As per the 12th Schedule of the Constitution of India, urban planning falls within the purview of the State Governments and Urban Local Bodies (ULBs)/Urban Development Authorities at the city level. Government of India supplements the efforts of States through schematic interventions, advisories, guidelines, financial assistance and technical support for strengthening the urban planning ecosystem.
As per inputs received, National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has formulated ‘National Guidelines for Preparation of Action Plan-Prevention and Management of Heat Wave’ in 2019. As per the guidelines, cities should carry out vulnerable assessments to identify major factors contributing to urban heat island effect and include suitable mitigation measures in their Heat Action Plans (HAPs). Heat Action Plans (HAPs) have been prepared by 23 states, 195 districts and 64 cities.
Further, National Disaster Management Authority has issued an advisory on “Protecting Informal Workers during Heatwaves in Indian Cities”. The Advisory outlines measures relating to health, safety and gender-sensitive adaptation. States and Union Territories have been recommended to incorporate the needs of street vendors and other outdoor workers into Heat Action Plans through measures such as shaded vending zones, hydration facilities, cooling centers, flexible working hours and timely dissemination of heat alerts – https://ndma.gov.in/sites/default/files/PDF/Reports/NDMA_Advisory_for_Protecting_Informal_Workers_during_Heatwave.pdf
The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) promotes climate-responsive and heat-resilient urban development through planning guidelines, technical advisories, and various urban development programmes. MoHUA has issued the Urban Green Guidelines, 2014 and the Urban and Regional Development Plans Formulation and Implementation (URDPFI) Guidelines, 2014, which encourage compact and green urban development, green infrastructure, urban forest, conservation of water bodies, shaded public spaces, and other planning measures to mitigate urban heat stress.
Further, the URDPFI Guidelines, 2014, under Chapter 5 – Urban Planning Approach– encourage climate-responsive planning, energy-efficient building design, green infrastructure, and environmentally sustainable development practices, while recommending that States/UTs incorporate such provisions in their planning and development regulations.
Since urban planning and development are State subjects, implementation of cool roof measures, green building provisions, and related building regulations is undertaken by the respective State Governments/Urban Local Bodies in accordance with local planning and building bye-laws.
Under PMAY-U, MoHUA supplements the efforts of States/UTs, by providing Central Assistance for pucca houses to eligible urban beneficiaries across the country since 25.06.2015. Under PMAY-U, a Technology Sub-Mission (TSM) was set up to facilitate adoption of modern, innovative and green technologies and building material for faster and quality construction of houses. Building upon progress of TSM, Technology & Innovation Sub-Mission(TISM) supports innovative design and construction practices, promote quality assurance and adopting green building standards for sustainable housing in the country. Projects under the Mission encourage use of resource-efficient, climate-responsive, disaster-resilient and eco-friendly materials and technologies, in line with prevailing green building norms to enhance thermal comfort, reduce energy consumption and minimize environmental impact.
As per inputs from Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC), the India Cooling Action Plan (ICAP) released by MoEFCC, provides an integrated vision for sustainable cooling across sectors including transport with the overarching goal of providing sustainable cooling and thermal comfort socio-economic benefits. Specific Action Points for the transport sector thematic area have been finalized after mapping the recommendations with the concerned government schemes/activities. It mainly provides for (a) Adoption of the Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC) norms in the development of new and existing public transport infrastructure viz. railway stations, airports, ports etc.; (b) Promotion of research and development for transition to low Global Warming Potential (GWP) refrigerants and energy efficient Mobile Air-Conditioning (MAC) systems; (c) Upskilling of service technicians in the MAC sector; (d) Environmentally sound management and recovery of refrigerants from end-of-life vehicles and during servicing operations, etc.
This information was given by the Minister of State for Housing & Urban Affairs, Shri Tokhan Sahu in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha today.
