Showing posts with label Sectors. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sectors. Show all posts

Feb 21, 2015

Scaling of opportunities, a bigger challenge than scaling up urban infrastructure!


Tackling immediate soft urban challenges through resource prioritization!

Infrastructure expansion is where the money and interest is and is a never ending process as well, so it will keep scaling up in background anyway and will be taken care of diligently, with or without much intervention. Public sector has more of a catalytic and mentoring role to play in that direction. Skill is what we need to focus on today.

Like they say “Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day, teach him how to catch a fish and he will eat for his lifetime”.  Scaled opportunity is what an urban dweller needs irrespective of which Socio-economic strata they belong. More opportunity to masses means more involvement in the urban dynamics, and hence being more engaged in the process of building the very city which provided the new scale and dimensions of opportunities. Scaling of opportunity are less resource intensive and has higher ROR than scaling or urban infrastructure and might be more sustainable an approach!

Further scientific modelling and analysis will be required to validate and assert the idea.  

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Feb 7, 2015

Urban development is contagious, keep an eye and let it spread!

One gear triggers other and whole machine gets activated.

Process of urban development is spontaneous, sometimes sluggish sometimes fast but always forward looking, if left on its own it will automatically morph and mutate and expand, to cater, to accommodate, by utilizing whatever little or more they have, by seeking and digging what and when they require. And we are not talking about another Squatter!

Left on its own city might sustain and prosper or it might entangle and be a mess, but it will grow for sure, that’s how we have made our journey from jungle to habitat spanning centuries. We need planning upfront today different from mud house age since our needs have changed and so the externalities, otherwise natural mutation of habitat or city should technically be sustainable a phenomenon.

Development has inertia of growth inbuilt we just don’t know in which direction, though we really don’t have to push is so hard we have to just push it to keep it rolling and have to give it a logical direction.

Upfront capital being a key constraint in urban development sector, an example of mutating self-sustaining habitat can be an additive model of shelter where you give only that much of infrastructure which is basic but with provision of ample spatial flexibility and assistance at disposal, and letting them build further on their own, based on their capacities, choices and needs. Creating some rules to play with and giving them an assistive hand when and where they require.

A favorable environment, assistive and vigil governance and a scientific approach are what we need to see this natural development phenomenon unfold and sustain.


Oct 12, 2012

Early collaboration - The only sustainable way to a successful project!



Skewed focus on man hours shows lack of vision and macro level perspective.

We are trying to deal here two separate but overlapping subjects.
Apparently it will take another century for people to realize and acknowledge that amount of man hour invested for certain outcome has very less or at times has nothing to do with the outcome, except in a production environment. They have glamorized work rather than results because that’s what they have done throughout preliminary to mid evolutionary stage of their existence, it’s only recently that they have realized that they should pause and rethink, re-strategies their way of working, possibly that’s why there are so many managerial positions and functional hierarchy exists in any work environment, that’s why machines and automation today. In the bygone era when people used to rely on theirs hunting instinct and brute strength to gather food day and night just for their survival, at that point of time outcome was directly proportional to amount of man hour invested, but if we are carrying that same attitude in our present life even after countless centuries later whether its work or daily chores or educational environment, then there must be something wrong in our approach or mindset. Though all these novel mindbits are not going to change anyone since people have and will find out traditional or innovative ways to invest their precious time and resources in some not so productive or rather wasteful laborious works in the name of engagement, work ethics, traditional methodology and so on. Man hours are still essential today but is not and should not be monumental, rather than putting mindless hours of shear hard work on a certain issue or project one should engage there mind towards strategic intervention, re-intervention and resource-optimization regarding that particular issue or project for lesser hour of work per outcome which in turn will lessen the stress level, provide work satisfaction and give more hour of leisure time. 
   
