October 25, 2013

RWAs comprise the first level of building blocks of a city and play an essential role in a city’s development. They are the basic stakeholders in bringing change and improving living conditions of the citizens of the city. Over 40 RWAs of Gurgaon came together at the city’s Artemis Hospital in Gurgaon. The aim of the workshop was to bring Gurgaon RWAs together on a common platform to discuss issues of common interest, identify best practices and engage in discussions on meaningful solutions that can be adapted across the board. The workshop also focused on making RWAs aware about citizen rights and some of the popular citizen-led drives that were taking place in Gurgaon. “The more progressive RWAs a city has, the more hope there is of the city moving forward on the development agenda. A few progressive RWAs that are up on the learning curve can share their learning with the younger RWAs to improve collective understanding of the group,” said Shubhra Puri, Founder, Gurgaon First, a citizen Initiative that organized the event. The workshop had three distinct sessions. Session I was on “Discovering Common Issues, Best Practices and Synergies”, session II was on “Innovative Solution for Common Good” and Session III on “Local Governance and RWAs”. Gurgaon has primarily two types of RWAs: of plotted areas and of condominiums and the workshop had presence from both types of RWAs. Besides, NGOs, progressive citizens, authorities and councils also attended the meet.The workshop had presentations from Progressive Citizen Alliance, Gurgaon Citizen Council, QERWA, Mission Gurgaon Development, I am Gurgaon, We the People and other citizen groups of Gurgaon. The workshop was attended by over 100 participants. Work of several progressive RWAs was showcased. Palms, Beverly Park I, DLF Icon and Western Heights have decentralised their waste management. Rainwater harvesting is another area where RWAs can learn from each other. Almost 90 per cent RWA pits have closed in Gurgaon due to faulty design, and it is imperative that while new pits are encouraged, the old ones are renovated. Then RWAs can also organize e-waste recycling drives. Electricity cost may be reduced by switching to solar lights in the common areas. The workshop was sponsored by IL&FS Energy, Moser Baer, Smart 24×7 and eXtendCode Software Systems. These companies presented their innovative solutions for the RWAs at the Meet.