![]() ![]() ![]() Do you think the government has taken adequate measures to address the issue? In the past few budgets, the Centre’s focus has been on addressing the challenges posed by rapid urbanisation. We need greater focus on education and healthcare, making public services affordable. We need to consider the plight of the urban poor and their malnutrition-it’s is not an affliction that affects only rural India. We need to radically shift our urban realty markets towards provisioning for affordable housing for too long, our developers and municipal governments have sought to increase the provision of high-end housing in the hope of profits and stamp fees. We have to shift focus to moving people instead of vehicles. We have favoured a skew towards private transportation in urban centres. We need to fix transportation across urban centres gone are the days when a bus service that ran infrequently was enough for a Tier 2 city. We need to pursue better economic integration within our cities. Poor urban planning coupled with climate change will mean that Indian cities are perennially under siege. Going forward, India will see a higher frequency of high intensity rainfall. Bengaluru and Hyderabad are seeing local lakes vanish, and Delhi has seen the Yamuna’s floodplain encroached. In particular, land use change, and the push for more infrastructure projects can have a grievous impact. What do the states and Centre need to do to make urban areas future ready?Įvery year, some or the other pocket of Mumbai’s priciest real estate sinks in the monsoon deluge. You stress on the need to “rethink” how cities are managed and why local governments are playing catch-up. that as we take our rightful place on the world stage, why do our cities look unmoored and removed from our civilisational heritage? We need a national conversation around these subjects. Policymakers seem to have lost connect with those who do the daily grind. For the average urban Indian earning a salary of Rs 10,000- Rs 15,000, keeping up with inflation, braving the daily commute, fighting floods, bad air and heat waves wasn’t easy. ![]() And yet, as I interacted with thousands of Indians who live in our cities, it became evident that city life was challenging. Why did you choose to focus on urban India?Īfter spending half a decade understanding and discussing rural India, writing a dense tome on how we live in India’s metros was a tall order. In an exclusive interview to mid-day, Gandhi chooses to steer clear of political discussion, and talks about the cities that have left an impression on him and policy makers who are losing touch with reality. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |