Kartik Lokhande's blog

By Kartik Lokhande  Outrage! This was the only word that best described the sentiment of voters who could not find their names in the electoral rolls during the recently Lok Sabha elections. Several voters had Electoral Photo Identity Cards (EPICs) but could not exercise their franchise because of problems with electoral rolls. Then, rough estimates had pegged the voters’ names missing from electoral rolls at a whopping 60 lakh. It had prompted Election Commission of India also to assure some action. Many voters had the same experience during the election of Graduates’ Constituency of Legislative Council in Nagpur Division. With the announcement of Legislative Assembly election likely to be made soon, the issue of voter registration, corrections, and having as-perfect-as-possible electoral rolls, has again occupied the place of significance. After receiving complaints from voters that they could not cast their vote because their names were missing from electoral r...

Dear friends,  As you all know, a controversy is raging over the recent report of Intelligence Bureau (IB) stating that some foreign-funded NGOs are 'actively stalling development in India. Prominent NGOs like Greenpeace have flayed the IB report. Whereas, Association of Biotech Led Enterprises-Agriculture Group (ABLE-AG)has welcomed the report and has stated that NGO activism has jeopardised investment of over Rs 10,500 crore from public and private sector.  Against this backdrop, here are press releases of both -- Greenpeace and ABLE-AG -- verbatim. I hope these make an interesting read in their original form and content. Greenpeace press release: ‘Malicious Report Riddled with Mistruths’: Greenpeace India June 19, 2014 New Delhi: Greenpeace India today rubbished allegations made by the two...

  * Constitutes committee which comprises Nagpur Municipal Commissioner and NIT Chairman also as members By Kartik Lokhande  After rural areas, the Maharashtra Government has decided to concentrate on unauthorised and illegal constructions in cities. For the purpose, it has constituted a committee to formulate policy in this regard. The move comes close on the heels of the Government mooting amendments to various laws including Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning  (MRTP) Act to prevent and regularise unauthorised constructions in rural areas in the vicinity of major urban centres in the State. The committee constituted to formulate policy on curbing unauthorised constructions in cities, will study various aspects related to the issue. It will also suggest methods to prevent unauthorised constructions and effective action to be taken in such cases. Besides, the same committee will suggest ways and means to make the procedure for obtaining permissions...

By Kartik Lokhande With horizontal and vertical expansion of the city, the term ‘development planning’ has incorporated transportation as a major factor considering the growing requirement of citizens. However, if one takes a look at Nagpur’s growth so far, it still appears to be following the ‘development-oriented- transport’ and not the current concept of ‘transport-oriented- development’ being followed universally. Let us take a look at the city. Nagpurians make around 33 lakh trips per day! This includes around 57,000 trips through inter-city buses, 78,000 trips through railways, remaining through motorised or non-motorised transport. These trips are made on road network, of which 79 per cent is tarred, 20 per cent is water-bound macadam (WBM), and remaining is concrete. There is no city-level railway network (like ‘locals’ in Mumbai), but the Government has given ‘in-principle’ nod to metro railway in the city and has entrusted Nagpur Improvement Trust (NIT) with ...

By Kartik Lokhande What is a heritage? A structure? A dilapidated building? A neglected remain of inheritance? Or, something more than all these put together? If it is something more than these, is it anti-development in nature? Is it correct to portray ‘Heritage Vs Development’? Can’t heritage and development go hand-in-hand? Does the city’s heritage come in the way of City Development Plan (CDP)? These are the questions to which proper answers need to be given while Nagpur prepares for CDP-II. Often, it is projected that heritage is something that goes against the principles of development. However, if one thinks scientifically and correctly, one finds that sustainable development of today is a heritage for tomorrow. In Bombay as well as Nagpur, half of the notified heritage structures are Government properties. Many of the remaining half of notified heritage structures/features are temples. As per the list published by State Government in 2000, there are only 155...

By Kartik Lokhande  Urban poor. The term is used widely these days by policy-makers, planners, consultants, and the civic authorities. All of them agree that with rapid urbanisation, migration from rural areas to the city is increasing and the number of urban poor is growing. However, what is being done in the name of ‘taking care of urban poor’ is nothing but treating the slums, where urban poor live, as islands. Slums are directly linked to unregulated growth and development of the city. The root cause is ad-hoc measures adopted over the years, and those too, taken without integrated approach. As a result, houses are coming up in place of slum-dwellings but the road network continues to be narrow in these slums. A layer or two of cement are spread on internal roads in slums, but for want of proper vision for all-round development, drainage system continues to be poor. As a result, in many slum areas, hygiene and sanitation still are serious issues. Piped water ...

By Kartik Lokhande  Everyone talks of making Nagpur a city of future. All the political leaders and city fathers and administrators and consultants talk of sustainable development of Nagpur. But, unfortunately, the focus of the discourse in civic authorities and administration revolves mostly around the projects that receive funding. Obviously, this results in skipping of sectors that must be considered to prepare a better and more comprehensive City Development Plan (CDP). This, exactly, is happening again during the ongoing process of revision of CDP. Of a total 14 sectors specified in JNNURM toolkit for preparation of CDP, only six figure in the presentation made by consultant agency Crisil Infrastructure and Risk Solutions Limited (CRIS) during the workshop held in December 2013. And, this has happened despite the toolkit stating clearly, “While the CDPs for many of the Mission cities have been prepared in the context of the JNNURM, the specific sectors cover...

CDP evolves through a process of participatory planning with involvement of all stakeholders. It focusses on ensuring that CDP has collective ownership and reflects the voice of all sections of society. -- Key Features of CDP, page 5, Revised Toolkit for Preparation of City Development Plan, Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission, April 2013. By Kartik Lokhande Collective ownership. An absolutely important expression highlighting the need for all sincerity and seriousness required while preparing City Development Plan (CDP). However, in case of Nagpur city, the process for CDP-II or revised CDP is being conducted in a manner that does not reflect that any heed has been paid to the core value of ‘collective ownership’. In fact, as has been highlighted in ‘The Hitavada’ campaign in previous episodes, the attempt to ‘impose’ the ‘vision’ of a few upon people of Nagpur is quite visible. Part blame for this goes to Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) and part to...

  By Kartik Lokhande  Vision is a dream with deadline. It also implies that unless there is well-directed action, no dream can assume the status of a vision. When it comes to city development planning, one has to think along this line. Else, whatever has been done, or is being done, becomes nothing but a fraud on city’s development and future generations. As far as Nagpur city is concerned, ‘inadequacies’ and ‘weaknesses’ became features of City Development Plan (CDP)-I and city-level reform agenda. Smart and well-intentioned planners take a leaf out of such experience, and make the course correction to ensure a better future. In the context of city development planning, this action can be described as ‘urban correction’. To tread this path and revise response to various issues, one has to develop a vision. That vision evolves on the basis of experience so far, identification of issues and areas of response, and elaborate thinking as well as explanation of c...