authority, 1996). However, only

37 percent of rural households have electricity

connections (Government of India, 1997).

As per census 2001 only 43 percent of rural

population has electricity. Providing electricity to

all rural people is still a challenge for the nation and

it is very difficult to cover all villages through electric

grids due to their remote geographical locations.

In spite of the uncertainties, there is need to make

long term forecasts of such demand, as the long

gestation of energy supply projects necessitates

decisions to be taken far ahead of the

materialization of demand. The Working Group on

Energy Policy estimated that if no deliberate

measures were initiated to manage the demand,

energy requirement would register fourfold

increase within the next twenty years, if the

economic growth rates were to be in the range of

5.5 percent to 6 percent during this period.

Even if measures were taken to increase the

efficiency of fuel utilization, reduced energy

consumption by adopting more energy efficient

technologies and achieve desirable inter-fuel

substitution, the energy demand by the turn of

the century would be nearly three times what it is

at present. According to these projections,

requirements of coal, oil and electricity generation

would be of the order of 426 million tonnes, 69

million tonnes and 464 tonnes respectively in the

year 2005. Finding out the available potential,

development of resources and their judicious use

are the key issues for promoting sustainable

development of any planning unit. Similarly


25

professionals dealing with buildings may contribute

themselves by designing energy efficient buildings.

Primary function of any building is to provide a

comfortable indoor environment. Traditional

buildings of earlier times had many built-in

architectural features for achieving comfort. They

were shaped and planned to take maximum

advantage of the climate and surroundings.

Modern architecture on the other hand has

become a conquest of nature. In the sense that

no matter what the environmental conditions, a

building could be given a sleek, clean and well

proportioned exterior façade and the interior

made as comfortable as required with the help of

electromechanical devices. The flip side is that such

buildings consume enormous amounts of energy.

Growing worldwide concern for the conservation

of energy has reawakened interest in ecologically

sustainable materials, processes and sources of

energy. Besides, with newer materials and

techniques, and with changing demands on built

up spaces, achieving thermal and visual comfort

in buildings has become an increasingly challenging

design issue for modern architects, building

engineers and scientists.

Various concepts for achieving comfort conditions

without the use of electromechanical devices has

been scientifically developed, tasted and

evaluated. This method of achieving indoor

thermal and visual comfort with minimum or no

use of artificial energy is widely known as solar

passive architecture.

5. SOLAR PASSIVE ARCHITECTURE -

EXPERIMENTS IN AUROVILLE

Over three decades, countless trials and

experiments have taken place with the aim of

integrating appropriate technologies in the designs

of buildings and communities. This endeavor is

exemplified in three buildings of Auroville.

5.1 Eco-house

In the mid seventies a residential building was

constructed called ‘Eco-house’. It was one of the

very first attempts in India to build a climatically

appropriate house, which integrated solar cooking

and water heating with rooftop rainfall harvestingand a multi-feed biogas plant. A roof mountedwind generator was also contemplated but notinstalled.

The experiment was too far ahead of its time tosucceed, as the technologies had not maturedthen. However, it provided the first data on costsand technology integration. One clear conclusionwas that for ecological and economic sustainability,group housing rather than single housing isnecessary.

5.2 The Auroville Visitors’ Centre

The second experiment was a public building. ‘TheAuroville Visitors’ Centre’ was designed and builtin 1989. The building comprises of exhibition andconference space, with a boutique and cafeteriasituated at one of the major entrance roads toAuroville, and serves as an entry point for thenumerous daily visitors. The buildingdemonstrated the use of ‘sustainable technologies’for wastewater recycling.

Several cost-effective and alternative technologieshad matured by mid eighties. An attempt tointegrate everything in a functional and pleasingenvironment was quite successful and won thefirst Hassan Fathy International Award in 1992.

The building proved a useful testing and learningprocess for applied technologies. It also proved acatalyst for further applications of appropriatebuilding technologies within communities andoutside. Difficulties in integrating renewable energydevices demonstrated that experience had to begained in this area.

5.3 Solar Kitchen

The third and most recent integration attempt isdemonstrated in the ‘Solar Kitchen’, which is acommunity kitchen for preparing 2,000 meals aday. This concept began to be implemented in1994. Since solar energy is in abundant insouthern India, using steam as the heat transfermedium for preparing meals was the obviouschoice.

Innovative decision to integrate in the building afixed spherical solar bowl concentrator of 15 meter


26

diameter determined, to a large extent, the design

and technology applications used within the

building.

6. INTEGRATED ENERGY SOLUTIONS

FOR RURAL FAMILIES: TERI’S

APPROACH

It was realized that rural energy consumption

pattern depends on geographical, cultural, social

and economic factors. Given the geographical and

ecological diversity in the country, the

consumption pattern for energy and fuel-mix vary

considerably across different agro-climatic zones.

While a significant proportion of energy may be

utilized for heating water in cold areas, families in

warm and dry areas may end up using a large

part of energy for extraction of water.

It was strongly felt that energy interventions need

to be integrated with other development activities.

According to a survey conducted by the TERI,

roads, drinking water and employment topped

the wish list of rural communities. Thus while

wanting electricity, a villager thinks of the use of

electricity primarily for easy extraction of ground

water and for lighting that brings about the

possibility of working longer hours, that is after

sun set. Thus, the interventions were planned to

meet the wish list as far as possible.

The main objective of this project, sponsored by

the Indian Oil Corporation Limited and the Gas

Authority of India Limited was to devise and

implement pilot-scale projects aimed at conserving

firewood and kerosene in selected villages in three

districts, representing different agro-climatic and

socio-economic conditions. Eighteen month

project began in May 1995 and clearly

demonstrated three key ingredients of success in

promoting renewable energy technologies in

villages and checking environment degradation.

• Financial support from outside that is the

government or the corporate sector;

• Informed technical and planning inputs; and

• Active involvement of panchayats and

grassroots level NGOs in implementation and

management.

The first step in the project was to conduct village

level surveys to find out how much energy is

consumed, how it is consumed (patterns of

consumption) and how much of it is available

locally. Based on the results of the survey and

development priorities of local population, one

focus area was picked for each district, for

example, water heating and cooking in Solan;

lighting in Jaisalmer; and cooking in Sultanpur.

Energy plans were prepared for each project area,

based mainly on renewable energy technologies

(biogas and solar photovoltaic lighting) and

energy efficient devices (improved kerosene lamps

and lanterns developed by the Indian Oil

Corporation, and improved Chulhas).

6.1 Local Capacity for Repair and

Maintenance

One of the important aims of the project was to

ensure that the initiative is maintained, and that

devices are used for a long time. To achieve this

objective, not only were planning and

implementation decentralized, back up services for

repair and maintenance were created and

provided. By training local technicians or signing

annual maintenance contracts with the

manufacturers, back up service centers were set

up to ensure that devices remain in good working

order.

6.2 Adapting Technologies to Local

Requirements

Special attention was paid to modify technologies

wherever necessary, for example development of

improved Chulhas in Solan (energy savings of 40

percent) and improvement in solar lanterns design

at Jaisalmer. This was made possible due to

continued monitoring of installed devices.

Overall, the project has benefited more than 1,000

rural families in 12 villages, raising their standard

of living by providing them with efficient and user

friendly cooking and lighting devices. The project

has also promoted renewable and environment

friendly technologies in remote villages.

In addition, the project is expected to lead to

annual savings of 11,000 liters of kerosene and

nearly 650 tonnes of biomass, which is equivalent


27

to about 600 fully grown trees. In monetary terms,total savings are of the order of Rs.7,00,000 peryear if we take firewood price to be Rs.1 per kgand kerosene as Rs.3.50 per liter.

7. CONSTRAINTS IN PROMOTION OF

RENEWABLE ENERGY

7.1 Education on Energy

In spite of access to an enormous influx ofinformation on various features and techniquesand despite the pioneering work in this field byprofessionals the world over and in India, thepractice of energy conscious design approachesis not very wide spread. Expertise developed invarious institutions in India has not percolated,especially in a form that can directly beimplemented in the designs. Besides there is adearth of information on post occupancyevolution of climate responsive and energyefficient buildings constructed in India.Consequently, the awareness as well as confidenceof professionals on solar passive architecture needsfurther strengthening.

7.2 Research and Development

There are many organizations which are workingfor energy conservation and sustainabledevelopment in India like Tata Energy ResearchInstitute (TERI), Center for Building ResearchInstitute (CBRI), CSE, PCRA, Centre for Energyand Building, etc. But the over all progress in thefield of research and development is not keepingpace with the growing demand for energy. Thereis a need to accelerate R&D activities not only interms of quantity but also quality of projectformulation and implementation.

7.3 Ignorance to Work in Rural Areas

In spite of great opportunities and thrust fordevelopment of renewable energy in rural areas,professionals normally ignore to work in rural areasfor many reasons. Even many organizations,which are involved in rural development, arelocated in urban areas causing slowdown indevelopment and implementation processes.

7.4 Ignorance towards Indigenous

Lifestyle

Due to ill impact of urbanization, indigenous lifestyleof rural people is greatly affected. Change in designof their houses, inclination towards luxury, change

in daily routine, etc., is adding to the demand ofmore energy supply.

7.5 Problem of Implementation

In the last five decades, Government of India haslaunched many schemes for development ofrenewable sources of energy in rural areas but stillwe are facing acute shortage of energy supplybecause these schemes are not implementedsuccessfully. Apart from scarcity of funds, thecapability of our administrators and implementingagencies and their willingness to carry out work isalso responsible for failure of various schemes.

7.6 Public Awareness and Participation

This is an important factor for the developmentof any country. Normally Indian people are notfully aware of problems pertaining to energy,neither are they able to actively participate inenergy solutions. Sometimes this attitudebecomes main hurdle in the development process.

Many governmental, private and NGOs havestarted campaigning for awareness in specificareas. But still there is no significant propagationor awareness campaign mounted forpopularization of renewable energy sources. Publicparticipation is extremely poor in the energy sector.

8. CONCLUSIONS

As far as energy in the form of electricity isconcerned, there is no doubt that electrical energybeing every country’s priority for improving thequality of life of its people.

In the rural economy, domestic household sectoris the most prominent energy consumer, followedby the agricultural sector. It accounts for nearly75 percent of the energy use in rural areas. In thedomestic household sector cooking is the largestend user accounting for almost 90 percent of thetotal domestic energy use.

Applying energy conservation in residential andother buildings, we may drastically reduce energyconsumption in the domestic sector. Asprofessionals we may play key role in designingvarious buildings in domestic sector, so that thesehave great responsibilities and opportunities toreduce energy consumption by using proventechniques of energy efficiency. Emphasis should


28

be placed on learning various techniques of energyefficiency in all educational institutions related tobuilding design and construction. Application ofsolar passive architecture and promotion ofrenewable energy sources can make a lot ofdifference.

Thus supply and demand based planningapproach for each individual energy form hasresulted in problems like more losses, conversionsand low efficiencies. This is evident from thedisappearance of forests, village wood lots, roadsidetrees, construction of giant hydroelectric dams,fossil fuel based power plants and controversialnuclear plants. This conflict between energydemand and environmental quality goals can besolved by having an integrated approach to theproblem of energy planning with a view tominimizing consumption of non-renewablesources of energy and maximizing efficiency ofenergy use and harnessing of renewable sourcesof energy in an ecologically sound way. Anotheraspect that has to be considered in the planningprocess is that of matching energy sources andend uses. Because of convenience, current useof high quality energy such as electricity used forlow quality activities like bath water heating is tobe discouraged.

Hence, strategies for integrated energy planningshould include the improvement in efficiency ofend use devices and conversion equipments;

optimizing energy sources end use matching;

organized approach towards optimal use of

renewable sources; proper exploitation of biomass

energy resources; and discourage use of non-

renewable sources by penalizing.

A building may be considered as a ‘climate modifier,’

which shields the indoor environment from the

external climate. Before designing a building at one

place, the changes of weather from season to

season must be well understood so that the

building can be built to shelter people all the year

round. Building byelaws, which set minimum

standards for construction to ensure safety, and

basic comfort, must incorporate the energy

consumption limits of various building and also

monitor the implementation of energy efficiency.

Another important aspect is public awareness

towards optimum use of energy. Every citizen of

the country must under stand the problem of

energy and be a part of its solution.

REFERENCES

Planning Commission of India, Ninth and Tenth Five Year Plans,

Planning Commission of India, New Delhi.

Planning Commission of India (2002) India Vision 2020, Planning

Commission of India, New Delhi.

Malhotra, P. and Bhandary, P. Rural Energy Development in

India, TERI, New Delhi

Nayak, J.K., Hazra, R. and Prajapati, J. Solar Passive

Architecture, IIT Bombay, Mumbai.

Auroville- an experience. [email protected]


Call for Papers and News Items

The Editor requests members to send articles for inclusion in the Journal andNewsletter. Chairpersons and Secretaries of the various Regional Chapters andCommittees of the Institute are particularly requested to send highlights of theiractivities for the Newsletter and articles for the Journal on a regular basis.

Articles for the Journal may be sent as a soft copy (MS Word) as well as hardcopy. Items for the Newsletter can also be e-mailed to : [email protected].

Diagrams and sketches should be neatly drawn, labeled and sent as soft as well ashard copy.

Editor

REGIONAL PLANNING THROUGH THE DEVELOPMENT

OF A CENTRAL PLACE

S.R. KUKADAPWARFaculty in Civil Engineering, Government Polytechnic Nagpur

V.S. ADANEHead, Department of Architecture and Planning, VNIT, Nagpur

1. INTRODUCTION

The genesis of regional planning may probably betraced from the Roman history during renaissanceperiod. The first conscious attempt at regionalplanning date back to early sixteenth centurywhen great genius Leonardo da Vinci through hissketches, demonstrated a scheme for draining thePontine Marshes (1514). Leonardo also gave abold proposal to make the Arno navigable bybuilding a broad canal to link Florence with Pistoia.

To define regions for planning purposes,administrative convenience assumes paramountimportance. This is so because in actualimplementation of development plans, the existingadministrative boundaries can not be easilyignored. In fact, it is generally these boundariesthat have to be accepted as demarcating thethreshold for different regions. Political realities andavailability of data for specific administrative unitsmakes this practically essential. However, in theenthusiasm of practical (administrative)considerations, one must not forget theimportance of the factors of homogeneity andnodality, for neglect of these factors can introducedistortions in the whole planning process. Forexample, if functional linkages are ignored indefining planning regions we might face a situationwhere a region so defined includes nodes whichhave greater interdependence with nodes outside

the region. Similarly, for ensuring proper

implementation of development plans, the region

should have a fairly homogeneous economic

structure, as well as topographical and social-

cultural homogeneity. Therefore, in actual

delineation of regions for planning purposes, it

becomes necessary to strike a balance between

the considerations of homogeneity, nodality and

administrative convenience.

Keeping these arguments in view, Keeble defined

a planning region to be an area that is large enough

to enable substantial changes in the distribution

of population and employment to take place within

its boundaries, yet which is small enough for its

planning problems to be viewed as a whole.

Klaassen believes that a planning region “must be

large enough to take investment decisions of an

economic size, must be able to supply its own

industry with the necessary labor, should have a

homogeneous economic structure, contain at

least one growth point and have a common

approach to and awareness of its problems”.

