20th May 2022 | Urbanisation in Telangana State, Spatio-temporal changes, Urban Growth and Migration | Laex Secure

Syllabus- Urbanisation in Telangana State, Spatio-temporal changes, Urban Growth and Migration.

Number of questions- Mains: 02, Prelims – 10

Mains Questions of the day- 

1.Creating and maintaining sustainable cities is the key to reducing carbon emissions. Explain the Telangana’s government’s initiatives for creating and maintaining sustainable cities.

Introduction: –

Mention current statistics related to the carbon emissions in India.

Body: –

Mention the Government Initiatives of Telangana for creating and maintaining sustainable cities.

Conclusion: –

• The use of smart traffic management systems to reduce road congestion, and on-demand services improves urban mobility.
• Telangana’s IT-hubs and technologists are well-suited to act as pioneers in deploying technologies to improve the urban experience. 
• The citizen-centric focus of urban development is must for inclusive urbanization.

Content: –

• Urban Areas and Climate Change in 2020, the Government published its first assessment of Climate Change and its possible consequences for India. 
• It states that between 1901 and 2018, India’s average temperature has risen by around 0.7C. 
• The surface temperature would increase by 2 to 3C between 2040 and 2070. 
• Hence, by the end of the 21st century, rise in temperature over India is roughly 4.4C. 
• lower rainfalls, more droughts, and rising sea levels are the possible consequences of the Climate Change. 
• While climate change is a global challenge, urban areas worldwide have a significant role to play in combating climate change. 
• It is estimated that over 75% of global carbon dioxide emissions arise in the cities. 
• Thus, creating and maintaining sustainable cities is the key to reducing future carbon emissions and limiting earth’s warming.

The following are the Government Initiatives of Telangana for creating and maintaining sustainable cities:

Strategic Nala Development Programme: –

• According to a report, four out of five highest 24-hour rainfall days were witnessed in past two decades in Telangana. 
• In order to reduce the possibility of flooding in the future, it is essential that the drainage infrastructure across urban areas in the state is expanded and improved. 
• The storm water drainage systems should be designed to accommodate the expected changes in precipitation in the future. 
• Hence, the Government has taken up the Strategic Nala Development Programme (SNDP) in Hyderabad. 
• The goal is to improve the city drainage systems so that unusual volumes of rainfall in the future do not lead to flooding. 

Green Budget

•  The Government has taken up proactive measures. 
• Since 2020, all ULBs in the state have set aside 10% of their budget to ‘Green Budget’. 
• The goal of ‘Green Budget’ is to address urban forestry and development of green cover in urban areas on a priority basis. 
• This is done by establishing nurseries and plantations, and carrying out awareness programmes in the urban areas. 
• A large share of the Green Budget (47%) is devoted to developing colony parks, followed by upkeep and maintenance of city parks (44%). 
• Development and maintenance of public parks serves many purposes. It provides recreational spaces for the residents, especially the children, and increases the green cover of the city. 

Telangana State Heatwave Action Plan: –

• Heat waves act like a “silent disaster” that adversely affects the health of the people and animals of the state. 

• According to a report, 568 out of 589 mandals of Telangana are susceptible to heatwaves. 
• Hence, Telangana maintains the State Heatwave Action Plan to guide the departments on how to alter their roles and functioning in the event of a heatwave in the state. 
• The plan recognises that the burden of heatwaves is borne disproportionately by construction workers, children, women, street vendors and the poor and the marginalised, and suggests measures to minimise the impact of heatwaves on all citizens in general, and on these vulnerable groups in particular 
• It suggests:

• altering the working hours in major cities to avoid peak hours, 
• distributing information on how to deal with heatwaves, 
• ensuring shelter facilities for livestock, deploying health teams at major bus stops, and
• rescheduling load shedding to avoid peak hours. 

Early Warning System for Flood Prediction: –

• Information from national monitoring networks is often insufficient for local authorities to evaluate flood risk at the local scale, particularly in urban areas. 

• At the time of state formation, the area under the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation had 33 Automatic Weather Stations (AWS). 
• In order to improve the accuracy and efficiency of the early warning system for flood prediction in Hyderabad, installed 99 new Automatic Weather Stations (AWS) in the GHMC area. 
• The resolution of AWS in Telangana has improved, and they provide hourly data on rainfall, temperature, humidity, wind direction, and speed of wind.
• The data from these stations is transmitted to the main server through GSM technology. 
• After quality control, the real-time data and products are disseminated to various users, who use this data to make timely decisions for disaster management. 

2.Mention the Telangana government’s investments to build and maintain the infrastructure in urban areas. 

Introduction: –

Mention the importance of investments in urban infrastructure.

Body: –

Mention the Telangana Government’s investments to build and maintain the infrastructure in the urban areas.

