The Integrated Coastal Zone Management Project is the first effort to study the 7,500-km coastline and impact of shoreline change and sea level rise in the country. The Project will cover six crore people who live in coastal areas. Rs 1156 crore World-Bank assisted Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) Project will be implemented over the next five years by the Ministry of Environment and Forests. The World Bank’s contribution as soft loan/IDA credit is around Rs 897 crore (78%). This ICZM project assumes special significance in the context of climate change since one of the definitive findings of the IPCC relates to the increase in mean sea levels as a result of global warming. It will focus on four factors- shoreline changes, tides, waves and sea level rise.
The total number of direct beneficiaries of the project is close to 15 lakhs, while the number of indirect but identifiable beneficiaries will be close to 6 crore.
Two decades after setting up norms to protect the country’s 7,500 km coastline, the Government has finally approved drawing India’s first ‘’hazard line’’ for the entire coast. A hazard line broadly is the maximum distance a wave – both regular and tidal – can travel. The line would be drawn keeping factors like shoreline change, the distance traveled by tides and regular waves as well as sea level rise in mind. Once the line is drawn, in extreme cases people who are found living on the wrong side of the hazard line will be sensitised to the problem and the risk involved. Some vulnerable sections living close to the hazard line may be relocated after the completion of the project. The Centre in the past had proposed commercial and development activities close to the shore without even first drawing the hazard line, being demanded by green activists for a long time.
Of special focus in the project will be the identification and demarcation of coastal fragile areas like mangroves, brackish water, wetlands, coral reefs, etc., based on which a new category of Critically Vulnerable Coastal Areas (CVCAs) would be designated and appropriate management plans implemented for their preservation and regeneration. These would include areas around Lakshadweep, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Gulf of Khambat and Gulf of Kutchchh in Gujarat, Malvan, Vasasi-Manori, Achra-Ratnagiri in Maharashtra, Karwar and Coondapur in Karnataka, Vembanad in Kerala, Bhaitarkanika and Chilika in Orissa, Coringa, East Godavari and Krishna in Andhra Pradesh, Sunderban in West Bengal, Pichawaram and Gulf of Mannar in Tamil Nadu etc.
One of the major negative features of agrarian transition in India is the continued concentration of land in the hands of the upper strata of the rural society. This has not undergone any change in the past five decades, despite the reforms. In fact, leasing in by the affluent farmer is common place.

It is time we thought seriously of land reforms when especially a “humble farmer” is on top. If in the new century we still talk of reforms without effective implementation we will surely miss the bus.

