A minimum standard of living for the country՚s poor is under threat.
Social conflicts are further expected to rise.
Financial Year 2021:
The economy goes into a recession.
India՚s unemployment situation will worsen.
Unemployment situation was 30 million or 6.1% of the country՚s labour force in 2017 - 18.
The unemployment is further expected to rise by 40 to 50 million.
Standard Workers Action Network (SWAN) Survey:
During the first 21 days of the lockdown.
Cash transfer or free food grain supply through PDS hardly reached anyone.
98% of the 11,000 migrant workers surveyed they received nothing.
Housing for a Crisis
The liability of structures built under govt. housing schemes.
State governments like in Odisha and Delhi had to request landlords to waive off or defer rent.
This pandemic showed that there was a need of not just state-run housing schemes but also of more affordable rental housing schemes.
Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana Urban (PMAY-U) :
Launched in 2015.
To provide houses to all by 2022.
doesn՚t focus on rental housing.
Only after witnessing the distress of the labourers and their sheer numbers in the cities.
Rental housing is generally not lucrative to the private sector.
It requires innovative financing mechanisms or a strong push from the govt. in terms of incentives to pull market interest.
Draft National Urban Rental Housing Policy (NURHP)
To address the financing challenges.
Suggests various models to improve the segment՚s economic feasibility like the rent to own scheme.
The beneficiary gets a housing unit on a lease for a fixed duration.
The beneficiary pays a monthly instalment containing a certain percentage of rent and the rest as thrift.
The house gets registered in the beneficiary՚s name when the amount paid reaches a certain percentage (around 10% or as decided) .
Upon 100% payment there is full ownership.
The tenants feel secure as the landlord acts as the govt. and there is no obligation to but the unit.
Chandigarh has implemented a rent-to-own scheme.
Andhra Pradesh is attempting to promote one.
In Odisha the government has built dormitories for migrant workers using funds collected as labour cess.
In Ahmedabad public transport connectivity and proxime livelihood opportunities have been internalised in the master plan.
Source: Report of the Technical Group on Urban Housing Shortage (TG-12) (2012 - 17) , Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation
The National Building Code of India (NBC)
A comprehensive building Code.
The Code was first published in 1970.
At the instance of Planning Commission and then first revised in 1983.
A national instrument providing guidelines for regulating the building construction activities.
A Model Code for adoption by all agencies involved in building construction works by the PWD including other government construction departments and local bodies or private construction agencies.
This code mainly contains:
Administrative regulations
Development control rules
General building requirements
Fire safety requirements
Stipulations regarding materials
Structural design and construction (including safety)
Building and plumbing services
Approach to sustainability
Asset and facility management
Three major amendments were issued to the 1983 version:
Two in 1987 and the third in 1997
The second revision of the Code was in 2005
To which two amendments were issued in 2015
Eco-Niwas Samhita
The energy conservation building codes for residential structures.
Code was launched on the occasion of National Energy Conservation Day 2018.
Celebrated every year on 14th of December by Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) .
Addresses only energy efficiency of buildings.
The code focuses on:
Building envelope
Mechanical systems and equipment including heating ventilating Air conditioning (HVAC) system
Interior and exterior lighting systems
Electrical system and renewable energy
Benefits
To benefit the occupants and the environment.
By promoting energy efficiency in design and construction of homes, apartments and townships.
Potential for energy savings to the tune of 125 Billion Units of electricity per year by 2030.
Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE)
A statutory body under Ministry of Power.
Was setup in 2002 under the provisions of the Energy Conservation Act, 2001?
To implement policy and programmes in the area of energy efficiency and conservation.
Flaws & What Needs to Be Done
76.2% of the 7,953 Census towns in India don՚t have a master plan.
Lack of mechanisms to ensure essential services.
Centralized services like sewage treatment bear a risk of spreading the disease.
Unscientific disposal of solid waste especially bio-medical waste may exacerbate the situation.
Green spaces are diminishing and the design and the material choice of the buildings are unsuited to the climate zone.
There is a need to start using designs and materials suitable to the climate zone.
As per the Scientific Community, structures that bring in adequate sunlight, wind and humidity reduce exposure to the COVID-19 virus by not allowing it to sustain and thus thermal comfort becomes important.
Thermal Comfort as per the National Building Code is identified by:
Temperature
Ventilation
Relative Humidity
Daylight analysis showed that the day-lit area is 47% of the total living area.
The other buildings are not shading the structure.
The day-lit area is only 15% where the buildings are mutually shading each other.
The criteria for thermal comfort needs to be established in respective climate zones for different building typologies.
Cities and towns should be allowed to ensure that the distance and cost of daily-commute of lower-income population is at a minimum.
Site layouts need to be designed in a way to accommodate the services.
Lesson from the Pandemic
The Spanish flu of 1918 - 19 convinced humans that pandemics were not meteorological events or god՚s curse.
This lead to the recognition of the virus and development of anti-viral treatments and vaccine.
Then H1N1 outbreak of 2009 made us realized that such events are going to be frequent and wider in impact.
For the first time the provisions of the 2005 International Health Regulation (IHR) were activated.
The recent pandemic has made us realize that we are relatively powerless as a people operating the world՚s largest democracy.
Four distinct phases of public-govt. interface and resultant changes in policies:
A hesitant way of recognizing the threat.
A stringent crackdown on people to keep them indoors (law and order condition) .
Claims of a grand plan⟋strategy to medically approach the crisis.
Leaving it to the others.
The declining health expenditure has directly resulted in a feeble and inadequate public health infrastructure.
Growing inequality and in terms of employment and wealth distribution.
We as a society have failed to build pressure on the governments to result in any tangible policy change.
Auditing Our Homes
Being stuck indoors due to COVID-19.
Utilising the time to better manage the resources within the house itself.
Looking forward to the online classes.
The energy consumption in India plummeted by 26% within just the first 10 days of the lockdown in March 2020.
Saving as much household consuming as much energy as possible.
Separating dry and wet wastes into different dustbins.
Making sure whether the beloved family car has all the essential certifications like Pollution under Control and Road Worthiness Certificates.
Keeping a check on carbon emissions.
GSP@Home
The Green Schools Programme՚s (GSP՚s) Audit@Home.
A fun survey for households.
To monitor and improve the management of resources within the house.
Improving the aspects of our homes:
Energy consumption pattern to waste management.
Water usage to air quality around the house.
Carbon emissions to the wastage being done inadvertently.