Midweek Musings 45 21.10.26 Without planning resource management, we end up bursting at the seams #UNCBD COP 17

 Without planning resource management, we end up bursting at the seams

By Malini Shankar

Digital Discourse



All water bodies are being filled up to create more land for human habitation This most certainly not smart city governance. It is neither smart nor is there anything to do with governance. Unmitigated unchecked horizontal expansion of vertical growth is not inclusive horizontal economic growth. Think about it, vertical economic growth is always at the expense of planned exits planned infrastructure.

If only there had been planned economic growth across resource rich India, there would have been no migration at all. Today migrant laborers squat on the periphery of prosperous cities like Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Chennai, and Thiruvananthapuram. They come to these cities seeking part time employment. They make good by taking up part time employment under various heads … in various time slots and actually prosper to the point of being able to afford construction of two to three houses in their ancestral property in their native place… But in their adopted squat-lands they lack access to toilets, a dignified space to call their own, they lack sound sleep in the nights. Think of those homeless who sleep on the streets.

In the Indian context the southern states prospered because, generally speaking, - of a respect for the rule of law. Education bore fruit, transparent governance translated to actual development to justify tax earnings of the government…

As if lack of planning in these undeveloped cities / states was not enough now with migrant population manifesting as squatters in more developed cities like Bangalore, the cities are literally bursting at the seams. Horizontal expansion is not the same as horizontal economic growth.

Horizontal expansion to accommodate squatters makes huge demand on tree growth, land water and food. This unplanned growth means the void left by the migrants gets filled up by more babies by the residents. And there is no economic growth to fall back on in these native lands either. Result is a policy conundrum, which reflects rather poorly on lack of planning. Not to think that the erstwhile Planning Commission was unceremoniously shut down with its successor Niti Aayog not filling in perfectly.

Not just planning …  the sustainable development, best practices and resource mobilization has to translate to policy guidelines and economic development. Without planning and policy implementation corruption will only escalate. Corruption was ostensibly the main reason for shutting down the Planning Commission. Now there are no answers to the escalation of corruption thanks to lack of planning.

Expanding the human footprint without development to scale …. Is scalding Planet Earth’s finite resources.

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