PCEF Notes from Meeting of 2 March 2009

Agenda

1. Report on previous work
2. Reports and studies
   - NMT
   - DC Rules
   - Sludge disposal (new, to be studied)
3. Environment Status Report 2009

Notes

1. Report on Previous Work The minutes of the last meeting on 13 June 2008 were circulated. As per the last meeting, the Schools group has been meeting with SSA and School Ed Dept meetings, and the DC Rules group work has been integrated into DP Steering Committee. The PCEF was to focus on the ESR; frameworks had been developed by Prof Aneeta Benninger (for ward-level analysis), water, biodiversity, waste management in consultation with Dr Ajay Ojha; limited incorporation was possible due to inadequate of time and missing data; process is to be strengthened in 2009
2. Cycle Track and Footpath Designs
   a) Shri Ranjit Gadgil reported on a rapid assessment carried out of the design of the cycle track implemented on Sinhagad Road, which is good, but there are issues that are documented at http://government.wikia.com/wiki/Cyclists%27_Issues
   b) The Municipal Commissioner (MC) suggested that on roads which are not under JNNURM one could create cycle tracks quickly by using a curb stone separator. Cycle track would be at same level as the road and will be tarred surface. He asked Shri Bhosekar of Aundh ward to undertake such a cycle track on Aundh road (Raj Bhavan road - from University Circle to Bremen chowk). Shri Bhosekar informed that this would not be possible from the Ward maintenance budget since cost is likely to be high (2.6 km stretch) and would give a cost estimate for the said project.
   c) In each ward, approximately 5 km of footpaths are being built/ repaired; RWAs, Mohalla Committees can help in assessing the quality of the work done. Of special interest is the changeover (slope) at property access that should be checked by RWAs and citizens
   d) The list of roads where the footpath is to be made walk-able is available at http://government.wikia.com/wiki/N.M.T(Non-Motorized_Cell)#Tasks_Ahead_for_the_N.M.T_Cell The reports may be uploaded by the Mohalla Committees on the wiki or given to the NMT Cell
   e) Shri Satish Khot suggested that the Grievance Redress System be used for NMT related complaints; MC identified Mr Latkar as the officer in charge to address the complaints for NMT
   f) Shri Satish Khot suggested that the cycle track network and the footpath assessment exercise (and tools for the same) could be publicized in print form and not only on the wiki in order to reach many more citizens
3. Reaching organic fertilizer from Sewage Treatment Plants Sludge and organic MSW into Peri-urban Farmers
   a) MC suggested that PCEF should investigate the possibility of conversion of STP sludge into organic fertilizer and the mechanism of reaching it to farmers in the peri-urban areas of Pune and linking the whole initiative to organic farming networks who could help in monitoring the quality of the fertilizer and its regular availability
   b) Shri VG Kulkarni, Dev Engineer in charge of STP is to be the PMC contact for this; he is currently on leave; CEE would follow up on this task once Shri Kulkarni is back and obtain basic information regarding STP location-wise sludge production, quality etc. Further studies with students from Pune Univ/ other institutes would be done to work out the economics, hold consultations with farmers and related NGOs etc.
4. DC Rules
   Ms Anagha Paranjape reported on the discussions on the DC Rules group. An analysis of rules of other cities has been done; an Environmental Planning and Mgt chapter to be added to the DC Rules, based on Pune’s ecohousing policy (rainwater harvesting, SWM, noise and dust mgt on construction site). A presentation on the work done thus far is to be presented and discussed at the DP Steering Committee meeting, whenever next organized.
5. Environment Status Report
   a) Background: At the first meeting of the PCEF in 2007, it had been decided that the citizens groups and NGOs would help strengthen the process of development and use of the ESR. The current system of tendering of the ESR has meant that the report content and quality changes from year to year. The lack of mechanisms for participation in the process has also meant that the ESR is not used by citizens for ward level monitoring of the city environment. It was felt that this year another arrangement may be tried out in which citizens' groups could also participate/input.
   b) Prof Aneeta Benninger described the rationale for the ESR, as envisaged in the 74th CAA, and that the electoral ward level status should be reflected in the ESR; the data already available with the Ward Offices has to be compiled and analyzed so as to provide a picture of what improvements are needed in various wards; specific projects could then be budgeted by the prabhag samitis
   c) The first task is the preparation of the framework of the ESR, including information reporting, analysis, consultation process and cycle of data collection, analysis, recommendations, programme implementation review, etc. This may include the ward-level analysis suggested by Prof Aneeta Benninger, a consideration of the KPI work of Janwani, the Standardized Service Level Benchmarks initiative under the JnNURM, the Strategic Environment Assessment work being done as part of the Sustainable City Plan with Sida, the CEROI indicators (www.ceroi.net), actions to be taken by cities under the Kyoto Protocol and analysis of the past ESRs.
   d) The framework is to be drawn up by several participants who volunteered to do the same (Shri Sharad Mahajan, Ms Zigisha Mhaskar, Ms Anagha Paranjape, Shri Ranjit Gadgil, Shri Avinash Madhale, Ms Neha Ambastha, Ms Sanskriti Menon), in consultation with Shri Bhosekar and with Shri Mangesh Dighe and Shri Vikram Jadhavar (PMC Environment Dept); Sanskriti would also check with Ms Tasneem Balasinorwala about the possibility of her involvement in developing the framework
   e) The framework would be placed before the entire PCEF again in the first week of April, and once finalized, Department heads, Ward Officers etc. would be requested to give the necessary information; NGOs and academic institutes would also be requested to share any studies relevant to the ESR
   f) A team would then help with data analysis and writing of chapters, which would again be circulated as a draft, and Shri Satish Khot volunteered to circulate it among citizens' forums such as mohalla samitis, and then finalized for translation and production and placing before GB by PMC Environment Dept
   g) Further, after acceptance by GB, the main recommendations for each ward would be sent to the Prabhag Samiti by the PMC Environment Dept for consideration in the ward level planning and budgets subsequently
   h) Shri Sharad Mahajan offered to give various maps without any charge
   i) Shri Ashish Kothari suggested that if time is short, then a more practical approach be taken by concentrating on three or four areas that would be possible
   j) Shri Sharad Mahajan also suggested that July 31st should be sacrosanct and if electoral ward-wise report is not possible, then an aggregate ESR as per previous years should still be tabled on the due date
   k) The Commissioner said that a diffuse group such as PCEF will not be able to work unless someone agrees to anchor the activity. Janwani's name was suggested and was agreed to by MC and Ranjit Gadgil, though the PCEF would be mainly responsible for finalizing the framework for the ESR based on suggestions of all stakeholders.
   l) PMC (the Environment Dept.) would be responsible for the collection of the data and the Commissioner asked Mr. Devanikar, Addl Commissioner (Gen), to ensure that all wards and HoDs comply.
   m) It was further discussed that the actual production of the ESR (printing) could be tendered, however Sharad Mahajan suggested that PMC has in-house printing facility, and should do it. A final decision can be made by the PMC and as such does not impact the work of PCEF/Janwani.
   n) Sanskriti said that the work by PCEF/Janwani may involve some costs such as data entry, photocopies, printing of draft copies (limited) and possibly honorarium to be given to sector experts who agree to assist in the making or evaluation of the framework. The Commissioner agreed that any actual costs to Janwani could be reimbursed, or paid directly by PMC
   o) No tender has been issued for the creation of the ESR thus far and with this arrangement it was decided that it would not be needed. The idea that PMC would develop the ESR in-house and that the Environment Dept be strengthened was welcomed by everyone. The ESR would be a PMC product, but guided in this manner by the PCEF, which group effort would be anchored by Janwani
6. Update on DP Steering Committee Meeting
   Shri Aniruddha Pawaskar, Dy CE reported that the next DP Steering Committee is to be held shortly. MC suggested that the agenda should include:
   a) Presentations by the commissioned agencies and groups for ELU, DC Rules, Socio-economic and Demography studies, focusing on the important findings pertinent for the DP revision process
   b) Possibility of appointment of a City Architect as part of the DP Cell, as suggested by Prof Aneeta Benninger
   c) Focus on rules for redevelopment and renewal as suggested by Prof Aneeta Benninger
   d) Heritage conservation strategies
7. Environment Impact Assessment of Large Projects
   a) Shri Ranjit Gadgil initiated a discussion on the possibility of conducting Environment Impact Assessments (EIA) of large projects undertaken by the PMC.
   b) MC informed that the MoEF has a new notification for EIAs to be conducted (2009, available at http://envfor.nic.in/legis/legis.html#H)
   c) It was decided that the following should be incorporated into the contracting and tendering procedures of the PMC:
   a. That EIAs be done for green fields projects worth more than 50 crore to be taken up by PMC such as 100 feet rd, 80 ft road, bridges, ring road, STPs etc, and esp under the 23 villages DP
   b. Cost-Benefit analysis and Environment Damage Mitigation Plan (EDMP) to be incorporated into works in already built areas, retrofitting of existing infrastructure and projects currently underway
   d) The PMC Environment Cell should anchor this effort and make the ToRs for EIA, BC analysis , EDMP for new projects now being tendered and in the future, by listing out all the proposed projects over 50 crore – Shri Mangesh Dighe to identify 5-7 such projects of different kinds, roads, bridges, STP etc
   e) The ESR framework should include reporting on the EIAs done each year
   
