‘Well, what we feared has come true. Construction work has started on the plot - but what is coming up? Commercial or residential? If it’s hearsay, we need to file an RTI. Also, they started work this morning just after 7 and ended well into the night yesterday. What are the authorised times for such work? And if we don’t clamp down now, they will continue to flout the norm to our increasing discomfort. Those of us on Edward Road have to remain active - else we will be swallowed up by commercialisation of this beautiful area...” Mike McMahon is no motivational corporate guru, but his constant reminders to his fellow residents of Edward Road (parallel road to Cunningham Road), Bangalore, to stick out for their road may well push him towards that exalted status.
But that’s not something McMahon would enjoy. He’s discovering it is easier to fly a fighter jet than convince people that it is the residents themselves who hold the keys to their streets. However, McMahon, former Vice Chief of Air Staff, is not in the habit of quitting - “Ok guys! The time for action is here. Let’s shake off dull sloth.” So the Edward Road Residents’ Association (ERRA) members refuse to take each affront on their road - be it double parking, garbage dumping, the presence of a multinational software giant, petty tea stalls, a hip South Asian restaurant and general chaos - with a grin-and-bear attitude.
A setback
But the recent State Cabinet’s approval of Master Plan 2015 of the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA), allowing “flexible zoning system with mixed land use pattern,” has come as a hard slap on the face of many residents’ associations in Bangalore. In 2005, many Bangaloreans had filed objections to this mixed zoning in the BDA draft plan.
According to the highlights of the Master Plan 2015, there will be no strict zoning system and considerable “flexibility” has been allowed to carry out commercial activities in places earmarked as residential zones. Which means that all commercial activities like running restaurants, recreation centres, business establishments, small automobile repair shops and many such activities will be allowed to thrive.
There are many and more residents’ associations in Bangalore city and over the years these have been involved in various activities like developing parks, systematic collection of garbage, harvesting rain water, traffic discipline and general law and order in their areas. In partnership with the civic authorities like the police and municipal corporation, these associations have managed to establish a certain credibility and power, though often at the expense of being termed elitist.
The Kumara Park West Residents’ Welfare Association is one of the active associations that has taken up many welfare measures, including development of Kumara Park, developing greenery alongside 1.3 km stretch railway track between Windsor bridge and Nehru Nagar flyover in association with BBMP.
The association has also taken up setting up a public library and gym for ladies in their locality. Similarly Shantinagar Residents’ Development Association has been taking active part in urban issues. In fact, even before the Palike introduced garbage management programme, the association had set up a system to collect municipal waste from the residents regularly.
In addition, the association has been conducting many awareness programmes to educate the public on scientific disposal of municipal waste. Besides, the organisation responds to all major decisions of the local bodies. When BBMP introduced health tenders to manage municipal waste, the association reacted to it strongly and argued that the new tenders do not include any provision to provide basic amenities such as drinking water and toilet to pourakarmikas. Disproving critics that its concerns are elitist. However, primary concern of these associations is welfare of their locality. Says N S Ramakanth, president, Kumara Park West Residents’ Welfare Association, “Recently we succeeded in persuading the Palike to construct toilet for senior citizens in the park.”
According to Gourav Gupta, special commissioner, BBMP, “Residents’ welfare associations regularly keep in touch with the Palike. They take up issues that concern their locality and the Palike seeks their cooperation whenever we launch special programmes such as intensive cleanliness drive. There has been good support from associations in making the public aware of proper disposal of municipal waste. Their concerns are completely concentrated on welfare of their locality.”
But that welfare is about to be threatened once the mixed zone plan comes into affect. When that happens the residents’ associations will need to shift their focus from just the cosmetic to playing a greater role in civic management.
with inputs from Satish Shile
Catching rain in Delhi
If you want modern similes, sample this one: Dry as Delhi, some would say some years ago. Several areas of Delhi have faced or continue to face severe water shortage, specially in summer. But there are oasis of hope. Several RWAs (resident welfare associations) have come forward to harvest the average 650mm rain water that drops over the city annually over 20 – 30 days. On May 13, 2006, chief minister of Delhi Sheila Dikshit, inaugurated nine rain water harvesting (RWH) recharge wells in Mandakini, south Delhi, the largest project yet in Delhi with the capacity of harvesting 1.4 crore litres of rain water. Most of these projects are a unique resident-NGO-government-corporate partnerships.
Jyoti Sharma, president, FORCE, an NGO that is working for three years in this field, now has over 50 RWA-linked projects on hand. A resident of Vasant Kunj, which was water-starved till the Sonia Vihar plant got going recently, this IIM Bangalore alumnus opted out of corporate life to work in the social sector. She prefers to work with the RWAs, since they are “initiators in any developmental work.”
As she observes, about half of the water the city consumes is from its own underground resources that are being steadily depleted, creating “a recipe for trouble”. The water table in south and south west Delhi, for instance, is going down by 12 feet a year and stands somewhere between 300 – 350 feet in Vasant Kunj. “This leads to desertification, since there is nothing left for plants to draw,” she points out. “It is important to replenish water locally,” she tells anyone willing to listen. So, Force works with all the stakeholders: the RWAs, the local MLA and Councillor, the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) and the Central Ground Water Board, which provides technical expertise. Once the project, often funded by a corporate body, is in place, the RWA and FORCE get together for annual or biannual maintenance.
