MAHILA MILAN NAGAR - A story of Women Empowerment!

In continuation to the last article, I am writing about Mahila Milan Nagar- one of the first projects of SPARC. Mahila Milan Nagar is a cooperative housing society located at Mankhurd, Mumbai. The colony was constructed by pavement dwellers in association with SPARC.

SPARC started associating with them in 1984. Sheela Patel, SPARC founder used to teach  the under privileged kids and this association later continued when she founded SPARC.  One of the first things SPARC did was to make the pavement dwellers visible in the city by getting ration cards. Over time the women of one pavement community learnt how to obtain these cards and demonstrated to other women. Supreme court’s 1985  judgment that Bombay Municipal Corporation could evict pavement dwellers and demolish their houses left these pavement dwellers with not knowing what to do next. People from the pavement started associating with Sheela Patel for a solution. Slowly many people started approaching her and a total from 9 pavements comprising of  over 1500 families started grouping. Initially ration cards were made for all. Then  bank accounts were opened for all in the joint name of wife and husband for each family. 

Another main task was to inculcate the habit of saving in the pavement dwellers. Till now whatever they earned, they used to finish in a day. People were encouraged to  save whatever money was left every day which used to be in  tune of 50 paise, 1 Rs, 2 Rs etc. Once all the families started contributing, the amount started increasing. The dwellers were also given training on how to talk to government officials, how to get things done, what are the alternatives etc. SPARC encouraged women in the slums to associate themselves to form a collective called Mahila Milan. Women were given the confidence that they could also do things which they thought only men does. This motivated them to stand for their rights to get a legal house. In Mahila Milan, for 15 houses, 1 leader was selected and thus a group of 35 was formed in the beginning.

Around this time,  a notice was issued to pavement dwellers that they will be evicted the next day. Before the court judgment, almost all  days, policemen used to come and destroy their houses, leaving their utensils broken, clothes torn and pretty nothing much left.  But this time they decided to resist the police as a group.  For 2 days the Municipality could not do anything, but people themselves dismantled their houses and collected their belongings and thus could save whatever was theirs. This was a big realization for them  that if they stand  together something could happen.

Next they started looking for an alternative land and approached BMC. BMC denied their demands telling there is no vacant land.  So Mahila Milan started identifying vacant lands in Mumbai and its ownership. Finally they decided on Mankhurd which had only one train connectivity that time. The land was owned by MHADA and it took 15 years for the slum dwellers to get the land. The house design was based on dwellers demand and was exhibited for people’s voting. All stages of design and construction was monitored, implemented and designed by the dwellers themselves.

Mahila Milan also started giving loans for the dwellers.  Earlier if they take a loan of Rs 100 from a private lender, an interest of RS 10 was to be paid every month. Mahila Milan started giving loans at an interest of Rs 1 per month and women of the house were made accountable. Mahila Milan has its branches in over 21 Indian cities. They empower women by training, helping them in budgeting, organizing etc. They have started mapping slums, doing socioeconomic surveys, getting ration cards and Adhaar cards etc for slum rehabilitation projects. They have also started their groups in 12 others countries like South America, South Korea, Bangkok, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka etc.  

Mahila Milan is a good example to show what women empowerment could bring to a society. Strengthening, Encouraging and Removing their fears could work miracles at the face of adversity. Its sad to see no such initiative in the SMART city project. Rather than making people smart, focus is on technology! I wonder why there are no slum development or upgradation projects in making the city SMART ??  Are these people still INVISIBLE?......

Anu Kuncheria

anukuncheria@gmail.com

MUSINGS FROM PRIYADARSHINI KARVE: SMART Pune Plan: Khoda pahad, nikla chooha!

"Khoda Pahad, nikla chooha" was my first reaction when I read the description of the Pune corporation's much awaited SMART City plan. 

Why do I feel disappointed? 

Firstly, the plan is not about development - SMART or otherwise - of Pune city at all, but just of a small part on the outskirts of the city! It was all the more disappointing that the area chosen to be this model of SMARTness is a newly developing area, increasingly populated mostly by people working in IT and other high tech industries, who have sufficient money of their own to equip their neighbourhoods (including the local low income community that provides them with maids, gardeners, and other odd jobbers, as well as small businesses providing various necessary services) with the most fantastic IT enabled services, if they so desire. 

Of course the supporters of the plan will point to the two citywide initiatives that are included. In fact, with a wild hope of finding something worthwhile, I too turned to this part of the plan with great anticipation. 