   

Participants

1. Adv.Bhagyashree Alate ,SLA
2. Anagha Paranjape Purohit,BN College of Architecture
3. Anantrao Katkar ,A.E. Sahakar Nagar
4. Aneeta Benninger,CDSA
5. Anil Jagtap,Ward Officer, Bibwewadi
6. Ashish Kothari,Kalpavriksh
7. Ashok Pingle,MASHAL
8. Avinash Madhale,CEE Urban
9. C.K.Waghmare,A.C.Yerwada Office
10. D.S.Molak,DMC-2
11. Dinesh Girolla,JE, MC Office
12. L.M.Kondhare,Dy.M.C.[G] Security and Fire Brigade
13. Madhav Deshpande ,Ward Officer, Hadapsar
14. Madhav Jagtap,Ward officer, Kasba Vishrambagh
15. Mangesh Dhige,Environment officer PMC
16. Meher Gadekar,
17. Mr. Machindranath Devanikar,Addl. Municipal Commissioner (Gen.)
18. Mrs.Ulka Kalaskar,Dy.Ch .Acct
19. Mukund Bhosale,Ward Officer, Sangamwadi
20. Neha Ambastha,CEE
21. Nitin Udas ,Ward Officer, Karve Road
22. P.D.Pawar,J.E. Garden Department
23. Pravinsing Pardeshi,Municipal Commissioner
24. Pushkar Kanvinde,Principal College of Architecture
25. Ramesh Shelar,
26. Ranjit Gadgil,Janwani
27. S.P. Bhanage,Asstt.Engr. Parwadi Water Work
28. S.S.Jana ,O.S. Tax Department
29. Sanskriti Menon,CEE Urban
30. Satish Khot,NSCC Pune
31. Sharad Mahajan ,MASHAL
32. Shreeram Salvekar ,Ward Offcer, Dhole Patil road
33. Subhash Swami,School Board PMC
34. Sudhakar Tambe,Education Officer, PMC
35. Sudhakar Telang ,Z.C.4
36. Surendra Karpe,J.E. Road
37. Suresh Jagtap,DMC-3, Solid Waste and Vehicle Dept
38. T.S.Dharurkar,PMPML
39. Umesh Mali ,Ward Officer, Dhankawadi
40. Vijay Dahibhate,Dy. Comm Zone 1
41. Vijay Landge,Ward Officer, Ghole road
42. Vikram Jadhavar ,Environment officer JnNURM PMC
43. Zigisha Mhaskar,CHF International

Pune Waste to Energy Nov 2008 Seminar Report

Waste Matters and Janwani co-hosted the seminar ‘Waste to Energy: Is incineration of city garbage a good idea? ‘in Pune on 29th November 2008 at Mahratta Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture (MCCIA). About 35 participants from industry, the waste management sector, representatives of media and NGOs attended the seminar.

The aim of the seminar was to discuss the experience of Waste to Energy (WtE) technologies in general and especially as a possible component of the solid waste management systems in Pune. Municipalities are struggling to cope with increasing volumes of garbage and demands for a clean city. As dumpsites get filled and with no more land available new solutions are being sought. Incineration of waste has been proposed as a neat solution to this problem. Proponents suggest that not only does it get rid of waste, but that it also produces energy in the process as an added allurement to cities reeling under power cuts.

But is WtE really the panacea for our garbage woes? What is the scope for energy recovery, and what are the environmental and social impacts, as experienced in the few cities that have experimented with WtE technology. (See also Introductory Note in Appendix).

The panel discussion included presentations on:

• An Introduction to SWM Issues by Shri Ranjit Gadgil

• Proposals And Plans for Solid Waste Processing By Pune Municipal Corporation by Dr Sanjeev Wavare, PMC

• Environmental, economic, political implications: WtE by Shri Gopal Krishna

• Energy & Efficiency Implications of WtE by Dr Ashok Sreenivas

Shri Ranjit Gadgil opened the seminar by invoking the vision statement for Solid Waste Management in Pune arrived at in 2007, through a deliberative process that included technology assessment to some extent, led by EM Centre and supported by PMC and UNEP. The vision statement is ‘No Waste to Landfill’. Against that vision statement, the actual operation and management processes and capabilities, and major gaps therein were briefly mentioned. (See Appendix for Shri Gadgil’s Presentation)

Dr Sanjeev Wavare, representing the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) provided an overview of the projects and proposals SWM being undertaken by PMC (See Appendix for Presentation). He provided information on composting units (functioning and non-functioning) and bio-methanation plants set up or being set up in decentralized manner. Spaces have been identified in all 14 Administrative Wards of the city for setting up organic waste processing units.

In addition, Dr Wavare described the Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) facilities being installed at Uruli Devachi under the Centrally Sponsored 10 air field town project. Selco International (http://www.garbagetoelectricity.com) and Hanjer Biotech have been identified through NBCC under this project. The facilities are stated to include:

• 500 MTD Mechanical Composting Unit near completion, being set up by Selco International

• 80 MTD Mechanical Composting Trial runs underway and 20 MTD Vermi composting unit, being set up by Hanjer Biotech.

Shri Gadgil drew attention to the fact that the Detailed Project Report and the agreements between the PMC and the project proponents do not mention RDF plants. However, the PMC presentation and officials describe the installations at Uruli as RDF and the equipment erected at Uruli is also as used for RDF installations. There appears to be a deliberate attempt to obfuscate the information on the technologies that will be used. He also said that people get conflicting messages from PMC: is the focus on recovery of recyclables or incineration; centralized terminal treatments or de-centralized source segregation and processing.

(See Appendix for Agreement between between NBCC (on behalf of Ministry of Urban Development) and SELCO, and work orders for Hanjer and SELCO)

Shri Gopal Krishna provided an overview of the experience of RDF facilities set up in different cities in India. He described RDF as a technology that has been ‘tried, tested, and failed’. In Agra and Chennai citizens have strongly opposed the setting up of RDF plants. The health impacts of dioxin and heavy metal toxicity caused by the RDF plant in Chennai are already visible among people living near by. In Europe and the US, the RDF and incineration plants are in fact shutting down due to environmental and health concerns. RDF plant and incinerator chimneys convert solid combustible materials into gaseous pollutants that are difficult to trap.

In his presentation titled Waste to Energy: The Energy side of the Equation, Dr Ashok Sreenivas provided an overview of the various prevalent Waste to Energy technologies including incineration, pyrolysis, RDF and biomethanation. Quoting UNEP and World Bank reports, Dr Sreenivas drew attention to the inappropriateness of Indian waste as fuel since it is high in organic matter and moisture.

Speaking about RDF technologies in particular, Dr Sreenivas revealed that the intake is the combustible component of solid waste, which is converted into pellets. Supplementary biomass such as rice husk is added to enhance the calorific value. The pellets are either burnt onsite (for electricity generation) or sold as fuel. The amount of waste processed at RDF plants set up in Deonar, Hyderabad and Vijaywada is much lesser than was originally stated. The capex per MW for RDF plants is much higher (upto almost twice) the capex for conventional thermal power plants. Apart from issues related to toxic ash and high capital expenditure, Dr Sreenivas highlighted the fact that despite claims to the contrary, the energy produced from an RDF plant even if it used up the entire 1200 tonnes reaching the landfill every day, would meet about 1% of Pune’s demand and less than 10% of the shortage. (Demand = 800 MW; Shortage > 100 MW; Pune’s RDF potential = 10 MW which is 1.25% of Pune’s demand).

The economic viability relies on tipping fee. Concerns regarding the operation of RDF plants and incinerators include fine particulate, heavy metals, trace dioxin and acid gas emissions, toxic fly ash and incinerator bottom ash (IBA) management.

In response to a question about the Waste to Energy technology used in Stockholm, participants from Sweden revealed that organic waste is enriched with supplementary biomass and burnt under controlled conditions for district heating energy. Prior segregation of recyclable fractions is done at source and intermediate points.

Dr Joshi described efforts to tap landfills for methane and suggested the same could be explored in Pune as well. Mr Gaikwad from Vasundhara Swacchata Abhiyan, Baner requested the PMC to provide more proactive assistance and support for decentralized comprehensive waste management, including providing good educational materials, helping citizens groups to promote segregation at source, and setting up neighbourhood level sorting and composting facilities. Dr Rajendra Joshi from Aundh Ward Office noted the request.

Main issues and suggestions

1. The PMC has not clearly stated the nature of the technologies being adopted under the airfield project – while the presentations and discussions state that the installation at Uruli Devachi is a Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) plant, the PMC agreements with Selco and Hanjer Biotech do not mention RDF. In fact the HUDCO DPR clearly rules out incineration as a viable option due to unsuitable waste composition. Transparency is needed on the technology proposed to be used.

2. An inspection of the existing facility at Uruli should be done by an independent expert from the field who can verify the technologies that are proposed to be used.

3. A Fact Finding Committee consisting of PMC officials, Elected representatives, NGOs/ citizens groups and media and industry representatives from Pune should visit the installations at Chennai and Hyderabad and interact with the residents near the installation to ascertain what the conditions are.

4. The landfill management at Uruli is haphazard with dumping continuing on the portion that is already supposed to have been capped, and toxic work conditions for the PMC workers as well as waste pickers including children. Operational procedures are inadequate and even ghanta trucks are arriving at the landfills instead of BRCs. Urgent measures must be taken to remediate the existing landfill and surrounds, including the conditions of waste collectors, residents and PMC workers.

5. The PMC should be urged to cancel all plans for RDF plants, and to look for comprehensive alternatives to conform to the already articulated vision statement of 'No Waste to Landfill'.

6. The PMC should provide the complete information and clarification regarding the technologies proposed to be used under the air field project. Awareness regarding the RDF and incineration technologies must be enhanced among citizens.

APPENDIX

Waste to Energy: Introductory Note

Lets Talk Rubbish is an idea whose time has come. Some would say it took a long time coming because the issue of what to do with garbage has existed since man started generating it. It is however, one that has caught the fancy of governments and citizens alike, amidst 21 century talk of world class cities and global warming. Solid waste management looks at how garbage is collected, transported, recycled and disposed.

Countries like India that have robust recycling industries are at an advantage because the quantity of garbage to be disposed is considerably reduced. There is no doubt however that the quantum of garbage generated has been increasing at alarming rates. This puts pressure on land and resources. Nobody wants to have garbage in their backyards, least of all farmers who some years ago had little choice on account of their ignorance and low bargaining power. Not any more. Farmers and villagers have taken to approaching the courts to prevent land reservations for landfills. We are still talking about the disposal end.

What about how cities look? Overflowing containers, unseemly dumps of garbage pushed behind walls, and foul smelling garbage vehicles stuck in traffic alongside trendy cars. Not a pretty picture by any standards. And what of the unfortunate municipal workers who actually stand perched on mounds of garbage in the ghanta trucks. At least they get paid a decent wage. What of the thousands of informal workers who manually handle garbage day in and day out for a livelihood.

Is there a sure fire panacea for all these ills? One that miraculously takes care of garbage, making it disappear at the swipe of a wand? Yes say the vendors of technology, variously known as incineration, plasma, gasificaton, Refuse derived fuel (RDF), landfill gas recovery and more euphemistically as waste to energy or WtE. Politicians and administrators prick up their ears believing that finally there is something that is going to bring them credit rather than brickbats. Environmentalists sound the cautionary note, arguing that technology must be evaluated on the basis of environmental consequences, seen and unseen. Economists sit with their calculators totting up how much its going to cost the citizen in real terms that include innocuous sounding things like tipping fees and landfill costs.

So what does let's talk rubbish have to do with all this? Actually, Let's Talk Rubbish is about NOT talking rubbish about rubbish. It's about making informed choices in the city for the city. It seeks to debunk myths that are created around technology in order to make it more understandable. It places these technologies in the public domain where they can be examined and debated by ordinary citizens through a deliberative process.

Participants

Mr Gaikwad, Vasundhara Swacchata Abhiyan, Baner

Arvind Joshi

Ashok Sreenivas, Parisar, Prayas

Avinash Madhale, CEE

Dinesh Thite, DNA

Gopal Krishna, ToxicsWatch, Delhi

Goran Johnson, Ramboll Natura

Harish L

Helena Lindemark, Ramboll Natura

Kailas S Yesge

Kalpana Baliwant, PMC

Laxmi Narayan, KKPKP

Magnus Carle, Ramboll Natura

Maitreyi Shankar, KKPKP

Meher Gadekar, Bharat Forge

Nalini Shekar, KKPKP

Nandkumar Papal, Deccan Greens, 311 Shukrawar Peth, Pune

Narendra Chugh, Vishwasanskruti

Nirmala Pandit, Navam

Nitant Mate, KOEL

Nitin Shinde

Poornima Chikarmane, SNDT Womens University

Radheshyam Jadhav, Times of India, FC Road, Pune

Rajendra Joshi, PMC

Ranjit Gadgil, Janwani

Rohit Saroj

Sameer Vyaghrambare

Sanjay Gawade, PMC

Sanjeev Wavare, PMC

Sanskriti Menon, CEE

Shrinivas Varunjikar

Sriranjini Vadiraj

Sujit Patwardhan, Parisar

Sunita Jadhav

Zigisha Mhaskar, CHF

Baner Balewadi Development Plan

The Development Plan for the 23 villages merged into the PMC limits was submitted to the State Government for approval. The State Government has deleted all reservations for public amenities, without giving reasons. This is likely to have serious implications for the nature of development and resulting quality of life for people in this area / connected to this area.

Citizens have 60 days to provide their views on the modifications - the deadline is 2 December 2008. Read about the Baner Balewadi DP and the Call to Action for citizens at http://government.wikia.com/wiki/Baner_Balewadi_DP

DC Rules Minutes of Meeting 20 Sep 2008

Revision of Development Plan (1987) of Pune City
Minutes of the Meeting on DC Rules Sub-Group
Date & Time: - 20th Sept, 2008 at 3.30 pm

Meeting of the sub-group on Development Control Rules of Revision of Development Plan (1987) was held in the conference hall of PMC

Mr. R.N. Gohad welcomed the members & stated that as per decided in the 6th Steering committee meeting, the various D.C. Rule subgroups are reformed into one group under the chairmanship of Shri V.W. Deshpande. The important discussions held in the meeting hall are as follows.

Shri Gohad presented the copy of comparison table on Banglore DCR’s as decided in last meeting.

Shri Vikas Bhandari stated that along with Shri Kembhavi & Shri Raje, they have prepared a draft guideline for the DCR’s to be prepared. In that they incorporated various aspect to make the DCR’s transparent & user friendly. He gives briefs of the DCR guideline, explained the objectives, methodology, & strategies to be formed to prepare DCR’s. He has circulated copies of work done by their group.

Mr. V.W. Deshpande stated that before formulating DCR’s we have to make policies & strategies considering growth trend of the city. For that various survey data & its analysis is required. With the help of this data we can predict growth trend of the city & then we can formulate the idealistic DCR’s.