Mumbai Mess:
Mumbai is having 437.71sq.kms. of land. Total land available or occupied is 68.71 sq. kms. in city, 210.34 sq. kms. in suburbs and 158.66 sq.mrs. for extended suburbs.
With density of population just above 45000 per sq.kms, the mega city has vast area of land to reduce the density. At present more than 12 crore sq.ft. of projects going in full swing in Mumbai and its suburbs.
Plenty of land is available after Urban land ceiling Act is repealed. Mill lands will cater space and will be required to construct yet another 12 million sq.ft. Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) is becoming laughing stock abroad. When Dubai can have Plam Island in the sea why can’t Mumbai, they say.
MHADA, after years of urging and presentation got permission to construct individual dwelling units to its allottees of plot at Gorai. Salt pan land, having no use what so ever, will give immense space of congested slums. We have invited people to occupy land belongs to authorities, No Development Zones and to the collectors. No body, Simply no body is interested in vacating the land for its natural and planed use.
Not that we do not know about todays situation. Way back in 1965, a committee, under the Chairmanship of Prof. N.V. Gadgil was formed. The committee initially identified the Greater Bombay Metropolitan region in 1965, was of the view that Bombay’s population was already of an ‘oppressive size’.
Ever since the passing of the Bombay Improvement Trust Act in 1925 (the Act was superseded by the Bombay Housing Board Act of 1948 and the activities of the Trust were absorbed in the BMC), it has been an axiom of public policy that public sponsorship of land development projects have an important role to play. The approach was legally buttressed by a Supreme Court verdict in the fifties, holding that compulsory land acquisition for the implementation of town planning projects was for a public purpose within the meaning of the Central Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (L.A Act). In Greater Bombay, over 600 hectares of land, mostly in the suburbs, were placed under compulsory acquisition in the sixties for the execution of schemes by the then Housing Board and its successor body.
The 1975 estimates of potentially available vacant land under the ULC Act indicated 8000 hectares in Greater Bombay, rising to as much as 20,000 hectares if marshy land in the NO Development Zone was included. The National Urbanisation Commission has concluded in its interim report in 1986 that, because of the manner in which it has been drafted and implemented, the ULCAR Act has not achieved any of the objectives for which it was enacted. According to an article in the Times of India dated 27th April 1984, a mere 27 landowners, or 3% of the total, on fully 70% of all exploitable vacant land in Greater Bombay, and about 20 builder monopolies over two-thirds of all that actually taken over under the ULC Act and used for housing and other public purposes is negligible. All 45457 statements were scrutinized from all over the state, and the vacant land after scrutiny was 34213 hectares, However, the land acquired and vested with the state government is only 4494 hectares, of which again 877 hectares have been actually taken in possession.
The Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning Act of 1966, employs the Term Development Plan and indicates a variety of things, but is a mere land-use plan. It also contains the Development Control Rules (DC Rules). Which regulate the Character of buildings and density of population allowed in a specified area.
The City’s godfathers who approved the Draft plan perhaps sincerely believed that the Plan would improve the quality of life but some of the prescriptions of the Plan have had the opposite. The prescribed density ceiling for ordinary housing was 200 tenements per net hectare. The FSI concept was based on the land price level and the population potential as assessed by the planners in pursuit of the decongestion concept. The high prevailing FSI in the Island city was reduced in the late seventies to 1.33, while it was fixed at 1 for the suburbs, and 0.75 and 0.5 for certain areas in the M, N, P (North) and R wards. Now since the situation is changed the plan and provisions must the reviewed.
On a different plane, artificial assumptions about the future population size and the direction of growth have led to exclusion of vast lands for development, and to a jailer to plan adequately for the provisions of infrastructure for the realistic levels of population in different parts of the city.
There is much meaning in the claim that the city’s housing problem is not so much due to physical shortage of land, as unhelpful building regulations and an unresponsive urban government, that constrained the supply of available land in the market and precluded the construction of affordable housing. The Kerkar Committee, appointed by the state government in 1981, pointed out that the state government owns about 8088 acres of open land (about 5886 acres in the western tip of Borivli, 156 acres in the western suburb of Andheri, and 2046 acres in the eastern Kurla), of which 6400 acres are marshy land, and 1272 acres are hilly, and most of the land has been placed in the no-development zone owing to the difficulty of development. About 3000 acres of land belonging to the government and public bodies are reported to be under encroachment, and about 5000 acres of land are in the ownership of private individuals, but can technically be acquired. About 7000 acres of land are lying vacant, mainly in the suburbs, having been placed in the industrial zone, and some of this can be developed for housing the industrial workers. The initial estimate of vacant land under the Urban Ceiling Act was around 20,000 acres, though it must be lesser area now after all the exemptions and scrutiny of returns. These land are now have become No Men’s Land since no political will nor regulations allow them to develop. Salt Pan Land should be used for habitation if not for public utility purposes. After all, these can be relocated for want of expansion of the city.
In additional to this, the Central government agencies are in possession of vast areas of land in both the Island city and suburbs. These include: 1) the Bombay Port Trust, with some 2000 acres or a third of the Central Bombay area; 2) the Defence Department with over 1000 acres of prime land in South Bombay, and smaller areas in the suburbs, all held apparently for security reasons; 3) the Western and the Central Railways, holding land in the suburbs, usually near the railway tracks; 4) the Internal Airport Authority holding a lot of land in its jurisdiction in Western suburbs; and 5) the Salt Department with over 200 hectares of land under slat pans, much of which can be converted to residential purpose. Their development would, of course call for the recasting of the development plan and for planning the extension of infrastructure of water supply, sewerage, electricity, roads, and social facilities to additional vacant lands in the suburbs.
Affordable housing can be built and occupied only if such huge scale of land is unlocked from its status of “NO MEN’S LAND”

For a layman now and for a civil engineering professional just a few years back, the scope of Intelligent Buildings would not have gone beyond Intercom System connecting every unit of the building with the security cabin and video unit at the entrance of each unit to screen the visitor before opening the door.

