Our greying cities

Our cities, some older than colonial era, are facing a collapse. Here, we look at a select few to see what they plan to do next year as smoothcommutes to work and a liveable home remain distant dreams for the country’s millions...

India’s infrastructure needs are massive. Roads in cities and in the rest of the country are inadequate as one in three rural people lacks access to an all-weather road and only one in five national highways is a four-lane one, according to the data compiled by the World Bank.

As the Chennai deluge this year highlighted, abnormal rainfall or heat waves leave our cities struggling to cope... given the abysmal state of our sewage systems and public health. Delhi The capital is still struggling to cope with its massive population and is spectacularly failing to provide basic amenities — water, power and sanitation.

Delhi’s infrastructure has grown leaps and bounds, thereby changing the demographics of the entire city, but residents still struggle to cope. The city has also been struggling with its image, given the lack of security for women. Bengaluru

From the city it was until the early 1990s, Bengaluru has come a long way — in the wrong direction, like any other major Indian city. Of course, it has become one of the world’s, not just India’s, great tech cities, but only within campuses of the multi-nationals. Once the “Garden City,” it’s now one of the most polluted — gridlocked at any hour. Mumbai With a human count of 18.3 million — it’s one of the most populated cities on the planet. And having this enormous population within a relatively tiny area of 604 sq km means Mumbaikars are forever getting in each other’s ways. This gives rise to an obsession with space. Finding an affordable roof over one’s head is a legendary concern in this megacity... the stuff of Bollywood lore.

Kolkata With its ancient, basic civic infrastructure, the city is still struggling. But it has witnessed growth in terms of areas, connectivity and population because of cheap labour, quick transportation and a largely affordable healthcare system.

And in has also become a better metropolis with improving infrastructure — from more drinking water to illumination on the streets, there has been an upward graph.

Kochi It’s aspiring to become the first metropolis of the southernmost state of India. A slew of big-ticket infrastructure projects in transport and logistics have helped it shake off that “sleepy little port town image”. And a boom in high-rise apartments and commercial complexes fuelled mainly by remittance income from NRI Keralites has also helped in changing the profile of Kochi. Chennai Over four million residents of Chennai, which was once a flourishing port city, are literally struggling to stay afloat. And it doesn’t all have to do with the December deluge, which only battered an already crumbling infrastructure. In the last five years, city limits have been redrawn to include areas from neighbouring districts. The metropolis has failed to deliver basic amenities and newer areas have had no water supply schemes, no sewage disposal mechanisms and are built on water bodies. In the aftermath of the deluge, will be hard work for the “cultural capital” of the country to revive itself and recover some of that past glory.

Hyderabad

Hyderabad’s evolution as a modern city can be traced back to that massive IT revolution in the late 1990s. Development was earlier confined to certain core areas, which started expanding phenomenally. The city’s outskirts are now dotted with skyscrapers, IT parks, residential and commercial complexes and flyovers. The exponential growth has brought with it the modern problems of unplanned growth: Dense traffic crawling on inadequate roads and civic facilities stretched to the limit.

Mumbai Housing Total household: 28 lakh 11.36 lakh stay in slums Homeless households: 15,274 57% households live in one room Average cost of a 269 sq. ft. house (at minimum ready reckoner rate) is 12 times the median annual income of MumbaikarsNearly 70 per cent of unsold homes are priced at about Rs 1 crore each. With an average annual income of Rs 7.5 lakh, a Mumbai resident will take 13 years to pay for a house costing Rs 1 crore. He will take 27 years to pay for a unit costing Rs 2 crore.Mumbai-based Lodha Developers has sold a triplex apartment at its super-luxury premises on Altamount Road, in South Mumbai for Rs 150 crore in the month of November. The deal makes for among the largest transacted in recent times.Maharashtra plans to construct 3 lakh affordable homes in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR). Most of these houses will be in Mumbai city. w The BJP government’s plan to construct houses will be implemented between April 2016 and March 2017.

Delhi Education No. of schools in Delhi

Pre-primary & primary 2,806 Middle 933 Secondary 385 Senior Secondary 1,674 Total 5,798

Enrollment in lakh Pre-primary & Primary 20.83 Middle 11.16 Secondary 6.52 Senior Secondary 5.62 Total 44.13 No. of teachers

Pre-primary & Primary 29,708 Middle 11,741 Secondary 9,370 Senior Secondary 88,661 Total 1,39,480

Student-teacher ratio 32:1 Higher Educations Institutes 11 Deemed as universities 12 Institutes of national importance 3 Colleges for general education 81 Professional colleges 100

The Delhi government’s budget for education is '4,570 crore. It plans to recruit 20,000 regular teachers and construct 236 new schools. 83 new building are being constructed and land has been identified for 38 schools. Three new ITIs will come up in Ranhola, Chhatarpur and Bakkarwala.

Chennai Budget 2015-16: Rs 8,245.41 crore Tamil Nadu is the seventh most populous state with a population of 7.21 crore (2011 census). Hospitals with medical college 44 Multi super-specialty hospital 1 District HQ hospitals 31 Other hospital 239 PHCs 1,750 Health sub-centres 8,706 Urban PHCs 134 ESI hospitals 8 Alternative medicine 4 Women and child 7 Dispensaries 1,375 ESI 195

Kolkata Metro Only running Metro line Noapara to Kavi Subhas Length: 28 km Stations: 24 Under construction: 5 lines East-West Metro: 16.54 km Cost: Rs 8100 crores Completion: 2019 Joka Esplanade Metro: 14.21 km Cost: Rs2,619.02 crores Completion: 2020 New Garia-Airport Metro: 29.10 km Cost: Rs 4,259.5 crores Completion: 2020 Noapara-Dakshineswar: 6.2 km Cost: Rs 227.53 crores Completion: 2018 Noapara Airport: 6.24 km Cost: Rs 184.83 crores Completion: 2019 First Metro rail project in India that will be constructed under a river

Hyderabad Total length: 72 kilometers Deadline: 2016-17 Completion of all three phases and starting the complete services by 2017. Total cost: Rs 14,132 crores. Entire project to be completed by June 2017 Two stretches completed are: Nagole to Mettuguda: 8 km Miyapur to S.R. Nagar: 12 km First phase from Nagole to Mettuguda delayed. Expected to start in the first quarter of 2016. Driver-less train as communication-based train control System is being used. Work started in 2012 and 62% have been completed. Foundations have been laid on 53 km. Kochi Water transport Kerala water transport department operates services to Vypeen, Fort Kochi, Kakkanad and has proposed high speed boat service along Ernakulam-Vaikom and Kottayam-Kumarakom routes Rs 740 cr project funded by the German bank KFW 78 high quality safe modern vessels to be procured at a cost of Rs 195 crore KMRL’s aqua division will be the nodal agency of the project Kochi Corporation to introduce two modern RO-RO vessels along Vypeen — Fort Kochi, the riskiest route. wConstruction of the vessels progressing at Cochin Shipyard. Total project cost — Rs 7 cr

Bengaluru Area under Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike: 841 km Budget 2015-16: '6728.98 crore Property tax revenue: '1,800 crore Employees: 7,000 Number of zones: 8 Roads: 19,000 Length of roads: 11,500 km Arterial and sub-arterial roads: 3,800 km Roads identified for widening: 216 Proposed signal-free corridors: 12 Road works, maintenance estimate: Rs 1,200 crore Money spent for pothole filling: Rs 300 crore Money needed for resurfacing of roads in city: Rs3,000 crore Proposed metal bridge: 1 Road maintenance period: 3 years