A comprehensive definition of a planning region

emphasizing the factors of homogeneity, nodality

and administrative convenience in a right

perspective is the one given be P.D. Malgavkar

and B.M. Ghiara:

• Geographically, it should be a contiguous unit

though it could be sub-divided into plain, hilly

tracks, coastal belt, lake area, etc.;

ABSTRACT

The country has entered into the new millennium with alarming growth in urban population. Total towns and cities are projected to

increase to 6,000 by 2021, and 35 million plus cities in 2001 are expected to increase to 70 by 2021. Although development plans of

over 1000 towns have been prepared and are under implementation, but the urban system is not responding to the requirements of

migrant population. To overcome this problem and encourage such a planning process, which would promote sustainable urban

growth and regionally balanced settlement systems. It is argued that regional planning should aim at developing larger areas through

the establishment of growth foci and by linking the different central places, service centers, growth centers and growth poles in an

integrated manner.

I T P I

JOURNAL

www.itpindia.org

ITPI JOURNAL3 : 2 (2006) 29-35

30

• The people of the region should have cultural

cohesiveness;

• The region should be a separate unit for data

collection and analysis;

• The region should have an economic

existence, which can be assessed from

statistical records;

• It should be small enough to ensure local

peoples’ participation in its development;

• It should be under one administrative agency;

• It should not be too small; its geographical

size should be big enough to exploit resources

and avoid duplication (by way of partially used

capacity in neighboring region);

• It should have fairly homogeneous economic

structure i.e. the variation in local proportions

of employment and output in agriculture

industry and services should be within a

narrow range;

• It should have one or more growth points;

and

• There should be common appreciation of local

problems and common aspirations and

approaches to their solutions; it should permit

and encourage competition but not rivalry or

apathy between one area and the other.

2. REGIONAL PLANNING: THE INDIAN

INITIATIVE

In India the significance of regional planning has

been realized many times at different levels of

planning. Spatial development for balanced

regional growth was stressed in initial national Five

Year Plans and accordingly, many regions were

identified for development purposes. However,

some of the emerging issues from past

experiences of our efforts towards obtaining

balanced regional development in the country and

which need exigent attention are:

• Satisfactory delineation of the region

(geographic and administrative)

• Distribution of infrastructure facilities and

services within a region

• Adequate functional linkages and access

• Realistic economic and environmental

appraisal

• Coordination between different agencies at

national, state and local levels

The 74th Constitution Amendment Act, 1992 has

given new turn to the planning process in India.

The Amendment requires constitution of a District

Planning Committee (DPC) and Metropolitan

Planning Committee (MPC). The coordinated

working of DPCs and MPCs will integrate the spatial

planning process of a region in a desirable manner.

This will facilitate coordination between the district

and metropolitan area. It should also provide a

more effective multi level planning environment

within the states. However, the efficient mechanism

and techniques for preparation and

implementation of regional plans in India is still a

distant dream.

2.1 Central Place Concept

Central place is the settlement, which provides

central goods and services not only for their own

residents but also for people living in nearby

clusters (complimentary region).Central place

exists because it performs essential services for

surrounding areas.

The study of central places for balanced regional

planning provides an understanding of the

functional linkages between different settlements

of the region. To carry out comprehensive

regional planning it is necessary for planners to

know the functional interdependence of various

settlements within the region. The central places

and central functions while preparing regional plan

gives ideas about functional capacity of individual

settlements and their influence on its hinterland.

Thus intra regional disparity can be easily identified

by earmarking poorly served or deprived areas.

2.2 Evolution of Central Places

Under uniform conditions, a central place is located

in the center of region. The close interaction

between central places and other clusters leads

to flow of man, money and goods. These flows

necessitate transport networks. The networks lead

S.R. Kukadapwar / V.S. Adane / ITPI Journal 3 : 2 (2006) 29 - 35

31

to establishment of nodes that is a hierarchy ofsettlements at different levels and thus completesystem develops. There are various factors, whichgovern the growth of central places such as:

• Physical factors

• Cultural Factors

• Transportation

• Resource location

• Political

• Historical factors

Depending upon the central functions performedby central places and the population served, theycan be classified as high order centers and loworder centers. High order centers stock a widearray of goods and services and serve a largepopulation while lower order stock a smaller rangeof goods and services and serve a smallpopulation.

2.3 Central Place Functions

Functions performed by the central place for itssurrounding region are called central placefunctions. These can be named as educational,health, postal, administrative, banks, commercial,transportation, telephone, police, entertainment,tourism, etc.

3. REGIONAL IMBALANCES AND

REGIONAL PLANNING IN

MAHARASHTRA

The Late Prime Minister, Mrs. Indira Gandhi in heraddress to the National Development Council inApril 1969 recognized the seriousness of regionalimbalances when she said, “We must also initiatepositive measures to reduce regional imbalancesas otherwise the tension caused by suchimbalances will inhibit the very process ofdevelopment”.

Since independence as a result of five year plans,the rich regions have become richer, the poor andbackward areas continue in the same state, andregional distress have become accentuated,leading to economic distress and political crisis.Even in the developed state like Maharashtra, thescenario of regional imbalance is also greatly

observed, where the regions like Vidarbha andMarathwada remained socially, economicallyundeveloped compared to the rest of the regionsespecially from western Maharashtra. Theeconomic backwardness of the region gives riseto social problems like farmer suicides andunemployment.

It is well known that natural resources are notuniformly distributed in the country and as perpresent administrative boundaries. There areareas, which have little or no resources, and thereare areas, which have an abundance of them.Areas with high concentration of resources arebound to achieve a higher level of economicprosperity while areas with little or no resourcescan not attain that level unless development inthe resources rich areas deliberately slows downand some resources are transferred to resourcespoor areas for inducing growth. This type ofplanning balance will affect production efficiencyand loss of opportunities for the nation as a whole.Similarly, past experiences have shown thatattempts to achieve regional balance by meredistribution of new industrial and other projectscan not achieve the objective balanced regionaldevelopment.

But the strategy of Deliberate Promotion of CentralPlaces can go a long way in reducing both inter-regional and intra-regional inequalities and promote

sustainable development. Once the different levels

in the hierarchy of human settlements are

integrated and different levels of growth foci

(service centers, growth points and growth

centers) located in them according to the

‘functional’ approach, regional disparities may

reduce appreciably.

Problems faced by nascent and emerging

metropolises of the newly formed Maharashtra

state attracted timely attention of state

government that appointed a committee under

the chairmanship of the Late D.R. Gadgil to seek

solutions to these problems and come out with

recommendations. On the basis of thoserecommendations, the Maharashtra legislatureenacted Maharashtra Regional and Town PlanningAct, 1966, which added third tier to the planning

hierarchy in the state by enabling Government to


32

notify regions and to constitute regional planningboards to prepare regional plans for addressingsuch problems. The Act also included a chapteron ‘New Town’ enabling the state government toconstitute new development authorities to bringinto reality establishment of new towns identifiedin the regional plans. The Act also provides forspecial planning authorities for addressingproblems of undeveloped areas within thejurisdiction of local authorities that in the opinionof state government were in neglected conditionsor are being developed in an uncontrolled orhaphazard manner.

Under the provision of Maharashtra Regional andTown Planning Act, 1966, the Maharashtra statehas taken a lead in Regional Planning and preparedMetropolitan Regional Plans. The objective of theregional plans was to regulate proper and balanceurban growth within and around the regionoccupied or influenced by the major metropolisesof the state. However, the plans could hardly beimplemented since the Regional Planning Boardgot dissolved immediately after the preparationand sanction of the plans. The delineation ofmetropolitan region and control of boundaries oflocal authorities and implementing agencies couldnot match. Some of the factors affecting thebalanced regional development in MaharashtraState are:

• Concentration of major urban centers in thewestern part of the state

• Disturbance in the occupation structure ofsmall and medium towns and villages

• Inadequate facilities and services in rural areas

• Irrigation projects and other developmentactivities causing adverse impacts and affectingecology of small settlements

• Delay and shortcomings in plan preparationand implementation process

• Lack of public participation and awareness inthe planning process

4. CHANDRAPUR – GADCHIROLI

REGION OF MAHARASHTRA

The study region is located in the eastern part of

Maharashtra. The region comprises of Chandrapur

and Gadchiroli districts of Maharashtra. It coversan area of 25,923 sq km. Keeping in view thenature of study region, the following centralfunctions have been selected for calculatingcentrality. These are education, medical, postalservice, telephone connection, banks, bustransportation, administration, commercial facilityand police facilities.

4.1 Methodology

General phenomenon observed is that thesettlements with higher population attract thepeople from nearby clusters by providing varietyof goods and services, which are lacking in theclusters. Hence thick population settlements actas a central place in that area. Based on thishypothesis all the settlements above 10,000persons in the region are considered as centralplaces.

Centrality is the measure of importance of a placein the form of its functional capacity to serve theneeds of the people in the surrounding areas.Centrality can be expressed qualitatively such aslow or high centrality, as well as quantitatively bycentrality values that are obtained by convertingthe functional base of a place into scores on thebasis of frequency and importance of the function.The method used for finding out centrality ofselected settlement is:

4.1.1 The Traditional Method

Centrality score of ‘A’ settlement for function ‘Y’

= No. of units of function ‘Y’ in ‘A’ settlement x

weightage assigned to function ‘Y.’

Therefore, total centrality of ‘A’ settlement

= Algebraic sum of centrality score for all

considered functions

= Y1 + Y2 + Y3 + ………. + Yn

Where Y1, Y2, Y3, Yn are various functions

considered for calculating centrality of a

settlement.

The weightage of different function is decided on

the basis of hypothesis of ‘every settlement hasits own level on the basis of existing central functionand its service capacity’.


33

Table 1. Centrality Scores and Degree of

Influence of Settlements

Sno. Name of Centrality Values Degree of

Settlement Influence

‘R’ Value

in Km

Required Existing

1 Chandrapur 443 424 44.24

2 Ballarpur 178 124 23.92

3 Waroda 100 106 22.11

4 Bhadravati 86 89 20.15

5 Gadchiroli 84 152 26.49

6 Bramhapuri 72 116 23.14

7 Ghugus 72 55 15.23

8 Wadsa 51 91 20.49

9 Rajura 49 86 19.92

10 Mul 44 67 17.58

11 Armori 41 66 17.45

12 Chimur 39 72 18.23

13 Sindewahi 36 61 16.78

14 Nawargaon 36 42 13.92

15 Aheri 35 84 16.69

16 Nagbhid 35 56 16.08

17 Bhisi 35 39 13.42

18 Chamorshi 35 60 16.50

The traditional method gives centrality of asettlement in the form of certain quantity. Thecentrality of a settlement for its hinterland isobtained by subtracting the centrality requiredfor settlement itself from absolute centralityobtained by the traditional method. The resultingcentrality obtained for excess population ofsurrounding area is the true centrality of asettlement that proves the validity of thatparticular town as a central place.

To get the centrality for excess population i.e.surplus centrality, firstly, centrality required byindividual settlement to satisfy its own needs iscalculated. This is calculated by fixing servicecapacity of each central function and applying itto every settlement, and therefore the strengthof various functions existing in individualsettlement is checked with respect to itspopulation.

On the basis of service capacity of variousfunctional units, the actual numbers of functionalunits required for a settlement against itspopulation is calculated. The additional functionsexist may be considered as functions servingpopulation of surrounding area.

The centrality required by individual settlementfor its own population is calculated for allsettlements above 10,000 persons and it iscompared with existing centrality as shownin Fig. 1.

4.1.2 Sphere of Influence of Settlement

An attempt has been made to delimit the sphereof influence of all considered settlements in study-region to examine their functional relationship withregion. The sphere of influence constituteseconomic and social zone of control.

A brief review of various methods used incalculating the zone of influence indicates that useof empirical methods need intensity field work andit consumes more time and labor. A mathematicalmodel is used to find out zone of influence ofconsidered settlements in study region.

D= Degree of influence

A= Total area of the region

Tc= Total centrality value of a settlement

C= Total centrality of all considered settlementsin the study region

R= Radius of circle indicating degree of influence.

By using the above model, the zone of influenceof each considered settlement is calculated asshown in Table 1 and Fig 2.

4. MAIN FINDINGS AND

OBSERVATIONS

Comparison of required centrality with existing

centrality shows that out of eighteen considered

settlements in the study region (refer Table 1)


where:

34

Fig

. 1

. T

ota

l C

en

tra

lity

of

Se

ttle

me

nts

Fig

. 2

. In

flu

en

ce

Zo

ne

of

Se

ttle

me

nts


35

• In three settlements, required centrality is

greater than existing centrality. These

settlements are not able to satisfy the needs

of their own residents. Hence theoretically

these settlements are not acting as sustainable

central places since they are unable to cater

to the needs of surrounding region.

• In three settlements, required centrality is

equal to the existing centrality. This means

that these settlements are just managed to

fulfill needs of own population and have very

less centrality and hence are acting as central

place at negligible level.

• In the remaining twelve settlements, required

centrality is less than the existing centrality.

This means:

- These settlements have more functional

capacity than required for its own

population. This surplus centrality is

serving goods and services to the

surrounding area and hence is acting as

sustainable central places for the region.

- Out of settlements, which are acting as

central place, many are lacking in individual

functions to fulfill their own needs.

- The zone of influence calculated for

considered settlements covers almost all

area of western and central part of the

region while eastern and southern part ofthe region is out of reach of influence zoneof considered settlements (see Fig. 2).

- The pattern of influence zone shows theimbalance in the study area as large areaof west part under double and tripledegree of influence which eastern andsouthern part of region is deprived off fromservice of single big settlement.

5. CONCLUSIONS

Procedure of regional plan preparation anddrafting of policy recommendations for theachievement of balanced development of anyregion should consider the followings. First,appropriate delineation of the region with dueconsideration for centrality of functional capacitiesof various settlements should be done. Second,the influence zone of large urban centers especiallybeyond its municipal limits should be carefullyidentified for planning purpose of the region. Third,the regional plan policy should evolve a distributionstrategy for different central functions. Fourth,the draft development plans of various urbancenters within the region should be in conformitywith the regional plan. Fifth, the regular monitoringand review of plan preparation, implementationand enforcement mechanism is stronglyrecommended for the balanced regional growth,development and prosperity of the region.


ITPI PUBLICATION

Reader Volumes (Rs. 100/- each)

1. Planning Theory 10. Development Management

2. Planning Techniques 11. Regional Planning and Development (Part -I)

3. Transportation Planning 12. Environmental Planning and Design

4. Project Formulation and Appraisal 13. Advanced Transportation Planning

5. Social Formation and Changes 14. Network and Services

6. Statistics and Population Studies 15. Environmental Impact Assessment

7. Land Economics 16. City and Metropolitan Planning and Design

8. Housing 17. Village Planning and Rural Development

9. Ecology and Resource Development 18. Planning Legislation and Professional Practice

AN IMPACT ANALYSIS OF RELOCATION OF WHOLESALE TRADING

ACTIVITIES FROM CENTRAL KOLKATA

CHANDRANATH DEYDepartment of Architecture and Regional Planning, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur

TARAK NATH MAZUMDERAssistant Professor in Department of Architecture and Regional Planning, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur

ABSTRACT

Kolkata Metropolitan Area is one of the largest urban agglomerations in India. It has its major wholesale trading activities located in

the heart of the city in Barrabazar. As a result one fifth of the volume of goods vehicles entering and exiting KMA are destined to

Barrabazar area. On-street parking of goods traffic as well as loading and unloading operations has severely affected operational

efficiency of traffic and transportation, especially in the CBD area. Kolkata Logistic Hub has been proposed in the outskirts of the city

to rid this problem, which must have been guided primarily by a singular reason, but it will have multi-faceted impacts. This study

provides an insight into the probable impacts of this development by concentrating on four major aspects namely transportation

system, socio-economic set up, local environment and local economy. Out of a variety of consequences, some of them have been

quantified but non-quantifiable affects have also been identified and duly presented for comprehensive decision making.

