Activities //

2002 - 2003

Erstwhile constituents of NAGAR now amalgamated: Clean Air (CA); CitiSpace (CS); Clean Sweep Forum (CSF)

CA: A member of the Co-ordination Committee constituted by the High Court, August 2002
Institution of flying squads of RTO and traffic police accompanied by citizen volunteers; CA suggested on all matters relating to the smooth implementation of Court Orders regarding polluting vehicles. This resulted in complete conversion to clean fuel of the taxi fleet (of 55,000 taxis) and a phase-out of almost 20,000 fifteen-year old un-road-worthy heavy vehicles.

Painting Competition
CA, in collaboration with WWF, held a painting competition on the theme of water, land and air pollution on 14 Jan 2003 which received a good response with a hundred children from different schools (and language mediums) participating.

NeTrA (Networking for Transport Alternatives)
Members of NeTrA met with the Jt. Metropolitan Commissioner, MMRDA, Dr. T. Chandrashekhar on 12th May 2002 to view his brainchild, the newly mooted MUTP project, dealing with street level changes for smooth flow of traffic. Draft plans for the same were shown to them. Mr. Chandrashekhar also showed them maps of areas to be targeted and pledged to send them finalized plans for citizen feedback. However, previous experience with MUTP’s SATIS and PGSS schemes meant for facilitation of traffic had, in-fact, shown up many anomalies, which would actually worsen the situation. Therefore, NeTrA reserved it comments.

NAGAR Resource and Information Centre (NRIC)

1. Understanding the steady increase of civic activism in Mumbai in recent years NAGAR realized the felt need among concerned citizens for well-documented information, available at one’s fingertips.
2. NAGAR had in its possession a vast collection of material which had always proved very useful many times over.
3. Categorized and documented, this material formed the basis for NRIC. It comprised of Reports, Legal case papers, copies of Acts, Development Plans, Municipal circulars, Government Regulations and Resolutions, clippings and so on.
4. In addition the NRIC also actively collated information and constantly upgrade itself. A reciprocal arrangement with other documentation centers and a mechanism for sharing of information was set up.

Youth Intervention and Participation In Environmental Education (YIPEE)

1. The need for a coherent inclusion of environmental education in the school system led NAGAR to conceptualize the YIPEE project.
2. It aimed at helping Mumbai’s children to develop attitudes of care and concern for their city in such a manner as to develop their sense of responsibility towards home, school and the community and to also equip them with the necessary knowledge and skills to do so.
3. NAGAR tied up with its constituents and an agency called WWF-India (World Wide Fund for nature) for a pilot project lasting a year in which ten schools representing different socio-economic strata and different medium of instruction within one Municipal ward / geographical area were selected. Themes / modules, such as water conservation, waste management, appreciation of the city’s heritage and so on were produced to clarify in the children’s’ minds their rights as well as responsibilities as residents of this city and even of the planet. The idea was that the participating children would help spread the message to their peers, schoolmates, families and neighbourhood. Brainstorming sessions clarified this further. It was decided to do a pilot in a place such as the Mahim Nature Park and one school to test out the proposed modules.

Colaba Tourist Destination Association (CTDA)

1. NAGAR facilitated the adoption of the Gateway promenade by the Taj Mahal Intercontinental Hotel and coordinated the street furniture to be used there.
2. Largely instrumental, as an area stakeholder, in getting Mahindra and Mahindra (M&M) to agree, in principle, to fund the up-gradation of Steven Street, as also the Wellington Fountain (a heritage grade I street artifact), and to participate in the adoption of Mahakavi Bhushan Marg along with other stakeholders of the road.

The Cuffe Parade Recycling Centre project:

1. This project was later extended to five more wards.
A seminar on ‘Technology for processing bio-degradable waste into manure or gas and ‘dry’ waste recycling’ on Jan 10, 2003, organized by the Mr. Subrat Ratho, AMC, MCGM with inputs by CSF.
2. CSF emphasized on the fact that the magnitude of the negative impact of ‘dry’ waste on SWM had been ignored by all concerned
3. CSF stressed on the obvious monetary value accruing to ‘dry’ waste from its conservation as a recyclable resource. Its sheer volume (70% for only 15% weight) and visibility that required all agencies, MCGM, NGOs, and concerned citizens, to address this problem on priority and that without any SWM plan in place could not claim to be complete.
4. CSF was invited by Mr. A.K. Jain of the All India Institute of Local Self-Government (AIILSG) to be a part of its brainstorming team while preparing its ‘Model for Waste Management in Class B and Class C cities in India’ in January 2003
5. CSF introduced a ‘variable’ factor (i.e. varying in terms of what each citizen group would want) that the municipality in question could give back to citizen groups for work done in SWM.