Shubhra’s Article

Lack of empowered local governance is one the biggest challenges facing Indian cities today. A city like Gurugram, which contributes to more than 70% of Haryana’s revenue, has to depend on the state government for sanction and approval of projects. This is indeed very disempowering. Gurugram put in place its third tier of governance in 2011 by electing 35 councillors and a mayor. However, the fact that these councillors have little power to implement the city’s development agenda also makes its local governance weak. What can empower local governance to a large extent is implementation of the 74th Constitutional Amendment (CAA). It can make our municipal corporations autonomous and efficient, empower our councillors and mayors, remove the multiplicity of agencies, make ward committees more effective and even attract better local talent to enter politics. Basically, the CAA shifts the control from the state to the city and enhances the city’s ability to use the funds as per its needs. However, despite over 20 years of the legislation becoming effective, state governments have delayed, not implemented the CAA either in full spirit or at all to retain their powers on cities. All the major neighbouring states of Haryana, including Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, have implemented the legislation, then why is Haryana elusive regarding it? To be sure, this is what the 74th CAA grants — First, there are 18 civic functions that are mentioned in the 74th CAA including sanitation, roads, health care, urban planning, water supply, public parks, street vendors, public transport, street animals etc that must rest with the municipal body. It basically means that the municipal corporation is a complete city government with a constitutionally defined clear mandate. Second, it grants powers to mayors. Mayors of London, New York and even Shanghai run their cities as CEOs. As the mayor of New York City during the terror attack of September 11, 2001, Rudy Giuliani played a vital role, coordinating the efforts of all city departments and making all the key announcements in the media. When Prime Minister Narendra Modi went on his first official visit to the US, his first meeting was with the mayor of New York. Such is the importance of the mayor. How many of us know who the present mayor of Gurugram is? Are these positions merely ceremonial? Mayors are democratically elected for a period of five years by the people. They should have more powers and accountability since commissioners are bureaucrats who are frequently transferred. Gurugram had seen eight MCG commissioners come and go in a period of four years in the recent past. In a welcome move, however, the Haryana cabinet approved the direct election of mayors last year, which means the voter will cast vote for both the ward councillor and the mayor. Earlier, the councillors, after ward elections, elected the mayor among themselves and there was a lot of horse-trading to garner support. This move also ensures that better candidates from the city will stand independently for the mayor’s post. Hisar, Karnal, Rohtak, Yamunanagar and Panipat, which had elections last October, have already benefitted by this move, and so will Gurugram when it goes for elections in a couple of years. The third thing that the CAA ensures is the presence of effective and operational ward committees. Gurugram has in fact hurriedly set up the ward committees in January this year to garner points under the Swachh Sarvekshan Survey. The MCG has set up a 13-member ward committee in each of the 35 wards of Gurugram to oversee sanitation, water supply, parks etc at the ward level. These committees would be chaired by councillors and progressive citizens and members of non-governmental organizations would be members of the committee. One nodal officer from the MCG will oversee the work of these committees in each ward. Creating ward committees is one thing; however making them effective tools of local governance is quite another. Let us hope these committees help in improving citizen’s participation, councillor’s interests and resolution of local civic issues. Because of the lack of implementation of 74th CAA, the MCG has a low threshold for expenditure. Its limit to decide on projects is Rs 25 million. Besides, budgets are often not presented on time. The budgeting quality itself is questionable. Citizen’s participation in budget allocation is non-existent. Robust revenue streams such as stamp duties and entertainment taxes are not devolved fully to the urban local bodies. Since, multiple authorities are involved, the total resources spent on civic projects, such as building roads, is unclear. The 74th CAA if implemented well can help in creating better budgeting and accounting standards, gaining better control of municipal finances, granting more autonomy to municipal corporation to decide on its needs of manpower, and ushering other urban reforms. Decentralised governance is the need of the hour. By creating decentralised platforms of autonomy, we are encouraging the citizen of the land to get interested in local issues, to feel empowered and be engaged in the affairs of the city. There will be a better turnout of voters and more competent and honest people will start contesting elections. We will then have mayors who are good administrators and have a vision for the city. Besides, cities are the fulcrum of our economic growth. They cannot be operated through remote controls. Further, they are not the ATMs of state government that can be milked whenever needed. Certainly Gurugram is not. It has been made what it is today by its people, its industry, its entrepreneurial spirit and its civic society. Implement the 74th CAA in Haryana, and let Gurugram decide its own destiny.