1. INTRODUCTION

Kolkata has grown from a small British trading

settlement to one of the largest metropolitan area

across the globe. At present Kolkata Metropolitan

Area (KMA) is the second largest in India. Once

the capital of British India, it still retains its primacy

in providing goods and services to its hinterland

covering the entire eastern and northeastern

India. In the last 300 years, functions of his city

have experienced tremendous horizontal and

vertical expansion.

The CBD of Kolkata comprises mainly of

commercial activities (both retail and wholesale),

public and semi-public offices and institutions along

with high density residential uses. Over a period

of time, to reduce the concentration of urban

activities and consequential congestion in the

central area of Kolkata, extensive decentralization

of urban functions has been carried out. New

growth nodes within the city as well as outside

have been identified and promoted.

However, the major wholesale commercial hub

catering to the entire metropolitan area is still

constricted to the Barrabazar area (BB) inside the

CBD. One fifth of all the goods vehicle entering

and exiting the KMA are destined to BB (WB

Transport Department report, 1999). The spatial

growth option is limited in BB leading to

overcrowding of wholesale commercial activities.

Warehousing and cold storage facilities are also

inadequate. Vehicular carriageway of busy urban

arterials is used as truck parking and loading and

unloading spaces are adversely affecting the Level

of service on these roads. Besides this, the

wholesale market operations for perishable goods

make BB one of the most polluted areas due to

lack of effective solid waste management system.

Proposals have been drafted since 1978 to shift

the wholesale trading activity from BB to the

outskirts of the city with adequate warehousing

and truck terminal facilities along with other ancillary

amenities. This is aimed at decongesting the central

area of Kolkata to increase the operational

efficiency of wholesale operations (CES Report,

1978). Lately, Kolkata Metropolitan Development

Authority (KMDA) has taken some initiatives to

improve the overall conditions of BB. Howrah

Truck Terminal and Dhulagarh Truck Terminal were

inaugurated in 2001-2003. Located in the outskirts

these facilities are aimed to rid the city of heavy

volume of goods vehicles. But much success could

not be achieved. Recently, KMDA proposed the

upgradation of the existing Howrah Truck Terminal

situated along the Kona Expressway (NH-117) (see

Fig.1) to Kolkata Logistic Hub (KLH). This

upgraded facility will consist of a truck parking

facility clubbed with wholesale and retail trading

I T P I

JOURNAL

www.itpindia.org

ITPI JOURNAL3 : 2 (2006) 36-48

37

Fig. 1. Site Plan of Kolkata Logistic Hub

Category Type of goods Area in BB(Acre) Goods traded

Group A Edible and Perishable 114.18 Agricultural ProductsFish and Live Stock

Group B Edible and non-perishable (having l 120.84 Groceryarger shelf life compared to Group A) Textile

TeaKerosine / Petrol / LPG.etc

Group C Non-edible and non-perishable 308.24 Building MaterialIron and SteelTimber / FurniturePlastic GoodsIndustrial GoodsMiscellaneous

Table 1. Classification of Markets in BB

platforms along with other ancillary activities. Ithas an added goal of creating an enabling

atmosphere for wholesale and retail trade in the

periphery of the ‘Metro Core’. This facility aims to

relocate the existing wholesale markets of BB

partially or entirely.

Several studies were conducted to outline the

overall financial feasibility of the project, but no

analysis was carried out to examine the impact ofthe proposed transfer on BB as well as in areas

near KLH. This paper aims to analyze the impact

of the proposed transfer of wholesale functions

on the existing transportation system, socio-

economic setup, local environment and local

economy, both qualitatively and quantitatively.

2. BARRA BAZAR (BB) MARKET

CLUSTER

It is tautological to mention that the wholesalecommercial activity in BB consists of clusters,which are functionally independent and the

Chandranath Dey / Tarak Nath Mazumder / ITPI Journal 3 : 2 (2006) 36 - 48

38

Fig. 2. Spatial Location of these Wholesale Market Clusters in BB.

rationale to relocate these clusters should beguided by the impact of the proposed transferfor each of these independent clusters. Thewholesale markets in BB can be broadlycategorized into three convenient groups basedon commodity shelf life as shown in Table 1. Fig. 2shows the spatial location of these wholesalemarket clusters in BB.

Preliminary investigation of the area requirementsin the existing wholesale market indicates that itmight not be possible to relocate the wholesaleoperations to KLH in their entirety, but has to becarried out in parts. The framework of the studyconcentrates on comparative analysis of probableimpacts due to relocation for each of the marketclusters identified and selection of the most suitableone. Analysis of impacts focuses on four majoraspects namely, transportation system, socio-economic setup, local environment and localeconomy. The analysis of the probable impactswill be done keeping in mind a specific time frameof year 2015.

3. IMPACT ANALYSIS

3.1 Impact on Transportation System

Impact on transportation system is the mostimportant among all aspects as the whole idea of

relocation did arise from transportation point ofview. Impact analysis will deliberate on four keyaspects, namely:

• Impact on the supply network of goodsmovement;

• Impact on the distribution network of goodsmovement;

• Impact due to on-street parking of goodsvehicles; and

• Impact of goods traffic on existing roadnetwork (in BB and KLH).

3.1.1 Impact on the Supply Network

Goods from various parts of the state as well asthe country enter BB, where wholesale trading ofthese goods takes place. Relocation of wholesaletrading from BB to KLH will result in change insupply network leading to higher and lowervehicle-kilometer of the goods vehicles. Thisopportunity cost is nothing but the impact ofrelocation on the supply network.

Goods vehicles destined to BB are found to enterthrough five major entry points (EP) as identifiedin Fig. 3. These entry points have been chosen in


39

Entry points (EP) Name of the link Goods traffic (no./day) having O/D in BB

EP1 NH-6, Dankuni & Amta 388

EP2 Budge-Budge Rd. & Diamond Harbour Rd. 299

EP3 NH-34 7 NH-35 178

EP4 B.T. Road & Kalyani Expressway 217

EP5 NH-2 302

Total no. of good vehicles/day entering BB 1384

Table 2. Major Entry Points (EP) of goods vehicles to BB

Fig. 3. Entry Points (EP) to Barrabazar(BB)

Fig. 4. Commodity wise distribution of

supply good vehicles/day

Fig. 5. Distance detour for supply vehicles

such a way that they continue to serve as entrypoints even after the relocation (WB TransportDepartment report, 1999; also refer to Table 2).

Goods from Mumbai, Delhi and central India entermostly through EP1, whereas southboundvehicles enter through EP2. Vehicles fromnortheastern parts of the country enter throughEP3, EP4 or the Kalyani Expressway node,connects BB with the northern part of WestBengal, whereas EP5 connects to Northern Indiavia NH-2. Commodity wise classification of goodsvehicles entering BB is shown in Fig. 4. The distance detour that has to be incurred if the wholesale

operations are being shifted to KLH from BB isrepresented in Fig.5. The detour is derived byobserving the revealed preference for routing ofgoods vehicles. The detour is maximum for thevehicles entering through EP-3, whereas for EP-1, the distance is reduced by 8.5 km. Extra vehiclekilometer per day incurred due to relocation ofeach of the market clusters is shown in Fig .6.

Extra cost to be borne for transfer of marketclusters from BB to KLH is computed by multiplyingthe extra vehicle kilometer with the aggregatedVehicle Operating Cost (VOC/km). AggregatedVOC / km is obtained by considering the modalsplit of the goods vehicles in supply network andthe vehicle operating cost for different modes (IRC


40

Market Type Veh/ Veh-Km SC/yearday day (Cr.)

Group A 582 1857 0.759

Group B 373 1181 0.483

Group C 429 2573 1.051

Total 1384 5611 2.293

Table 3. Social Cost (SC) of relocation on

Supply Network.

Zone Location No / dayfrom BB

1 Barrackpur-Dum Dum Zone 94

2 Shyam Bazar-Maniktala Zone 113

3 Shova Bazar - Jorosanko Zone 71

4 B.B.D. Bag Zone 57

5 Burra Bazar Zone -

6 Maidan Zone 4

7 Taltala-Beniapukur Zone 79

8 Sealdah - Gobra Zone 175

9 Belgachia Zone 59

10 Khidirpur-Garden reach Zone 166

11 Bhawanipur-Chetla Zone 40

12 Kasba - Dhapa Zone 44

13 Taratala - Sursuna Zone 77

14 Tollygunj - Bansdroni Zone 43

15 Santoshpur - Madurdaha Zone 35

16 Malipanchghara - Salkia Zone 90

17 Bamungachi - Sibpur Zone 54

18 Unsani - Shalimar Zone 87

Total no. of goods vehicle/day 1287leaving BB

Table 4. Distribution of goods vehicle

volume to KMC & HMC

Fig. 7. Commodity wise distribution of

goods vehicle

Report, 1993). The aggregated VOC / km for the

goods vehicles in the supply network is found to

be Rs. 11.35 / km (Roughness co-efficient =

5000). Bituminous road Rise and Fall = 0 (Plain

land)]. The total cost incurred, can be suitably

termed as opportunity cost or ‘Social Cost’ (SC)

of the proposed transfer on supply network (see

Table 3).

3.1.2 Impact on Distribution Network

Movement of goods to the retailers and smaller

distributors from BB constitutes its distribution

network. Relocation of wholesale trading from BB

to KLH will result in change in distribution network

leading to higher and lower vehicle-kilometer of

the goods vehicles. This opportunity cost is the

impact of relocation on the distribution network.

The distribution catchment of BB is primarily

confined to Kolkata and Howrah Municipal

Corporation.

For the convenience of the study, this distribution

catchment is further divided into eighteen zones

mostly based on administrative divisions. Table 4

represents the volume of goods vehicles from BB

/ day to all these eighteen zones within the

distribution catchment (WB Transport

Department report, 1999). Commodity wise

distribution of goods vehicles from BB to its

distribution catchment is represented in Fig. 7.

Impact on the distribution network can be

illustrated by the desire line diagram before and

after the relocation (see Fig. 8). The distance

detour that has to be incurred by each of the

zones in the distribution catchment due to the

proposed transfer is shown in Fig. 9. Extra vehicle

Fig. 6. Extra Vehicle-kilometer per day for

supply vehicles


41

Fig. 8. Desire line Diagram – prior and post relocation

Fig. 9. Distance detour for distribution network

kilometer / day for market clusters is representedin Fig. 10. The opportunity cost or the Social Cost

(SC) of relocation on the distribution network iscomputed by multiplying the extra vehiclekilometer with the aggregated vehicle operating

Table 5. Social Cost (SC) of relocation on

Distribution Network

Market Type Veh/ Veh-Km SC/yearday day (Cr.)

Group A 459 3374 1.4

Group B 454 3550 1.473

Group C 374 3014 1.251

Total 1287 9938 4.124

Fig. 10. Extra vehicle kilometer for

distribution network/day


42


costs. Considering the modal split of the goodsvehicles in the distribution network, theaggregated VOC is found to be Rs. 11.53 / km(see Table 5).

3.1.3 Impact on On-street Parking

Lack of parking facilities as well as loading andunloading spaces have led to extensive on-streetparking of goods vehicles in BB. Truck parkingalong single or both sides of the carriagewayreduces the capacity of these roads. Roadspassing through the BB are vital to trafficcirculation in the central area of Kolkata (ParkingSurvey Report of KMDA, 1995).

In Fig. 11 the roads abutting the three marketclusters are identified. With the transfer of thewholesale market to KLH, these roads can be freedfrom on-street parking. Elimination of on-streetparking will free the carriageway occupied andaugment the capacity of these roads leading to

increased travel speed and volume. Thecomputation of the opportunity cost or the SocialBenefit (SB) can be estimated from aggregatedcommuter travel time savings (see Table 6).

The social benefit is calculated with the help of theSpeed-Flow equations prescribed by IRC manual(SP 30) of 1993, Capacity Restraint Equationadopted by Bureau of Public Roads, Trafficassignment manual (1964), and Social Cost-Benefit functions derived by Mazumder et al(2004).

3.1.4 Impact of goods traffic on existing

road network

elocation of wholesale operations from BB willreduce the volume of goods vehicles in the CBDarea. Currently temporal restriction is imposed ongoods vehicles from entering the city core frommorning to evening hours during peak city trafficoperations. As a result, the proposed transfer will

Fig. 11. Parking Survey Map

43

A Strand Bank Rd. 7.7 51 1.02 1050 10.8 3472 49.3 7167.4

A Strand Rd.(N) 7.0 42 1.61 1068 10.3 3483 49.2 12203.1

A Strand Rd. (S) 7.0 42 1.61 1068 10.3 3483 49.2 12372.6

A M. D. Rd - N.S. Bose Rd 7.4 52 1.62 1092 9.5 3500 49.1 13844.0

A J. Ghat Rd - Sovarsm B. St. 6.7 41 0.54 1032 11.4 3462 49.3 3577.0

A Rabindra Sarani 10.7 56 0.54 1146 7.8 3553 48.8 6021.9

B R. L. Mallick St.- K. Seal Ln 11.4 50 0.54 1164 7.2 3576 48.7 6651.1

Phears Lane 5.1 80 0.58 1002 12.4 1401 33.4 1552.4

B K. K. Tegore St. 7.2 53 1.15 1080 9.9 3491 49.2 9311.8

B B. St - Munsi S. St. 6.1 46 1.18 1218 5.5 1589 30.7 10934.5

B Cotton St - M. M. Barman St. 5.9 76 1 1050 10.8 1422 33.1 3359.1

B B. M. Rd. 12.4 59 0.3 1164 7.2 3576 48.7 3695.1

B R. B.Bose Rd - K. Street 8.4 67 1.27 1104 9.1 3510 49.1 11473.6

C Tarachand Dutta St. 10.6 56 0.4 1116 8.7 3521 49.0 3827.5

C Zakaria Street 6.9 59 0.44 1074 10.1 3487 49.2 3470.3

C Shun-Yat Sen Street 5.1 75 0.54 1074 10.1 1436 32.9 2045.4

C Syed Saliah Lane 4.3 88 0.27 1194 6.2 1554 31.2 2090.0

C Vivekananda Road 8.5 53 1.15 1080 9.9 3491 49.2 9311.8

C M. Babu St - H. R. G. St. 5.1 63 1.02 1092 9.5 1448 32.7 4243.4

C Cross Rd. No. 6-12 3.9 91 0.97 1116 8.7 496 28.6 2728.0

C J.L.Mallick Rd - K. St 7.8 47 1.18 1014 12.0 3454 49.4 7286.8

C Amratola St - Mallick St 5.2 69 0.39 1074 10.1 1436 32.9 1477.3

Total Social Benefit / hour = Rs. 138,644.00 = Rs. 19.96 Cr / year

Mark

et Clu

ster

Name of the Road

Avg

. Carr

iagew

ay

(mt)

Gro

up S

oci

al

Ben

efit

% o

f Carr

iagew

ay

for

Park

ing

Length

of

Road

[L] (K

m)

Exi

stin

g V

olu

me

(PCU

/ H

r) [

q1

]

Exi

stin

g S

peed

(Km

/ h

r) [

v 1

]

Impro

ved V

olu

me

(PCU

/ H

r) (

q2

)

Impro

ved S

peed

(Km

/ H

r) (

v 2

)

Soci

al B

enef

it(R

s /

Hr)

Rs.