Mr. Raje suggested that they are working on three important categories of Rules as Mandatory, Optional & Incentive type of Rules & they suggested different color coding for each type of Rules.

There a discussion was made on various important issues like further DCR’s- is a tool for achieving goals?, sustainability norms, implacability of DCR, densification & infrastructure, incentivisation of areas which are not developing, objectives of FSI, etc.

It was decided that the draft of the D. C. rules in preparation by Shri. Vikas Bhondari, Shri. Kembhavi, Shri. Raje may be complete shortly & will make available to the group for discussion and finalization.

Shri. Phatak Ex. Chief Planner, MMRDA is called for association of this group. He emailed certain points which are mentioned below:-

I. The technical aspects of DCR’s related to structural public health and other engineering aspects can be decided with reference to NBC

II. Similarly the procedural aspects including use of IT and e-governance in the process of development control could also be independently pursued

III. However other aspects can not be decided independently the objectives. For example if the objective is to support & promote car based travel, the parking regulations will be different from those that serve the strategy of promoting public transport and restraining use of private vehicles

IV. Planning objectives and strategies therefore need to be decided first before launching the DCR exercise. Please do not follow the example of Mumbai by concentrating on DCR’s alone without having a bigger picture in mind

V. I do not know whether any terms of reference have been formulated for the group. If not it would be a good staring point.

VI. I would be able to meaningfully participate only when these issues are clarified.

Certain plans are there for discussion which will be necessary for formulation & proposed changes in the Development Regulations.

Shri. Shirish Patel one of the leading architect in Mumbai has also associated with this group. However he can not attend the meeting which scheduled on 20.09.2008.

Mr. Ranjit Gadgil highlighted some important points on the discussions held in the meeting are as follows:

1. It is important that the basic purpose of FSI should be made clear. This has an important policy decision implication. If FSI is a tool that is used to control the density of persons so as to ensure that there is proper provision of basic amenities, then the policy of greater FSI for low income housing is contary to this principle. This is a double impact since low income houses are smaller, hence more tenements are accommodated in the same FSI and low income family sizes also tend to be bigger. This point has been explained by Mr. Shirish Patel and should be discussed at the next meeting.

2. The FSI restriction also is linked ultimately to the provision of basic services. Basic services are made possible either by the private sector or the Municipality. It was stated at the meeting that development funds collected by the PMC are used specifically for improvement of infrastructure in that "zone". It is important that we collect information about how much money has been raised in these zones and how much infrastructure has actually been provided. It was also pointed out that this scheme has the disadvantage of skewed development since better developed areas tend to get more funds which in turn allows for greater development.

3. It was also decided to create norms for eco-housing that are in-line with incentives/dis-incentives framework being adopted. Essentially depeding on the usage, energy consumption per sq m should be decided. Buildings that exceed this consumption would be charged higher taxes/fees. This should force builders to seek more eco-friendly friendly designs, which is currently not being done. Special reference was made to the statement of Hon'ble Energy Minister, Shri Dilip Walse-Patil at a meeting at MCCIA in this regard.

4. It was also decided that upon distribution of draft DC Rules by Mr. Bhandari, Ranjit Gadgil and Sujit Patwardhan will provide the appropriate measures keeping in mind the sustainable transport policies adopted by the PMC.

5. The issue of TP Schemes was also raised since it has been generally agreed upon that it is the preferred method of planning whether for re-development or green field development. This matter must be raised in the larger group, since it will have a bearing on the DC Rules.

It is proposed to arrange further meeting after 15 days when the draft of the proposed changes in DCR completed by Shri. Vikas Bhandari, Shri. Kembhavi and Shri. Raje will be circulated to the members. The Schedule of the next meeting will be informed a week before to all the members. The meeting concluded at 5.45 p.m. with the vote of thanks of the PMC.

Present

Mr. Vidyadhar Deshpande

Mr. R. N. Gohad

Mr. Vikas Bhandari

Mr. Shirish Kembhavi

Mr. Rajiv Raje

Mrs. Anagha Paranjpe

Mr. Ranjit Gadgil

Mr. Sujit Patwardhan

Mr. Vinay Zagade

Mr. Mahendra Pardeshi

Mr. Shivprasad Murari

Ms. Nital Kapse

Connect Pune meeting on 20 Aug 2008

The Pune wiki is at http://government.wikia.com/wiki/Pune

Actionable Items
1. Wiki training sessions are to be arranged by
- BIVEER (Katraj) Thanks to Dr Erach Bharucha and his team

- Seed Infotech (Erandwane) Thanks to Ajay Phatak, Narendra Barhate and his team and

- Zensar (Kharadi) Thanks to Lavanya Jayaram and her team
on Sundays.

Those interested in a training session on 31st Aug from 10 am to 1 pm are requested to send in their registrations in the following format to sanskriti.menon@gmail.com

Preferred location:

Name,Email, Phone number:

The wiki training is expected to train participants as trainers and provide the basics of:

- adding/ editing content - Devnagari content; images, video, audio, tables, etc;

- wiki etiquette;

- inappropriate content;

- categories etc.

The training will involve each person creating/editing a page of a vision for Pune Wiki

- What should Pune wiki accomplish? The training should also include a page seeding what you would like to accomplish.

2 If possible, volunteer to be wiki trainers, provide wiki training space etc - the Pune wiki will be as good as we can make it

3. All who attended - to spread the word amongst your friends and colleagues to contribute content to the wiki,

4. Puzzle and hypothesis on the Pune Wiki: Dr Madhav Gadgil will lead an effort to compile, collect and seed questions and hypothesis that could lead to general interest, involvement and even student projects on the wiki.

5. Vision dialogue on the Pune wiki to be furthered by Dr. Erach Bharucha and his team, particularly encouraging student visions. They will also help reach out and connect to other educational institutions.

Minutes
1. Presentations were made on possible projects (and some experiences) in waste, mobility, energy, biodiversity and how students might take these up (existing spaces in school and college curricula). These are being uploaded in pdf form on the Talk page of the Pune ENVIS wiki page. http://government.wikia.com/wiki/Talk:Pune_Environment_Information_System

2. There was discussion on the nature of educational projects and creating involvement, not compliance from students. This is an area for continued thinking. Some students may be more attracted to projects where they can see they are contributing to change or bringing about change; others may like to posit hypothesis and work in a 'research' mode. Thus, projects may be related to data collection feeding into a larger information system, hypothesis based leading to knowledge generation, action projects etc. Students should also be encouraged to do projects relating to visioning rather than only problem solving.

3. Will data lead to action or change? - data and information alone may not produce action or change but they are key ingredients, and data converted into useful information can spur action. The wiki will serve to connect people around key initiatives. It will enable share initiatives with others. This can lead to exciting ways to use the Pune wiki platform to connect and transform Pune.

4. Localized information models/ frameworks need to be developed - waste (KKPKP), transportation (Ashok), energy (Prayas), ecosystems (Dr Madhav Gadgil) are some that will be developed in the near future through a combination of physical meeting and then in a wiki mode.

5. Uploading existing information from student projects could also be undertaken- BIVEER and others to explore the possibility.

Dr. Anupam Saraph, Ph.D., Chief Information Officer, Pune City
url: http://www.linkedin.com/in/AnupamSaraphcell: 99237 56977

DC Rules Meeting 26 July, 2008

DC Rules Group Meeting held on Saturday July 26, 2008 at BNCA

The following attended the meeting:

1. Ar Rajiv Raje

2. Ar Shirish Kembhavi

3. Ar Poorva Keskar

4. Mr R N Gohad, with the members of the ELU team

5. Mr Dinesh Girolla

6. Ar Anagha Paranjape

The meeting discussed the following:

1. The points discussed in the July 12 Meeting on Urban Renewal and incentives (via FSI) for plot agglomeration in the congested areas was discussed further. It has been decided that case studies will be done in each category of plot size to check for feasibility issues etc.

2. Discussion also happened on the point of progressively Incentivising TDR use in the outer zone, thereby further ensuring euitable TDR loading in the outer zones of B, C and D, prioritizing zones that face lesser development pressures today.

3. It was discussed that while TDR is being loaded in the outer zones, it will be necessary to look at each zones 'carrying capacity' in terms of various parameters including water availability, road and transport infrasrructure, sanitation infrasstructure etc.

