Relevant for General Studies Paper 1, Sociology & Essay:-UPSC-CSE 2019-20 FOUNDATION & TEST BATCHES WILL START JUNE 2019
- In the run-up to the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, farmer loan waivers have become a central issue. With an urban population of only 31% in India according to Census 2011, are our cities supporting villages the way our villages are deemed to be supporting cities? For many, the answer may be a unanimous no. But in reality, the answer may not be so resounding.
- The City Managers’ Association of Karnataka puts together a compendium of best practices followed by cities and towns in the state every year. This is based on the replicability and sustainability of cities and towns, and awards going to the three best ones. Identification and documentation of such practices will provide a valuable database for capacity-building of local bodies. It encourages them to adopt and evolve new ideas leading to the setting up of new paradigms for effective governance and efficient urban management.
- Bengaluru’s citizens may be complaining about its congested roads and traffic, but few know that recently, the Bangalore Traffic Police (BTP) initiated an adaptive traffic control system for effective traffic management.
- This system has also been started in Bhubaneswar in Odisha. The system has already provided benefits by continuously distributing ‘green light’ time equitably for all traffic movements, thereby reducing congestion; by improving travel time reliability; and by upgrading the effectiveness of traffic signal timing. It is expected to reduce commute time, which in turn can increase the city’s efficiency.
- Waste collection and its safe disposal are a major problem for Indian cities, with increasing incomes, changing lifestyles, and increasing waste generation. Many big cities lack enough land and space for sanitary landfills, resulting in unsafe means of waste incineration and disposal.
- However, many cities and towns are adopting innovative approaches to deal with this problem.
- In the small but growing town of Shimoga in Karnataka, for instance, until recently, waste collection was carried out throughout the day. But by the time waste collection was completed, the next day’s waste was generated and dumped back in the town’s ‘black spots’. There was also a shortage of vehicles and manpower to cover all areas of Shimoga, and major commercial areas consumed a major portion of the resources.
Swept Off the Feet
- Under a new initiative started by the Shimoga city corporation, nightsweeping of main roads and commercial areas was started. This included the clearance of ‘black spots’ at night. A team of young, willing municipal sanitary workers — pourakarmikas — were identified for the night shift, and then motivated with awards. Black spots and waste points of commercial areas were identified and mapped. With streetsweeping and collection being more efficient at night, greater coverage of the city with minimal manpower is being accomplished.
- In Belagavi (old Belgaum), attempts at waste segregation were met with partial success due to noncooperation from local residents.
- Hence, the corporation started a waste segregation initiative by schoolchildren for segregation and collection of dry waste. The children were trained, and they brought dry waste generated at home to school. The three largest amounts of dry waste generated attracted prizes, to encourage students to bring — and not discard — their dry waste.
- The money collected by selling dry waste to non-governmental organisations (NGOs) is now utilised for the education of poor students.
- This not only made the city of Belagavi cleaner, but also encouraged youngsters to educate their parents and elders at home.
- Mangaluru is an industrial hub. As a result, the city corporation has been motivated to take up corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives towards improving the civic infrastructure that includes public toilets, e-toilets, wall murals and paintings that have changed the face of the coastal city. Painting walls with artwork is also being practised in Bengaluru.
- The innovative part in Mangaluru is that there is no funding needed from the city corporation. The latter only gives approvals and facilitates the process funded by companies.
- In the Ramanagara City Municipal Council, there was earlier no mechanism to collect wet waste from bulk waste generated in hotels, canteens and hostels, as there was no scientific treatment plant. However, a detailed project report was prepared in 2017 for handling wet waste to use it for biogas and electricity generation and compost preparation.
Power Users
- Since power generation for lighting was preferred, after following all procedures and norms, a 1-tonne wet waste-handling capacity plant with 10 KW of power generation capacity was established on the outskirts of Ramanagara. 10 KW of power generated is duly supplied to illuminate street lamps, the first project of its kind in the Karnataka.
- The ability to use an existing storehouse of best practices, without having to reinvent the wheel, is the recipe to ‘catch up’. It is also the basis of convergence. Villages, cities and towns in other states stand to benefit from what’s going on in the cities and towns of Karnataka.