SUSTAINABLE MASTER PLANNING AND WAYS TO PRIORITISE WATER

Architect Sanjay Bharadwaj highlights the need to re-evaluate planning and building technologies that planners and designers use to ensure a sustainable masterplan for urban India

- SANJAY BHARDWAJ

India has witnessed some of the hottest pre-monsoon months since the beginning of the last century. Recorded land surface temperatures cross 50 degrees regularly, the latest being when the national capital hit 52.3 degrees Celsius last week. Fluctuations in rainfall have led to droughts, water scarcity and floods – with many areas being floodaffected, as seen in Manipur and water shortage affecting urban cores of Bengaluru, Chennai etc. But, unfortunately, we are not discussing these crises with as much attention as they merit.

Over the past few years, it has become quite clear that sustainability in the built environment has to go beyond the formulaic approaches of green building certification programs, and instead needs to tackle water resource issues along with seriously reducing cooling and heating demands. This requires carefully reevaluating planning and building technologies that planners and designers use.

NEED FOR DATA AND ANALYSIS

A significant challenge in master planning in India stems from insufficient data, a lack of technical expertise, and a generally noncomprehensive planning process. In the absence of 2021 census data, it is estimated that India today has over 10,000 towns and cities, most of which lack efficient master planning. Although progress has been made with GIS-based master plans, these documents often lack pertinent analyses and recommendations for water management. Typically, mapping and identifying catchment areas, channels, urban water bodies, rivers, and floodplains, should inform land-use recommendations and delineate conservation zones within a region.