A few days ago, the news that Gurugram was the world’s most polluted city in 2018, as per the data released by IQAir Visual and Greenpeace, hit the headlines. (Ghaziabad stood at number two, Faridabad at number four; seven Indian cities were among the world’s top 10 polluted cities). Clearly, as a country, we have set our priorities for development wrong. What is most disappointing is that even with the general elections just around the corner, the issue of pollution is nowhere being publicly discussed by political parties in their election manifestos. As one of the fastest growing cities of north India, Gurugram has paid a high price for development. We must be fools to not realise that pollution will eventually impact Gurugram’s ability to attract investment and talent. From what I hear from my friends in corporate roles, conversations about moving corporate offices out of Gurugram are not uncommon. More aware citizens, especially those who have lived outside India, have been shouting from the rooftops about the deteriorating air quality on social media groups for a while now. Affected families with children are also saying goodbye to the city. The ‘liveability index’ of the city is certainly at its lowest ebb. Pollution is a complex problem to tackle especially in India, which has democratic structures aligned to populist politics and diverse stakeholders’ priorities. Unless there is political willingness to take drastic steps, nothing much will change. Besides, authorities need to back the policies with stringent enforcement. Last but not the least, citizens have to be fully engaged as drastic steps and enforcement will mean some pain for the larger good of a cleaner environment. After all, we must remember that progressive cities are those that have quality integrated public transport, walking and cycling tracks, are low on emissions, adopt solar energy, make sustainability and inclusiveness their priority. These are certainly not cities that thrust more and more cars on their roads, then build more roads and flyovers to accommodate these cars and, soon enough, have choking roads. So, where do we start? Planning to fight pollution is as important as fighting it. We need to have a national action plan with clear short-term, medium-term and long-term goals. In each city, a multi-disciplinary high-level committee (with citizens’ involvement) must review the problem on a regular basis. Gurugram currently has only two air quality monitoring stations, at Gawal Pahari and Vikas Sadan. A city of its size must have at least eight air monitoring stations. And the city should have regular analytical assessments on the causes and trends of the problem. The high-power pollution committee in Gurugram must focus on one or two immediate ‘actionables’ to set it on a course of correction. The main culprits of pollution are dust, vehicular emissions, and waste burning and dumping. To control dust, construction sites that flout construction norms should be duly covered need to be monitored closely. Besides, C&D waste cannot be allowed to be thrown. Trucks carrying construction material should also be covered well. Water sprinklers can also be used. Vehicular emissions can be controlled by better pollution checks, avoiding traffic jams, encouraging e-rickshaws, improving public transport and last-mile connectivity, as well as introducing non-motorised infrastructure. Decentralised waste solutions will reduce transportation costs and congestion of over-loaded trucks of garbage going to and fro to landfills. In all this, enforcements by authorities will play a key role — we need strict penalties for non-compliance at construction sites, waste burning, C&D waste dumping and tree-felling. Citizens’ education and awareness will play a key role in creating vital checks in neighbourhoods. Fighting pollution is also about raising collective consciousness at an individual and community level. Can we limit ownership of multiple cars, not buy luxury SUVs/diesel cars, opt for car-pooling, go ‘car-free’ once a week, compost our kitchen waste, switch to solar energy, and plant trees? The beauty of embarking on the sustainable trip is that different steps all integrate at one level and one positive cycle builds the other. If we improve the waste cycle, we will see both water and air cycles improve as well. So, if we start solidly somewhere, it won’t be long before we start seeing synergistic gains elsewhere. Recently, Gurugram scored a poor 83 ranking (among 99 cities in its category) in 2019’s Swachh Survekshan. It may not be misplaced to say that had our Swachh Survekshan rankings been better, that would have reflected well on our pollution scorecards as well. We have all heard the story of how the greedy farmer cut his goose that lays golden eggs in the hope of getting all the eggs in one stroke. Gurugram is the golden goose of Haryana. Let’s not exploit it to the point of no return!