36,4

80 /

Hr

=Rs.

5.2

5 C

r /

Yr

Rs

55,1

86 /

Hr=

Rs.

7,95Cr

/ Yr

Rs.

46,9

77 /

Hr

=Rs.

6,7

6 C

r /

Yr

Table 6. Social Benefit by removal of on-street parking and loading / unloading

Area Popul- H H Sex Total

ation size ratio worker

BB(15 wards) 3,94,654 5.61 634 44.4 %

Kolkata Municipal 45,72,876 4.92 829 37.6 %

Corporation

Table 7. Comparative Socio-economic Profile

not significantly enhance the level of service in

the existing roads in the CBD. On the contrary,

the relocation will increase the goods traffic volume

in the approach roads to KLH. Kona Expressway

(NH-117) being a major access artery to KLH, its

existing traffic volume is expected to experience

a growth of around 25 percent after the proposed

transfer.

3.2 Impact on Socio-Economic Profile

Appraising the existing socio-economic profile in

BB will help analyze the impact of relocation. The

wholesale market area in BB comprising of 15wards is only 2 percent KMC area but itaccommodates almost 9 percent population (seeTable 7). A comparative analysis of the household


44

Fig. 12. Comparison of Lorenz Curves for KMC and BB

size, sex-ratio and percentage of total workers inthe BB and KMC provides important insights intothe prevailing socio-economic conditions (Censusof India, 2001). The household size in BB issignificantly higher with lesser number of femalesand low dependency ratio. Demographic profileindicates that huge migration of low waged malelabor force from the neighboring states, especiallyBihar has taken place in BB. These people havemostly engaged in wholesale trading activity.Predominance of households, formed withworking men sharing a kitchen can be attributedto the above facts.

Distribution of monthly household income in BBreveals greater degree of skewness compared toKMC (Socio-economic Profile, 1996-97;Chesterton Meghraj, 2004). Excessive skewnessin income distribution indicates the existence ofschism in the social structure that is low wagedmigratory labor population vis-à-vis the high-income business/salaried group (see Fig. 12).Relocation of wholesale trading operations fromBB area will invariably lead to shift of this migrantlabor population due to transfer of employmentbase.

3.3 Impact on Local Environment

In the Perspective Plan of KMA – Vision 2025, BBhas been categorized as highly sensitive zone fromthe environmental point of view (Fig. 13).

Fig. 13. Environmental Sensitivity Map

KMC Barra Bazar

Gin Co-efficient = 0.4 Gin Co-efficient = 0.6


Cumulative % of households Cumulative % of householdsC

umul

ativ

e %

of m

onth

ly In

com

e

Cum

ulat

ive

% o

f mon

thly

Inco

me

45

Residential Office Retail / Wholesale

Capital value Rental value Capital value Rental value Capital value Rental value[Rs / sft] [Rs / sft / mon] [Rs / sft] [Rs / sft / mon] [Rs / sft] [Rs / sft / mon]

BB Area N.A. N.A. N.A. N.A. 4500-5500 40 – 60

New CBD 2500-3000 10-15 3500-4000 35 – 40 7000-8000 80 – 90

Table 8. Capital and Rental Value of Property in Old and New parts of CBD

Ineffective management of solid waste generatedin BB is one of the prime factors responsible fordeterioration of the local environment. Almost onefourth of the total solid waste in KMC is generatedfrom this area (ADB Report, 2000). Compositionof the solid waste generated indicates presenceof high organic content mostly from Cluster Amarkets (fruits, vegetables and other perishablecommodities). Foul smell due to rapiddecomposition of organic content, littering of wasteby scavenging birds and animals along withimproper collection, storage, transfer mechanismcreates unhygienic and polluted environment.Transportation of the solid waste generated alsopose severe environmental threat as it has to passthrough high density residential areas.

Vision 2025 for KMA has identified few potentialsolid waste disposal sites in KMA for the comingyears. Ababa appears to be closest disposal sitefor KLH. Relocation of the wholesale operationsto KLH from BB will lead to reduction of haulingcosts along with the diminished threat on passthrough areas, mostly non-residential areas (Fig.14)

The Air Pollution Index (API) of BB is in the rangeof 130 – 140 compared to the National APIstandard of 50 – 70 (Vision 2025, 2005) vehicularemissions being identified as the prime source.Interference to vehicular traffic is very high in BB,mostly due to on-street parking as well as loadingand unloading operations. Frequent accelerationand deceleration as well as stoppage of vehicleshas led to higher vehicular emissions.

3.4 Impact on Local Economy

Analysis of rental value and gross income of theexisting land uses in BB area indicate presence ofgross discrepancy between them. The ratio ofincome generation and the rental value per unitarea is observed to be much higher than that

compared to other developed areas of the city,

especially the newer parts of the CBD. Rental value

in some premises in BB can be as low as Rs. 2-4/

sft/month. Low rental value is one of the major

motivations of the wholesale traders for not willing

to shift from these areas. Perhaps, for this reason

the existing land uses in the BB area is not

commensurate to its economic potential.

Moreover, the presence of slums and squatters

accommodating the labor force involved in

wholesale activities further reduce the real estate

market value. Rental and capital value of property

Fig. 14. Proposed Solid Waste Disposal Site


46

Group A Group B Group C

IMPACT on Supply Network

Supply Social Cost / year [Rs. in Cr.] 0.759 0.483 1.051

IMPACT on Distribution Network

Distribution Social Cost / year [Rs. in Cr.] 1.4 1.473 1.251

IMPACT due to on-street parking

Social Benefit / year [Rs. in Cr] 7.95 6.76 5.25

IMPACT on existing roads

Percentage increase in existing traffic (NH-117) 9.95 7.9 7.67

Solid Waste(SW)

Organic Content of SW High Moderate Low

Reduction in Collection and Hauling Cost of SW High Moderate Moderate

Reduction in Vehicular emission High Moderate Moderate

Shift of Labour forcePercentage involved in Whole Sale trade in BB 21.02 22.24 56.74

Real estate value addition in BB area Moderate Moderate High

Economic opportunity creation in KLH High Moderate Moderate

Area required for relocation in 2006 (acres)* 102.89 81.74 79.37

Area available in KLH (Acres) 108

Note : SE = Socio-economic Setup, LE = Local Economy, WS = Wholesale, SW = Solid waste, BB = Barra Bazar,

KLH = Kolkata Logistic Hub

Source : As per standards adopted in Delhi Master plan.

Traffic

and

Transp

ort

ation

LESE

Envi

ronm

ent

Table 9. Comparative Scenario Analysis

in the BB and newer areas of CBD is shown inTable 8 to illustrate the fact discussed above(Chesterton Meghraj, 2004). Relocation of thewhole sale trading operations will open uppossibilities of land use conversions in BB. Realestate market forces can play freely towardsoptimum allocation of activities thereby, enhancingthe chances of revitalization in this part of CBD.On the other hand, proposed transshipmentoperation in KLH and development of surrogateindustries around, which will create employmentopportunities and boost the local economy.

A summary of the impacts because of theproposed relocation of wholesale tradingoperations for each market type is presented inthe Table 9. Comparative study of the impactsfor each of the market clusters indicate thatrelocation of Group A market cluster is socially mostbeneficial. On the other hand, the area allocatedfor the KLH indicates the possibility of relocationfor any one of the market cluster.

A brief look at the ‘willingness to shift’ (see Fig. 15)study conducted in BB reflects that wholesaletrading operators related to perishablecommodities i.e. Group A market are more willingto shift compared to others. The prime reasonfor the keenness is unavailability of cold storagefacilities in BB, due to which almost 20 percent ofperishable goods degrade. Appropriateinfrastructure with all the ancillary facilities in KLHwill address this problem. Hence, relocation ofGroup A market cluster seems to the socially mostbeneficial, technically feasible and politically plausibleoption.

4. RECOMMENDATIONS

To reap the benefits of relocation in entirety, thereis a need to adopt certain policy recommendationsaimed at BB as well as KLH.

4.1 Recommendations for BB

• Complete restriction on on-street parking aswell as on-street loading and unloading on the


47

roads abutting Group A market cluster is

necessary to eliminate the spill-over parking

demand from Group B and C market clusters.

• Conversion of land uses from wholesale to retail

commercial, office functions as well as high

value residential activities is anticipated after

relocation. Wholesale trading activities in future

need to be curbed through statutory means

for limiting the spread of Group B and C

markets after relocation. The civic authorities

concerned should take this aspect in

consideration while pursuing future

development initiatives in this area.

4.2 Recommendations for KLH

• Kona Expressway (NH-117) being the main

access artery to the KLH, needs capacity

augmentation to accommodate the futuregrowth of traffic. Traffic volume in this link isexpected to experience high growth due torise in regional traffic as well as local traffic(Proposed Kolkata West International City invicinity). The proposed capacity augmen-tation along with a tentative phasing scheduleis indicated in Table 10.

• Ingress / egress of goods traffic volume(mostly multi-axle trucks and trailers) to / fromKLH to NH-117 warrants geometrical solution(preferably Trumpet Intersection) to reducethe vehicular interference on the link trafficflow.

• In future, there is a need to upgrade KLH intoa multi-modal transshipment hub (both railand road). Proximity to Santragachi Rail Yard

facilities provides KLH a comparative

advantage towards meeting this end.

• Logistic hub operations in KLH will create

opportunities for development of surrogate

Year PCU/day Peak Hour Proposed

(NH-117) PCU Capacity

2006 64328 5790 2+2 lanes

2010 97654 8789 3+3 lanes

2015 164553 14810 4+4 lanes

Table 10. Traffic projections for Kona

Expressway (NH-117) near KLH:

Fig. 15. Willingness to Shift survey findings


48

industries in vicinity. Adequate land aroundKLH needs to be earmarked immediately forthis purpose to thwart the speculative rises inland prices.

• KLH will lead to shift of huge labor force mostlybelonging to low wage class. Experience in BBshows that this type of workforce prefersresidential accommodation in proximity towork place (within walking distance) – leadingto development of slums and squatters.Interventions, if not adopted timely, will leadto similar situations in KLH. Adequate amountof area with provision of basic services shouldbe developed for housing this workforce.Based on the accepted norms of EWShousing, 60 acres of land needs to be reservedfor this purpose near KLH.

• As Group A markets consists of perishablecommodities, adoption of effective SolidWaste Management System will be aprerequisite to maintain a clean and hygienicworking condition in KLH. Abada seems to theobvious choice as solid waste disposal site dueto its proximity. Suitable collection, storage,transfers and hauling mechanism appropriateto the waste composition, needs to beadopted. ‘Vermi-composting’ for the organicwaste and ‘Sanitary land filling’ for the residualwaste seems to be the most desirablemechanism for treatment and disposal.

• To meet the future growth requirements forthe Group A market to be relocated in KLH,additional land needs to be annexed (Standardreferred: Delhi Master Plan, 2001) (Refer Table

Year Projection of Areagoods vehicles requirement(Gr-A) (8% pa) (Acres)

2006 1041 102.89

2010 1416 139.96

2015 2081 205.69

Table 11: Area requirements in Kolkata

Logistic Hub

11). It is preferable to acquire the land inadvance to obviate the speculative rise in landprice.

• There is also a need to upgrade the truckterminal facilities in Dhulagarh into a logistichub to facilitate the future relocation of GroupB and Group C markets. Due to the locationproximity Dhulagarh truck terminal facilitiesand KLH can mutually benefit throughadopting ‘co-operative competition’strategies.

5. CONCLUSIONS

To reap the benefints of re-location in entirety,the policy recommendations given in Section 4above for Barra Bazar and Kolkata Logistic Hubwould go a long way and if not adopted wouldlead to slums and squatters.

REFERENCES

Asian Development Bank (2000) Calcutta Environmental

Improvement Program, Final Report, KMC, Kolkata.

Bureau of Public Roads (1964) Traffic Assignment Manual, U.S.

Department of Commerce.

CES Private Limited India (1978) Truck Terminal cum Wholesale

Trading Centre at Kona, Draft Report, KMDA, Kolkata.

Chatterjee, N., Bhattacharya, N. and Halder. A. (1999) Socio-

economic Profile of Households in Kolkata Metropolitan Area –

1996-1997, Study Report, KMDA, Kolkata.

Chesterton Meghraj Property Consultants Private Limited (2003)

Truck Terminal Centre at Kona, Howrah on PPP Basis – A Report,

KMDA, Kolkata.

Indian Road Congress (1993) Manual on Economic Evaluation

of Highway Projects in India, Special publication 30.

Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (2003) Perspective

Plan of Kolkata Metropolitan Area – Vision 2025’, KMDA, Kolkata.

Mazumder, T.N. (2004) Methodology for Assessing the Social

Cost of On-street Parking and its Implications – A case study of

Kolkata, Unpublished Doctoral Thesis, Indian Institute of

Technology, Kharagpur.

Traffic and Transportation Circle (1995) Truck Parking Survey

on selected roads in Wholesale Trading area in CBD – Kolkata,

KMDA, Kolkata.

Transportation and Traffic Engineering Directorate (1999) Origin

and Destination of Goods vehicles entering and leaving Kolkata

Metropolitan Area, Government of West Bengal, Kolkata.

WBTIDC (2001) Dhulagarh Truck Terminal, Draft Report, KMDA,

Kolkata.


WATER RESOURCE MANAGEMENT AND WARD LEVEL PLANNING

PROF. T.M. VINOD KUMARFormer Dean of Studies, School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi

ABSTRACT

This paper examines the all important issue of water at a global and settlements level. It begins with pointing out issues, which are

required to be debated and settled at the global level. It is argued that water, sanitation and poverty are closely related. Availability

of water could reduce poverty to an extent. If water is a human right, if poverty alleviation is the priority of the Government and if

there is a strong linkage with poverty and water access, ward level planning should be adopted for water management. It is at the

ward level the community can assess the issue of water management and not at the city level because in every city there is unequal

access in different wards in terms of duration of supply, pressure and volume. Water should be considered as property of both landed

and landless. There should be equitable right for water regardless of the fact that population is below or above poverty level.

1. INTRODUCTION

Water as human right was asserted by the UnitedNations in 2002 in their General Comment No. 15.This clarified the obligation for governments toextend access to sufficient, affordable, accessibleand safe water supplies and to safe sanitationservices as the resources allow. This means thatwhile governments are not required to secureimmediate access to water for all the population,they are required to progressively seek to improveaccess year on year.

