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how to revive india’s reaL estate sector
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civilising
indian roads
More than hefty fines, it will
take enabling infrastructure
and a new driving culture
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CHAIRMAN AND EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Aroon Purie
I
VICE CHAIRPERSON: Kalli Purie
ndians,’ the late columnist A.A. Gill
GROUP EDITORIAL DIRECTOR: Raj Chengappa
GROUP CREATIVE EDITOR: Nilanjan Das; GROUP PHOTO EDITOR: Bandeep Singh
once observed, ‘drive with an ambiva-
MANAGING EDITORS: Kai Jabir Friese, Rajesh Jha lent extempore gusto, unencumbered
CONSULTING EDITOR: Ajit Kumar Jha (Research)
EXECUTIVE EDITORS: S. Sahaya Ranjit, Sandeep Unnithan
by the handicap of rules, training, or
Mumbai: M.G. Arun insurance, but bolstered by a startling
DEPUTY EDITORS: Prachi Bhuchar, Uday Mahurkar, Manisha Saroop
Hyderabad: Amarnath K. Menon belief in reincarnation.’ They also, if I may
SENIOR EDITORS: Shweta Punj, Sasi Nair add, drive on roads that are poorly lit,
Jaipur: Rohit Parihar
SENIOR ASSOCIATE EDITORS: Kaushik Deka, Ashish Mukherjee have faulty signals and potholed surfaces Our Sep. 6, 2010 cover
Mumbai: Suhani Singh, Kiran Dinkar Tare; patna: Amitabh Srivastava
ASSOCIATE EDITORS: Shougat Dasgupta, Chinki Sinha
that resemble moonscapes. We have built
Kolkata: Romita Sengupta; Bhopal: Rahul Noronha; spacecraft that can withstand the rigours ance and driving licences. This is proof
Thiruvananthapuram: Jeemon Jacob
ASSISTANT EDITOR: Zinnia Ray Chaudhuri of space travel, but we seem unable to that in India, sometimes nothing works
pune: Aditi S. Pai build roads that can survive a single rain like punitive action. There has, however,
PHOTO DEPARTMENT: Vikram Sharma (Deputy Photo Editor),
Rajwant Singh Rawat, Yasir Iqbal (Principal Photographers), shower. Our roads, thus, are a cocktail of also been a backlash and, astonishingly,
Chandra Deep Kumar (Senior Photographer); Mumbai: Mandar Suresh
Deodhar (Chief Photographer), Danesh Adil Jassawala (Photographer);
appalling driving culture and abysmal several Indian states have succumbed to
Kolkata: Subir Halder (Principal Photographer);
Chennai: N.G. Jaison (Senior Photographer)
infrastructure. This lethal combination spurious populism. The state governments
PHOTO RESEARCHERS: Prabhakar Tiwari (Chief Photo Researcher), makes any journey a road to perdition. In- of West Bengal, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh,
Saloni Vaid (Principal Photo Researcher),
Shubhrojit Brahma (Senior Photo Researcher)
dian roads consistently record the world’s Telangana, and even BJP-ruled Gujarat
CHIEF OF GRAPHICS: Tanmoy Chakraborty highest traffic-related fatalities. In 2017, and Uttarakhand, have taken the bite out
ART DEPARTMENT: Sanjay Piplani (Senior Art Director);
Angshuman De (Art Director); Devajit Bora (Deputy Art Director); 147,913 people died in accidents on India’s of the amended Act, either by reducing
Vikas Verma (Associate Art Director);
Bhoomesh Dutt Sharma (Senior Designer)
roads, which amounts to 405 deaths every the quantum of fines or by simply delay-
Siddhant Jumde (Senior Illustrator) day or 17 deaths every hour. In the 15 years ing its implementation. Only Haryana,
PRODUCTION DEPARTMENT: Harish Agarwal (Chief of Production),
Naveen Gupta (Chief Coordinator), since 2002, India lost over 1.9 million Bihar, Assam and Tripura have decided to
Vijay Kumar Sharma (Senior Coordinator)
people this way, nearly the combined implement the revised Act in toto. Their
CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER: Manoj Sharma
ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER: Anil Fernandes (Impact)
populations of Goa and Sikkim. baffling behaviour could well explain why
IMPACT TEAM
Many of the dead and injured have no successive governments have baulked at
Senior General Manager: Jitendra Lad (West) health insurance and the loss of life has a modifying the Motor Vehicles Act.
General Manager: Mayur Rastogi (North),
Upendra Singh (Bangalore), debilitating impact on their families. The Our cover story, ‘Civilising Indian
Kaushiky Gangulie (East)
GROUP CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER: Vivek Malhotra
explosive growth in motor vehicles and Roads’, by Senior Editor Kaushik Deka,
Head of Marketing: Preetha Athrey the increase in the cases of overspeeding, looks at the modifications introduced by
SALES AND OPERATIONS: D.V.S. Rama Rao, Chief General Manager
Deepak Bhatt, General Manager (National Sales) drunken driving and defective vehicles the government and what more needs to
Vipin Bagga, Deputy General Manager (Operations)
Rajeev Gandhi, Regional Sales Manager (North)
has compounded matters. Government be done. We also have an interview with
data shows that bad driving was respon- Nitin Gadkari, the Union minister for
sible for 78 per cent of road accidents in road transport and highways, the man
2017, suggesting poor driving skills and who has championed this new Road
no fear of punishment. Safety Act for several years and now finds
Volume XLIV Number 39; For the week
Each time a lawless motorist—who himself in the centre of a storm.
September 24-30, 2019, published on every Friday does not wear a helmet or a seat belt and While the legislation is a welcome step,
l Editorial/Corporate Office Living Media India Ltd., India Today Group Mediaplex, breaks rules with impunity—hits the road, it does not absolve the state of the respon-
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5,000. The fines have had a salutary effect
All disputes are subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of as evidenced by the improved road sense in
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SE P T E M BE R 3 0, 2 019 INDIA TODAY 1