So what is an intelligent building in the current context? What does it do? Why is it important to construct one and if one wants to how do one go about the task?

Intelligent building construction is not an afterthought or fit out, it is an integrated process which starts from the concept, gets translated in to designing, implemented during execution and carried through maintenance. Intelligent buildings mean different things to different people depending on one’s perspective and role.

What is an Intelligent Building?

Very loosely intelligent building considers following:

Designing stage:

Flexibility & Scalability – Ability to change design based on altered parameters.

Energy Efficiency – Designing such parameters that will pave the way for LEED

certification.

Circulation – Providing adequate design parameters to optimally utilize natural and

forced air circulation.

Integration – With transportation and surrounding community.

Construction Stage:

Sustainable Construction Practices: Construction methodologies and practices like ideal concrete mix, correct usage of construction steel, perfect plastering mix, standardised shuttering and staging material, insulated piping, fire proof wiring and cabling, extensive sensing, acoustical treatment for internal and external walls, thermal and weather resistant treatment for external walls, Wi-Fi and VOIP enabled communication, digital signing etc.

Electronic Project Documentation: Uniform and standardised project documentation distributed electronically through efficient ERP system, Seamless flow of electronic GFC drawings to and from Architects, Structural consultants, generation and storage of As Built drawings for future reference required for maintenance activity.

Modeling Extension: Process flexibility to carry forward the modelling experimentation into full scale construction activity.

Operations Stage:

System Integration: Security, Building Automation, Fire Fighting through a common monitoring console.

Remote Operations and Optimization: Instruction to operate various systems remotely through dedicated gadgets or by GPRS through GSM technology, either during office hours or after office hours.

Tenant Portals & Billing System: Interaction with various tenants / unit holders in the building regarding account details, notices for payment dues, circulars etc.

Maintenance Management: Automatic reminders about the preventive maintenance schedule of various facilities, Renewal schedule of Annual Maintenance Contract of various facilities, replacement scheduling of worn out parts with minimum disruption of services etc.

Energy Information & Management: Mapping on periodical basis about the energy consumption of various utilities, arranging repairs based on the feedback to minimize the consumption.

In addition to these very basic facilities that are sought to be provided to the building, other facilities like:

Tenant Amenities: Conceirge, Shopping, Lodging, Parking, Restrooms, Restaurants.

Personal Comfort Control: Temperature, Humidity, IAQ, Acoustic and Lighting.

Utilities Management: Energy Efficient Lighting, Distributed Generation, Water and

Gas Metering, Combined Heat and Power, Dual Power Feeds.

also play an important role in constructing an Intelligent Building.

What Does it Do?

Intelligent building looks like any ordinary building from outside, however, during designing stage and construction stage, very meticulous planning has gone into it thus resulting in:

Choice of multiple construction materials.
Flexibility in construction methodology.
Optimization of Inputs.
Assurance of uniform quality.
Reduction in construction cost.
Enhancing building life.
Reduced maintenance cost.

Every one of these benefits is important enough for every architect, consultant, developer and contractor to advocate construction of Intelligent Buildings.

Why is it necessary to Construct Intelligent Building?

Optimum utilisation of scare resources, faster construction, higher scalability options, longer life of the building, ease of maintenance and most importantly peace of mind for the inmates are few of the main reasons why one should go for intelligent buildings.

How does one go about it?

There are organisations like Indian Green Building Council working to promote the concept and propagate its advantages. One can approach the council and get active help in fulfilling the requirements of Intelligent Buildings.

The advent of technology in every field, its commercial use and variety of new applications this has developed is mind boggling. What was fairy tale and thought to be a science fiction yesterday is a reality today and what is reality today is soon going to be history.

It appears the terminology of ‘Change is the only constant’ is not only applicable to IT industry but to all industries … in construction industry we can probably say, with the exception of Cement and Steel (at least for the time being).

(The writer of this article is ex. Chairman – Builders Association of India – Mumbai Centre and Executive Director & CEO of New Consolidated Construction Co. Ltd. – Flagship Company of Jasdanwalla Group)

By Raj Ashok Phopale

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