"Instead of yet another study, we need to quickly implement demonstration projects, for proving that principles of low-carbon development have real-world applicability.”
"Instead of yet another study, we need to quickly implement demonstration projects, for proving that principles of low-carbon development have real-world applicability.”
City of kochi - India
Interview with:
Dr. Rajan Chedambath, Director – Centre for Heritage, Environment and Development, Kochi Municipal Corporation
Dr. Rajan Chedambath, Director – Centre for Heritage, Environment and Development, Kochi Municipal Corporation
Urban Pathways: Has the city government already prepared a climate action plan for Kochi?
Rajan Chedambath: A couple of years back we framed a Climate Resilience Plan for Kochi, whereby a framework for climate change mitigation was prepared for the city. This has also been approved and accepted by the city’s Municipal Council. However, the plan is still theoretical in nature and there is a lack of practical mitigation strategies. There is also a need that such strategies be thoroughly incorporated into our current planning process or project execution. The present situation is that we follow conventional methodologies, and although everyone accepts that we need mitigation strategies, that does not reflect in the workplan. There was a time in the past when we needed knowledge about good concepts, and in that regard some EU-funded projects like SOLUTIONS have been helpful. But no one is interested in yet another study on climate change mitigation right now, since past recommendations are yet to be implemented.
What we require are practical applications in the form of demonstration projects. For example, this could be a small plastic-shredding unit which produces raw material for road construction, or a roof-top clean energy generation system, or a zero-carbon building, or even electric mobility for connecting tourism areas to the Metro station. Such projects would catch the imagination of the people of Kochi and give the urban development-related initiative some kind of credibility. With Urban Pathways, we want to implement such visible projects to showcase the applicability of low-carbon development concepts.
Rajan Chedambath: A couple of years back we framed a Climate Resilience Plan for Kochi, whereby a framework for climate change mitigation was prepared for the city. This has also been approved and accepted by the city’s Municipal Council. However, the plan is still theoretical in nature and there is a lack of practical mitigation strategies. There is also a need that such strategies be thoroughly incorporated into our current planning process or project execution. The present situation is that we follow conventional methodologies, and although everyone accepts that we need mitigation strategies, that does not reflect in the workplan. There was a time in the past when we needed knowledge about good concepts, and in that regard some EU-funded projects like SOLUTIONS have been helpful. But no one is interested in yet another study on climate change mitigation right now, since past recommendations are yet to be implemented.
What we require are practical applications in the form of demonstration projects. For example, this could be a small plastic-shredding unit which produces raw material for road construction, or a roof-top clean energy generation system, or a zero-carbon building, or even electric mobility for connecting tourism areas to the Metro station. Such projects would catch the imagination of the people of Kochi and give the urban development-related initiative some kind of credibility. With Urban Pathways, we want to implement such visible projects to showcase the applicability of low-carbon development concepts.
UP: What is the nature of the pilot project that the city intends to undertake with Urban Pathways and how is the municipality supporting it?
RC: The two prominent sectors that we are interested in are electric mobility and solar rooftop energy. We have Kochi Metro Rail Limited (KMRL) and Kochi Smart City Mission Limited (both public sector companies) as key stakeholders for the Kochi Municipal Corporation (KMC), who could drive the Urban Pathways-related projects forward. As the first pilot project, we are planning to have electric vehicles in the historic Fort Kochi area, along with connectivity with the new metro rail system and conventional suburban rail. The second component involves having rooftop solar panels installed for selected schools.
Since the pilot area we have selected for Urban Pathways has extensive tourism-related activities, it has the consent of the Council. But, at the same time, we have the Metro system which majorly benefits local inhabitants. Through this electric mobility pilot project, we are trying to balance the needs of both the locals and tourists alike. At the same time, we are also introducing new concepts (about low-carbon mobility) into Kochi’s transportation system.
RC: The two prominent sectors that we are interested in are electric mobility and solar rooftop energy. We have Kochi Metro Rail Limited (KMRL) and Kochi Smart City Mission Limited (both public sector companies) as key stakeholders for the Kochi Municipal Corporation (KMC), who could drive the Urban Pathways-related projects forward. As the first pilot project, we are planning to have electric vehicles in the historic Fort Kochi area, along with connectivity with the new metro rail system and conventional suburban rail. The second component involves having rooftop solar panels installed for selected schools.
Since the pilot area we have selected for Urban Pathways has extensive tourism-related activities, it has the consent of the Council. But, at the same time, we have the Metro system which majorly benefits local inhabitants. Through this electric mobility pilot project, we are trying to balance the needs of both the locals and tourists alike. At the same time, we are also introducing new concepts (about low-carbon mobility) into Kochi’s transportation system.
UP: What is the current situation towards funding such projects and what are its sources?
RC:We have a significant availability of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) funding in the city. If we show these private sector stakeholders credible projects or proven models, they would be interested in supporting them further. Urban Pathways could prove to be the launchpad for this through successful implementation of pilot projects. This could also help us mobilise governmental funding already available for clean energy and transport sectors. For instance, Kochi is one of the 60 Solar Cities selected by the Central Government for renewable energy development. But, the implementation of its actions has not been very successful. Successful demonstration projects could be the open up newer avenues for low-carbon growth.