INSIDE
UPFRONT LEISURE
PSA AND THE MADHURI VIJAY’S
LONG ARM OF THE FAR FIELD
THE LAW PG 4 PG 57
A VISION OF Q&A WITH

HINDISTAN MANOJ BAJPAYEE
PG 8 PG 60
22 C OV E R S T O RY
A NEW ROAD CULTURE

The Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act, 2019, imposes punitive
fines for violations and has sparked fierce debate and opposition.
Will it succeed in taming India’s notoriously dangerous roads?
Cover by NILANJAN DAS
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2 INDIA TODAY SE P T E M BE R 3 0, 2 019

Presenting India Today Insight
For sharp analysis on topical issues by the editors of india today,
log on to www.indiatoday.in/india-today-magazine-insight
WHY THE BJP NEEDS NITISH

KUMAR IN BIHAR by Amitabh Srivastava
R E A L E S TAT E The Bihar chief minister’s presence in the state
Indian real estate is in is a formidable one and something the BJP can’t
32
the grip of a painful and simply wish away
protracted slowdown.
REALTY What will it take to http://bit.ly/2lXgWfq
BITES revive the sector?
Why Amit Shah thinks Hindi

is the language of integration
by Uday Mahurkar
The Union home minister i
EN V I RON M EN T the Sangh Parivar line tha
46
Illegal tree-felling Hindi, and not English,
threatens the must be used as the
MANGROVE ecologically fragile national link language
MASSACRE Sundarbans http://bit.ly/2kod5HK
How the PMO is getting restructured

TOUR ISM under two PKs by Uday Mahurkar
P.K. Mishra and P.K. Sinha will now run
50
A proposal to set up a
RUMBLE committee to boost tiger the show at the Prime Minister’s Office
IN THE tourism in Madhya Pradesh http://bit.ly/2mkgw2O
JUNGLE has divided conservationists
Why Mumbaikars are against their

world-class metro by Kiran D. Tare
Protesting the MMRCL’s plan to fell 2,646 trees in Aarey
Colony, Mumbai residents are determined not to let
their green cover become the price of progress
http://bit.ly/2lUXMGP
Medical Miracles? by Chinki Sinha

After a 74-year-old gives birth to twins in Guntur, the
debate over the lack of regulation for IVF treatment for
geriatric couples intensifies yet again
http://bit.ly/2minx41
UPFRONT
A VISION OF INDIA’S
HINDISTAN LYNCH MOBS
PG 8 PG 10
CHANDRADEEP KUMAR
PRE-EMPTING
OPPOSITION?
Former J&K chief minister
Farooq Abdullah is now
detained under JKPSA
P U B L I C S A F E T Y AC T
THE LONG ARM OF THE LAW

