STATE TIMES NEWS
JAMMU: The Institution of Engineers (India), Jammu Local Centre celebrated World Habitat Day at Channi Himmat, here on Monday. A seminar on the theme “Urban Solutions to Crisis” was organized in which large number of engineers, professionals and members of the civil society participated.
On this occasion Dr. Deepak Bansal, Regional Chief, Housing and Urban Development Corporation Limited, Jammu was the Chief Guest and Er. Anil Verma, FIE; Chairman, IEI, Jammu Local Centre presided over the function and presented Welcome Address. He said that by the year 2050, 50% of India’s population will be shifting in urban areas and 70% of World’s population will also do the same by this year. This calls for a sincere role of all the stakeholders so that cities remain livable by that year.
He also emphasized that the J&K Real Estate Regulatory Authority need to play a key role to ensure that every new colony is established in such a way that interest of the citizens and the Govt. is protected. He lamented the unauthorized and illegal use of urban land for dumping of urban waste which is a major cause of urban crisis interalia natural causes. He advocated for proper landfill sites for Jammu city.
Five numbers of the technical papers on the theme were presented by Er. Ravinder Handa, Er. B. L. Rawal, FIE; Er. P. K. Nanda, FIE; Er. Ranjeev Sawheny, MIE & Er. Hemdeep Singh, AMIE Chief Guest was kind enough to give a interesting and thorough presentation in which he enlightened the house about various factors contributing to the rise in urban crisis, their types in Indian context and various strategies to tackle this issue.
He emphasized that response to urban crisis is much more than providing temporary solutions in the aftermath of crisis. Urban crisis response calls for preparedness and planning, rapid response mechanisms, governance and coordination between all stakeholders.
He also gave examples of various case studies pertaining to response to urban crisis in India and Abroad.
In the end, Er. Sachin Tickoo, MIE; Fmr. Honorary Secretary conducted the proceedings of the seminar and presented the vote of thanks to the gathering and media personnel for active participation.