Let’s take an example of project lifecycle. You start with an assumption or a vision, say we have to build a new state-of-art sustainable or something city. It is primarily driven by demand and project economics, you estimate and gather resources accordingly, you set a timeline, you of course have a template of timeline which you as a consultant or a developer apply everywhere because you see it’s a proven methodology or timeline. Construction and project management process has a time span with only marginal flexibility since it’s a production environment and it has its own time and technological limitations, so keeping that aside let’s see where is the scope of improvement in terms of saving work hours in a project lifecycle from the very beginning right from the moment when that bright idea first strikes somebody’s brain.  Project and business development you know also has its own pace of progress depending on which particular part or location of the world your client and project is located, but for the time being our focus would be planning and design process and understanding how much man hour and resources we usually apply for certain outcome and how to optimize that, whether there is even scope for optimization or not, though one feels there is, indeed. You quickly prepare a vision plan statement right or wrong but appealing, you allocate responsibilities; you start on a blank sheet with a mug of coffee to catch ideas out of thin air or relying on one’s experience and knowledge or understanding of the contemporary regional market or in some cases straight sanitized ideas from Google, bravo! After a quick brainstorming session one person or maybe two lays the broad outline of plan or design based on certain assumptions while rest of the workforce starts filling the intermediate details and ruthlessly keep on detailing only until they realize that something went grossly wrong in the broad outline or the assumptions, or may be client changed their mind or may be a new board of director or project leader with his or her own particular vision or idiosyncrasy has appeared either your side or on client’s side who wants everything to be re-done from scratch to align things to his or her vision, or may be market situation has changed or may be a new technology has surfaced and so on.   

What was wrong here? Putting ruthless countless hours of detailing is okay but only if the project framework is robust and logical enough to sustain any or most of the future dynamics, an outline and assumptions accommodative and smart enough to absorb and negotiate inevitable future changes as it proceeds ahead. What was wrong here is that when most of the collaborative effort was needed then only one or two people were deciding the fate of project due to their commanding position. In this exemplary case of new city vision plan, when it was the time where urban and regional planner, transport planner, economist, real estate expert, social scientist, environment planners, landscape experts, urban designers, architects, and public and community representatives had to be present at one platform at the beginning of the project to brainstorm and formulate an inclusive, sustainable and future proof plan with democratic consensus, at that vital point of time only one or two people where making the decisions according to their own particular idiosyncrasies, which was inevitably unsustainable. Hence, the several repetitive cycles of wasteful man-hours till the completion of project.  You should know when is the right time to collaborate; you can keep on detailing endlessly afterwards, if you want! Thousands of sincere man hours put in wrong direction is a serious toll on increasingly scarce resources which we can’t really afford if we want a sustainable future or even otherwise and all this thoughtless waste just because we didn’t collaborate when it was needed most.  

You see there are frequent cases when some projects of regional or national importance get stuck for infinite time even when they were just about to complete, only because community representatives were not part of the planning process irrespective of whether there is such provision or not, either they didn’t have proper say or they lacked motivation and incentive to join or collaborate early, such a waste of resource as a result!     
  

Apr 16, 2012

Rural Development Schemes in India

Some of the Schemes launched by Government of India (GoI) at present and in Past under deferent department and mission for Rural Development are listed below with the website link or relevant resources. 




Ministry of Rural Development-MoRD (http://rural.nic.in/)

Department of Rural development-DoRD (http://drd.nic.in/)
Department of Land Resouces-DoLR (http://dolr.nic.in/)
 Bharat Nirman (http://www.bharatnirman.gov.in/ )

By- Anoop Jha

Nov 17, 2011

Perception of space – a function (f) of season


Seasonal variance in Perception of space

Technically there is unlimited space around us. Space in terms of perception is the space surrounding us in our field of view, what we are concerned here is the finite perceivable space by people which might vary as per surrounding built mass, undulating terrain, presence and intensity of light, environmental conditions, seasonal variation, etc. 

when it comes to seasonal variation it can be divided into primarily two parts winter and seasons other than winter. Winter provides a unique opportunity to experience a different kind of environment in terms of perceiving space around us which is because of presence of Fog and Mist, it is an exhilarating experience to walk in fog, or observing surrounding from window in winter during fog, it is so mysterious in its own sense, since the field of view is limited due to thick fog there is an element of surprise, you are curious to know and see what is beyond the visibility of fog, the same landscape that is dry and monotonous in summer is so attractive, versatile, ever-changing and inspirational  that you want to capture the that moment and view frame into your memory. This is all because winter provides perception of finite space, a limited field of view. 

Nov 14, 2011

Definition of “Per Capita Consumption” need to be modefied - Water Sector


By- Anoop Jha

Apparently “per capita consumption” figure is used in financials, estimates and projections of every project, and DPRs across the country and across the sectors, but apparently age old definition (Per Capita Demand in litres per day per head) and formula of “per capita consumption” seem to be flawed and vague. Let’s consider Water Sector for example.