By Harsh Bora
A
fter constitutional challenges offence, have been on the statute books after the ‘dilution’ of Art. 370; Farooq
to the effective abrogation from the inception of India’s consti- Abdullah’s detention, for being a ‘threat
of Article 370, the focus in tutional democracy. They also have a to public order’, was in response to the
our courts is now on a slew history of misuse by the ruling estab- habeas corpus filed by Vaiko. These two
of habeas corpus petitions challenging lishment against its political opponents. cases are the most recent examples of
detentions in Jammu and Kashmir. The The Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety how laws with stringent preventive de-
latest one, filed by Rajya Sabha MP and Act (JKPSA), the state’s own preven- tention provisions, such as the JKPSA
MDMK leader Vaiko in the Supreme tive detention law, has been deployed or the National Security Act (NSA), can
Court, seeks to produce in court Farooq repeatedly since its enactment in 1978, be used to silence critics of the ruling
Abdullah, the octogenarian former and has been the instrument of choice establishment—sometimes for years.
chief minister of J&K. in the recent spate of arrests of promi- This is made possible by legal
Preventive detention laws, which nent political persons. provisions that grant sweeping powers
permit detention of persons who Against bureaucrat-turned- to detain and allow hearings behind
threaten public order or the security politician Shah Faesal, the JKPSA closed doors, besides denying detain-
of the State or are likely to commit an was invoked on August 14, nine days ees basic rights such as immediate

UPFRONT
information on the reasons for arrest, The sweeping in other criminal cases, prolonging their
legal assistance and the right to seek powers available to time in custody. The transition from
bail, which ‘arrested’ persons have but
the State under the ‘arrest’ to ‘preventive detention’ was
‘detainees’ do not. seamless—not to mention politically
For instance, under the NSA and
Public Safety Act expedient—in Azad’s case, for example.
JKPSA, the government can detain per- make it prone to Although the Supreme Court has in
sons for up to 10 days before disclosing frequent misuse the past upheld them as constitutional,
any reasons to them. And then too, only the immense powers granted to the
if the government does not prohibit this state under preventive detention laws—
disclosure as being against the public troublingly, 81 per cent of these confir- and the ensuing suspension of the rights
interest, making it difficult to effective- mations were later quashed by the High of detainees—continue to give rise to
ly challenge the detention order. Court of Jammu and Kashmir. This legitimate fears that these laws stifle
All detention orders undergo points towards misuse of the JKPSA, as civil liberties and lead to targeting of
scrutiny by an Advisory Board, headed most detention orders were found to be political and ideological opponents. In
by retired judges, and must either be illegal by the high court. Maneka Gandhi (1978), Justice Krishna
confirmed or revoked by it, and this Preventive detention under the Iyer, in a pioneering judgment, had
can take up to 12 weeks. But rather NSA has also been used for explicitly remarked: “Lawful illegality becomes
than being effective monitors, boards political reasons. For example, in the the rule if lawless legislation be not
routinely confirm detention orders, as fairly recent cases of Dalit rights activ- removed.” Every misuse of preventive
has been the recent experience under ist Chandrashekhar Azad in Uttar detention laws makes an even stronger
the JKPSA. According to information Pradesh and journalist Kishorechandra case for their critical re-examination. n
obtained under the RTI Act, over 99 per Wangkemcha in Manipur, both critics
cent of detentions between April 2016 of the ruling government. In both cases, Harsh Bora is a criminal lawyer
and December 2017 were confirmed detention orders were imposed imme- practising in the Delhi trial courts
by the J&K Advisory Board, but more diately after they had been granted bail and Delhi High Court
INDEX
5.7 MILLION $69.02 $111.9 BILLION
India’s Reliance barrels per day—
Saudi’s output down
a barrel: price of
Brent crude, the inter-
spent by India on
importing 207.3
on Saudi Oil from usual 7.4 million

bpd after the attack
on its Abqaiq facility;
national benchmark,
on Mon.; rise of $8.80
(14.6%), its biggest
million tonnes of
crude oil (FY19);
down from 220.4
Both Saudi Arabia and the US, despite showing affected about 5% of one-day percentage MT (FY18), says
little hard evidence, have said Iran is probably the world’s oil supply gain since 1988 DGCI&S
behind the recent drone attacks by Yemeni
rebels on major Saudi oil facilities. Still, US
president Donald Trump, speaking to reporters
on September 16, insisted he did not want war. 40.33 MT
He had earlier described US forces as “locked
crude sourced by India
and loaded”, ready to take action once Saudi from Saudi in FY19. Up
completed its investigations. Crude prices have from 36.16 MT in FY18.
risen significantly and, with about half of Saudi Saudi is India’s 2nd
Arabia’s output affected, it could take weeks for biggest supplier, after
the markets to settle. India is among the world’s Iraq (46.61 MT in
leading importers of Saudi crude, but petroleum FY19), which took over
top spot in FY18
minister Dharmendra Pradhan has said that oil
supplies will not be affected by the attack.
$20.32 BILLION 23.9 MT 6.4 MT 12 `5-6