4. The possibility of introducing marginal variations in the DC Rules for various PLANNING SECTORS in the city to promote and enhance the individual character of each sector. These Planning Sectors shall be formed based on various criteria such as landuse character, population dynamics, type of existing building development, environmentally sensitive properties etc. These criteria are to be dicussed in details in further meetings.

5. Marginal variations in the DC Rules in the various sectors will then take into consideration the individual character of each sector to address variations in urban design, special cases, curltural adn heritage significant structures, environmental considerations such as riverfront, lake front, forestland, BDP frontage etc.

6. The following preparation is to be done before the next meeting which is planned on Thursday August 14 , 2008 at BNCA. 2 pm to 4 pm.

a) The DC Rules for fives cities are to be read and analysed based on specific points (to be circulated by Ar Shirish Kembhavi). The five cities and the respective readers are as follows: Mr Gohad - Bangalore; Dinesh - London; Ar Raje - Singapore; Poorva - DDA; Anagha - Hyderabad.

b) Ar Rajiv Raje to circulate the synposis of the DC Rules for Pune that he has compiled. Additionally, he has to circulate the Hyderabad DC Rules in soft form.

Reminder to Mr Pawaskar: Please issue to us the letters that 'appoint' us to work with the DP Steering Committee at the earliest.

Input from Ar Shirish Kembhavi

A format for making a comparison of Key DC rules prevalent in other cities as decided has been prepared and is available at http://government.wikia.com/wiki/Development_Control

The last meeting was to determine the threshold of growth of the City with Water supply as the criteria. It was discussed that we need to find out what is the total water supply to the City including ground water and thereby determine the population that could be sustained.

Mr.Girolla suggested that the sewage received at the treatment plats can be an indicator of the consumption and thereby the information could be interpolated. This being an important aspect, We need to find this out.

ESR Framework

Pune produces an Environmental Status Report (ESR) every year, and it has done so since 1997. This is mandated in the state-level legislation (the BPMC Act) following the 74th Constitutional Amendment Act and the Twelfth Schedule.

The development, writing and production of the ESR is usually tendered out. The Pune ESR has been prepared over various years by Mashal, Change Re-engineering, PATPL, and in recent years by the PMC Air Quality Cell. Since the approach and detail in the different chapters is quite varied, it appears that there is no continuing information framework for the ESR as a whole or for the individual sections.

In order to make the ESR a more useful / usable document, some reorganization of the ESR has been suggested by the Pune Citizens Environment Forum (various meetings):

1. The purpose of the ESR has to be clear
1. It should reveal the health status of the population linked to the state
   of services and the environment
2. It should provide information support for investment and management
   decisions for the PMC
3. It should serve as an important input into the annual budgeting and
   planning exercises of the PMC
4. It should be a tool for citizens' use as well, serving both as an
   information/ education resources, as well as a way for tracking improvements
2. It should have some overview chapters for a comprehensive picture of the city, including key sectors
3. Certain data sets have to be presented disaggregated at ward-level so that actions needed to be taken by corporators are clear, and these can in turn be linked to ward level municipal budgets and plans
4. It is important to create the framework, even if data is not there. The purpose of this is to identify data gaps and put in place appropriate data collection systems
5. Descriptive material, detailed data tables, references etc are valuable information and the ESR is a good way of making such information publicly available and these may be included. However, the key actionable aspects may be presented as a separate section for facilitating monitoring and follow-up
6. Information, such as flights operating out of Pune and list of Malls, which has appeared in the ESR of some years may be removed from the report as it is not directly relevant. However, a lot of the development-related data could still be included, albeit in the form of appendices.
7. The ESR will need to draw upon data apart from the official data gathered and provided by PMC departments on municipal services and functions
8. Which data is gathered and reported by the PMC depts. needs to be looked into, as they may not necessarily be collecting some critical information – this depends on what goals (short and long term) are being set for improvements – for instance if reducing energy use is a goal, then data related to energy use in specific service provision will have to be tracked
9. In any case the Key Performance Indicators for PMC depts exercise initiated by Janwani should link with the ESR preparation work; the KPI work in Pune is also linked to the Benchmarking of Municipal Services initiated by JNNURM
10. This means that citizens, academic institutions, independent organizations, NGOs etc can also and should contribute information
11. A system to receive and categorize information needs to be created for this
12. Information collection/ compilation/ review etc can happen year round
13. The ESR should be available on the internet – creating wikis may be a useful way to do this

'''Which indicators?'''
Draft frameworks have been developed for biodiversity and water. These are available under the respective Work Themes in this blog

The CEROI set prepared by UNEP GRID Arendal may also give useful insights [http://www.ceroi.net/ City Environment Reports on the Internet]

DC Rules Meeting 12 July 2008

MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE D.C.RULES STUDY GROUP MEETING
HELD IN THE OFFICE OF AR. RAJIV RAJE ON SATURDAY 12TH JULY, 2008.

A] The following were present :
Mr. Dinesh Girolla – Representative of the PMC DC Rules Committee
Ar. Vikas Bhandari – Member of the PMC DC Rules Steering Committee
Ar. Pushkar Kanvinde – Director, NIASA, and PCEF Member
Ar. Rajiv Raje – IIA Pune Representative and PCEF Member
Ar. Shirish Kembhavi – AESA Pune Representative
Ar. Anagha Paranjpe – PCEF Co-ordinator for DC Rules Committee.
Mr. Ranjit Gadgil – Director, Janawani, and Member PCEF & PTTF

B] The following points were discussed in the meeting:

1. The general structure of DC Rules in Pune City and the constraints in application were discussed in general. It was pointed out by Ar.Vikas Bhandari, that there was a need to remove the “extra flab” in the DC rule book – to remove the unnecessary, irrelevant and inoperable regulations. He highlighted several such Rules in the current Rule book which were redundant and required to be deleted.

2. Ar. Vikas Bhandari also emphasised on the need to make the TONE of the rules
“ POSITIVE ”. For instance, instead of a rule saying “ aaa should not be LESS than bbb…”, the phrasing should always be that “ aaa should be MORE than bbb …” .This will induce a
more POSITIVE response in the adoption and application of Rules.

3. Shri.Dinesh Girolla suggested making a comparison of key development rules as are prevalent in major indian cities along with a few overseas examples of model cities, only to get an overview of the way in which issues have been handled elsewhere. Rules of Delhi Municipal Corporation were already circulated for this purpose and the Rules of Bhopal City were handed over to Shri.Girolla for study. It was suggested by Mr. Girolla that comparison of Development Control rules and its impact on the development of those cities for various cities such as Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Singapore and Tokyo to be done. Also, the similarities and future trend of growth between Pune and these cities to be studied.

4. Ar.Vikas Bhandari presented a workable scheme for revitalisation of the Core City by providing an incentive based system which encourages land pooling. It was agreed that this would help in a much better urban fabric in the core city, with more civic amenities, and create Open Spaces in areas which needed them most. A tabular format of the consolidated rules suggested by Ar. Vikas Bhandari in this unique scheme is enclosed herewith in attachment.

5. Shri.Dinesh Girolla suggested that a threshold of ONE ACRE ( approx 4000 Sq.M ) be set in the core city for application of this concept, and rules of non congested area be applied
for such plot with increased FSI being the incentive. There was a counter-suggestion, however, that if an upward sliding scale be adopted as suggested by Ar. Vikas Bhandari, more properties would opt for amalgamation to avail of the incentives – which would be beneficial for the city.

6. Ar. Kembhavi has undertaken the task of splitting the current DC rule book into THREE segments viz. Administrative Rules, Layout & Building Rules and Rules for Services – as a primary exercise for the new structure.

7. There was a discussion on merging all premium paid built-up areas into the basic permissible FSI - as has been done at Bangalore - in order to simplify the process. The pros and cons of the system were discussed and generally found to be promising. This concept would be explored further in detail. It was also pointed out that this idea should not again bring restriction on the open areas within a building.