Conclusion: –

• The future of urban development in Telangana is full of opportunities, with a perfect ecosystem in place for experimenting with new technologies and policy proposals. 
• The citizen-centric focus of urban development is for inclusive urbanization.

Content: –

• As of 2022, over 37% of Telangana’s population is living in urban areas. 
• By 2027, more residents of Telangana would be living in its urban areas than in rural areas. 
• Investments in infrastructure are an essential component of urban development.
• These investments increase the productivity of urban economic activities. 

The following are the Telangana’s Government investments to build and maintain the infrastructure in the urban area

Pattana Pragathi: –

• It was launched in 2020 to provide a strong foundation for better standards of living for the urban population, to make urban areas clean and green, and to provide better services to the urban public at large. 
• It was executed in three phases— 

• the first of which focused on developing urban utility infrastructure. 
• the second on sanitation and 
• the third on both urban utility infrastructure as well as sanitation. 

• This scheme funds have been used to address infrastructural gaps to meet the goals of citizen-centric service delivery by the ULBs. 
• The main areas of work are sanitation and waste management, provision of public toilets, designing public spaces like gardens, markets, graveyards and animal shelters, and making concerted efforts towards greening the urban areas. 
• The ULBs utilised these funds to meet the targets for Telaganaku Haritha Haram (TKHH)—a government policy to improve urban forestry and increase forest land cover in Telangana from 24% to 33%. 
• Under this scheme, the ULBs established nurseries and tall plants. 
• They also developed Pattana Prakruthi Vanalu (Tree Parks) with plants. 
• Additionally, funds were also used to make the Multi-Layer Avenue Plantation along the road. 
• The new plants added under TKHH are regularly watered, weeded, and maintained to ensure a target survival rate of 90%. 
• Finally, the funds were used to develop utility infrastructure.
• This includes the construction of open gyms, sheds in street vending zones, animal care shelters, Vaikuntha Dhamams, and integrated veg and non-veg markets (IVNMCs) 
• The efforts under this scheme have borne fruit, as Telangana ranked second among all states in the Safaimitra Suraksha Challenge conducted by the Ministry.  

Telangana State Building Permission and Self-Certification System (TS-bPASS): –

• The Government’s commitment to easing administrative burdens in development of new buildings. 
• In 2020, the Government introduced the TS-bPASS for approving the layouts of buildings.
• The process is the first in the country to provide fully online services. 
• It is a single-window system that expedites approval of building designs. 
• The TS-bPASS was brought in to replace the Development Permission Management System (DPMS). 
• The new rules have eliminated the need to obtain building permission for ground floor and ground plus one floor residential buildings. 
• It also provides for the processing of land use certificates and land conversion certificates. 

Property Tax Waiver: –

• Recognising the financial costs of COVID-19, the Government provided relaxation on property tax to reduce the burden on people in major urban centers. 

Vaikunthadhamams: –

• 265 graveyards have been developed by providing infrastructure facilities like parking, toilets, rainwater harvesting structures, lighting, greenery and CCTV cameras. 

Innovative Waste Management Practices: –

• In order to reduce the burden of waste on urban landfills and the ecosystem, the Government has adopted innovative measures to address the problem. 
• The Government of Telangana has commissioned South India’s largest Waste-to-Energy (WtE) plant in Jawaharnagar. 
• The target is to generate 63 MW of electricity from municipal solid waste in Hyderabad. 
• It is expected to consume 1,200 tonnes of waste each day. 
• Another 15 MW waste-to-energy plant is being planned in Dundigal. 
• The WtE plant has the potential to reduce pressure on the landfill, lower the foul odour in the area, and prevent ground, soil and water pollution. 
• The plant at Fathullaguda is among the largest construction and demolition (C&D) recycling facilities in South India. 
• C&D waste from these facilities is being utilised for various non-structural purposes such as to create footpaths, road sub-bases, etc. 
• Recognising that urban Telangana produces over 7,000 MT of waste on a daily basis, Telangana State Agricultural Industries Development Corporation Limited (TS AGROS) has entered into an MoU for the supply of city compost to be used as fertiliser to improve the fertility of Telangana’s soils. 
• The Government has instructed all fertiliser companies to supply city compost through TS AGROS alone. 

Integrated Markets: –

• In order to address the infrastructural deficiencies in the ULBs, the Government has earmarked Rs.500 crores to construct Integrated Veg and Non-veg Markets in all 142 ULBs. 

• 5 ULBs have already constructed these markets, whereas the work is underway in 6 more ULBs. 
• Sites for the construction have been identified in the remaining ULBs.

Prelims Questions of the day: –

1.Acoording to 2019-20 PLFS, what is the labor force participation rate in Telangana’s urban population?