spent by India on Saudi crude imported from crude imported from days of India’s crude increase per litre
imports (FY18). India’s Iran, despite various the US in FY19, up demands can be curr- in petrol and diesel
imports from China sanctions, in FY19, from 1.4 MT in FY18, ently met by emergency prices, if crude
were worth $68.06 making it our 3rd the first year in reserves; India world’s prices continue to
billion. US imports largest oil supplier. Up which India bought 3rd largest oil importer rise, estimates Kotak
totalled $25.7 billion from 22.59 MT (FY18) oil from the US after China, US Institutional Equities
Illustration by TANMOY CHAKRABORTY

I N T E RV I E W
“I’ll expose
Kejriwal’s
lies on
Delhi air
pollution”
Union information and broad-
casting minister PRAKASH
JAVADEKAR, who also holds
additional charge of the environ-
ment, forest and climate change
CHANDRADEEP KUMAR
ministry, has to walk a fine line
between guarding India’s develop-
ment imperatives and demon-
strating national commitment to
the environment on global forums.
In an interview with Senior Editor
KAUSHIK DEKA, Javadekar
spoke on India’s conservation my office—on a live dashboard. sible to maintain an ecological balance.
goals, the mission against plastic Our tree cover has increased. Apart It’s because of our conscious efforts that
use and more. Excerpts: from running multiple schemes for India’s tiger population has increased in
afforestation and smart use of land, we recent years, accounting for 77 per cent
Q
recently distributed among states of the global tiger population. We also
You’ve said the environ- Rs 50,000 crore that had accumulated have over 2,000 rhinos.
ment ministry’s job is to under the Compensatory Afforestation
conserve the panchtatva Fund Act over the past 15 years. We are Q. The Dibang hydroelectric project
(five elements)—earth, also involving the tribal communities in Arunachal has been called a poten-
water, fire, air, sky. What’s your minis- in the preservation of our forests. tial ecological disaster. How does this
try doing to achieve this goal? square with your concern for ecology?
Our government has laid the highest Q. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal These claims are not based on facts. We
emphasis on conservation of water and has also claimed credit for Delhi’s have done three studies to examine the
using it efficiently. We have formed the ‘improved’ air quality... environmental impact. We held consul-
Jal Shakti ministry to address all water Kejriwal is in the habit of claim- tations with Bangladesh and Bhutan.
issues. India receives only 4 per cent of ing credit for things he hasn’t done. Let’s not forget it’s a 2,880 MW project
the world’s rainwater while being home I’ll soon release an account of what that will help us move away from coal.
to 17 per cent of the world’s population the Union government has done to
and 20 per cent of the world’s livestock. improve Delhi’s air quality—and what Q. The PM has launched a
We are on a major water- and fodder- Kejriwal was expected to do but didn’t. campaign against single-use plastics.
augmentation mission in our forests. Is a ban likely?
Multiple central initiatives since Q. Several experts say climate change There is no proposal for a ban. The
2014 have improved Delhi’s air has been causing the extreme weather prime minister has been trying to
quality and similar steps have been in India, but you dismissed the theory... promote a better culture and mecha-
taken across India. We monitor air Let’s leave this to the experts. Extreme nism for collection and management of
pollution and effluent discharge by weather events are not a new phenom- plastic waste. From October 2, a mass
4,000 polluting industries. I can track enon. These occurred even 1,000 years movement will start to collect and
any breach of prescribed norms from ago. Our goal is to do everything pos- recycle plastic waste. n