The two citywide initiatives that have been included are improving mobility, and giving a certain minimum assured water supply 24/7. Both of these are to be achieved with the help of IT enabling. 

Nobody can deny that increasing traffic congestion is becoming a critical issue for Pune city. So, with a lot of hope and curiosity I read the section about improving mobility. Two main action points are talked about - 

1. Increasing the number of people using public transport from the current 15% to 30%: I believe that this can be achieved even now just with improvements in the human management of existing municipal bus service. The IT enabling proposed in the plan will add value, only if first proper management is in place. However, the SMART city plan implies that its going to take IT enabling of buses, and BRT, AND Metro, to achieve this increase. To my mind that is a bit too much effort and expense for too little outcome! 

2. Increase in non-motorised transport by prioritising walking and bicycling: This is a commendable objective. But I did not find any mention of this in the 'key ideas' - apart from providing pedestrian buttons on traffic lights. I remember using a button like this at a traffic signal in front of Popular Book House on Deccan Gymkhana nearly 30 years ago. Why do we need a Special Purpose Vehicle to make this happen now??

What about the water supply plan? The rationale for selecting this as one of the high priority actions for the entire city is (I quote) "Capitalising on Pune’s water abundance..." Really? And there will continue to be abundant water available, even as the population keeps rising, just because we are going to increase the water reservoir storage capacity by 10%?

So yes, I am feeling hugely let down by this plan as a citizen of Pune. In the meanwhile, my colleagues and I continue with our study project on Sustainably SMART Pune 2030... 

Priyadarshini Karve

Director

Samuchit Enviro Tech

#BeModernBeResponsibleBeRespectful
    Samuchit Enviro Tech.     samuchit@samuchit.com     www.samuchit.com 

A model to replicate : SPARC’s work for the invisible..

Recently I got an opportunity to associate with the ngo SPARC in Mumbai that works on housing issues of pavement and slum dwellers. Monali from SPARC explained me about their projects and took me to one of their rehabilitation project. 

What struck me about SPARC is their methodology. They do not look at slums as projects, rather they are more involved in the process. They see it as a community of people with aspirations and dreams, people who want to lead a normal life without fear of eviction. In most of the areas, SPARC's involvement is limited to the initial stages and involved clarifying government regulations, supporting women to identify a successful strategy and giving them the confidence to carry it through. They mobilize people, empower community to address their issues and find solutions.

Some of the unique characteristics of SPARC are: 

Lakshmi and Sakina - Active members of Mahila Milan

 since its inception

* Focus is on ‘process’ and not just projects.

*Women are main actors of change. ( Mahila Milan is a decentralized network of poor women's collectives that manage credit and savings activities in their communities. It aims to provide a space for women to take on important decision making roles and be recognized for their critical contributions towards improving the lives of their communities. Mahila Milan was initiated in 1986 when 500 women who lived on Mumbai's pavements organized themselves to successfully prevent the demolitions of their homes. Today, Mahila Milan has given out tens of thousands of loans to poor women all across the country and has collected savings worth millions of rupees.)

Pass book - for savings
and loan

*Started credit and savings in slums (Who otherwise spend what

they earn in the same day).

* Empowering the community to handle their issues (Training the 

slums dwellers to approach government, find solutions for their problems, Encouraging the community to carry out their socio-economic surveys, be 

a continuous part of the project)

SPARC s methodology evolved over time and is based on the necessities and is one of its kind model. It can be stated as one of the best practices in the country. Shelter is a basic necessity and organisations who get a slum project must handle it with great care and not merely see it as projects. All corporations must engage organizations like SPARC for community empowering and participatory planning for all slum rehabilitation/ redevelopment schemes. Having such best practices, other cities should also adopt them and not reinvent the wheel! 

For more information, visit the link. 

Anu Kuncheria

anukuncheria@gmail.com

PS: Due to word limit, I could not write about Mahila Milan Nagar, first initiative of SPARC which is a model slum rehabilitation project - I intend to write on it next week :-).

MUSINGS FROM PRIYADARSHINI KARVE: Let's focus on energy services!

I am currently traveling out of Pune, conducting training workshops on the Cooking Energy Service Decision Support Tool, that I have developed for Ashden India Renewable Energy Collective (AIREC), with funding support from GIZ, New Delhi. This series of workshops is sponsored by CLEAN Energy Network. 

Since I started working on this Tool, I have been fascinated with the possibilities that arise out of moving away from 'technologies' and focusing on 'services'. 