The DJB pays the RWA up to Rs one lakh on completion of one such project. “You can actually hear the sound of water being sucked in by the earth,” smiles Sharma. But are all the RWAs willing to follow? Random calls show that while most are aware of the benefits of RWH, they cite funds crunch as a problem. Besides, say others, RWAs are run by elected bodies that are changed every two years. This can tempt committees to take up more visible, short-term projects.
RWAs like Mandakini are moving towards non-conventional energy like solar panels for lights in common areas. Other RWAs like one in G Block Dilshad Garden have greened bare parks on their own initiative. Some have worked out a better security system for residents. As Jyoti Sharma says, “RWAs are the best thing happening to Delhi.”
They remind you somewhere, to some extent, of what Gandhiji said: ‘Be the change you want to see in the world.’
FORCE may be emailed at jyoti@force.org.in or contacted over telephone at 011-26893502.
Benita Sen in New Delhi
Garbage girls rock
Almost everyone in Malleswaram would complain of the annoyance caused by garbage strewn around in many parts of the locality, but when time came to translate words into action, it was “The Garbage Girls” — four women from Kalpataru Apartments — who actually made a difference! About five years ago, Shakuntala ShankarRao, Vijayalakshmi Ganapathy, K S Vasantha and (late) Lily Sundarraj who light-heartedly proclaimed themselves as that, also bearing a formal name Suchi Mitras, decided to volunteer in the ‘Keep the city clean’ programme initiated by the then Bangalore Agenda Task Force (BATF) and Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BMP).
The women would devote their time and services in supervising the garbage collection drive that took place every alternate day in Malleswaram. They would ensure that residents of the area would dispose garbage in bags that pourakarmikas could collect and feed to garbage lorries that would in turn deposit them in a land fill. 
The Suchi Mitras was dismantled after the previous government did away with BATF. However, the group has returned, having rechristened itself as ‘Civic Conscious Citizens.’ “The garbage drive is not enough! We need more garbage bins to be strategically located all over Malleswaram, and staff to maintain it regularly. It is only on paper that fines are imposed on people who litter. No one is bothered about putting theory into practice,” states Shakuntala.
Often, the group has faced a tough time with people who can be difficult. “Some people have an issue with us advising them on keeping the city clean, and we have been spoken to rudely on several occasions. One person even exclaimed ‘This is India, not Singapore, and who are you to be telling me this anyway’!” complains Shakuntala, adding, “The city can be kept clean only when its people are willing to co-operate”.
Vasantha, a music teacher and linguist, believes that awareness is the key to cleanliness.”College students, always snacking on something or the other, feel free to dispose waste on the roadside. It helps to a certain extent when you explain to them that they should keep the place clean for their own sake, afterall they will be ‘hanging out’ in the same place tomorrow”. Vijayalakshmi Ganapathy, retd. teacher, M E S Kishore Kendra, makes it a point to give people a peace of her mind at every given chance. “We need more urinals in our city. It’s sickening to see men urinating in public. I don’t think twice before lecturing them on what a nuisance they are being much to my daughter’s irriration,” she laughs.
Priyanka Haldipur in Bangalore
Mumbai flood control
With July 26, 2005, monsoon nightmare still fresh in many minds, a number of residents’ associations in Mumbai have woken up to the possibility of doing something on their own to avoid repeat of the flooding in their areas. There is an acknowledgement that one single agency like the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) cannot handle the job due to obvious limitations in logistics.
Therefore, residents’ associations have joined in efforts to secure Mumbai from 26/7-like disaster. While most of the residents’ associations are busy helping the civic authorities to clean up gutters and drainage systems in their respective zones, at least a few of them have actually joined the disaster management.
The Pestom Sagar Citizens’ Forum (PSCF) in Chembur, Mumbai North East, is one such association covering 120 buildings that has set up a temporary disaster management kit to tackle emergencies in monsoon. Since the Chembur-Ghatkopar is a low-lying area situated on the edge of a creek and flooding due to rain water cannot be avoided altogether, the residents got an inflatable raft. This raft can be fitted with a 15 hp motor and can be used to ferry residents if at all 26/7 like situation is repeated.
The PSCF has also bought life jackets, life buoys, stretchers, a fogging machine and a van for rescue operations with a small budget of Rs 25,000 only. The raft was gifted by a private firm which specialises in rescue equipment.
The BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), which claims to have geared up for any monsoon-related crisis this year, had conducted training programmes in disaster relief to prepare rescue teams at local levels. The PSCF was the first to set up such a rescue team and others are now following up, the BMC safety officer and disaster risk management coordinator, P R Masurkar, said.
Masurkar of the BMC said such involvement at the community level complimented the work of official agencies, who may not reach the spot in time. No wonder, the efforts of the PSCF have been appreciated by the BMC officials as well as that of a disaster relief management project jointly organised by the Central government and the UNDP (United Nations Development Programme).
With more and more creeks being reclaimed and proposals to develop salt pan lands under consideration, the metropolis will be left with hardly any open space for rain water to drain. So even if 26/7 like situation does not repeat on its own this year, the residents are not taking any chances.
Parag Rabade in Mumbai