UPFRONT
GUEST COLUMN
ALOK RAI
A VISION OF HINDISTAN
G
iven that our political life has become a masterclass length and breadth of this great land. This is a language that
in Machiavellianism, it is difficult to know what to comes in an infinity of local and regional variations, all of
make of Amit Shah’s explosively casual suggestion which suffice for the contigual communication, which is all
about Hindi being, or becoming, the national language. It that most people require. It is also already, largely courtesy
could, after all, be an innocent distraction, an attempt to Bombay cinema, practically “national”. Of course this Hindi
manipulate the news cycle and divert attention from the needs work—a lot of work—for the creation of higher-order
bad news that keeps piling up. A few violent anti-Hindi registers, to become a vehicle and a repository of knowledge
demonstrations in Tamil Nadu and points south, and the and to not be associated with the stupidity routinely spouted
distress of the Valley will fade from public memory, lapse by Sanghi ministers.
into, what they are pleased to call, “normalcy”—ubiquitous But this admittedly difficult enterprise is also not
rolls of concertina wire and deserted streets patrolled by helped by the intrusion of another purist “Hindi” that
AFSPA-protected soldiers with guns. The economic crisis, emerged in the early 20th century as a vehicle of ever-
again, is unlikely to abate anytime soon—mere pedestrian grander Hindu-upper-caste ambitions, which went all
maths will not save us, but railways and the way from securing lowly jobs
commerce and industry minister Piyush in the colonial administration to
Goyal’s “quantum economics” might— replacing the colonisers’ English as
with a little help from Hindi. the national language of independent
Alternatively, Amit Shah might have India. The Constituent Assembly
been merely kite-flying, seeing which was rightly alarmed at this tendency,
way the wind blows, testing the waters. and recognised it, even then, as
In which case, the wise response would “Hindi imperialism”. This “Hindi” is
have been to ignore the provocation and fundamentally different from demotic
wait for the day when the promised folly Hindi. It is this “Hindi” that I associate
actually became policy. But—and this is with “Gurugram” and “Prayagraj”,
where the puppet-master demonstrates disfigured by a tatsama longing
his control over the puppets—the usual that seeks to reverse the workings
suspects began squeaking and jumping up of time and of history and restore
and down. Better a sullen silence, in my us, language and all, to some mythic
view, than this charade of protest. After state of Brahminical-Aryan, certainly
all, we have swallowed greater outrages Sanskritic, purity—redeemed from
than the suggestion, harmless at one level, that Hindi be the taint of mere “Becoming” and restored to a condition
recognised as a first among equals. Except, of course, that this of pure, unitary “Being”. One nation, one culture, one
apparent innocence itself might be just a Machiavellian feint, language and (why not?) one-party democracy too.
a seductive smile before delivering the coup de grace. After This is dangerous nonsense and must be called out
all, unlike many of the other players in the political game, the firmly. Ours is a multi-cultural, multi-lingual, multi-
Sanghis actually have an ideology—and it is a fact that the religious country—a celebration, a veritable feast of
saffron armies are tireless in the unsleeping pursuit of their diversity. The loose, federal nature of our polity is an act
toxic goals. And at that level, Hindi—a kind of Hindi—is very of constitutional wisdom, not a sign of weakness. Held
much a part of their core agenda. loosely, as originally visualised by the founding fathers, the
From this point on, the argument becomes particularly structures will hold. But too much majoritarian pressure—
difficult for me because, at the end of the day, I see myself along whatever axes, wherever—and the traditional,
as a Hindiwala, as someone who believes that Hindi is inherited, historical fissures will begin to open up, to
uniquely suited to mobilising those democratic energies of fracture. Bodies crack under pressure. Pointing this out is
the heartland that are manifesting themselves in perverted, simply physics, not sedition. n
toxic forms today. This is the Hindi that has developed
naturally over the millennia, as a medium of communication Alok Rai is a writer, translator and
between people who live shared lives, across practically the former professor of English
Illustration by TANMOY CHAKRABORTY

UPFRONT Pehlu Khan (left) and Tabrez Ansari
MOB
COUNTRY
On August 30, the West Bengal gov-
ernment passed a bill, after Manipur and
Rajasthan, making lynching a crime pun-
ishable with a life term and Rs 5 lakh fine.
Since then, two people have died in lynch-
ings, three have survived attempted lynch-
ings and six were arrested on September
15 for trying to lynch a woman purportedly
on suspicion of ‘child-lifting’. But finding
data to confirm the general sense that
lynchings in India are on the rise—whether
fuelled by vigilante cow protection groups
or mobs who believe social media posts selective and misleading. An April report
about child-lifters—is both complicated by the US Commission on International Re-
and frustrating. There’s no authoritative ligious Freedom categorised India, along-
compilation of data on lynchings provided side Iraq and Afghanistan, as a violator of
by any government agency or ministry. In- religious freedom. Should the government
dependent media trackers have been shut now follow condemnation of the act with
down with complaints of the data being an improved collection of lynching data?
11 17 6 106
accused in of 44, or 39%, of 9 accused of deaths due to
Tabrez Ansari lynchings in India lynching Pehlu “mob violence”
lynching; they will from May 2015 Khan in Alwar since 2015,
not face murder to December in April 2017 as recorded
charges Jharkhand 2018 happened were acquitted by a media
police amended its in Jharkhand, last month by tracker, 17 this
charge to reflect says NGO a local court; year. Many
cardiac arrest as Human Rights 2 of the other other hate
the cause of death Watch; 3 more accused are trackers
in the post- this year, includ- minors and 1 is have been
mortem ing Ansari’s absconding shut down
Illustration by SIDDHANT JUMDE