8. Ar.Rajiv Raje suggested that the new rules should also be categorized into THREE categories or Classes viz. A, B, and C, wherein, Category-A rules would be mandatory to all and sacrosanct - not to be touched or modified, except with a statutory Sect.37 Modification by
the Government. Category-B Rules would be flexible within a RANGE – with options available against payment of premiums to PMC. Such premiums would be treated as payment of compensation paid to the city for availing of some flexible non-detrimental relaxations in rules. Category-C category rules would be completely optional, but highly incentive based. These would allow further non-detrimental concessions in construction, in lieu of proportionate benefits offered for the city without any price tags. This concept would be examined in more detail later.

9. There was an overall concern expressed by all on the issue of parking and various ways to mitigate the problem. Ranjit Gadgil highlighted the issues involved and several options were discussed without any conclusive course of action. The issue is flagged for more discussions.

10. Ar.Bhandari discussed the mobilisation plan for the city and his views on the same. Shri. Girolla was requested to provide an integrated map of old PMC limits and the extended areas to facilitate a more detailed explanation of the concepts and subsequent further discussion.

11. It was agreed unanimously that the DC rules are not an exercise in isolation, but needs to be closely integrated with the physical planning exercise The framework of Rules should be directed to achieve the VISION of the development plan. Ar. Raje cited the lesson given by City Planner Shirish Patel of Ahmedabad where a concept of Density Zoning and its control through DC Rules is in practice. Similar use of DC Rules could be made in Pune to provide a suitable DIRECTION to the inevitable growth in the next 20 years, instead of being just a regulatory tool.

12. It was felt that while the exercise of the ELU is on, an exercise of assessing and recording the infrastructure available in all areas, and future plans if any for the same, also be recorded to facilitate future planning.

The meeting concluded with a decision to meet every week for further discussions. The date, time and venue of weekly meetings will be co-ordinated and communicated by Anagha.

Mobility in the City

Do you have an idea or experience to share on how your work place or neighbourhood has addressed or could contribute to improving mobility in Pune? Do write in ...

Here is an article from the July 26 08 issue of Outlook Business on mobility in our cities
http://www.outlookbusiness.com/outlook/26072008/home.aspx (see page 51)

with a special mention of the Pune Traffic and Transportation Forum at

http://www.outlookbusiness.com/inner.aspx?editionid=49&articleid=1874&catgid=3&subcatgid=894

Meeting Notes 13 June 2008 at Air Quality Cell

Environment Status Report

Ajay presented the work done thus far for the ESR 2008. The discussions at the Jan 10 meeting were revisited, where it had been stated that the ESR framework would be reorganized. The main points of reorganization are:

1. The purpose of the ESR has to be clear – it should reveal the health status of the population linked to the state of services and the environment
2. Overview chapters for a comprehensive picture of the city, including key sectors
3. Certain data sets have to be presented disaggregated at ward-level so that actions needed to be taken by corporators are clear, and these can in turn be linked to ward level municipal budgets and plans
4. It is important to create the framework in the next few weeks, even if data is not there. The purpose of this is to identify data gaps and put in place appropriate data collection systems
5. Descriptive material, detailed data tables, references etc are valuable information and the ESR is a good way of making such information publicly available and these may be included. However, the key actionable aspects may be presented as a separate section for facilitating monitoring and follow-up
6. A point was raised about lot of the information in the ESR being irrelevant, such as tourist sites, flights operating out of Pune and list of Malls - Commissioner agreed that all such material can be removed from the report. However, a lot of the development related data could still be included, albeit in the form of appendices.

Sharad Mahajan raised issue of printing the ESR on recycled paper and this was accepted

Aneeta, Ranjit and Himanshu would help Ajay evolve the ESR framework.

Update: This group has met and a new framework is to be made available by Ajay shortly.

Biodiversity
The following aspects were suggested for inclusion in the ESR:
1. Aggregate and per capita green zones and reservations
2. Status of aquatic ecosystems
3. Number of municipal gardens and per capita garden area, and change over the last few decades
4. Naturalness of municipal gardens
5. Tree plantation and tree cutting
6. Status of selected rare species
7. Status (incl mapping) of biodiversity hot specks

Anchal and Sanskriti are to help develop a section on Biodiversity

Update: The above have been incorporated in the Biodiversity framework draft, which is posted on http://pcef.blogspot.com

Non-motorized Transport
Dinesh reported that an NMT cell has been created at PMC. This group has been meeting regularly. Several implementation tasks have been identified which PMC is to take up.

Schools
Ranjit reported that three areas have been identified by the School Group for focusing effort:

1. Testing of learning attainment – a set of tests is being developed to be discussed with the school dept and administered in July; while testing is done by PMC, the effort from the School Group would be to improve testing systems and to monitor efforts to improve quality
2. Infrastructure status – the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan and PMC have been gathering this information, and the School Group would like to monitor whether improvements are being made based on this data – are schools moving up from being ‘C’ to ‘B’ and ‘A’, as well as by examining and improving the level of data gathered
3. Out of school children – again, this data is gathered by SSA and PMC, but there may be constraints in the data gathering methods as certain sections of the children population may not be getting counted (such as children of construction labour families, children employed as resident domestic help). The School Group would like to help improve systems reaching out of school children including the alternative education schemes, funding, the capacities of NGOs providing non-formal education etc

The School Group has had a number of meetings to clarify its role. It has revamped the format of the Annual Report of the School Board, so that it now focuses more on outcomes and not just on activities, as it did before. Besides the new format seeks to emphasize the important aspects & indicators wrt Schools, and to drop or dilute the less important ones. The School Group will now encourage the School Board to adopt this format to prepare its next Annual Report.

MC suggested that Schools be taken out of the purview of the PCEF and the individuals/ organizations interested in contributing to school improvement should join the monthly meeting forum already initiated by PMC.

Update: The School Group is requesting an appointment for next week with the Education Officer, Chair of School Board and MC to discuss the above and to request inclusion in the monthly meetings

DC Rules
MC suggested that the DC Rules group work in coordination with the Planning Cell and especially Mr Gohad and Mr Vikas Bhandari.

Update: The DC Rules group is discussing whether the earlier task they had taken up – of simplifying existing DC Rules – should be done or not, as in any case, the new DP will have a new set of rules. It may be better to focus the discussion on what the new DC Rules should be. A meeting is being arranged by Anagha for end of June/ early July

PCEF Work Scope
The PCEF will now focus on ESR, Biodiversity and Water. Groups and individuals interested in Schools and DC Rules should work with the other forums as suggested above.

Draft Framework for ESR Status of Biodiversity

I. Introduction and Scope
Biogeographic zone in which Pune is located

Why is BD important to assess - impacts on human health and environment locally, regionally and globally (as appropriate)

The ESR reports on

• status of ecosystems, hot specks and selected groups of plants/animals, and selected species in the city
• institutional aspects of BD conservation/ management: specialized govt/scientific agencies to deal with bd, civil society engagement, forums of complaint/redressal, conflict resolution

Definition / ownership related issues

• while some major ecosystems (river, forest) are not technically under PMC limits and are governed by other government depts, they are enclosed by PMC lands and they are heavily impacted by the city and contribute in a major way to the citizens’ health and city aesthetics
• several hotspecks are within private / institutional lands

II. Values
What values does the city current place on bd?
What values could/should it place?
Differential values between rich and poor? How to put these values into the city’s planning?

III. Policy and legislative framework

• Land records (for river ecosystem integrity) administered by District Collector
• Water Act (for surface water quality) regulated by MPCB
• Irrigation agreement (for water returned to regime and net consumption) by Irrigation dept
• Forest Act for reserved forests
• MRTP Act for urban environment and planning (Development Plan and DC Rules) for BD reservation, green zones, open spaces, setbacks, parks and gardens in municipal lands
• Tree Act for tree felling permissions
• BD Act for management aspects and setting up of Biodiversity Management Committee

IV. Key drivers or factors influencing Biodiversity

• Population growth and pattern of settlement (?) affecting land conversion and usage of BD rich areas
• Amount of untreated or uncollected sewage and garbage (for river / water body quality)
• Road widening/ construction
• Any others? Biomass collection?