RC:We have a significant availability of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) funding in the city. If we show these private sector stakeholders credible projects or proven models, they would be interested in supporting them further. Urban Pathways could prove to be the launchpad for this through successful implementation of pilot projects. This could also help us mobilise governmental funding already available for clean energy and transport sectors. For instance, Kochi is one of the 60 Solar Cities selected by the Central Government for renewable energy development. But, the implementation of its actions has not been very successful. Successful demonstration projects could be the open up newer avenues for low-carbon growth.
UP: What role do you perceive for the non-governmental organisations within these initiatives? Particularly, what are the city’s expectations from Urban Pathways?
RC:There is always a need for a paradigm-shift towards conventional thinking (about urban development). Towards this, non-profit organisations act as opinion-makers. Non-governmental agencies help form the arguments for driving change. These organisations also have useful technical expertise and they have been supporting KMC’s project implementation in this regard. Capacity building is also an important area where the non-profit sector is already active in the city.
International collaborative projects such as Urban Pathways are helping cities such as Kochi to understand and address the low-carbon development issues and emerge with solutions. The Urban Pathways initiative could specifically help us build associations with other cities worldwide, which are facing similar issues and creating workable solutions. The city has benefitted from this in the past. For example, under the SOLUTIONS projects, we became familiar with the best practices in Hangzhou (China), which is the largest manufacturer of bicycles globally. After this exchange, bicycle lanes were built for the first time in Kochi.
Long back, when a municipal delegation visited the city of Cardiff (UK), as soon as they were back in Kochi, they began noticing prevalent issues and taking actions to address them. In this way, city-to-city associations help inspire the city’s political leadership to take the charge of problem-solving. Such convictions could be derived from knowledge-sharing programmes.
RC:There is always a need for a paradigm-shift towards conventional thinking (about urban development). Towards this, non-profit organisations act as opinion-makers. Non-governmental agencies help form the arguments for driving change. These organisations also have useful technical expertise and they have been supporting KMC’s project implementation in this regard. Capacity building is also an important area where the non-profit sector is already active in the city.
International collaborative projects such as Urban Pathways are helping cities such as Kochi to understand and address the low-carbon development issues and emerge with solutions. The Urban Pathways initiative could specifically help us build associations with other cities worldwide, which are facing similar issues and creating workable solutions. The city has benefitted from this in the past. For example, under the SOLUTIONS projects, we became familiar with the best practices in Hangzhou (China), which is the largest manufacturer of bicycles globally. After this exchange, bicycle lanes were built for the first time in Kochi.
Long back, when a municipal delegation visited the city of Cardiff (UK), as soon as they were back in Kochi, they began noticing prevalent issues and taking actions to address them. In this way, city-to-city associations help inspire the city’s political leadership to take the charge of problem-solving. Such convictions could be derived from knowledge-sharing programmes.
UP: Are there any administrative barriers within the existing system of urban governance? Are there any new policies that are required to be framed for the benefit of the city government?
RC:There is an entire gamut of things which need to be worked out for Indian cities. First of all, the 74thConstitutional Amendments (of 1992) which aimed at administratively empowering Indian cities must be implemented in their true spirit. Cities should have the autonomy to propose their own project ideas and implement them. This is one of the biggest challenges as far as Indian cities are concerned. Although cities are entitled as ‘Local Self-Government’, they are, in fact, satellites of the actual power centres. Therefore, we always require permissions from the State or regional governments.
Even with the Smart Cities Mission, the selected pilot area was supposed to be granted administrative autonomy. But we have not yet witnessed such institutional support. To make Indian cities liveable, legislative reforms are needed to be undertaken at multiple levels of government – city, regional, state, national. For instance, even though waste management is a critical sector for us, the concerned department does not have an environmental engineer. We do not have adequate urban planners and designers in our department. So, there are several policy reforms which could be carried out.
The above interview has been excerpted and edited for clarity.
RC:There is an entire gamut of things which need to be worked out for Indian cities. First of all, the 74thConstitutional Amendments (of 1992) which aimed at administratively empowering Indian cities must be implemented in their true spirit. Cities should have the autonomy to propose their own project ideas and implement them. This is one of the biggest challenges as far as Indian cities are concerned. Although cities are entitled as ‘Local Self-Government’, they are, in fact, satellites of the actual power centres. Therefore, we always require permissions from the State or regional governments.
Even with the Smart Cities Mission, the selected pilot area was supposed to be granted administrative autonomy. But we have not yet witnessed such institutional support. To make Indian cities liveable, legislative reforms are needed to be undertaken at multiple levels of government – city, regional, state, national. For instance, even though waste management is a critical sector for us, the concerned department does not have an environmental engineer. We do not have adequate urban planners and designers in our department. So, there are several policy reforms which could be carried out.
The above interview has been excerpted and edited for clarity.