“All of us are “This is
pained at the Modi’s
youth’s brutal
lynching. ‘New India’,
Those guilty where human-
must receive the ity is replaced
strictest punish- with hatred
ment... but is it fair and people are
to blame the whole crushed and
Jharkhand state?” left to die”
Prime Minister Narendra Modi Tweeted Rahul Gandhi
made his first statement about on July 23 last year, in
the June 18 lynching of 24-year- response to a report
old Tabrez Ansari on June 26 in that police took three
the Rajya Sabha. Was it fair of hours to get the dying
him, though, to show concern victim of a lynch mob in
about BJP-governed Jharkhand Alwar to a hospital six
getting the blame rather than kilometres away
focus on the horrifying because they “took a
phenomenon of lynchings? tea-break en route”
“I am completely “NCRB
against mob does not
violence and lynch- maintain
ing, and I stand for data with
the rule of law” respect to
Jharkhand MP Jayant Sinha, lynching
speaking to reporters in May incidents”
this year. In July last year, then a
Hansraj Ahir, then MoS for
Union minister, he was
home affairs, told the Rajya
photographed
Sabha in July 2018. But in
garlanding eight March 2018, the MHA had pro-
men accused of vided data to the Lok Sabha,
lynching a Muslim claiming 45 people were killed
cattle trader in in 40 incidents in nine states
2017. The men had and 217 people arrested
received bail from between 2014 and March
the Jharkhand High 3, 2018. In July 2017, news
Court. Sinha also told reports claimed the NCRB had
reporters he helped pay plans to develop a database,
for their legal expenses. pending MHA approval.
UPFRONT
POINT OF V IEW
CAPITAL DYSTOPIA
By K.T. Ravindran
T
he recent announcement by the central Secretariat Complex. The image is a composite
government of its plans to redevelop the of such avenues, building spires, domes and
Parliament complex and Central Vista has walkways. Even the compound walls and the
stunned built-environment professionals across gates of these buildings are integral to their
India. It appears from the published Expression heritage character. The proposal seems to
of Interest document that the government has reduce all these to an unimaginative engineering
not thought through the project. The timelines tender process. Will the Central Vista, one of
defined appear to be impossible, the conditions the most celebrated urban design ensembles in
of work ignore the city altogether and treat the world, be reduced to a kid brother of glitzy
it like a bid for a mere engineering project, Gurgaon or Noida? Increasing the parking load
when, in fact, the implications are far more in the city core is, at best, unwise.
complex and consequential for Delhi. It also The most important issue that needs
raises questions about the larger issues of the rethinking is our stand on the Sustainable
urbanisation process in India. Development Goals and the Climate Change
Delhi has a circular plan and the Central Accord. One is proud of the fact that India has
Vista lies exactly in the geographic centre of the been a signatory to both these UN initiatives,
body of the city. Unlike most other metropolitan but the new Central Vista proposal ignores
cities, which have the highest density at the sustainability and climate change issues with
core, Delhi has a green, open core. This is disdain. Our international position is one and
indeed a unique condition and the green image our action on ground is another!
contributes to the idea of a ‘nation space’ for Of course, it is laudable that radical change
the people of India. Events like the January 26 is being embraced for administrative reforms.
parade reinforce that image. Within Delhi itself, The fact that the number of MPs has more than
thousands of citizens consider it the only grand, doubled since Independence, certainly needs
green lung for their family outings. No tourist addressing. But 60-80 years is the given life
in Delhi is likely to leave without a visit to the of cement concrete after which it deteriorates.
Central Vista. It is not just a piece of real estate, Wishing to create a new legacy for the next 150-
but the core identity of India’s Capital. 200 years with concrete buildings is another
The Central Vista has been a highly unattainable dream.
protected special district in the Delhi Master What would be the challenges if such a
Plan and detailed urban design studies need to humungous and hurried project is unleashed
be conducted before development guidelines in the centre of Delhi? While the buildings are
are drawn up. The Parliament building and being demolished and reconstructed, where
the buildings on the Raisina Hill are part would the functioning ministries go? What
Will the of a protected precinct. The Central Vista about the resulting enormous construction
Central Vista, Committee, the Supreme Court formulated waste, dust and other toxins? Where will the
one of the most Heritage Conservation Committee, the Delhi water for construction come from? How about
celebrated Urban Art Commission and the South Delhi the public interface, accessibility, security
urban design Municipal Corporation are all watchdogs of the and storage systems of these ministries? An
ensembles in Central Vista. The proposal suggested seems to administrative dystopia is what I see; a project
the world, be violate the existing heritage conservation rules manager’s nightmare is heaving into view!
reduced to a for ‘grade-A’ buildings. Some serious professional consultations and
The area is also practically Delhi’s green reflections are required on sustainability, climate
kid brother of lung. Thousands of full-grown trees stand in change and India’s composite urban heritage. n
glitzy Gurgaon this zone and their fate is now anybody’s guess.
or Noida? The green avenues of the area have terminal K.T. Ravindran is a former chairman,
vistas in the spires and domes of the Central Delhi Urban Art Commission
12 INDIA TODAY SE P T E M BE R 3 0, 2 019 Illustration by TANMOY CHAKRABORTY