There are few reasons for this apparently flawed 

First, this formula invariably assumes that all the water is being consumed at household, institutional or community level for some useful purpose, but that is not the fact. The fact is “the collective water losses at household and institutional level are huge in any given community, settlement, or housing society”, leaking taps, pipes due to “lack of maintenance and willingness to maintain” and water wastage related to casual behavior of users “due to lack of education and sense of responsibility”  are a regular phenomenon of almost every household. Planning bodies and Policy makers have to understand that unless they stop these water losses or unless they change the definition from  “Per capita Consumption” incorporating the water losses, there demand estimates, future projections, projects cost estimates, will inevitably  be vague and skewed,


Some interesting extract from the discussion on “India Water Portal” (indiawaterportal.org) on the similar subject are as follows-


“ When the norm for a large city is 250 lpcd, it doesn’t mean the residents actually get or use 250 lpcd. A large city has many other water needs such as public use in offices, railways stations, commercial places, for fire fighting, public horticulture, etc. All these are distributed over the population and indicated as per capita use” - Chetan Pandit
“The norms do not take in to account the climate. No distinction is made between Delhi that has a huge water requirement for desert coolers in summer and a bath twice a day is not a luxury; Pune that uses some coolers but not as common as Delhi and usually bath once a day is enough; and Copenhagen where the maximum summer temperature in 17 C and most of the time it is below 10 C” -Chetan Pandit

“Water consumption is affected by various factors which are variable and hence it is difficult to precisely assess the demand of public. There are empirical formulas available for estimating a fair value of domestic consumption for design of water supply systems. However, Indian Standard (BIS):1172-1993 is the basis of 135 litres/capita/day. This 135 litres/capita/person includes drinking (5 litres/capita/day), Cooking (5), Bathing (55), Washing of clothes (20), Washing of Utensils (10), Washing & Cleaning of house (10) and flushing of toilets (30 litres/capita/day)” - J.Harsha

Second, basis, thumbrules, lifestyle, requirement and related values for arriving at “standard per capita water consumption” in different urban areas changes in courses of time and cahnge as per seasonal variation which need to be accounted for calculation per standard water consumption” Standards need to be revised after a certain time interval.

“Details of present norms for water consumption are available in CPHEEO Manual on Water Supply and Treatment and Per capita water supply in selected urban centers of India is available at Water Supply, Sanitation and Solid Waste Management in Urban Areas by National Institute of Urban Affairs, 2005”

Third, accuracy of standard per capita water consumption figure is directly proportional to the size of sample (no. of household) surveyed, which may vary from agency to agency which prepares the report. Larger the sample more realistic the results would be. There should be Policy norms for minimum size of sample to be surveyed and heterogeneity of the sample.

Nov 8, 2011

Urban Infrastructure : Investment Vs Operations and Maintenance (O&M)

Investment Vs O&M
Urban Infrastructure Cost


Per Capita Investment Cost by Sector
(Rs at 2009-10 prices)
Source:  Report on Indian  Urban Infrastructure and Services 

Per Capita Operations and Maintenance Cost (annual) by Sector

Source:  Report on Indian  Urban Infrastructure and Services 


Urban Infrastructure Investment Requirement (2012-31)
(Rs crore)
                            
Source:  Report on Indian  Urban Infrastructure and Services 

Operations and Maintenance Expenditure by Sector (2012-31)

Source:  Report on Indian  Urban Infrastructure and Services 

Pattern of per Capita investment in different urban infrastructure sectors and O&M cost are somewhat different from each other, while Urban Roads demands more capital investment , Water Supply, Sewage, SWM, Urban Road & Transport require more O&M investment. 

"Water utilities in India are typically able to recover only 30-35 per cent of the operations and maintenance (O&M) cost.Even with current levels of highly inadequate service, solid waste management accounts for 25-50 per cent of a ULB’s expenditure (World Bank 2006), but cities recover less than 50 per cent of the O&M cost, according to a study by the Ministry of Urban Development, Government of India. ULBs will be required to invest 54 per cent on capital investment and close to 25 per cent on the O&M of physical assets by 2021-22. In practice, user charges cover less than 50 per cent of the O&M cost of basic infrastructure services in India, on an average"

Source:  Report on Indian  Urban Infrastructure and Services