This paper examines the all important issue ofwater at a global and settlements level. It beginswith pointing out issues, which are required to bedebated and settled at the global level. It is arguedthat water, sanitation and poverty are closelyrelated. Availability of water could reduce povertyto an extent. If water is a human right, if povertyalleviation is the priority of the Government and ifthere is a strong linkage with poverty and wateraccess, ward level planning should be adopted forwater management. It is at the ward level thecommunity can assess the issue of watermanagement and not at the city level because inevery city there is unequal access in differentwards in terms of duration of supply, pressure andvolume. Water should be considered as propertyof both landed and landless. There should beequitable right for water regardless of the fact thatpopulation is below or above poverty level.

2. GLOBAL ISSUES OF WATER

There are a number of vital issues, which arerequired to be debated and settled at the global

I T P I

JOURNAL

www.itpindia.org

ITPI JOURNAL3 : 2 (2006) 49-54

level. Following is a list of some of the importantglobal issues of water.

• 1.1 billion people in the world do not haveaccess to safe water, which is roughly one sixthof the world’s population.

• 2.6 billion people in the world do not haveaccess to adequate sanitation, which is roughlytwo-fifths of the world’s population.

• A child dies every 15 seconds from waterrelated diseases. This amounts to nearly 6,000deaths every day.

• When combined water, sanitation and hygienereduce the number of deaths caused bydiarrhea diseases by an average of 65 percent.

• The weight of water that women in Africa andAsia carry on their heads is commonly 20 kg.

• 2.2 million people in developing countries, mostof them children, die every year from diseasesassociated with lack of access to safe drinkingwater, inadequate sanitation and poorhygiene.

• At least 90 percent of drinkable water in theworld is underground. This source of water isincreasingly threatened with depletion andcontamination

• Since 1950 the world population has doubledbut water consumption has increased six-fold.

• Diarrhea alone kills 1.8 million children underfive every year, but most cases can beprevented or treated.

50

• It is 12 percent more likely that children will

attend school if water is available within 15

minutes rather than one hour’s walk. 11

percent more girls attend school when

sanitation is available.

• The simple act of washing hands with soap

and water can reduce diarrhoeal diseases by

over 40 percent.

3. WIDE DISPARITY IN WATER USE

Water inequities are prevalent in cities and villages.

These inequities impose large scale disadvantages

on the people who are adversely affected in

respect of water availability.

• Many cities aspire for a standard of 135 liters

of water every day. While the finance

commission fixes the water supply standards,

generally for small and medium cities 70 liter

per capita daily is acceptable. In contrast, the

average person in the developing world uses

10 liters of water every day for their drinking,

washing and cooking. This is the same amount

used in the average flush.

• On current trends over the next 20 years

humans will use 40 percent more water than

they do now

• The average amount of water needed to

produce one kilogram of potatoes is 1,000

liters, wheat is 1,450 liters and rice is 3450

liters.

• Agriculture accounts for over 80 percent of

the world’s water consumption

4. GLOBAL WATER RESOURCES

• Only 0.008 percent of the planet’s water is

available for human consumption, and is found

in lakes, rivers and underground aquifers.

• It would cost an estimated extra US$16 billion

each year to reach the Millennium

Development Goals, agreed by all UN

Governments, of halving the proportions of

people without access to safe water and

sanitation.

• Icecaps and glaciers hold 74 percent of the

worlds freshwater. The remainder is deep

underground or locked in soils as moisture or

permafrost. Only 0.3 percent of the worlds

freshwater are found in rivers or lakes.

• Over 80 countries with 40 percent of the

world’s population are subject to water

shortages.

• The number of people living in water-stressed

countries is projected to climb from 470 million

to three billion by 2025. (NB the threshold for

‘water stress’ is a per capita availability of 1,700

cubic meter of water. For water scarcity the

threshold is 1,000 cubic meter.

5. WATER SUPPLY, SANITATION AND

POVERTY

Many empirical studies have shown that a good

system of water supply and sanitation can reduce

the incidence of poverty. In the absence of water

supply and sanitation, the poor loses their wages

because they tend to be sick and weak to work.

This link between poverty and water need to be

recognized by all.

Since water is a human right National and local

governments are ultimately responsible for

providing their citizens with water and sanitation,

they should make the decisions on how services

are provided in their country or state in a

transparent and consultative way with users and

other stakeholders. Users must have their say in

the provision of their water and sanitation facilities

Government has got the liberty to use its own

means to deliver water and sanitation. It can be

by Government department or autonomous

authorities such as water authority or private

international operators. Even where the private

sector is involved, ownership and control over

water systems and water resources should never

shift from the public to the private sector. Private

sector has no track record in serving poor in water

supply and sanitation. Therefore solutions should

be pro-poor, affordable and sustainable. All service

providers (whether public, community or private)

must be regulated and their performance

monitored, preferably with the involvement of

users, to ensure they are accountable. The role

of small and medium size private water providers

T.M. Vinod Kumar / ITPI Journal 3 : 2 (2006) 49 - 54

51

(whether for-profit or not-for-profit) must be

acknowledged and regulated; as poor people

often rely on these providers as their only source

of water.

6. PRICING FOR WATER

Marginal cost is the price and in pricing of the water

resources, usually endowment cost is not included.

Annual discounted incremental cost is the basis

to prepare pricing scheme. Minimally the

maintenance cost of water supply should at least

be met by pricing system.

Pricing for water is a contentious issue. In market

economy the slogan is nothing is free and user

should pay for their use. With international water

providers active in the water market this slogan is

advocated every where. They seem to have

considerable influence with lending agencies who

wants to safe guard their investment. They

package their interest of water providers

whenever there is a scope for debt burden

reduction schemes promoted by western

countries for poor countries. If water is a common

property how can international water providers

make profit out of water? Can they look after the

interest of population below poverty level?

Unfortunately there is no track record available

where the international water providers

successfully met the demand of the poor. Cross

subsidy has been attempted where rich pay for

the poor. However there has been much criticism

on cross subsidy. If there is a strong linkage with

availability of clean drinking water and poverty

then it is important that Government with an

obligation to meet this human right should give

at least one drinking water tap to every below

poverty level household. If this is not possible

immediately then there should be at least one tap

for a cluster of houses.

7. WATER AS COMMON PROPERTY AND

LESSONS FROM PANI PANCHAYATS

Water should be viewed as a common property.

The ownership of this common property should

lie with the local community. Local community has

been empowered by 74th and 73rd

constitutional

amendment in the form of ward committees or

gram panchayat. Therefore ward should be the

custodian of the water resources in a city andwork to achieve the responsibility of theGovernment.

Pani Panchayat of UP is an eye opener. Under thePani Panchayat, water is not only conserved butstrict rules are laid down to manage it properly.Several water conservation techniques wereemployed to replenish the groundwater whichcould be used for irrigation and domestic purposes.Water was treated as a common propertyresource with all the villagers enjoying equal rightsand access.

Five basic principles of the Pani Panchayat or Gram

Gaurav Pratishtan were evolved. A family of fivewas given water rights for irrigation over onehectare of land. Cropping was restricted toseasonal crops with low water requirements. Waterrights were not attached to land rights. If landwas sold, the water rights reverted back to thefarmers’ collective. All members of the community,including the landless, had a right to water. Andfinally, it was the job of the beneficiaries to plan,administer, manage the scheme and distribute thewater in an equitable manner.

The farmers paid 20 per cent of the cost of liftirrigation; the government provided another 50per cent. The remaining 30 per cent was providedby the Pani Panchayat as an interest-free loan.This system has resulted in even landless farmersbuying or leasing land for cultivation. Pani

Panchayats in urban setting can be the ward. Sinceplan for a municipality also includes agriculture, itis applicable in Kerala both for irrigation and drinkingwater supply..

7.1 Ward and Town

Municipality is subdivided into number of spatialunits whose population forms basis for election ofMunicipal counselors. Ward committee is formedhere with the task of planning and developmentof ward is entrusted to them. Hence there arerevenue wards and electoral wards. Ideally thiscan be one unit but can be different also. In theannual budget generally, projects and expenditureare disaggregated to ward level. Therefore, wardis a unit of planning. Ward carries with it

constitutional sanction to plan and implement


52

development projects in a participatory way.

Advantages are

• Face to face community and it is easy to know

the community and easy to mobilize

• Easy to identify local water related problems

• Easy to mobilize self help for project execution

• Easy to mobilize for monitoring the project

• Easy to evaluate the project

Disadvantageous of ward being planning units are

• Difficult to assess town’s problem or district

problem from the ward

• Difficult to assess the relative status of the

problem with respect to the town or district

• Difficult to mobilize supports for planning and

project implementation at the ward level

• Difficult to decide on an allocation mechanism

for annual plan

Therefore it is difficult to add up all plans of wards

to make a town plan and all plans of towns and

gram panchayats to form a district plan. To solve

the above difficulties there are two conceptual

framework introduced. They are multi level

planning framework and sector scheme concept..

8. MULTILEVEL PLANNING FRAME

WORK

Planning is therefore conducted in a multi level

framework. Multi level can be different in different

states depending upon the tiers of planning.

Therefore one can have State, District and towns

and gram panchayats as three levels. Or one can

have State, District, Rural Blocks, towns and gram

panchayats as four levels.

State level dictates the broad policies of urban and

regional development. This is very much

influenced by the national level policies. These

policies can be used to encourage or discourage

certain sector activities by making funds available

or not having funds. In addition the policy can be

utilized to prepare a percentage split of expenditure

under different sectors.

District planning aims at the integrated

development of the district. This is partly based

on the inventory of human and natural resources

and levels of infrastructural development. Partly

it is based on environmental, economic and social

problems. This is also guided by policies laid out

by the state. One has to look at district as a whole

to determine the above factors. District level is an

appropriate level to assess the role of gram

panchayats and town for the integrated

development of a district. Those plans and

projects that support the integrated development

of the district in Town and Panchayats gets priority

and others are looked at the point of view of the

State Policies.

Town and Gram Panchayats are inward looking

and are totally involved in the problem solving

and innovation at the local level, so also the wards.

It would have been ideal if the ward and towns

looks at their problems with respect to the adjacent

panchayats or towns. In many cases the solution

of the problem of the ward or towns may lies

outside these areas. For example rapid increaseof population of a city can be reduced if there is a

policy to encourage the shifting of existing work

centers to the adjacent town which is highly

beneficial for all concerned.

8.1 Area Sector Schemes

There are district sector schemes, town sector

schemes and ward sector schemes. If a scheme

at a district, town or ward can be planned and

implemented without any reference to an outside

aerial jurisdiction spatially or administratively, it is

called district, town or ward sector schemes.

Schemes in a ward become a town scheme if it

requires cooperation of aerial and administrative

units beyond ward. For example if a watershed

project cuts across two or three gram panchayats

it becomes a block sector scheme. If it cuts across

two districts then it is a state sector scheme.

9. FUNCTIONS OF WARD COMMITTEE

IN PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT

9.1 Ward Spatial Inventory

It is important to know the ward in all details to

analyze the problem. Ideally an up to date map of

the ward is required for planning. It should be a


53

land use and infrastructure plan with different uses

such as commercial, residential, recreational use

etc and social and physical infrastructure. Many

cases this is not simply available. In the absence,

participatory mapping should be implemented to

start with. This is an approach community makes

a map of their area in consultation with the

community. This may not be in scale or

cartographically acceptable, but can be used for

discussion of issues confronted by the ward.

Sooner or later a scaled map need to be prepared

and should be converted to a GIS database. There

is a need for a short course on map preparation

and map reading for the ward community as well

as how they can collect local information with GPS

and GIS. The local community can be utilized to

update ward GIS database.

9.2 Ward Water Resource Inventory

Water and land are the two important resources,

followed by trees, shrubs and above all population

with all relevant demographic details. Natural

resources of a ward are to be mapped both

surface and underground. Water is increasingly a

scarce commodity. Drinking water problem

persists in many wards. Water supply system

including pipe networks need to be mapped with

areas with deficit drinking water availability and

areas with inadequate pressure. How to conserve

and augment water resources is an important task

of the ward. This may involve rehabilitation of

water bodies, augmentation of underground water

with water harvesting techniques and above all

resource conserving use of water with recycling

of water. Urbanization of ward brings about

drainage problem. Natural drainage is often

overlooked in locating buildings and roads in the

ward that flood problems results. Ward should be

the watch dog of drainage problems.

9.3 Ward Environmental Inventory

Ward committee should ensure a clean

environment for living. Air, sound, smell and visual

pollution are to be identified and care should be

taken to minimize the same. Sound pollutions are

generally from factories and motor traffic. Smell

pollution are from garbage disposal sites and

untreated floe of sewage.

9.4 Ward Heritage Inventory for

Management

The cultural and natural heritage including ancientwater sources of the ward should be conserved.“Cultural heritage” is a monument, group ofbuildings or site of historical, aesthetic,archaeological, scientific, ethnological oranthropological value. “Natural heritage”designates outstanding physical, biological, andgeological features; habitats of threatened plantsor animal species and areas of value on scientificor aesthetic grounds or from the point of view ofconservation. In comparison to ArchaeologicalResource Management, technically, CRM[Cultural Resource Management] encompassesthe broader field of cultural resources, including,for example, ethnic communities, and thepreservation of records, buildings, andarchitecture – i.e., the total range of culturalresources. Increasingly, agencies are gettingcontracts that cover all concerns, not justarchaeological ones. As a result, while a clear andimportant distinction can be drawn between ARMand CRM, current common parlance is to use CRMeven when a project is restricted to a singlediscipline. We can always revert [in speech/writing]to ARM when we want to make it absolutely clearthat only archaeology is being discussed.

9.5 Practice of Heritage Conservation in

Ward

• Examination and Diagnosis: Measureddrawing, condition report, and structuralanalysis.

• Sources for the building story: Archives andlibraries, map collection, photographiccollection, oral history

• True story of the building: Identifying values(historic, aesthetic, scientific and social),determining authenticity

• Future of heritage: Identifying stake holders,consensus building and integration withplanning process.

• Standards and best practice: Standards,policies and best practice.

9.6 Ward Level Issue Identification

Participatory diagramming and mapping can be

utilized for identifying problems by ward


54

community. A study of CWRDM shows how

polluted is the environment of Medical College in

Calicut. The drainage from medical college ispolluting all drinking water sources in the nearbywards. At the same time the septic tanks in smallsize residential plots are polluting well water. Firstthe ward level population should know about it

and then should find ways and means to reduce

the drinking water pollution.

9.7 Ward Level Planning

Based on the above ward level planning is to be

conducted. As is done in Kerala, strategies are

formulated for each sector and then projects have

to be formulated. A participatory approach need

to be followed using participatory mapping and

discussion. This project needs to be subdivided

into ward sector schemes, town sector schemes

and then district sector scheme and identify

participants. This is not done in Kerala.

9.8 Ward Level Monitoring and

Evaluation

Based on the directive of state planning board,

projects implemented need to be monitored in

respect of physical and financial achievements.

This is required in their annual planning process.

Project impact need to be evaluated in terms of

its economic, environmental and social impacts.