UPFRONT
INDEX PU LLQUOTE
One Country, Many Tongues “Don’t get into those

Home minister Amit Shah opened a can of worms last week when he
maths. Those maths
argued that Hindi could be the one language to unite the nation. It is have never helped
true that Hindi has by far the most speakers of any of the nearly two
dozen languages recognised in the Constitution, but it’s also true that Einstein discover gravity.
several Indian languages boast upwards of 10 million speakers. Perhaps If he had only gone by
acknowledging criticism of the Bharatiya Janata Party as purveyors of
Hindi chauvinism, Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently called on structured formulae
all Indians to learn, at least, a few words from an Indian language dif- and what was past
ferent from their mother tongue, to “appreciate the oneness in Indian
culture”. Incidentally, since the 1960s, Unesco has commemorated in- knowledge, I don’t
ternational literacy day on September 8. This year, in “solidarity” with
the international year of indigenous languages, it focused on “literacy
think there would have
and multilingualism”. India is one of the 10 most linguistically diverse been any innovation
countries, but research shows that few districts are genuinely polyglot—
four languages or more are spoken in just 21 out of 640 districts, based
in this world.”
on the 2011 census. As for basic literacy, shockingly, India is home to
a third of the world’s illiterates. Successive Indian governments have
failed to adequately prioritise primary education.
22 528.3 MILLION
scheduled languages, Indians (43.63%) list Hindi
says 2011 census; as their mother tongue, says
99 unscheduled languages; 2011 census data; Bengali,
14 languages are spoken by 97.2 million; Marathi, 83.03
at least 10 million people; million; Telugu, 81.13 million;
31 by more than 1 million and Tamil, 69.03 million
CHANDRADEEP KUMAR
780 52
languages identified by the years since first Unesco
People’s Linguistic Survey of international literacy day
India. 197 Indian languages was held on September
are endangered, says Unesco. 8, 1967. India’s combined
Followed by US (191), China literacy rate: 1961 census,
(144), Mexico (143) 28.3%; 2011 census, 74.04% PIYUSH GOYAL, minister of railways,
and commerce and industry, has been
all over the news and social media in
272,950,015 65.46% the past week for mixing up Einstein
and Newton in glib, fact-free remarks
Indians over age 7 cannot females in India above age at a meeting of the Board of Trade. As
read, says 2011 census. A 7 are literate. Compared to footage of his slip went viral, Goyal
2017 Unesco report said 82.14% of males. The male- sought to ‘clarify’ his silly error by
266 million Indian adults female gap has narrowed condemning the “mischievous and
were illiterate, about 35% of from 26.62% (1981), 21.59% baseless narrative” that had built up
global illiterate population (2001) to 16.68% (2011) around it. He soon released a second
self-serving clarification, before finally
admitting, in a third, that he’d made a
48% 93.91% dumb mistake. The more serious error of
judgement, though, is Goyal’s apparent
of Indian women were literate literacy rate in Kerala (2011 belief that innovation doesn’t build on
and had completed at least 5 census), including 91.98% accrued knowledge, on ‘past’ ideas and
years of schooling, says 2016 female literacy; lowest in thought. And that encouraging investors
report by a New York-based Bihar, 63.82% (53.33%, is akin to bluffing them, that exuding
NGO. Behind Nepal (92%) and females); lowest female confidence is a substitute for knowing
Pakistan (74%) literacy in Rajasthan (52.66%) what you’re talking about.
UPFRONT
BOOKS
CROSSING
BORDERS
By Chinmay Tumbe
I
n 1936, in a previous era of anti-
globalisation and anti-immigration
rhetoric, an Indian migrant and an THIS LAND IS OUR LAND
eminent social scientist, Rad- An Immigrant’s Manifesto
hakamal Mukerjee, published what is by Suketu Mehta
arguably the world’s first immigration JONATHAN CAPE