The idea behind this tool is that we need to focus on the service delivered by a cooking energy device in deciding the performance standards. The Tool provides a way of assessing the performance of any cooking energy device based on any technology on the basis of how well they match the performance requirements of users and other stakeholders. This also helps in ascertaining whether a particular cooking energy device is likely to succeed in a particular community/area or not. 

I believe that the same service focused approach can be extended to other energy services too. This might help us move out of our obsession with grid electricity. There are many services that are best delivered with decentralised energy system, and many services that are best delivered without taking recourse to electricity generation. 

d.light A1 Solar Lantern is now available
with Samuchit Enviro Tech

For example, what is the best way to obtain lighting service in the house today? In my opinion, solar powered LED lights is the best option, in most parts of India, wherever the sun shines most of the year. If there is a provision of charging with the help of an ordinary cell phone charger etc., then even the little uncertainty around availability of sunlight during rains, etc., can be adequately addressed. This is part of the reason why when we at Samuchit Enviro Tech decided to widen our scope from cooking energy devices, the first non-cooking product that we added to our portfolio was solar light! 

Another example is that of water pumping. Electric pumps is just one possibility, one can have pumps running on fossil fuels too. Traditionally wind mills have been very effectively used for water pumping, along with animal and human power. The playpump is a brilliant idea that is catching on in Africa. Here children play on a merry-go-round, and the mechanical motion of the device pumps water up into a tank! Check this for more details! 

I am sure that if start thinking from the service perspective, and come up with practical alternatives to grid power wherever possible, we will find that the actual grid-based electricity generation capacity that we need is much lower than what has been estimated. This approach will also by default put us on a path of low carbon development, fulfilling our obligation to reduce climate change impacts. 

Priyadarshini Karve

Director

Samuchit Enviro Tech

#BeModernBeResponsibleBeRespectful

    Samuchit Enviro Tech.     samuchit@samuchit.com     www.samuchit.com 

GROWING YOUR OWN!

Hey all,

How are your beautiful gardens growing? Any new gardeners? 

Many Indian cities are coming up with innovative ideas for terrace gardening. In cities like Bangalore and Delhi, many balcony gardens are springing up. There are more than 8 -10 organizations who help you start a terrace garden. Depending on the type of crops grown, at least these gardeners get 400 grams of vegetables per week. Many vouch for the fact that terrace gardening is a good way to start a day and is refreshing to engage in 10-15 minutes of gardening every day after a morning coffee.

We are trying to asses the number of terrace gardens and its effects on the micro climate of Pune city.  All Punekars, kindly comment/mail the following details of your terrace garden.

1	Type of garden	Terrace/Balcony
2	Type of building	Residential/ Commercial/Institutional/ Public/Semi public
3	Purpose	Ornamental flowers/ Vegetable garden / Mixed garden
4	Area (approx in sqm/sqft)
5	Type of produce u get (predominant type)	Vegetables/Fruits/Mixed/None
6	Type of manure used	Organic/Chemical/ Manure from Compost /Manure from biogas plant
7	Motivation for the garden	Organic food/aesthetic view/ Waste disposal/Any Other (mention )

Civil Engineering department of CET, Trivandrum.

Not just residential buildings, colleges and public institutions have a huge potential for this as they have lots of open spaces in addition to terrace. If we all start growing plants in our balconies and terrace, how beautiful and green the cities will be! 

Do comment/email the details and photos of your beautiful gardens to samuchit@samuchit.com or anukuncheria@gmail.com

Cheers!

Anu Kuncheria

MUSINGS FROM PRIYADARSHINI KARVE: Green Audit and Green Education

Compost produced in the zero waste campus project at one of the audited colleges in Mumbai

Last week, I briefly talked about the ICOR-Samuchit Green Audit Tool for Educational Institutes. You can read the post here.

Green Audit will help a college or a university department or a training institute to understand and introspect on its dependence as well as impact on local and global environment. More practically, it will show the institute ways and means by which it can make its processes more efficient and therefore also more economical. And last but not the least, green audit is now one of the requirements in the NAAC accreditation process of the University Grants Commission.
Our Green Audit Tool has two aspects which are normally not part of an environmental audit process. Today, I would like to elaborate a bit on this.


As we were designing the process specifically for educational institutes, we felt that in addition to the environment-friendliness of processes and systems, we should also examine and document the institute's activities focused on imparting knowledge and information about environmental issues. So far we have found that colleges do much more than the mandatory Environmental Science course. We also saw that different departments organise events, projects, activities, etc., in the framework of their courses but focused on the environment. When we present the documentation of the entire institute collectively, the common reaction is - wow, we had no idea so many environment focused activities have been going on in our institute! This in itself motivates and encourages people to collaborate more for more effective activities.

