Urban Infrastructure - An Overview

Due to my absence I could not share some of the things I learnt while preparing for the Urban Infrastructure Presentation. Here is a small overview on Urban Infrastructure Development.

Infrastructure, as discussed in the class, can be defined based on six parameters: Public Use, Economic Development, Capital Assets, Network/System, Lifestyle Optimization and Service. Urban infrastructure is nothing but the same, except the scenario is different. The needs to be catered to, the issues faced and the financing models are some of the aspects which play a crucial role in the development of Urban infrastructure.

Indian economy, since independence, was believed to be an agrarian economy. Urban Development was not much of a focus until the '90s. The rural areas continued to have their traditional local governing frameworks such as the Gram Panchayats which took care of the needs of their respective villages. Cities on the other hand, did not have a clear cut constitutional framework for self-governance. There was no stable governance and the financial resources necessary for development were not sufficient and were not channelized in a proper way.  

To meet these requirements and many others, in 1992, the 74^th Constitutional Amendment Act(CAA ) was passed. The Urban Local Bodies were thereafter enshrined with taxation powers and the revenue sharing between the state and the cities were channelized. This act also ensured the involvement of elected representatives in the planning at the district and metro level, thus ensuring grassroots level involvement in development.

Over the years, the cities have become centers of many small scale and large scale businesses and hence become centers of job availability. This led to the escalation of urban population exponentially. According to the census, the Urban Population increased from 286 million in 2001 to 377 million in 2011. Also, this population accounts to nearly 40% of the total population and 65-70% GDP comes from urban areas. Therefore Urban Areas have become key indicators of development. The Urban Local Bodies could not handle this escalation. For financial resources, they had to go through multiple clearances, which led to delays in many crucial projects.

In order to tackle these issues and to ensure that the 74^th CAA is implemented in its spirit, a set of reforms were introduced under the name, Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM). Phase I of JNNURM was launched in 2005. The motive was to reform the urban sector and enhance the urban infrastructure facility by entrusting more autonomy with the Urban Local Bodies. A total of 67 Cities (63 initially) have been listed under this.

JNNURM directly works through Ministry of Urban Development (MUD) and Ministry of Housing & Poverty Alleviation (MHPA). The MUD has been allotted Rs. 480 billion which has been distributed between two wings: Urban Infrastructure & Governance and Urban Infrastructure Development Scheme for Small & Medium Towns (UIDSSMT). The MHPA has been allocated Rs. 22 Billion distributed between its two wings: Basic Services to Urban Poor and Integrated Housing and Slum Development. The deadline for the first Phase of JNNURM was 7 years since its inception. However, was extended to 2014 in the year 2012.

Post 2014, the second phase of JNNURM will commence. This will be focusing primarily on small cities and towns. Some of the areas of key focus in the second phase are: Enhancing the capacities of Urban Local Bodies, improving their revenue generation, implement alternate financial methods and enhance land management.

JNNURM has made significant progress in major cities of the country. The link provided below is the website of JNNURM. Provided in this website are the completed projects in various sectors and various states.

 http://jnnurm.nic.in/completed-projects-2.html

However there are certain implementation related issues at process level, finance level and reforms level which need to be sorted out in order to achieve better efficiency. JNNURM projects are facing a lot of issues and the current scenario indicates that Phase I might not meet its extended deadline of 2014. Some projects have been stuck in legal issues, some are facing land acquisition problems and some are entangled in the multi-permission web. A lot of projects in major cities are held up. According to recent review 21 projects in West Bengal, 14 in Maharashtra, 11 in Andhra Pradesh, and 8 in Delhi might miss the 2014 deadline.

There is an urgent need for consistent implementation of reforms, and a need for capacity building at the Centre, State and Urban Local Bodies for effective on ground implementation. ULBs must be provided with more support and the multi-permission route must be simplified in order to speed up things. The whole point of setting up JNNURM was the effective implementation of 74th Constitutional Amendment Act. To keep the good work going, this must be reinforced for a speedier Urban Infrastructure Development.