1. 57.2%
2. 56.4%
3. 59.2%
4. 53.3%

Answer: A

Explanation:

• In Telangana’s urban areas had a Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR) and Worker Population Ratio (WPR) of 57.2% and 51.0% in 2019-20 respectively, higher than the national level LFPR and WPR of 53.5% and 49.6% respectively.  
• A majority of urban workers in Telangana (55.1%) have a regular or salaried job.

2.Which of the following state is the first to achieve the target under PM SVANidhi Scheme (distributing loan to street vendors)?

1. Andhra Pradesh 
2. Telangana
3. Maharashtra
4. Madhya Pradesh

Answer: B

Explanation:

In November 2021, Telangana became the first state in the country to achieve its target of distributing loans to 3.4 lakh street vendors under the PM SVANidhi Scheme.  

3.Hyderabad was honored as “tree city of the world” by which of the following organization?

1. UNDP
2. World Custom Organisation
3. Food and Agriculture Organisation
4. World Trade Organisation

Answer: C

Explanation:

Hyderabad was honoured with the title, ‘Tree City of the World’, by the Food and Agriculture Organization in 2020. 

4.How much percentage is kept aside for the Green Budget from urban local bodies expenditure in order to deal with global warming and climate change?

1. 25
2. 45
3. 10
4. 18

Answer: C

Explanation:

• Promoting Greenery in the urban areas, by demarcating funds towards the ‘Green Budget’
• In order to deal with global warming and climate change, the Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) of Telangana have kept aside 10% of their expenditure for a ‘Green Budget’. 

5.Which of the following scheme is related to the drainage infrastructure to reduce the disaster from heavy rainfall in Hyderabad?

1. Telangana State Heatwave Action Plan 
2. Early Warning System for Flood Prediction
3. Pattana Pragathi 
4. Strategic Nala Development Programme (SNDP)

Answer: D

Explanation:

• In order to reduce the harms from heavy rainfall in Hyderabad, the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) has initiated a Strategic Nala Development Programme (SNDP).  
• Telangana’s ULBs were recognised and felicitated during the Swachh Survekshan 2021 conducted by Minsitry of Housing and Urban Affairs under different categories. 
• In total, Telangana ULBs received 9 awards including awards for the ‘Best Self Sustaining City’, the ‘Cleanest City’ the ‘Best City in Innovation & Best Practices’, the ‘Fastest Mover City’, and the ‘SelfSustaining Cantonment’.  

6.Which of the following system was introduced by Telangana in order to ease administrative burden for approving the layouts of buildings?

1. Telangana State Heatwave Action Plan
2. Telangana State Building Permission and Self-Certification System (TS-bPASS)
3. Green Budget
4. Strategic Nala Development Programme

Answer: B

Explanation:

Telangana State Building Permission and Self-Certification System (TS-bPASS):-

In order to ease administrative burdens, the Government introduced the Telangana State Building Permission and Self-Certification System (TS-bPASS) for approving the layouts of buildings—the first in the country to provide fully online services in this regard with no touchpoint.  

7.In which of the following district , South India’s largest waste-to-energy plant was commissioned by the Telangana government?

1. Hyderabad
2. Warangal
3. Nirmal
4. Rangareddy

Answer: A

Explanation:

The Government of Telangana has commissioned South India’s largest Waste-to-Energy (WtE) plant in Jawaharnagar in 2021 to generate 63 MW of electricity from municipal solid waste in Hyderabad. 

8.Accoording to 2020-21, how much percentage of Telangana urban wards have dodo-to –door waste collection facilities?

1. 75%
2. 100%
3. 90%
4. 80%

Answer: B

Explanation:

• As of 2020-21, 100% of Telangana’s urban wards have door-to-door waste collection facilities.  
• To support women-led enterprises during COVID-19, the Government provided credit support of Rs. 36.83 crore to 6,603 urban SHGs during the pandemic.

9. Which of the following is related to the “Telangana Palle Pragathi” project?

1. Rural development
2. Urban development
3. Both A and B
4. Neither A nor B

Answer: A

Explanation:

• The Government of Telangana has launched Palle Pragati program to improve the quality of life in the rural areas. 
• The Palle Pragathi programme was launched in 2019 with the twin objectives of enhancing the quality of life in the rural areas and improving the governance of Gram Panchayats (GPs). 
• The programme has completed four campaign rounds until July 2021 with a total expenditure of Rs. 8,617.45 crores. 
• Key achievements include the construction of 12,714 crematoria, 12,751 dumping yards, and plantation of 9.30 crore seedlings across all GPs

10.Which of the following is related to the ‘HRIDAY’ scheme?

1. Urban development        
2. Rural development
3. Health improvement     
4. Literacy improvement       

Answer: A

Explanation:

The Ministry of Urban Development, Government of India, launched the Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana (HRIDAY) scheme, with a focus on holistic development of heritage cities.