V. Status and Change in Key Indicators

1. Aggregate green cover extent: total area and per capita green cover (from Sharad/ DP Cell), disaggregated between forest/wild/semi-wild and lawns/parks
2. Tree cutting and transplantation/survival, plantation and survival rates, exotic/indigenous ratio in plantations (from Tree Authority records and Garden Dept)
3. Select rare species status (TBD – Dr Sane, Dr Ankur Patwardhan, Ranwa)
4. Ecosystems/ hotspecks (including small wetlands) status report in table below (needs a quick outreach to various research and study groups, colleges for data on different parts of the city)

5. Ecosystem type (forest, grassland, river, reservoir, garden, hotspeck)

   Name (for e.g. Vetal Hill, Baner Hill, Mula R, Mutha R, Ramnadi R, Katraj Lake, Pashan Lake, Turtle Pond, Bat roost site .....)

   Location (with a map key)

   Ownership/ regulatory authority (for e.g. PMC, private ...)

   Legal status (Reservation, green zone, private/ institutional)

   Area (ha)

   Status of major indicators of health of ecosystem (state methods and reliability elsewhere)

   For e.g. for Lakes: Hyacinth cover increased; Fish species decreased by x; Black winged stilts increased; Migratory species number decreased

   For Rivers: Physical-chemical characteristics at various points; indicator species of fish, birds, plants + Ecosystem physical integrity by measuring naturalness of banks in terms of area of encroachments in the form of lawns, roads, tenements etc

   For Gardens: Number of indigenous vs exotic trees and %

   For Hotspecks: Flapshell turtles number same, Bats number same etc....

   Based on above, state Change in Ecological Status (improved, degraded, no change from previous year – TBD over time)

6. Status of Institutional aspects of BD Management in City
   Current institutional methods of BD Mgt: Garden Dept, Pune Tree Authority, Encroachments Dept, Water and Sewage Dept
   Existence of BD Management Committee: No
   Steps taken to set up one: None
   Mapping of BD: Not done
   BD Info system: Not done

(add civil society institutional aspects and actions…PTW, Lakaki lake committee, Green Earth, etc.)

VI. Analysis and Key Issues and Concerns

Status of BD

• Forest status improved through soil and water conservation works carried out over … acres
• River status degraded over previous years, as measured through instances of pollution/ extent of pollution and decrease in number of freshwater fish species etc
• Lake status degraded over previous years, as measured through decrease in numbers of birds, and diversity/composition of migratory bird species
• Grassland status degraded as area of grassland decreased as it has been planted over by trees, or fire instances
• Gardens total area increased though number of exotic tree species planted increased
• Tree numbers went up or down as measured through tree-felling permissions granted less plantation (and survival) number
• Hot specks – 30 (or whatever) in number; x number were extinguished; y number were preserved and granted ‘PMC Hotspeck’ status (perhaps in the future)
• Rare species numbers/distribution – enhanced / went up or down

Comment on overall status of BD

Status of Institutional Aspects

• Policy and legislation gaps and issues of coordination between multiple authorities
• Data and information gaps
• Financial gaps

VII PMC Response planned
VIII Recommendations

Appendices

• Methodological and reliability aspects
• Where to report data year round

School Group - Minutes of 23 May 2008

23rd May 2008, University Canteen

Attendees: Mini Srinivasan, Lalita Agashe, Asim (Sakal Times), Sanskriti Menon, Avinash Madhale, Ranjit Gadgil, Mrs Waley, Anjali Bapat, Maitreyi Shankar (KKPKP)

1. Pilot infrastructure survey has been done in 12 schools (Doorstep School 3; CEE 3; Swadhar 3; Asha Kiran 2, ISC has not returned survey forms). Mini will get feedback from surveyors about changes to be made to forms. Janwani to computerize the data. Overall infrastructure seems ok. Schools reporting that maintenance requests seem to be getting better response. We still plan to conduct a more comprehensive survey when new school year begins. We may ask schools to do the survey, with our formats. Need to grade schools as A, B or C and ensure that 6 months later schools are improving.

2. Possibility of PMC setting up an Education Helpline discussed. This will allow parents/others to call a centralized helpdesk to register complaints/issues. Meher has already suggested the setting up of a website for schools. Ranjit will take this up with the PMC CIO, Anupam Saraph.

3. Learning Level Tests – these were the issues raised
a. Why have our own tests when schools are already testing?
b. What is the motivation for this? Do we not already know, as reported even by SSA, that children are not doing well in schools?
c. If we are saying that their testing is not good, on what basis are we saying that? If so, should we try and improve their testing rather than devise our own tests?
d. If children are already overtested and if we do not trust the teachers to conduct the tests fairly in the schools then how to administer the tests?
e. If we administer the tests externally how can we make the test results “official”?
f. How do we get children externally? If we use the NGOs that run study classes for our sample, will this not be biased?
g. Which standards and how many students will need to be tested? How long to administer the tests? What resources will be required?
We will meet with John Kurrien to discuss these issues.

4. There was discussion once more on the role of the school group. The name “Municipal School Watch” was thought to be appropriate. It emphasises the monitoring nature of the group. It was decided that we should, as far as possible, not get involved in the “reasons for the failure of the Municipal School system” and focus on demanding better education in the schools and improvement in the school environment. We will focus on creating more awareness in the public, creating pressure groups (like parents of children attending Municipal Schools through organizations like KKPKP), media attentions and lobbying with State and Central Govt. authorities. The thrust will be to demand that Municipal Schools, given the ample resources that are available, should be as good as and even better than private schools. How to achieve this, how to fix the million internal problems should be left to the administration. IF the school system requests help in certain matters or areas, then the MSW could provide assistance.

5. Some specific issues like issuing of books and uniforms and no. of teachers in schools and absentism should be looked at. Issue of corporal punishment in schools, cited as the no. 1 reason for dropout should also be highlighted by collaborating with organizations like Abhay (Bina Joshi).

6. PMC has already done a gradation of the schools and assigned grades to them. This data and the methodology and data used to assign grades to be obtained from PMC.

7. We should meet Commissioner, EO and Chairman of SB in a joint meeting to discuss the following issues
a. Emphasise that Municipal Schools should be excellent – School Dept. should possibly adopt an appropriate Mission, Vision and define Objectives.
b. Ask for results of the MLL tests
c. Infrastructure survey done and request new survey using our format for the new year
d. Raise issue of out-of-school children

Comments from Meher Gadekar
Thanks Ranjit for the minutes. You seem to have had a good meeting. A few remarks/observations: If we need support for lobbying/advocacy we may like to involve NCAS – National Centre for Advocacy Studies, who are specialists at lobbying and advocacy. I can put the School Group/MSW in touch with Amitabh Behar, who heads NCAS.

There is no need to lobby at the National level to improve education in PMC schools. We need to concentrate at the city level for this.

It might be a good idea to bring out, as a result of our work, a Citizen’s Report on the State of Edn in PMC schools. We can use the occasion to publish or broadcast the report, to create a noise about this issue, raise awareness and seek involvement of more citizens.

Certain things like contacting Bina Joshi and School Board of PCMC have been on our pending list for quite a long time now.