We also encourage college administrations to invite employees and students to share information about their own individual initiatives such as terrace gardening, adaptation of renewable energy devices at home, use of bicycle, greening of neighbourhood, or environment-focused hobbies, etc. Documenting these initiatives too as a part of the audit is an attempt to focus some limelight on these individuals, and also to see in what way the institute has/can influence lifestyle choices of individuals connected with it.

For more information, please contact: Deepika Singh, ICOR on deepika62001@yahoo.co.in or write to me on pkarve@samuchit.com. 

Priyadarshini Karve

Director

Samuchit Enviro Tech

#BeModernBeResponsibleBeRespectful

    Samuchit Enviro Tech.     samuchit@samuchit.com     www.samuchit.com 

EAT LOCAL!

Hello all,

Today lets discuss about a fresh topic- FOOD!  We are all exposed to a wide variety of fruits and vegetables in the market. We have apples from Kashmir and Himachal, mangoes from Andra (banganapally, neelam) and Karnataka (alphonso) ,litchis from Bihar and so on. We also have Washington apples, New Zealand kiwis and China Pears in our markets. Fruit imports are growing at a rate of more than 25% each year.  These foods travel hundreds of kilometers requiring significant energy consumption for handling, storage and transportation with a good amount spoiling during the course of travel.  It is scientifically proven that fruits and vegetables start losing vitamins and nutrients from the minute they are picked, so long distance travel from other states leads to less healthy and nutrient vegetables and fruits.

We have always known the advantages and importance of Local Food Production. Locally grown fruits and vegetables generally end up in our hands at their peak of flavor because they are picked ‘in-season’. The only way to get it any fresher is to grow it yourself! One can notice the difference in the just-picked, mouthwatering taste of the fruits and veggies from local farms. Not just the taste, consuming local food has lot of other advantages.

• By eating with the seasons, we are eating foods when they are at their most freshest, most abundant, and least expensive.
• Supporting local food systems generally means less energy, emissions and food kilometers associated with our food.
• When you shop locally, it benefits the local farmers the most and help them sustain their livelihood.

These days, organic food is gaining importance with super markets and online food apps having separate organic food sections. People are conscious of what they eat. The negative effects of pesticides are increasingly gaining attention and organic food is  bought at high prices. Also, these organic items have reduced shelf life and hence should be consumed at source.

In this context, kitchen/terrace gardens have gained prominence in urban households. I  was always fascinated with the idea of growing our own food  at home. Growing up in Kerala where all typical house has a kitchen garden with curry leaves, spinach, ginger , mango trees, coconut trees, plantains etc, it was lovely to see you grow your own vegetables and have it. As cities grew and there was a shift from independent houses to flat system, these traditions started to wane. But  high pesticide uses in farming should alert us to go back to concept of terrace and balcony  gardens. It has lots of advantages.

•  Organic food availability.
• Practical learning for children.
• Less energy use ( as compared to using food from far places).
•  Green terrace – a positive environment.
• Enhances micro climate by increasing oxygen production.

In smart cities, terrace/balcony gardens should source a portion of total food supplies of all citizens.

Planning is  important  in terrace gardens. Depending on the number of people in the household and the space available on the terrace and climatic conditions of that place, one can plan the terrace garden and achieve good yields.

I request all terrace/balcony gardeners to share information on their terrace/balcony gardens so that we can adopt your good practices in other parts of Pune as well.  

EAT LOCAL… STAY HEALTHY, STAY GREEN!

My small balcony kitchen garden - Aundh, Pune

*Check organic markets in Ludhiana here.

*There are organisations like iKheti (Mumbai), Edible routes (Delhi), Squarefoot farmers(Bangalore) who help in rooftop farming and related services.

Anu Kuncheria
anukuncheria@gmail.com

MUSINGS FROM PRIYADARSHINI KARVE: Important for colleges and universities!

Are you working in a college or university? Is your academic institution scheduled for NAAC accreditation any time soon? Are you aware that UGC has now added a requirement of a green audit in the accreditation process? Read on to find out more! 

A couple of years ago, I was approached by Deepika Singh of Institute for Community Organisation Research (ICOR), a Mumbai based NGO, with an interesting idea - to develop a process for environmental audit of educational campuses. 