This can be conducted in a participatory manner

and unfortunately this is not conducted regularly

in Kerala.

10. CONCLUSIONS

If water is a human right, if poverty alleviation is

the priority of any Government and if there is a

strong linkage with poverty and water access,

ward level planning should be conducted for water

management. It is at the ward level the

community can assess the issue of water

management and not at the city level because in

every city there is unequal access in different

wards in terms of duration of supply, pressure and

volume. As far as people are concerned the

average statistics of a city is meaningless. Water

should be considered as property of both landed

and landless. There should be equitable right for

water regardless of the fact that population is below

or above poverty level.


ITPI HOSTEL

It was observed that the Hostel facilities of ITPI are being availed by non-members on thename of members, causing difficulties to the Associate and Fellow Members of ITPI therfore,they are requested to not entertain non-members for using Hostel facilities of ITPI and tocarry Smart ID Card of ITPI, whenever they visit ITPI Hostel, New Delhi

Secretary General

PARA TRANSIT SYSTEM IN MEDIUM SIZED CITIES

PROBLEM OR PANACEA

ASHWANI LUTHRAGuru Ramdas School of Planning, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, Punjab

ABSTRACT

Para-transit system is indispensable transport system in medium sized cities of India due to various reasons. Size, pattern, structure,

socio-economic conditions and network characteristics of these cities and service flexibility of PTS make it a vital transport system.

The popularity of the system is evident from the fact that in some medium sized cities the PTS serves nearly 80 percent to 90 percent

of the total passenger trips catered by public transport. It lacks infrastructure support for its operations and parking. Minimal check

is being executed on the behavior of its drivers for their indiscipline, violations, disobedience to traffic rules and regulations. Poor

maintenance of vehicles spreads pollution in these cities. Planning and administrative measures are suggested to improve the

performance and operation of the PTS to serve the city safely, efficiently and in an environmentally sound manner.

1. INTRODUCTION

Transport mix is one of the important

characteristics of Indian cities, under the given size,

structure and socio-economic characteristics. The

uniqueness of road networks, demographic,

physical and societal requirements determine the

selection of a particular transport system. Based

on various research studies the National Transport

Policy Committee in 1980 identified three different

sets of urban transport systems prevailing in Indian

cities (Government of India, 1980).

• A system with strong emphasis on mass public

transportation with some para transit

alternatives.

• A system with strong emphasis on PTS, usually

with one dominant type, and little by way of

mass public transportation.

• A system that is composed of a broad mix of

mass public transport and PTS, with no one

being dominant.

In all the above compositions the PTS plays its

role as a leader or a follower. But it is informal in its

planning and operations, which makes it a problem

area for the medium sized cities. Lack of proper

infrastructure, no operational controls, informal

drivers’ training, etc. are creating unsafe, inefficient

and environmentally degrading conditions in

medium sized cities. Suitable planning and

I T P I

JOURNAL

www.itpindia.org

ITPI JOURNAL3 : 2 (2006) 55-61

administrative measures have to be evolved to

improve its role in the transport system.

2. THE PTS AND MEDIUM SIZED CITIES

Broadly, the PTS is defined as the system one that

comes in between MTS and private transport

system. In other words, it may be defined as the

system that is in between a conventional bus and

private car. Various other terms, such as

intermediate public transport (IPT) system,

informal transit system (ITS), etc. are also used

parallel to the PTS. In developing countries para

transit modes, such as Jeepneys of Manila, Betjaks

of Indonesia, Trishaws of Kuala Lumpur, etc. play

a useful role in urban travel. In the Indian context

number of modes can be counted under the PTS

such as mini-bus, dodge, shared taxi, van pool,

car pool, taxicab, maxi cab, matador van, phut-

phut, tempos, auto-rickshaw, trekker, cycle

rickshaw, man-pulled rickshaw, tonga, etc. The

PTS characterizes more personalized kind of

system that carries fewer passengers and is highly

flexible in routing and operations. It does not have

fixed halting points and time scheduling is regulated

by internal competition, number of passengers,

etc. The owners or operators of these vehicles

have their own unions who themselves decide

about the routes, fares, freight, halts, frequency

of service, timings and so on. They are supposed

to observe the traffic rules, vehicular regulations

and are accountable to the public and

56

Fig. 1 Physical growth of Amritsar City

government for inconveniences, accidents, etc.(Baboo, 1986).

Medium sized city is a widely used concept thesedays, though no official definition for the same isdevised as yet. However, various researchers andinstitutions are using population range 0.5-1.0million to define medium sized cities. For thepresent purpose the same definition has been usedto define medium sized cities.

2.1 Methodology

To appreciate the vitality and problems of the PTSin medium sized cities a case study of Amritsar istaken up. The study is based on various researchfindings regarding traffic characteristics and roleof PTS in medium sized cities. Role of PTS isempirically tested and is based on analysis ofprimary data collected for traffic volume, speedand parking characteristics during peak hours.Wherever required comparisons are done withnorms and standards evolved by the Indian RoadCongress to identify the problem areas inoperations of the PTS. Energy efficiency and

pollution load of different modes are estimated

from the norms prescribed for the same with

respect to speed and traffic volume data.

Passengers and drivers are interviewed for their

socio-economic characteristics and preferences for

different modes for various purposes. Preferences

of passengers and drivers are recorded to suggest

measures for improvement in the PTS operations

and organization.

3. AMRITSAR CITY AND TRANSPORT

SYSTEM

Amritsar city is an important medieval city in the

north of India, which houses about 1 million people

in 135 Km2

area as per 2001 census.

Decentralization of activities, zigzagging road

network in the core and semi-ring and radial road

pattern makes it an appropriate case to study the

transportation features in a medium sized cities. It

suffers from unplanned and haphazard growth

and mixed land use. Consequently, different traffic

characteristics can be experienced in different

parts of the city (see Fig. 1 and Table 1).

Ashwani Luthra / ITPI Journal 3 : 2 (2006) 55 - 61

57

Table 1 Salient features of Amritsar city and mode of travel

Area Land Use Features Circulation and Traffic Mode of TravelCharacteristics (Public Transport)

CORE:Growth • C.B.D. • Narrow zigzag lanes • Cycle rickshawupto 1900; • Shops along road • High traffic intensity (Dominant)Medieval Period • Mixed land use • Unauthorized parking • TongaDevelopment • Tiny industrial units • Crawling speed • Scooter

• Religious institutions • Heterogeneous traffic rickshaw• Offices • Over-utilization of road• Vegetable markets• Theatres• Residential• High population and structural

density• Encroachments

INNER • Mixture of planned and • Wide straight roads • Cycle rickshawPERIPHERY: unplanned development • High to medium traffic (Dominant)Growth • Medium intensity land use intensity • Auto rickshawbetween • Industry & Commerce along • Unorganized parking • Mini bus/Dodge1900-1947; main roads • Medium speed • ConventionalDevelopment • Main terminals (Bus, Rail, Truck) • Heterogeneous traffic busBefore • Higher order educational & • Over-utilization of • TongaIndependence medical institutions stretches of roads

• Office complexes• District centre• District courts• Grain market• Parks, Theatres, Play-Grounds,

Religious institutions• Encroachments• Medium population and

structural density

OUTER • Scanty Development • Wide straight main • Auto rickshawPERIPHERY: • High intensity industrial devel- roads (Dominant)Growth opment along main road • Moderate traffic • Mini bus/Dodgebetween • Higher order educational and intensity • Conventional1947-1976; medical facilities • Unorganized parking busDevelopment • Low density lots • Cycle rickshawbefore • Encroachments • Heterogeneous traffic • TongaEstablishment • Medium speedof MunicipalCorporation

PERIPHERY: • Sporadic unplanned • Wide main roads • Mini bus/DodgeGrowth after development along roads • Low traffic intensity (Dominant)1976; • Industrial development along • High/ medium speed • ConventionalDevelopment the main roads • Heterogeneous traffic busafter • Very low population/ structural • Cycle rickshawEstablishment density • Auto rickshawof MunicipalCorporation)


58

It is clear from table 1 that PTMs play a dominantrole in all parts of the city. Same can be supportedby the fact that growth rate of PTMs is more thanfour times to that of MTS in the city. It is estimatedthat among the public transport systems PTMsserve as much as 94 percent of the passengertrips. Less number and low frequency ofconventional buses on different routes are thereasons for lesser service. The traffic volume studyindicates that PTMs cater to 5 to 8 times moretravel demand than that of conventional bussystem on major routes of the city. On the minorroutes only PTMs are operating. In an estimatemade by District Transport Office Amritsar in 1981,it was estimated that about 33,000 passengerswere served by scooter rickshaw every day ondifferent routes of the city. Whereas, an estimateof Nigam Transport Amritsar in 1986-1987revealed that local bus facility served about 18,000passengers per day on different routes of the city.Thus PTS dominates the transit scene in the cityby catering most of the travel demand from thepast. PTMs in Amritsar consist of mini-bus, dodge,taxi, scooter-rickshaw, cycle rickshaw and tonga.In case of the walled city, the narrow zigzagginglanes restrict the operation of PTS to cycle rickshawand auto rickshaw only. Thus smaller sizedsettlements having decentralized distribution ofactivities and narrow zigzagging road network areperfect attributes for PTS operation. Slow movingPTMs are more popular on narrow zigzaggingroads due to their better maneuverability.

3.1 Model Split and Travel Behavior

Fast moving PTMs are more popularly used forwork purposes in Amritsar city. About 76 percent,48 percent and 53 percent of the total trips arecatered by auto rickshaws, mini buses and dodgesrespectively for work purposes. Cycle rickshaw iscommonly used for education trips (23 percentof the total trips). Easy access, high frequency,low fare structure, less journey time, etc. are thedetermining factors responsible for the popularityof these modes for different purposes. The ringand radial pattern of road network improvesaccessibility to the extent that passengers canreach the PTMs within 5-10 minutes by walk. Highfrequency of fast moving PTMs i.e. 5-6 autorickshaws per minute during peak hours on all theimportant radial routes betters their availability.

Cycle rickshaw is so frequently available that eventhe remotest part of the city is served. Even thefare structure is as low as 50 paise per kilometerfor auto rickshaw. Cycle rickshaw is more popularfor shorter trip lengths due to comparatively highjourney time. Comforts, high flexibility, privacy,gender, safety, economic status of passenger, etc.are the reasons for preferences to cycle rickshawfor social and health trips. About 28 percent oldage travelers and 58 percent female use cyclerickshaw for their trips. Fast PTMs, such as autorickshaw, mini bus and dodge are preferred modesof passengers earning Rs. 1,000-5,000 permonth. About 78 percent of their travel demandis met by these modes. Passengers earning lessthan Rs.1,200 per month use tonga. Cyclerickshaw is more frequently used (25-50 percent)by passengers earning more than Rs.1,000 permonth. Auto rickshaw is the most commonly usedmode in the city for each income group as about27 to 74 percent of the travel demand is met bythis mode.

3.2 Drivers’ Preferences for PTMs

The study reveals that as many as 60 percent ofthe PTS drivers are illiterate. Only 20 percentdrivers have attained education up to tenthstandard. Thus low level of literacy and easy

employment in PTM operations tempt the drivers

to adopt this profession. PTM availability on rent,

higher profitability and loan facility by banks have

furthered their interest to remain in this profession.On average an auto rickshaw driver earns Rs.200per day, whereas a cycle rickshaw driver earnsabout Rs.100 per day. The PTS is largely governedby informal because drivers do not take any formaltraining to operate the vehicles. Malpractices ofplanning and controlling agencies result in pooror no execution of regulations and controls. Fewdrivers together can form a union through whichthey decide their routing, fare structure andsecurity. In Amritsar there are as many as 200unregistered auto rickshaw unions. Virtually, eachnew auto rickshaw parking stand gives birth to anew union. Normally they watch their individual

interests but for common issues they stand

together. Auto rickshaw unions are stronger than

cycle rickshaw unions. Thus informal operations

and control make the PTS an easy way out to

earn and serve.


59

Thus morphological, demographic, physical and

socio-economic reasons make the PTS a vital

transport system for medium sized cities like

Amritsar. Their operational flexibility, informal

planning and controls facilitate the drivers in

serving the passengers’ needs. Operational

characteristics of different PTMs differentiate the

nature and extent of role each mode plays. Fast

PTMs provide primary service whereas slow PTMs

supplement them in most of the cases. Due to

absence of MTS the PTS becomes a vital system

of transport for medium sized cities.

4. PROBLEMS AND ISSUES OF THE PTS

Though vital, the PTS poses some serious

problems and issues that alarm the city authorities

to take corrective actions to improve its

performance. Some of the important problems

are discussed below.

4.1 Absence of Planning for the PTS

Absence of route planning leads to self-planned

PTS routes that results unjustified traffic

assignment and distribution model. Volume of

PTMs on profiteering routes increases enormously.

It is not the case that this enormous increase

corresponds to increased travel demand. But

some of the auto rickshaws remain under occupied

even during peak hours. Since no route permit is

issued to any of the PTMs, therefore, most of the

drivers concentrate on popular routes of the city

with a view to get more passenger clientele during

peak hours. Such whimsical growth in traffic

volume and frequency leads to congestion on the

main roads during peak hours. At intersections

the conditions are still worse. In fact, these vehicles

create traffic bottlenecks and thus cause delays

at these points. Almost all the radial roads of

Amritsar face these problems but conditions are

critical on the central spine. PTS is so flexible and

informal that it does not have fixed stoppages.

The vehicles are halted at will of the driver or

passenger. The abrupt stoppage hinders the free

flow of traffic and become a cause of conflict/ rear

end collision at times.

4.2 Imbalanced Land Use Pattern

Increased traffic volume and frequency of PTMs,

especially fast moving, on some routes have made

them popular roads of the city. Consequently,polarization of activities at few locations,transformation of land uses, unauthorizedconstructions, increased land values, additionalpressure on the existing infrastructure,introduction of non-conforming activities, etc.have occurred along radial routes. Intensity ofcommercial activity has doubled at intersectionsof the central spine. Such unplannedtransformation and development have adverselyaffected the areas around roads, cityscape andsupporting infrastructure of the city.

4.3 Increased Heterogeneity of Traffic

High growth rate of PTMs and personalized modeshave increased the heterogeneity of traffic on mainroads of the city leading to various traffic hazardslike confusion, accidents/collisions, slow travelspeed. The study reveals that speeds on mostroads of the city range from 30 to 40 km perhour. During peak hours it reduces to 20-30 kmper hour depending on the popularity of road.Slow speeds, especially on congested corridorsand walled city area of the city, have made fast

moving PTS energy inefficient by almost 2 times.

Heterogeneity of traffic and slow speeds are

adversely affecting the air quality of Amritsar.

Whereas, private automobiles cause 64 percent

of CO and HC, the remaining is contributed by

motorable PTMs. Interestingly central spine

pollutes the city by about 48% of the total

pollution generated by transport. The drivers ofrickshaws are using adulterated fuel, which furtherincreases the intensity of air pollution.

4.4 Encroachments

High frequency of PTMs, hence high urbanmobility, tends to invite unauthorized andregularized encroachments (informal activities)along the roadsides or on footpaths of the mainarteries. At least one lane of the road is absorbedby such encroachments leading to reduction inroad width and road capacity. Over-utilization ofthe left over carriageway, traffic jams, crawlingjourney speed, extra fume diffusion, etc. are theconsequent results.

