Governance

Indian government wants to develop a ‘green city’ in every state of the country, powered by renewable energy. The ‘green city’ will mainstream environment-friendly power through solar rooftop systems on all its houses, solar parks on the city’s outskirts, waste to energy plants and electric mobility enabled public transport systems. India’s Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) on December 3rd unveiled a concept note stating that Prime Minister Narendra Modi desires one city in each state to be developed as a green city that will meet all its energy requirements from renewable sources of energy. The ministry notes that the idea…

It cannot be denied that 2020 had much to occupy the powers that be and also the rest of us, in this our city of Madras that is Chennai. Given that matters concerning heritage receive scant attention even in normal years, it is no surprise that there has been even less in the one that has just ended. But if we let matters drift this way, we may soon end up having very little to show as far as our built heritage is concerned. Some upsides There have been some positive developments – the Chepauk Palace restoration is going on…

Owning a house is the dream of a lifetime for all of us. In a city, owning an independent home is impossible even for the upper-middle class. So, an apartment is the only choice available for 90% of urban citizens. The other less attractive alternative is living in the extreme outskirts of the city in an independent house and traveling for longer hours to reach office every day.  Despite the housing market crisis post-2012, apartment prices have not come down. The price of apartments has largely stagnated since 2012 and now there's an oversupply of inventories. As of 2017, there…

A separate law for Bengaluru’s governance, to solve the city’s countless civic problems, has been on the cards since 2008. But when the state Legislature eventually passed the BBMP Bill on December 11, it seemed that years of deliberations on the law had been futile. It was in 2008 that the Kasturirangan Committee report on ‘Governance in the Bangalore Metropolitan Region and BBMP’ suggested a separate municipal law for Bengaluru (instead of the Karnataka Municipal Corporations Act, 1976, that applies to all corporations in the state). In 2010, the ABIDe task force - constituted by the BJP government under B…

A quick mapping of urban reforms in India confirms that power largely still vests with the state and central governments. Despite the 74th Constitutional Amendment, no state has devolved all 18 functions mentioned in the twelfth schedule such as urban planning, forestry, or slum improvement to municipal corporations that run India’s large metropolises. Praja, a non profit, that advocates for policy changes in urban governance, released an Urban Governance Index which explores four themes to understand the extent of urban decentralisation in India. The themes are empowered city-elected representatives and legislative structure; empowered city administration; empowered citizens; and fiscal empowerment. The…

Last week, Maharahstra's Cabinet Minister of Tourism and Environment, Aaditya Thackeray announced that Mumbai has been selected as a "C40 city"—a consortium of the world’s leading cities taking bold action against climate change. Thackeray also tweeted his belief that "cities can lead climate change initiatives", but this attribution seems like wishful thinking for Indian cities. Unlike New York City or Los Angeles in the United States, Mumbai is not empowered to lead climate change or any other initiative. Here are just a few lessons Mumbai can learn from Los Angeles (LA) whose mayor, Eric Garcetti, steered the committee that included…

Financially, 2020 has been a challenging year for the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC). COVID-19 has left the civic body cash-strapped as a major chunk of its funds were spent on conducting fever camps, arranging shelter homes and other mitigation measures.  Even as it was battling the COVID crisis, Chennai Corporation had to cope with Cyclone Nivar and needed hundreds of crores to set up relief centres in the low-lying areas. The expenses for the GCC have increased phenomenally, but the sources of funds remain the same. In an effort to increase revenue, the Corporation is banking on one of its…

Earlier this decade, ‘new political movements’ focusing on transparency and fighting corruption -- such as India Against Corruption -- were the flavour in many Indian cities. As Kerala goes into election mode with local bodies polls this week, several such movements at the local level have fielded independent candidates for city corporations and municipalities across the state. Most of these movements are new, some being formed in the last few months even, but are mostly helmed by those with some experience in social work or activism. These groups have for now avoided political affiliation, and consider themselves an alternative to…

Tamil Nadu will see an all-important election for its state legislative assembly in 2021. With key political parties already kicking off their campaigns, voters too must do their part to ensure that their names are on the voting rolls. The Election Commission of India has released the draft voters' list for the state. Citizens can go through the draft voter rolls and get any changes in the same made if they find their details to be incorrect or if they have shifted residence. They can do this during the claims and objections period that will last until December 15th.  The required…

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is a large, complex organisation whose functioning largely remains enveloped in secrecy. Its website is a maze; decisions taken by its pivotal body—the standing committee—out of the public radar; and calls for independent audits routinely blocked. Decoding BMC’s numerous services and mammoth budget is a daunting task, best performed by seasoned journalists and accounting experts.  ASICS 2017, an independent benchmarking of cities report, finds that BMC needs to “adopt open data standards, usher in radical transparency in finances and operations; systematically provide actionable data at a neighborhood level”.  Reports like these repeatedly highlight at a…