Author : Ramanath Jha

Expert Speak Urban Futures
Published on Jan 23, 2025

Citizens in India’s cities are increasingly frustrated with their urban local bodies, and this problem calls for significant municipal governance reforms

ULBs versus citizens: Rising trend

Image Source: Getty

The Guwahati city administration found itself at the receiving end of the citizens’ wrath last November. The programme of a proposed road construction and flyover project in the city involved the chopping of 21 centenarian trees that stood along the banks of the historic Dighalipukhuri Lake. The citizens took to the streets and organised huge demonstrations condemning the plan. A group of residents, along with students, used social media to spread awareness and kept a watch on the lake’s banks at nights. A large number of prominent city residents and citizens from around the state and the country, including actors, singers, artists, and former politicians came forward to support the cause.

A group of residents, along with students, used social media to spread awareness and kept a watch on the lake’s banks at nights.

Some of them appealed to the Chief Justice of the Guwahati High Court, requesting intervention through suo moto proceedings. They pointed out that the Public Works Department (PWD) authorities had admitted, in their reply to a Right to Information (RTI) application, that they had neither carried out an environmental impact assessment nor held public consultations before deciding to fell the trees. They reminded authorities and the High Court of the historical memories and heritage associated with the lake and its surroundings. These reminiscences went back to times in ancient India and the Mahabharata,  as well as the medieval times when the place was used as a naval dock during the battle of Saraighat against the Mughals in 1671. The strength of the protests compelled the Chief Minister of Assam to make a conciliatory statement on the matter. He implored the citizens to halt their demonstrations and allow the Public Works Department sufficient time to investigate alternatives to the current plan and arrive at a decision about their feasibility. Finally, the High Court closed the Public Interest Litigation (PIL) on the matter, after the government decided on a realignment of the flyover. The combined voice of the citizens prevailed in this instance.

The Guwahati case must, in no way, be considered an isolated incident. A similar demonstration took place in Mumbai in 2015 where citizens rose in vehement protest against the draft development plan (DP). Among the DP proposals was a suggestion to reduce public open spaces (POS) from 4 square metres (m2) to 2 m2 per person. The environmental groups of the city would have none of this. There were equally vehement citizens’ voices against the imposition of a further dose of densification through transit-oriented development (TOD) in areas that were already transit-oriented and highly dense. Gender groups were dissatisfied that gender issues were inadequately treated and societies were agitated since their private roads were sought to be converted into public roads. In the face of these protests, the Chief Minister of Maharashtra decided to cancel the draft DP. He ordered the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to carry out a fresh DP exercise. More recently, civic campaigns in the city forced the BMC to scrap projects totalling more than INR 3,000 crore.

Gender groups were dissatisfied that gender issues were inadequately treated and societies were agitated since their private roads were sought to be converted into public roads.

Bengaluru citizens appear to be the most dissatisfied among citizens in India. In 2021, 53 cases were filed against urban local bodies across India, 18 of which were against the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) and Bengaluru parastatals. These included cases of deaths due to poor infrastructure such as bad roads, waterlogging in the subways, and work related to the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB). Furthermore, citizen activists, along with the Namma Bengaluru Foundation (NBF), a non-governmental organisation, petitioned the BBMP to reconsider their proposal to cut down several trees to construct an elevated corridor from “Ejipura” to “Kendriya Sadan” in Koramangala. They raised the fact that when the BBMP had originally proposed this infrastructure, the total number of trees proposed to be felled was less in number.

In Chennai, in November 2024, the Korattur Aeri Pathukappu Makkal Iyakkam (KAPMI), a citizens’ body, especially concerned with the protection of Korattur Lake, protested outside the Chennai Metrowater office in Mogappair. KAMPI sought action against sewage pollution of the Korattur Lake, rendered vulnerable on account of the pollution and additional encroachments. It wanted the implementation of the directives of the National Green Tribunal, which ordered plugging sewage outfalls into the lake. It also demanded that sewer connections must not be given to encroaching structures. Further, KAMPI urged authorities to maintain the seven sewage pumping stations near the lake and asked for the quick completion of underground drainage work to prevent sewage water from flowing into the lake. The protesters courted arrest and were released later in the evening.

On many occasions, different groups of citizens have voiced conflicting demands. For instance, citizens of Powai-Chandivali area in Mumbai took to the streets to vent their frustration against municipal inaction with regards to encroachments on the Adityavardhan Raheja Vihar Road footpath. Meanwhile, in Surat, hundreds of street vendors went on a rally,  protesting against the anti-encroachment drive of the municipal corporation, with regards to roadside eateries in different parts of the city. They submitted a memorandum to the Surat municipal commissioner asking the city administration not to rob the street vendors of their daily bread.

The issues generally pertain to the environment, water, roads, and transportation, infrastructure and municipal services such as the management of waste, as well as encroachments and nuisance.

The cited incidents are just a fraction of the citizen dissatisfaction across cities in India. While some cities may be facing discontent to a lesser degree than others, dissatisfaction is more or less universal and rising. The issues generally pertain to the environment, water, roads, and transportation, infrastructure and municipal services such as the management of waste, as well as encroachments and nuisance. ULBs are increasingly showing signs of not being able to satisfactorily deal with these challenges.

The situation is rendered even more difficult as municipal bodies find themselves stymied by a lack of in-house capacity, a shortage of critical staff and a mounting resource crunch. While consultants can take up some of the municipal responsibilities, such professionals cannot always be employed as cities struggle to find money to pay them. The sum effect of these rising deficits is that the wrath of citizens at the deteriorating quality of services provided by municipalities has been on the upsurge.

For more than two years, popularly elected bodies in several municipal entities have been dissolved. In these ULBs (urban local bodies), administrators have been appointed. This means that the municipal commissioner now exercises the powers of the standing committee as well as the municipal corporation. All powers, as a consequence, are concentrated in the hands of a single individual. However, this appears to have made little difference to the quality of ULB governance and no additional relief has accrued to the citizens. Hence the usual argument that elected councillors use their political clout in wrongful ways and hinder the proper governance of a ULB is untrue. Clearly, the diagnosis of the maladministration of municipal bodies lies somewhere else.

The fractured governance architecture of ULBs runs very deep and will not get fixed unless a series of fundamental reforms are essayed. These include the elimination of statutory weaknesses, reforms in governance and planning, greater financial buoyancy,  and fixing the issue of municipal leadership. In the absence of such a major exercise, municipal bodies appear set on a course of falling performances and rising public frustration and rage.


Ramanath Jha is a Distinguished Fellow at the Observer Research Foundation

The views expressed above belong to the author(s). ORF research and analyses now available on Telegram! Click here to access our curated content — blogs, longforms and interviews.

Author

Ramanath Jha

Ramanath Jha

Dr. Ramanath Jha is Distinguished Fellow at Observer Research Foundation, Mumbai. He works on urbanisation — urban sustainability, urban governance and urban planning. Dr. Jha belongs ...

Read More +