4.5 No Parking Facilities

Non-availability of planned/ organized parking lotsat the important junctions and along main routes


60

tempt PTS operators to park their vehicles along

the kerbs of roads, which clubbed with

encroachments further reduce the road width

(upto 2 lanes at important junctions). The planned

parking lots are either inadequate or are located

at places where regular traffic is not attracted,

therefore, drivers park their modes at convenient

places that hinders continuous flow of traffic by

reducing the road width, overcrowding the

junctions/ stretches and disturbing the aesthetics

of the road.

4.6 Illiteracy and No Administrative

Control

Illiteracy of PTM drivers and poor administrative

controls result in poor driving skills and violation

of traffic regulations and controls, signs and

signals, air and noise pollution control measures,

etc. Though no such study has been carried out

for Amritsar but a study conducted by RITES in

1998 reveals that auto rickshaws had an accident

rate of 6.3 accidents per 1000 vehicles in Delhi as

compared to 5.8 for taxi, 3.7 for cars and 0.96

for two wheelers. Involvement of cycle rickshaw

in fatal accidents has been less particularly on

account of low speeds in their areas of operation

(RITES, 1998).

Hence neglect to plan for the PTS, lack of

government control and informal operations are

main factors responsible for various traffic

problems in the city. Illiteracy of drivers and

irresponsible behavior towards traffic regulations

and controls lead to whimsical movements that

create unsafe traffic conditions on different roads.

Lack of knowledge and lust for higher profits

tempt the drivers to use adulterated fuel that is

injurious to health and environment.

5. SUGGESTIONS

Size, structure, road network pattern and socio-

economic conditions of passengers and negligible

role of bus transport are governing factors in the

popularity of PTS in medium sized cities. Also, PTMs

can support shorter trips but for longer trips MTS

is the only economical option. As per David Ac

Maunder commuters rely on public transport

system for journeys in excess of about 10 Km

(Roy, 1997). Though it is difficult to say but their

characteristic features reveal that PTS is capable

of serving a city of 2 million conveniently. An

organized approach to PTS will make it a

sustainable option for medium sized cities. Following

suggestions are made to make the PTS more

organized and better operated.

5.1 Planning for Routes and Operations

MTS is a better option to avoid unprecedented

growth of PTMs and private modes. But PTS

should not be neglected while proposing a

transport system for medium sized cities. Since

they are the most viable and vital modes to cater

the urban travel needs of these cities, therefore,

proper planning about their routing and operation

should be done after conducting scientific studies.

Instead of making them accountable for safety

and inconvenience they should be considered for

their merits as well. Trip assignment modeling

should be applied to planning and operation of

PTS so that rabid growth of PTMs, especially auto

rickshaw, is checked. Wherever bus transport

facility exists efforts should be made to integrate

the two systems physically as well as operationally.Planning and management should be done in a

manner that both support each other instead of

competing one another.

5.2 Controlled Land Use

As discussed earlier, better transport facility tempts

to intensify and transform the land uses along

main/ popular routes. The converse is also true

because high magnitude of economic activities

induce more PTMs to ply on such routes. Land

use – transport interaction modeling should be

attempted and proposed land use zoning

regulations and building bye laws should be strictly

enforced. Haphazard transformation and

intensification of land uses should be strictly

prohibited. Such an effort shall remove the

bottlenecks by avoiding encroachments due to

informal sector and unauthorized parkers.

5.3 Formalization of the PTS

With a view to improve the operational and

organizational skills of the PTS it is essential that it

should not be set free in decision making process

regarding its routing, frequency and fare fixation.

Competent local authority should formalize its


61

operational matters so that it helps in improving

safety, efficiency and environment of the city.

Government should perform the role of a

coordinator in the total process so that some

rationality prevails in the transport system. Every

effort should be made to make each PTM driver a

skilled/ organized driver by passing him through

the required/ prescribed procedure as mentioned

in Motor Vehicle Act. Drivers’ training camps should

be organized where they should be taught about

the traffic regulations and controls. Effort should

be made to register each driver, whether

motorized or non-motorized. Fares should be fixed

with mutual agreement between the government

and the PTM operators. Since most of PTM drivers

are illiterate, therefore, they should be educated

about their responsibilities towards important

aspects of traffic & transportation. They should

be educated about the ill-effects of adulterated

fuel on health as well as environment. Such efforts

will improve their operational and responsible

behavior towards traffic.

5.4 Planned Parking Lots

Proper provisions should be made to provide

required infrastructure for different PTMs. Proper

parking lots, with provisions of shelter to counter

the adverse weather, should be planned at

appropriate locations. While designing the parking

lots near intersections care should be taken to

locate them at an appropriate distance from the

junction. Generally, 100 meter clear space is

recommended at the junctions. Efforts should be

made to remove encroachments, if any, on/ along

the PTM parking lots so that they can be optimally

utilized.

6. CONCLUSIONS

Hence the PTS is a vital transport system for the

medium sized cities. Small size of settlements,

decentralized distribution of economic activities,

small trip lengths, etc. do not support economic

and efficient operation of MTS. As an alternative

PTS is a panacea for the travel needs of medium

sized cities. Although the problems caused by

PTMs are serious by nature and magnitude but

by taking planning, organizational, operational and

educational measures principles of safety,

efficiency and environmental conduciveness can

be achieved. Thus the PTS should be considered

as a panacea and not a problem under the existing

and anticipated traffic and transportation scenario

of medium sized cities.

REFERENCES

Government of India (1980) Report of the National Transport

Policy Committee, Planning Commission, New Delhi.

Baboo, B., et al (1986) The Urban Informal Transit system: A

Comprehensive Sociological Study, Urban India, VI (1 and 2),

p. 71.

RITES (1998) Traffic and Transportation Policies and Strategies

in Urban Areas in India -Final Report, Ministry of Urban Affairs

and Employment, Government of India, p. 10.3.

Roy, S.K. (1997) A Simplified Method for Selection of Transit

Mode for a Metropolitan City, Indian Journal of Transport

Management, 21(3), pp. 203-207.----------

Smart ID Cards for ITPI Members

For getting Smart ID Card of ITPI, members are requested to furnish followinginformation and send to Secretary General, ITPI, 4-A Ring Road, IP Estate, NewDelhi-110002.

1. Name 4. Telephone No. (office / residence / mobile)

2. Membership No. 5. Holder Signatures

3. Regional Chapter 6. Two Passport size Color Photgraphs

(Note: Those who have sent their photographs earlier may not send again)

Secretary General


GEOSPATIAL APPLICATIONS IN AIR POLLUTION MODELING:

CASE STUDY, TUTICORIN DISTRICT

DILIP KUMAR PAULPhysical Planning Consultants (India) Limited, Kolkata, West Bengal

1. INTRODUCTION

Tuticorin is one of the numerous districts of TamilNadu in India. The district spread over an area of4,621 sq km. Density of population of 315 personsper sq km is lower than average density of 428persons per sq km for Tamil Nadu.

The district has 1,051 female for every 1,000males. Sixty three percent of the population isliterate. Fifty nine percent live in rural areas whileseventy percent depends on agriculture. Thedistrict has a coastline of 135 kilometres andproduces 30 percent of the total salt produced inIndia.

The port of Tuticorin - an ISO 9002 certified port- facilitates Indian exports to about 20 countries.

The port city and its hinterland constitute the hubof numerous large metallurgical, fertilizer, chemical

and power plants of the district. Many believe these

industries, together with establishments, which

constitute backward and forward linkages to them,

are polluting the environment of the district.

The air quality data collected from 108 stations

together with associated information on them

constituted the major inputs. Some stations were

located in the vicinity of major market places, bus

stands and industries. Most of the stations werelocated within the premises of residential buildings,schools and buildings of government

ABSTRACT

This paper is about geospatial applications for modeling of air pollution through importing, geo-referencing, spatial data editing,

surface modeling, relief shading, pseudo color editing, creating and using region, extracting and merging vectors, supervised

classification, polygon grid sampling, extracting grid cell properties, and theme mapping. This study is not exhaustive, yet it shows the

potential benefits of geospatial modeling of air pollution in rural, urban, and regional planning.

Surface of SPM

Surface of S02

I T P I

JOURNAL

www.itpindia.org

ITPI JOURNAL3 : 2 (2006) 62-64

63

Surface of N0X

Class / training raster

Pollution via SPM, SO2,NO

x

departments. The sampling points were located 3to 5 metres above the ground.

2. THE STUDY

Inputs for the study include a scanned map, adatabase on air quality, data collected from 108stations and a 4-band multi-spectral image.

Spatial data editor is used to create a vector ofdistrict boundary from geo-referenced-scannedmap. The vector is then used for creating a regionof district boundary. Data base is imported as avector of 108 data collection stations. Data baseon air quality data on SPM, SO2, and NOx is used

for generating surfaces depicting spatial spreadof pollution in the district.

Raster extraction process via district boundaryregion is used for creating the extracts of surfacesof pollutants. Relief shading, contrastenhancement, pseudo coloring, processes areapplied on surfaces for comprehension ofqualitative and quantitative spread of pollution.Threshold contour lines are extracted fromsurfaces. Extracts of contour lines are exclusivelycombined to distinguish more polluted areas fromless polluted ones. Resultant output indicates that68 percent of the district is reasonably polluted.Profile views along the road from Kovilpatti toThiruchendur are created for three surfaces.

For developing models for monitoring/keeping SPMwithin sustainable limits, a multi-spectral image isimported, geo-referenced and classified via asupervised classification process, whereby groundtruth information is used for creating the trainingset. The resultant class raster is edited toincorporate tag values representing levels ofpollution manifested by the class raster of landcover. A surface raster of sustainability is createdwith data articulated within limits of air qualitystandards.

The properties of hexagon grid cells created viapolygon grid process are extracted from surfaceraster of sustainable SPM pollution (created viasurface modeling process), prevailing air qualityraster (created via supervised classification of multi-spectral image) and actual SPM pollution surfaceraster. A table with a computed field (with impliedone-to-one attachment with polygon ID) for airquality records of hexagon cells is created. A

Dilip Kumar Paul / ITPI Journal 3 : 2 (2006) 62 - 64

64

Pollutant T_W_AV Industrial Area Residential Area Sen_Area

SO2

Annual Average 80 60 15

24 Hour Average 120 80 30

NOx

Annual Average 80 60 15


SPM Annual Average 360 140 70


Script for SPM pollution model

SPM Pollution Actual extents (skms) Modeled extents (skms) Changes (%)

High 797.3 328.83 58.75

Medium 3276.59 1273.48 61.13

Low 547.11 3018.69 451.75

Actual SPM pollution Model SPM pollution

theme map of records of computed field displays

the spatial spread of air quality achieved via

management formula for keeping the air quality

standards. Following table indicates the changes

statistically.

Geospatial applications for modeling air pollution

include the following steps: importing, geo-

referencing, spatial data editing, surface modeling,

relief shading, pseudo color editing, creating and

using region, extracting and merging vectors,

supervised classification, polygon grid sampling,

extracting grid cell properties, and theme

mapping.

3. CONCLUSIONS

The study, even though is not exhaustive, yet itindicate the potential benefits of geospatial

modeling of air pollution in rural, urban, and

regional planning for activities of dwelling, working

and amenities.

Air quality standards

Pollution Spread

Dilip Kumar Paul / ITPI Journal 3 : 2 (2006) 62 - 64

IMPACT OF VEHICULAR POPULATION ON THE CHARACTER OF A TOWN

APARNA DUDWADKAR DIXITLecturer, Marathwada Mitramandal’s College of Architecture, Pune

ABSTRACT

An issue is posed whether cities and towns are for the people or for the vehicles. This paper describes the process of formation of

spaces in the cities, which largely ignore movement and use of these spaces by the vulnerable groups like the elderly. It is suggested

that cities must be people friendly and useable. Enforcement of traffic regulations favoring the pedestrians over motorized traffic is

required along with development of areas, which are attractive, safe and conducive to satisfy a variety of needs, besides a new set

of traffic regulations applicable to different city areas, precinct wise are required to be issued.

1. INTRODUCTION

Municipal Council of Ahmednagar was formed in

1844. The current population of the city is above

3,00,000 and is expected to increase to 6,00,000

in 2008. The overall urban architectural character

of the city is defined by a number of historical

buildings present throughout the city. These

buildings have maintained their own identity and

form landmarks of the city. Built hundreds of years

ago, with the then available construction methods,the buildings still survived today. They also give

us an idea of the prosperity of the people in the

field of arts in the times gone by.

It is very clear that the narrow streets in the

historic core can not absorb the increasing number

of private automobiles. In addition to creating

unbearable congestion, the traffic is causing

environmental deterioration and affecting thesocial and economic potential of the area. Todaydue to road widening efforts to accommodatevehicular traffic, the facades of the quaint buildingsin the core area are scraped off and being replacedwith boxy elevations which do not respect theirsurroundings nor carry any thread of continuitywith the prevailing urban fabric. They pop out likeeyesores in the skyline.

There is no provision of pedestrian pathways orfootpaths in the city, and the entire road space isoccupied by the motorized vehicles causingcongestion and traffic blocking chaos. Yet there is

no comprehensive master plan prepared for the

traffic in the old core area of the city. The old core

area is totally under residential, commercial and

other public activities without any green spaces.

Street furniture and elements like dividers,

footpaths, railing, and dustbins are totally absent

on the roads. There is no traffic sense in the

residents of the town. Furthermore, due to road

widening and renovations carried out in the old

core area of the city, many old and new building

constructions are designed without regard to the

surroundings (see Fig. 1). Building materials like

glass, RCC are used for elevation treatments, which

do not fit into the context of the city and disturb

the entire character of the city.

There is a lack of public participation and city pride

in the citizens greatly due to the overall lethargic

administration of the city. For ‘area character

preservation’ to be successful, it must be a many

sided effort, carried out simultaneously. By

upgrading the infrastructure, we can tackle the

urban problems at their roots. We can also learn

of what may happen if the action is one sided.

Topping the list of infrastructure of a town, roads

are a vital part of the urban fabric. They are the

spines, the bonding link, thread and also the edges

of the entire urban fabric. What happens on and

to the town’s streets is reflected on the face of

the entire town.

Ahmednagar’s commercial core is a good example

for a case study, due to its historical background,

strong architectural and urban character and the

present day economic relevance.

The core area was entirely a walled precinct with

various gates, ‘darwaza’ at different points for

entry (see Fig. 2 and Fig 3). Spanning

approximately 1.6 km in the east west direction

I T P I

JOURNAL

www.itpindia.org

ITPI JOURNAL3 : 2 (2006) 65-72

66

Fig. 2. Existing Trafic Flow in Ahmed NagarCore Area

Fig. 3. Layout of Proposed Trafic Pattern inAhmed Nagar Core Area

Fig. 1. Loss of Character of the Town due to Road Widening

Aparna Dudwadkar Dixit / ITPI Journal 3 : 2 (2006) 65 - 72

67

and 1.25 km in north south direction, the core ispredominantly commercial. Primary, secondaryschools, colleges, maternity hospitals and generalclinics, public buildings coexist with the buildings,which house shops on the ground floor andresidences on the floor above.