Look forward to attend the next meeting Cheers Meher

Draft ESR framework - Water

Pune and the Status of Water

Scope

River basin and water regime in which Pune is located
- Rivers and streams flowing through Pune and reservoirs on these
- Groundwater

Pune city uses surface and ground water, and in the process impacts the physical integrity of the resource, consumes energy and returns water of a certain quality and quantity back to the water regime. The ESR attempts to assess the impact of the city on three aspects related to water:

• Physical integrity of the water regimes (surface and ground) (local and regional impact)
• Physical and chemical quality of the water resource (local and regional impact)
• CO2 released to the atmosphere (global impact)

Why this is important to assess - Impacts on human health locally, regionally and globally

Policy and legislative framework

• Land records (for ecosystem integrity) administered by District Collector
• Water Act (for surface water quality) implemented by MPCB
• Ground water Act (for ground water quantity and quality) administered by GSDA
• BPMC Act (for municipal obligation to supply – linked to net consumption) by PMC
• Irrigation agreement (for water returned to regime and net consumption) by Irrigation dept

Key drivers or factors influencing Water

1. Population growth (for quantity abstracted)
2. Tapping of groundwater for home and commercial uses (for quantity abstracted)
3. Economic growth and pattern of economic activity (for quantity abstracted)
4. Pattern of settlement (for physical integrity of both surface and ground water regimes)
5. Amount of untreated or uncollected sewage and garbage (for quality)
6. Industrial effluents (for quality)
7. Technology used by PMC and private entities (for quality, quantity and energy efficiency)
8. Fiscal instruments (their role as regulatory instruments)
9. Extent of rain water harvesting (for quantity)
   

Status, Trends and Projections of Key Indicators

Primary indicators

1. Physical status of rivers, streams, reservoirs and aquifers (including channel integrity and ecosystem base flows)
2. Water quality in rivers, streams, reservoirs and aquifers
3. Net consumption and where released (supposed to be in Mutha right bank canal as per Irrigation Dept and PMC agreement)
4. Energy used for net consumption (municipal water supply, estimated spend in sump to overhead tank, bore well pumps) (yields global impact of CO2 related to water supply)

Secondary indicators (relate to social and economic aspects)

1. Coverage of households - municipal supply, private (tankers, bore wells – nothing wrong with private supply except bore well difficult to regulate)
2. Municipal spending
3. Technology used

Key Issues and Concerns

Against above selected indicators

1. Physical status of rivers, streams, reservoirs and aquifers channel integrity not maintained; no concept of ecosystem base flows; natural aquifer systems being dismantled and degraded due to construction, etc
2. Water quality in rivers, streams, reservoirs and aquifers is being degraded; toxicity in rivers and reservoirs reaching levels that will affect animal and human health;
3. Net consumption rising and where released (supposed to be in Mutha right bank canal as per agreement)
4. Energy used for net consumption (municipal water supply, estimated spend in sump to overhead tank, bore well pumps) (yields global impact of CO2 related to water supply) - CO2 footprint rising (energy used by water sector)

Secondary indicators (relate to social and economic aspects)

1. Coverage of households - municipal supply, private (tankers, bore wells – nothing wrong with private supply except bore well difficult to regulate)
2. Municipal spending

Concerns related to information, regulatory authority, technology etc

• Policy and legislation gaps and issues of coordination between multiple authorities
• Data and information gaps
• Financial gaps

Response

TBD

Recommendations

Primary

• Physical integrity related
• Quality related
• Consumption related
• CO2 / energy efficiency related

Secondary

• Data collection systems related
• Local policy related

Appendix: Data Sets Contributing to Water Indicators

Primary indicators

Physical status of rivers, streams, reservoirs and aquifers (including channel integrity and ecosystem base flows) and MPCB classification of River I, II, III, IV and A, B, C zones

Data needed
· Channel information
· Aquifer information
· Encroachment
· Base flows

Water quality in rivers, streams, reservoirs and aquifers
Data needed
BOD, COD, pH, turbidity measurements at appropriate locations and times
Proximate measures
- Waste water treatment
- Sewage not captured (informal settlement data)

Net consumption and where released (supposed to be in Mutha right bank canal as per Irrigation Dept and PMC agreement)
Data needed: Quantity measurements before and after (or use proximate measures – which ones?)

Energy used for net consumption (municipal water supply, estimated spend in sump to overhead tank, bore well pumps) (yields global impact of CO2 related to water supply)

Data needed
Municipal supply electricity units used and converted to CO2 equivalent
Number, type of sump and bore well and how long they run (alternatively MSEDCL records on domestic pumpsets – total units used and converted to CO2 equivalent)

Secondary indicators (relate to social and economic aspects)
Coverage of households - municipal supply, private (tankers, bore wells – nothing wrong with private supply except bore well difficult to regulate)

PCEF School Group Meeting – 28 Jan 2008

Agenda
Indicators for ESR / School Annual Report
Shala Sudhar Samiti
Proposed Meetings with School Board and Prinicipals

Present
Mini Shrinivasan, Shamita Kumar, Anjali Bapat, Lalita Agashe, Ranjit Gadgil, Avinash Madhale, Sanskriti Menon

Venue
University of Pune

1. Indicators for School Education for Annual Reporting

• The School Education Dept has its own Annual Report. We should develop the reporting framework for this. Such information need not go into the Environment Status Report.
• We can begin with the list of norms and requirements from Fundamental Right to Education Act, SSA, UNICEF. These are probably already applicable to the PMC schools.
• The annual report format of the individual school should be worked out and linked to the plan for the next year.
• The individual school reports are what is aggregated and presented as the high level indicators, perhaps as X schools in A cat (all norms are met); Y schools in B cat (non-negotiable norms met but shaky on others) etc
• Mini is to check with Meher about the suggested structure/ table of contents of the School Annual Report. If done, then post to all, else develop and post.
• Mini is to post the list of indicators / norms/ requirements from the FRE, SSA, UNICEF
• Ranjit is to ask Sachin to write the source of each indicator / norm/ requirement
• The Sapta Tarankit shala system developed in Yavatmal links norms to performance review and increments of teachers and this model would be a useful input for Pune.
• Shamita is to obtain more details on the Yavatmal accountability and increments related orders.
  

2. Mini to obtain the signatures of MC on the circular to schools permitting inspection by NGOs and initiate the corroboration study in 30 schools with ARC

3. Getting new schools allocated to an area is possible through the Development Plan. As preparatory work, Ranjit and Avinash to work with BVIEER / Dept of Geography UoP to create GIS map layers (and tables) indicating population, slum population and location of schools. Based on this, some suggestions may be possible about where new schools must be provided for in the new DP currently being prepared.

4. Ranjit is to obtain and share information on the role and functioning of School Board

5. Ranjit is to obtain and share information on public disclosure law/ bill proposed under JNNURM and how it would be applicable to the School Ed Dept (what exactly would it be required to disclose)

6. Shala Sudhar Samiti: The idea is that apart from parents, interested NGOs can also be part of this Samiti and help schools improve their performance against agreed norms/ indicators. About 10 schools are to be selected by interested NGOs. KKPKP, India Sponsorship Committee (Yerwada), Swadhar (Bibwewadi), have already shown their keenness for this. These agencies and schools will also be part of the corroboration study.

7. One major difference in the classes run by NFE organizations and municipal schools may be the number of effective teaching days. Gyanshala staff in Ahmedabad cited this as a major reason. So, it might be a good idea for the School Group to look at the non-teaching / curricular work done by teachers and ways to reduce this such as by streamlining admin processes, proper computerization of record keeping etc.

8. Next meeting is planned for around 5th Feb after checking with Arthabodh and Meher and inviting them, as well as a few principals and school teachers who could provide inputs related to which type of records are already kept by schools, non-teaching tasks and ideas to streamline these, the data collected by Arthabodha and SSA if possible. The sequence of meetings was suggested as: small meeting next week to prepare the main areas of work for the School Group; School Board meeting with MC; School Principals consultation(s)

9. The main areas of work for School Group are emerging as: School Annual Report format and individual school report format; consultations with principals and teachers; Sudhar Sudhar Samiti in selected schools; streamlining admin and other processes of School Ed DEpt; enhanced public awareness of high level performance indicators of School Ed Dept.

Ride and Return Bicycle Program - Will it Work in Pune?

सैक्लिंग ग्रूपच्या नवीन प्रपोसल : राइड ऎंड रिटर्न - पुण्यात सफल होईल का?

The PCEF Cycling Group is preparing a proposal for Pune for a "ride and return" cycle program. The aim is to promote casual, short trip, cycling and make it a visible mode. The idea is to create 400 locations in the city where specially branded cycles can be picked up and returned.

Each location will have

• About 25 cycles
• A "caretaker" who will manage the cycles and do minor repairs and maintenance

10,000 cycles may need to be sponsored by various corporates, individual donors, PMC. Attrition in cycles is expected; fleet will need constant additions. After initial losses, it is expected that cycle fleet numbers will stabilize.

Watch a video made by Manisha Sheth-Gutman on Velib, the celebrated bicycle sharing programme in Paris http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDBfwU6zni8

Read an article on the bicyle sharing concept, Velib and other programmes http://www.alternet.org/story/72528/

What do you think about the 'Ride and Return' proposal for Pune: ... will it work? ... your suggestions for how to make it work ... can you help? Post your comments ...