Gurugram experienced an unusually wet winter this time. Rain god obliged and the city had decent rainfall that helped reduce pollution somewhat. Hopefully, all the rainwater did not run off and some did percolate down to raise the groundwater level. Had there been enough means to store this water in the city, it could have served us well in the crunch months of summer. About 60 -70 years back, Gurugram was replete with water bodies that merrily captured both the rainwater and the water flowing downhill from the Aravallis slopes. As per a first-of-its-kind study done by the Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA), the district had some 644 small and large water bodies. Three main data sources — the revenue record of 1956, the Survey of India map 1976 and the world view satellite imagery of 2012 — were used to ascertain this number. Some water bodies were confirmed through only one data source, some through two, but a good 124 water bodies were confirmed in all three data sources. Sadly enough, of the 644 water bodies, 153 have vanished beyond recovery. Another 53 bodies face severe threat due to intentional landfilling, garbage and construction waste dumping, and encroachment. (This comes across as hardly a surprise since land topography has been completely ignored to maximise real estate development in the city. Buildings have come up right upon low-lying places that once had johads (traditional name for ponds and lakes). Besides, another 132 water bodies face contamination due to discharge of industrial affluent and waste water. A good 44 cannot be called water bodies as they experience only seasonal waterlogging. Gurugram must earnestly restore those water bodies that can still be saved. In 2016, a study by Future Institute, an environment consultant, listed 13 ponds in urban Gurugram that could be saved immediately. These are in Sukhrali (Sector 17 C), Ghata (Sector 58), Fazilpur Jharsa (Sector 72), Begumpur Khatola (Sector 74), Garauli Kalan (Sector 37), Badshahpur (Sector 66), Saraswati Kunj (Sector 56), Basai (Sector 9B), Sarai Alawardi (Sector 110), Jahazgarh (Sector 106), Sarhol (Sector 37), Kadipur (Sector 10) and Dhanwapur (Sector 104). Tendering work on Basai and Saraswati Kunj was initiated, but could not be followed through. Of late, the momentum in pond revival has picked up. Gurujal, a society formed by the district administration last year for ensuring water security, is laying down process specifications, technologies as well as facilitating clearances and approvals from government departments. Several Gurugram-based corporates are adopting one pond each and providing CSR funds. Besides, NGOs such as ‘I am Gurgaon’ and ‘Force’ have also taken up pond revival. Funds under central schemes such as Swachh Bharat Mission and Jal Shakti Abhiyan are also available. In the urban areas, ‘I am Gurgaon’ has initiated work in Wazirabad and Sikanderpur ponds. Cleaning water bodies within the populated city is challenging as garbage and waste water continuously flows from the neighbouring settlements. Often, water has to be recirculated through treatment systems to keep it clean. Some of the water bodies in the city outskirts where contractors have started work are Tajnagar, Mojabad, Hariahera, Bohrakalan, Bilaspur, Khentawas, Iqbalpur and Kasan. Reviving a water body has multiple spin-offs. The most important and long-term benefit is the groundwater recharge. The city’s water table has reached a very low level of 35 metres as groundwater extraction has been over 300%. As the city gets increasingly concretised, the ability for ground to absorb water is declining and most rainfall water just runs off that causes flooding. Water bodies act as flood buffers and help stock water that improves the water table. In the rural areas, the water can be used for irrigation and upkeep of animals. By planting native trees around the water body, the local ecology is restored, and birds and butterflies begin to flock the area. Thus, local bio-diversity is encouraged. Walkways and cycle paths can be built around it. Finally, these spaces can be developed as places for social interaction, recreation, education and cultural exchange. Several stakeholders have a role to play. Town planners can ensure that no more construction comes up on water bodies and low-lying areas. Authorities can facilitate through providing access and clearances, removing encroachments, maintaining water quality, etc. But the role of local population is the key; there has to be a complete buy-in from them for ensuring long-term sustainability of the project. A sense of pride and ownership in taking responsibility for the upkeep and maintenance of the pond has to emerge from neighbouring residents. Those who do not have a pond in vicinity can locate a city pond that’s up for revival and volunteer in the area of community mobilisation, greening, landscaping or simply using the facility. Amidst the maddening urban sprawl, water bodies could emerge as tranquil outdoor public spaces to relax, rejuvenate and meet-up while they quietly and silently work to recharge the city’s groundwater. Let’s get water, and with it the birds and butterflies back in Gurugram! (Shubhra Puri is the founder of Gurgaon First, a citizen initiative to promote sustainability in Gurugram through workshops and research books.)