I had been exploring issues of urban sustainability for a few years, and had been doing workshops on carbon footprinting for urban Indians. I felt that this was a logical next step. The Samuchit Carbon Footprint Calculator helps urban Indian individuals and families measure their personal contribution to climate change. A green audit process would help an organisation measure its own impact on the local and global environment. If the organisation is an educational institute, it also helps spread the concept of environmental sustainability to young generation, which is a big bonus. I was very happy to collaborate with ICOR on this idea, and so emerged the ICOR-Samuchit Green Audit Tool for Educational Institutes. 

At that time we had no idea how we were going to 'sell' the concept to educational institutes, but it so happened that ICOR was approached by a college with just this requirement! That is when we first discovered that UGC was asking about environmental audit in its new NAAC accreditation questionnaires! 

Planning Meeting for Green Audit with the faculty members at a college in Mumbai

We have so far completed two audits, and are in the middle of a third one. A couple of more assignments are in the pipeline. We are realising that at least in Maharashtra nobody is offering to do environmental audits within the budget that undergraduate colleges (or any other non-profit campuses) can afford. 

The other advantage of our process is that since we had focused specifically on educational institutes, our process is tailored to the specific activities and issues of an academic campus. The Tool is also sensitive to challenges of information and data availability, particularly in view of resources being shared between different institutes on the same campus. 

Furthermore, we have developed a process that is participatory - a group of teachers and students works with us in data collection and analysis, and therefore it is also a huge experiential learning opportunity for the college community. 

For more information, please contact: Deepika Singh, ICOR on deepika62001@yahoo.co.in or write to me on pkarve@samuchit.com. 

Priyadarshini Karve

Director

Samuchit Enviro Tech

#BeModernBeResponsibleBeRespectful

    Samuchit Enviro Tech.     samuchit@samuchit.com     www.samuchit.com 

DO I OWN THE RIVER? - A Reflection..

All the major civilizations around the globe grew along the banks of rivers.. They were the lifelines for drinking water, agriculture, religious activities and many more. Pune too originated as a tiny agricultural settlement along Mutha river called as Punyak and gradually expanded over the years to become the present Pune city. Water was celebrated; involved in social, religious, cultural and day today activities. But this everyday interaction lost as time passed and slowly began converting to backyard drains. What ever interaction left is limited to Waste disposal and during Ganesh festival for idol immersion.

Everyone knows the reasons for pollution; projects are lined up; studies being conducted; but still no change in the water quality. With a water quality index (WQI) of 28, its heavily polluted.



The JICA funded Mulla - Mutha Pollution abatement project with a total cost pf Rs 990 crores is in pipeline to revive these rivers. Its a huge relief as it aims to meet the core pollution causes by cleaning the river and setting up sewerage system for the city. But this is not sufficient to ensure a sustained clean river. The continuous maintenance is a huge task. This can be ensured only by a sense of ownership in the residents. A simple thought of ' I Own the River' can work miracles. It can help the rivers to become Jeevith Nadi..

This sense of ownership can be brought by making rivers a part of our day to day life..The river sides can be converted to centers of public activities and recreational open spaces. Awareness creation via workshops, river walks, student camps, nature trails should be integral part of municipal budgets. A river day can be declared and programmes organised for cleaning and maintaining..

Once we start loving our river again, there is no turning back!!

Anu Kuncheria 

anukuncheria@gmail.com

#BeModernBeResponsibleBeRespectful

    Samuchit Enviro Tech.     samuchit@samuchit.com     www.samuchit.com 

MUSINGS FROM PRIYADARSHINI KARVE: The Pain of Change

** This blog entry is not about Diwali or Diwali greetings! I am sure you have got more than your share of the same! Through this blog, I am inviting all of you to share your thoughts and suggestions on a problem that I am facing... and I am sure several of you have faced in various contexts! **

A lot of innovative ideas get bogged down into the mire of 'user acceptance', and the only apparent reason seems to be the 'Pain of Change'. In almost all our products we encounter this problem, and try to find our way out of it. 

The pain of change is not just a user's response to the new technology, it also comes from deep within his/her own psyche, and is rooted in the belief system. For example, when my father and his colleagues were trying to promote farming of bamboo, they just could not break the belief held by farmers that it is inauspicious to cultivate bamboo in one's farm because it is used for carrying dead bodies to their last rites in Hindu practices. Without realising this, my father and his colleagues kept arguing that as long as people continue to die, the market for bamboo cannot die! 

