Month: July 2024

CONTEXT

Four decades ago, I studied the industries of Dhampur, a small town located in the rich agriculture region of western Uttar Pradesh, for my doctoral research. I have revisited Dhampur in early 2024 with the intention of starting a longitudinal study of the same small town, which now has a population about one lakh and an area of 3.87 sq km. I was curious to know: How has the industrial structure of Dhampur town changed over 40 years? How many old industrial units are still functioning? Are there significant numbers of new industrial units? Can the industrial base of a small town be identified as stable, declining, transient or vibrant? 

TYPOLOGY

Longitudinal study of the industrial base of any settlement requires a theoretical framework defining broad topologies. The following four typologies that could well represent the trend in the changing industrial structure of any small town like Dhampur can be visualized as: 

1. Stable: Same industrial units or the same type of industries operating over time even if the units are different.
2. Declining: Some old industries close down and not many new come up.
3. Transient: Short-lived industries keep coming up and closing down at a fast rate.
4. Vibrant: Some old industries close down but several new industries come up responding to the changing market demand.

FINDING

The recent field visits to Dhampur have revealed that there is a major change in the industrial structure of the town, which can be summarized as follows: 

• In 1979-80, there were 43 industrial units in Dhampur and their number appears to have increased to 63 in 2024, of which 4 are old industrial units that are still functioning and 59 are newly established units. A large number of industrial units closing down and even a larger number of new units being set up is indeed a phenomenal change in the industrial structure of the town that seems to efficiently respond to the market demand as well as technological changes. 
• The net increase in the number of industrial units with the expanding town size in itself is an indicator of vibrancy in the industrial base of Dhampur, even if some industrial units may have been established and closed down during this long span of four decades that we do not have a record of.
• Large numbers of new industrial units being set up and many of these units have been established by new entrepreneurs. This is also indicative of the existence of a strong entrepreneurial class of people in Dhampur that is quick to respond to changing demand for industrial products. 
• Notably, the Dhampur Sugar Mill has not only continued to dominate the industrial scene of the town at both points of time, it has expanded significantly with about 16 times increase in its annual cane crushing capacity: from 2.38 lakh tons to in 1979-80 to 39.01 lakh tons in 2022-23. 

Therefore, Dhampur can be clearly identified as a small town with a vibrant industrial structure, anchored by a large sugar producing firm, which plays an important role in its economic growth. 

What do we mean by water-centric urban planning and governance? Urban water security challenges are no longer merely about access to water, but also coping with floods, water quality and other climate change induced risks. For some time, there has been a recognition that statutory urban planning needs to be re-imagined and that existing town and country planning (T&CP) laws and practices need to be reconsidered to address some of these complex challenges. The latter imperative has been further bolstered by NITI Aayog, which recommended forming an apex committee at the state level to undertake review of the existing T&CP laws and other relevant urban development legislation. In continuation, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) and its recent High-Level Committee (HLC) on Urban Planning have acknowledged that the current laws are inadequate, and there is a need for reconsidering the urban planning laws, frameworks, and practices to address contemporary needs and emerging risks. 

As a first step to addressing this, in this blog, we have attempted to locate the statutory urban planning instrument, the Master Plan, in the broader legal and institutional ecosystem of water governance. Given the attention Delhi’s water has received this summer, and with the flooding season upon us, we take up the case of Delhi Master Plan. In the diagram, we have mapped the relevant legal and institutional ecosystem of the Master Plan to get a sense of the complexity involved in pursuing water-centric urban planning in Delhi. The schematic diagram above reveals the multiple interactions and interlinkages of the Delhi Master Plan with other laws and institutions. This may not be exhaustive but provides an idea of what it means to pursue a water-centric Master Plan. Clearly, water-centric plans cannot be prepared in isolation, but must consider various laws, institutions operating at different scales, and varying authority. 

For example, urban flood management involves complex coordination mechanisms between the India Meteorological Department (IMD) and the Central Water Commission — federal bodies; the DDA — an autonomous body under the jurisdiction of the central government; the Upper Yamuna River Board (UYRB) — an inter-state agency; the Irrigation and Flood Control Department (IFCD) and the Delhi Jal Board — both of which are under the government of the NCT Delhi; and finally the Municipal Corporation at the local level. These institutions are guided by different legislation and functional mandates; together, they determine Delhi’s response and subsequent outcomes during flood incidences. You can locate most of these institutions in the above diagram. 

The key takeaway is that to strengthen water-centric urban planning, we need statutory Master Plans that take into account multiple multiscalar institutions and legal frameworks. How can we move towards this?

This blog is part of an ongoing project on Rejuvenating India’s Rivers, in collaboration with the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG).