Anagha Speaks

"T he Metro will pass along the road right next to my bungalow. Will my property rate rise or fall? Can I continue staying at my bungalow with my family? Or will this mean that I need to redevelop, amalgamate with four other neighboring plot owners and build a commercial building on this property? "  While trying to answer these questions, I was suddenly overcome with a feeling that while I have been so engrossed speaking about the Metro, its technical implications (Elevated or Underground) and about the densification of the city due to 4.0 FSI, what had remained completely unaddressed by me, were the socio-economic implications of a Metro on a middle class Punekar! I will attempt to write this blog post demystifying some of the myths and presumptions of having a Metro in Pune and its direct relevance to a life of a Punekar. For the time being, I will keep aside all of my objections to the Metro and discuss this subject, hopefully as unbiased as I can. Lets t...

A conference on Sustainable Cities was concluded today, June 18, 2013, at Bharati Vidyapeeth's Institute for Environment, Education and Research, a joint initiative between BVIEER and The Urban Team of ICRIER (www.icrier.org) headed by Dr Mrs. Isher Judge Ahluwalia. As a part of this seminar, a summary was presented of the High Powered Executive Committee Report, popularly known as the Ahluwalia Report. This report focuses on multiple level of reforms for financial independence of Municipal authorities, a premise, already identified, that can enable better delivery of Urban Services in cities of India. Amongst many reforms, the Report suggests that municipal authorities should raise their own finances, independent of the State Governments, thereby gaining a level of authority, accountability and thus offer better civic services to its citizens. When financial autonomy comes, it is estimated that Municipal authorities will also become more accountable, much like when we ...