Anyway, as far as I am concerned, rural women just refusing to use an appliance in spite of being convinced of its benefits has always been a baffling phenomenon. I have now come to realise that to some extent this is related to the bigger problem of gender empowerment. Here I would like to share an interesting story, that was once told to me by a social worker. One young activist went into a village, and perceived that the women of the village had to undertake a trek of some 2 km to get to a wooded patch to take care of their 'daily business' in relative privacy. For their dignity and in the interest of hygiene he got some donations and build a block of public toilets for women. A few months later he realised that the women were not using the toilets much. When he started talking to the women what finally emerged astounded him. The couple of hours in the morning, when all the able bodied women in the village got together, walked to their 'natural toilet', and came back, was the only time they got to spend with their friends, chatting and gossiping, without the pressure of work, kids, and elders watching their every move. They were not willing to give up on that socialising! So the real problem faced by the women ran much deeper than just access to proper toilets - it was a problem of their status in the family and society.

Recently, I met a person who runs a charitable institution and he was complaining that with the help of donations he has tried to improve the institutional kitchen - has put in solar water heater, and also an LPG fuelled boiler to generate steam for cooking - but the semi-literate women who operate the kitchen are unwilling to use these gadgets and prefer their own traditional wood fired chulhas. Apparently the women keep saying that all the new gadgets are too "high-tech" for them to use.

Samuchit ELFD Sampada Smokeless Stove - Institutional Cooking model

We cooked about 7 kg rice in 30 min on the ELFD Sampada - Institutional Cooking Model

Is this really a problem of their genuinely not understanding the operation, or is it because right from the childhood it has been impressed on the women that anything 'modern' and 'high tech' will be beyond their capacity to handle? Since I am now trying to promote a very innovative cooking energy device in the Samuchit ELFD Sampada Smokeless Stove, I need to crack this 'pain of change' issue, particularly in the context of institutional cooking! We too have typically found the male cooks more open to trying out the new 'gadget' compared to women, particularly in rural institutions. Any suggestions on tackling this issue?

Priyadarshini Karve

Director

Samuchit Enviro Tech

#BeModernBeResponsibleBeRespectful

    Samuchit Enviro Tech.     samuchit@samuchit.com     www.samuchit.com 

HOW MUCH IS ENOUGH?

Hola!   This is my first writing. I am quite new to Pune, this is my 5^th month here and I am already in love with the city…During my stay in Delhi, I never thought I would like another city as much as Delhi ; But Pune excites me with its liveliness, colorfulness at the same time the calmness! The lively streets, active urban spaces, friendly people, street food, the cool mornings all makes the city a heaven. The city’s rich heritage and unique blue – green network gives it a special charm.

After the initial honeymoon period, as the hole in my pocket began to grow, I shifted from Uber to city buses and to my utter disappointment I realized bus service in Pune is shockingly bad! (No wonder Pune has the biggest number of 2 wheelers and arrogant auto drivers!) Commuters have to wait minimum 20-30 min for bus and when it arrives, so full that many have to stand on the steps and travel. Is the city only for private vehicle owners or for Uber and Ola users? How do daily workers, low and middle income commuters travel?  Also are the footpaths meant for motorcyclists in Pune? Even if people are walking on the footpaths, they come behind and honk as if we are on wrong side. It’s not just civilians, I have seen policemen in their uniform ride on the footpaths.

Pune’s wonderful microclimate is attributed to the 3 surrounding hills. Due to rampant encroachment of these hills and disruption of natural processes, city is becoming hotter not to forget the climate change impacts. When I came in June, it was relatively cold in the morning and I feared Oct- Nov would be chiller. But what we experienced in Sept- Oct was soaring temperatures.  What Punekars never imagined was a water shortage which is reality now. Once abundant, now redundant  Mula – Mutha river is a shame to Punekars.

Simultaneously I hear the SMART – Pune campaign. The buzz around ‘SMART’ is so much that I wonder am I ‘STUPID’ not to understand what everyone else has easily understood! What is SMART?  Is this our Smart future?

Unless otherwise there is a Comprehensive Smart Villages plan along with Smart Cities plan, the solution is unsustainable. A technology driven city without equity ensures an unlivable city!

Coincidentally, I got this wonderful opportunity to work with Dr Priya Maam on Sustainable Smart Pune Study Project focusing on low carbon and equity.  We are evolving a study on how an equitable city should be? What are the limits to growth? How much is enough?

We are exploring new concepts and is open to suggestions, comments, ideas n more….

Lets plan for an INCLUSIVE & SUSTAINABLE PUNE !

Anu Kuncheria

anukuncheria@gmail.com