The entire core area has ground plus two skylinemade up by buildings with quaint architecturalelements like wrought iron balcony railings andwoodwork. The narrow streets, which windbetween these buildings, were cobbled in timespast, now only a few cobbled areas remain to tellthe story. The scale of the streets and the buildingelevations is very humane. This is the very essenceof old city cores that we should preserve throughthe ages. The conservation movement focusesonly on an individual building or a precinct, but asplanners we should take responsibility for the entireurban core, to preserve essence and spirit of sucharea, not only by conservation alone but alsoother remedial measures so as to alsoaccommodate future developments, keeping inmind the requirements and needs of the futuregeneration.

2. HOLISTIC APPROACH

A strategy with a holistic approach is needed toachieve success for the Ahmednagar core area.Accordingly the following steps are suggested:

• Prime attention to be given to simplify thevehicular and pedestrian movement.

• Laying down and modifying the existing rulesand regulations in the form of DevelopmentControl Rules to discipline the developmentprecinct wise

• Improving infrastructure

• Measures to alleviate public awareness forincreased participation, so that the peoplethemselves take pride in their city and its well-being.

A look at the peoples’ shopping habits provides adeep insight into their psych and also narratesthe story of the evolution of the urban fabric. Beit crowded by lanes of old streets or neon lit mallsof the city roads, shopping has always been anexpression of people’s ever changing attitudes.

The entire commercial area in the core is one of

the oldest traditional shopping areas in Nagar. Its

character was determined ages ago, when it had

narrow streets flanked by single storeyed houses

on either side. These structures have distinct

architectural style of their own and house

merchants believe in the home and workplace

philosophy. The ground floors of these buildings

are shops selling utility items as well as novelties

while the upper floor function as their residences.

With the passage of time the original owners will

start selling their houses, and the character of the

area will become more commercial. With this,

there will be a corresponding change in the urban

fabric. Older structures will be demolished or their

facades will be changed beyond recognition.

Multistoried shopping arcades with box type

elevations, like the ‘Kohinoor’ showroom, will soon

take over the street scene.

Today the old core is beginning to become a

multifaceted shopping precinct with modern

showrooms rubbing shoulders with rickety, old

shops. One perceives a subtle change in the

character of the street as one walks along the

Kapad Bazaar Road towards the north. This part

of the road has more traditional feel about it. The

shops here are smaller with no jazzy displays. It is

a more down to earth shopping area mainly

catering to the needs of the common man.

The entire core area has partly retained its

residential character with the front areas of the

houses rented out to small establishments dealing

mainly in utility goods. The whole area is not just

a shopping precinct, but also has a cultural

significance. The houses, old temples, mosques,

schools and shops all amalgamate to weave a very

distinct urban fabric. The Kapad Bazaar road and

its neighboring area is a mix of sights, sounds and

colors with every inch of its narrow width covered

with tiny shops selling brassware, utensils, clothes,

electronics, shoes and even automobile spare

parts (see Fig. 4). Some of the shops are just

rooms with piled up goods, but the consumer

satisfaction they offer is no less than a swank

showroom. The entire precinct has a small town

cultural space-air about it.

Care should be taken that the charm of the old is

not destroyed and forgotten, when something


68

new is built, there should be no sharp contrast.The area with a strong architectural and urbanform character should be able to retain its flavorand style of low-rise buildings. Huge commercialbuildings like Kohinoor and the Municipal shoppingcomplex make a strong urban statement withtheir bold architectural vocabulary, thusdisregarding the old world charm so characteristicof the precinct.

Many officials and individuals have been examiningthe problem of decongesting such areas. As aresult of policy implementation, the vendingactivity is diverted to a nearby lane or vacant plot.All the temporary settlements: peddlers andhawkers are asked to vacate the area. In returnthey are legally allowed to carryout business withinan allocated area. This so called market may becovered and provided with stone platforms withstorage space underneath. Such proposals seemto be sound and workable but they fail, forexample, area around Santa Cruz station. Mumbai,it failed because of the reason that hampers everyaction in the buying and selling transaction. Theseallocated areas are insufficient and out of the way.All the others who are not licensed begin to appearslowly in corners near the main road. Thepassersby conveniently choose to patronize thesevendors, situated at a closer reach than the outof the way assigned market place. It is clearlyevident that the selling activity flourishes, alongthe roads and streets where the percentage ofthoroughfare is more frequent. In Mumbai this

type of area is largely around the stations. An

approach focusing on the circulation pattern willhelp to harmonize the situation.

During the survey conducted, when asked toreact, upon the suggestion of ‘pedestrianmovement on the road, except for the mini busservice’, a majority of people responded positively.Even the vehicle owners seemed to approve of it,provided the pedestrian routes were well planned.An eminent shopkeeper whose family has a shopin the area for generations feels that the only wayout of this congested situation is by thecooperation of every individual. It is to be notedthat the entire line of the shopkeepers on theeastern side of Kapad Bazaar had willingly andvoluntarily given away 1.5 m of their shop frontsto widen the road. Subsequent plans of furtherwidening the same road are part of thedevelopment plan. With all this widening will comethe dense vehicular traffic and a multitude ofhaphazardly parked vehicles reducing both thepedestrian and vehicular movements to a snail’space. Therefore, though shopping inAhmednagar’s old core can be a delightfulexperience for the occasional shopper, it can be anightmare for the everyday visitor. Endless andundisciplined traffic and lack of parking space makethe streets choke for breath. This old core badlyneeds attention from the town planners and thelocal authority, to retain its charm and glory.

3. TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT APPROACH

Traffic management approach should be adopted

as an alternative measure so as not to loose our

Fig. 4 Kapad Bazar Road

1947 2002Thought the overall heights of the buildings has changed much over the years, one can see the drastic change in character ofthe Kapad Bazar Street. The old world charm is lost for ever . Earlier the entire street enjoyed a unifying thread is the elevationaltreatment. Quaint balconies with articulate metal works were on the first floor and the entire street was lined with shops with auniform character. Note the shading devices used too are similar


69

cities to the vehicle alone. According to a surveyit can be concluded that people do not mindparking their vehicles at some point, beyond whichorganized pedestrian routes and public transportsystems are planned. People would prefer to walkcomfortably along with fellow mates, than gettingjammed in the traffic endlessly. Hence the solutionof parking lots at the entry to the core area fromthe north and south side and a planned route forthe mini bus transit system to carry people, withbus stops at a distance of 200 m to 300 m fromeach other, and a frequency to match the needsof people would be appropriate (see Fig. 5).

Furthermore, the character of the town core alongthis bus route (ring road) should be paid attentionto. Additional development control rules suggestedare as follows:

• To restrict the height of the buildings abuttingthe roads to ground plus two only.

• Elevation elements of the façade should be asper accompanying illustration, to form acoherent and cohesive identity as to maintaincharacter continuity.

• Street furniture of paving, bus stops, lightfittings, dust bins, etc. would be as illustrated.

• Electrical wiring to be necessarily underground.

• Designated areas to have cobbled paving or

brick paving.

• Hoardings and signage, canopies and awnings

to comply with architectural style illustrated.

• Permission to be obtained before any

decoration or banner to be put across

buildings, facades or anywhere on the streets.

The town should be considered as a growing

whole. Neither architecture nor urban design nor

city planning should take the creation of this kind

of wholeness as their task. It does not exist

because it is never attempted.

• Architecture is too much preoccupied with

problems of individual buildings.

• Urban design thinks that the problem could

be solved on a visual level as on aesthetic

matter.

• Currently city planning is largely occupied with

implementation of certain ordinances.

All these disciplines have to accept the responsibility

for the city’s wholeness. The task of creating

wholeness in the city can only be dealt with as a

process. We as planners should develop the

process of development into a healthier course.

Fig. 5. Nagar Core Area - Traffic Movement (conceptiual Sketch)

Two separate and distinct patterns for movements about the town center are envisaged; the pedestrian paths as direct aspossible taking into account that people on foot like to cut the corners, and roads for motor vehicles. The Pattern, which emerged,was of roads leading motor vehicles outwards and around the edges of the residential areas and walkways taking people asdirectly as possible towards the centre of the town. Hierarchy of roads performing different functions was the principlefollowed.


70

Table 1. Recommened Policies at Central Level to Plan for People, Not Vehicles.

S.no. Objectives Recommened ActionPolicies

1. 1. To contain the desperate growth Urbanization Policy 1. Development of betterrates of private population. • Petrol tax communication facilities.

2. To reduce the urban transport • Registration fees 2. Measures to contain tripdemand • License fees lengths adopting multi nodal

concept

2. 1. To promote integrated urban Legal Policy 1. Revisions and modifications totransport system development. the relevant Acts.

2. To consolidate objectives, 2. Draft and enact an Urbanfunctions, process & procedures Transport Act, relating to thedistributed over a no. of statutes. construction, maintenance,

3. Freedom to the local authority to safety, operation, acquisition,formulate rules +regulations to financing and regulations ofsuit local conditions. urban roads.

3. 1. The various recommendations Implementation policy 1. Strengthen the institutionalshould be implemented urgently framework at central, state,and effectively in a reasonable and city levels.time frame. 2. Prepare & implement Traffic

management measures.3. Measures to adequately

finance urban transport.

4. 1. Establish appropriate, Institutional 1. Practical courses for trainingcoordinated, institutional Strengthening Policy of concerned staffarrangements at Central, Statelevels.

2. Transport planning unit shouldbe formed.

5. 1. To manage multidisciplinary Human Resource 1. To introduce new educationskills & understand problems Development Policy and training programmes toapplicable in urban context. upgrade knowledge.

2. To propagate requisite knowledge.3. To carry out development

effectively & efficiently.• Traffic dept. and municipal corporation to merge, for issues relating to traffic problems- fines collected in the city by the traffic

police should be diverted to the traffic dept. of the same city’s municipal corporation .

• Along with these policies, the Will to work and implement the policies within the available administrative powers should beinstigated in the staff’s psyche.

S.no. Problems in the Area Probable Reasons Policy Options Department

1. Loss of character because 1. Inadequacy of old • Create traffic • Municipalof All development under narrow streets to free zone and Corporationthe dominance of the motor accommodate the other methods of • Privatevehicle. [Road widening increasing vehicular traffic manage- Organizationprogrammes implemented population. ment, as against • Publicearlier and still being planned road widening. participationfor resulting in demolition ofbuildings.

Table 2. Recommened Policies at Local Level to Plan for People, Not Vehicles.


71

2. Haphazardly parked vehicles 1. Absence of a well- • Provide for • Municipaldefined visible adequate parking Corporationparking lot. lots designed • Private

2. Lack of strict as per vehicle Organizationdisciplinary action. segregation • Traffic Police

• Stricter dept.Supervision

3. Through traffic passing 1. Physically to cut • Provide a well • Municipalthrough the city. distance short and defined ring Corporation

therefore save time. road outside the • Statecongested area Government

4. Increasing use of two 1. Absence of a mass • Provide for a • Municipalwheelers and rickshaws transit system mass transport Corporation

system designed • Privateaptly for such areas Organization

5. ‘Occupied territory’ syndrome • Demarcate a well • Municipalon both sides of roads – -defined area on Corporationencroachment of hawkers. the same spot

and levydevelopmentcharges.

6. Overhead electrical wires 1. Old outdated • Underground • Municipalcausing nuisance and visual installation cabling & levy Corporationpollution. charges per

connection

7. Roads with potholes. 1. Lack of • Top coat to be • Shop ownersmaintenance repaired or paved • Municipal

as per illustrations CorporationaccompanyingD.C. rules.

8. Lack of toddler’s lot or 1. Area being predo- • Old parking lots, • Municipalchildren’s play area or garden minantly commercial plots of dilapid- Corporation

no thought of green ated structures • Privateareas. to be converted to Organization

toddler’s lot & • [BOOT]green areas

9. Absence of Public 1. Lack of proper • Regular meetings • Municipalparticipation communication in Public Square Corporation

between the council and pressand the citizens conferences to

discuss policyoptions andinvolve public in thedecision-making.

10 Absence of civic sense 1. Absence of user • Provide for user- • Municipalfriendly information friendly informa- Corporationof the city & its tion through • Privatemanagement street furniture Organization

etc. to evoke • Sponsorscitizen’s pride.


72

The urban character of a space can be retainedjust by creating precincts and plazas with spacesfor the movement of pedestrians at appropriateplaces where earlier, vehicular roads may haveexisted leading to various problems.

Credit must go to the Bombay Provincial MunicipalCorporation Act, 1949, which allowed cities to bantraffic from selected city areas and pay for therelated improvements with taxes, Ahmednagarcan carry out measures to solve its trafficcongestion problem (see Table 1 and Table 2). Themeasures suggested should be a part of thecitywide improvement effort, in which theelimination of traffic from the central area will becomplementary to the city’s other strategies forimproving its central core area. The goals of theprogramme will not be only commercial andeconomic but also to accommodate the social andtransportation needs of its residents as well.

Traffic control strategy of city’s traffic free zone isdesigned as a part of a comprehensive plan forthe downtown area, which includes the ring roadand extensive parking facilities as an integral partof the pedestrian zone. This traffic free zoneemphasizes human comfort. The street furnitureproposed would not directly relate to shoppingbut to the overall human comfort. The pavingand seating pattern encourages people to makeuse of the entire area. Various sculptures playareas and an electric vehicle, which does not addto the pollution, provides mobility72 and comfortfor the elderly.

Although the narrowness of the streets providesfew opportunities for sitting and relaxing, a fewplaza areas highlighted by cultural and historiclandmarks, can offer benches and spots to meet,

talk or watch informative entertainment because


citizen participation is the main component of

design in such central core areas. Both the plan

and the ambience thus created will encourage

participation from the public. The area thus

designed shall draw people at one end and involve

them along the entire length.

4. CONCLUSIONS

In conclusions, the following guidelines will go a

long way in mitigating the problem of the future

development of central core areas.

• Enforcement of traffic regulations favoring the

pedestrians over motorized traffic.

• Development of areas to make them

attractive, safe and conducive to the

satisfaction of variety of needs.

• Department of traffic and public works should

be set up and a set of minimum design and

construction standards, along with a new set

of traffic regulations applicable to different city

areas, precinct wise should be issued.

• Existing legislations to be modified so as to

provide for a tool for financing.

Preparing development plans and policies by giving

priority to pedestrians and not vehicles will give a

new character to the cities.

REFERENCES

Geddes, P. (1947) In India, Lund Humphries, London.

Bacon, E.N. (1967) Design of Cities, Thames and Hudson Ltd.,

London.

Burden, E. Elements of Architectural Design a Visual Resource

Gibberd, F. Town Design, the Architectural Press, London.

Cullen, G. (1971) The Concise Townscape, Butterworth and

Company, London.

Tetlow, J. and Homes, A.G. (2002) Towns and Traffic, Faber

and Faber, London.

Documents

INTERFACE BETWEEN CITY DEVELOPMENT PLANS AND … · INTERFACE BETWEEN CITY DEVELOPMENT PLANS AND MASTER PLANS D.S. MESHRAM Former Chief Planner, TCPO, Ministry of Urban Development