Urban woes and construction catastrophe

Source: The post is based on an article “Urban woes and construction catastrophe” published in the Live Mint on 21^st July 2022.

Syllabus: GS 1 Urbanization in India; GS 3 Infrastructure; Cities

Relevance: City Development

News: Recently, the United Nations released its report titled the World Population Prospects 2022. The population in India is expected to surpass China’s by 2023. Thus, the urban population is also going to increase in the coming years.

In 2020, around 35% of the Indian population was already living in cities. However, the number of urban dwellers is set to increase with the population rise in India.

Some key determinants behind rapid urbanisation are economic development and growth, and investment in cities.

Problems in Indian Cities

There are issues like traffic, repeated road closures, and diversions due to construction and congestion. The issues negatively impact the liveability of a place.

Noida Case

The Comptroller and Auditor General’s “Performance and Audit Report on Land Acquisition and Allotment of Properties in Noida, Uttar Pradesh” stated:

(1) There has been complete disregard for basic tenets of governance viz., adherence to the public interest, accountability, transparency in decision making, ethics, and integrity in Noida.

(2) There were instances of “contravention of law” and “wilful concealment of facts”.

(3) There has been a nexus between the authorities and builders, as well as multiple violations that went unchecked, resulting in massive losses for the government and distress for the people.

Further such brazen corruption and disregard for the law are not peculiar to Noida itself.

Case of Gurugram

Despite being a modern infrastructural marvel with its high-rise structures and capable of offering affordability to luxury to everyone. The cities faced issues:

(1) The long traffic hours on the National Highway connecting Delhi and Gurugram due to congestion. Further, alternative routes are also full of traffic and jam due to the closure of main roads on account of more construction.

(2) The rampant constructions are causing profound environmental costs, like the declining groundwater table in the city and the low availability of potable water.

(3) Also, there are issues of water scarcity, poor drainage infrastructure, and roadblocks.

What are the causes of such issues in every city?

Role of private players: The private developers are not only monopolising a resource, but dominating the whole process of urbanisation for their own advantages. For Example, In Gurugram, the companies are involved in the construction and use of a part of the main roads, leading to traffic and congestion. Their power is their wealth and the vested interests of the few.

Urban planning has been poor in India. The plans are poorly designed and lead to environmental degradation. For example, the Punjab Land Preservation Act was amended to open up 33% of the forest land, including over 16,000 acres of the Aravalli Forests in Gurugram.

Poor city design greatly influences the kind of inequities and spatial relations produced in that region.

What should be done?

Undeniably, cities need to expand as the population living in them would increase. But the smart city design should ensure equitable access to everyday necessities and sources of leisure. These should be restricted to a few or should not be entirely cut off.

There should be soft policy actions to regulate land allocation processes and foster transparency.

Smart city designs need to prioritize facilitating movement and accessibility and enhance the quality of life. The transport infrastructure should be strengthened in a way that it positively impacts the attractiveness of a city.

Further, the government should build more and better housing facilities, schools, hospitals, working spaces, and markets, ensuring access to safe drinking water and water management, and reducing pollution in the Indian Cities.

There should be assertive policy actions. This would be to make sure that public assets remain with the public. Public assets should be managed by the public sector to ensure that resources are properly regulated and not captured.

Further, urban local governance should be made more accountable and transparent.

Further, the city development should be based on ease of living for its people and not profits for its developers.