` 599, 287 pages
manifesto. In a book titled Migrant
Asia, he argued that labour-surplus
regions of the world, like India, should
have the option of redistributing their a searing indictment of the xenophobia mobility also tend to get missed in this
population around the world and that seen today in the West. The fourth part, post-colonial reading.
everyone would gain as a result. After titled ‘Why They Should Be Welcomed’, America’s immigration history
83 years, in a new wave of anti-global- documents in detail the benefits of im- could also have been treated differently.
isation and anti-immigration rhetoric, migrant diversity to host nations. The Instead of seeing it as two distinct peri-
an Indian migrant, this time in the US, epilogue, on the author’s own immi- ods of globalisation (broadly 1870-1930
has again risen to the occasion. grant experience, is delightful. and 1970 till date), both of which faced
Suketu Mehta’s latest book, This It is, however, the second part of severe backlashes against immigrants,
Land Is Our Land: An Immigrant’s the book, titled ‘Why They’re Coming’, the book’s narrative seems to excessive-
Manifesto, attempts to shed light on an that is a bit puzzling. It is argued that ly hinge on today being an exceptional
important phenomenon of our times immigrants from the ‘poor’ world in period brought about by American-led
and brings forth his research based on the ‘rich’ world should tell their hosts devastation around the world.
field visits across the world, personal that “We are here because you were Finally, the ‘immigration as repara-
experiences and by way of a historical there”. Here, the book borrows some of tions’ argument is novel but tricky. The
enquiry. When the book talks about the core tenets of post-colonial inquiry, author may want to experiment with it
migrations through the voices of invoking colonialism and the multina- by admitting tents in his backyard for
those affected, it excels in sensitivity, tional corporation for the roots of un- low-ranking caste Indian immigrants
narrative and prose. On history, it is even development that has apparently for the sins committed by India’s upper-
less persuasive. But on balance, it is a sparked current waves of immigration, caste ancestors over hundreds of years.
major accomplishment. along with wars and climate change. These caveats apart, I sincerely
The first part, titled ‘The Migrants The problem is that the geography and hope that this book opens hearts,
Are Coming’, beautifully portrays the history of global immigration does not if not borders, as the author intends
lives of ordinary migrants trying to quite match up to this description. How to. Radhakamal Mukerjee, who died
make ends meet across borders, often can an Indian emigrant in the Persian in the same decade as when Suketu
in extraordinary circumstances. The Gulf countries or US, the principal des- Mehta was born, would certainly
sites are carefully chosen, such as The tinations for Indians, claim ‘creditor’ approve of it. This book will certainly
Friendship Park on the US-Mexico bor- status when the host nations have not be more widely read than Mukerjee’s,
der or Tangier in Morocco that serves as really ravaged India’s present or past? not least because it has been published
a gateway between Africa and Europe. Likewise with the majority of global by a multinational corporation, the
The third part of the book, titled ‘Why migration flows, which happen either idea of which seems to perturb the
They’re Feared’, starts with an out- within countries rather than across, author so much. n
standing line—“The West is being de- or between relatively ‘poor’ countries.
stroyed not by migrants, but by the fear Additionally, the pre-colonial roots Chinmay Tumbe is the author of
of migrants”—and proceeds to provide of slavery, poverty and restrictions on India Moving: A History of Migration

A DOG’S LIFE
V
eterinarians of a private animal
care clinic are in the doghouse.
They have been booked by the
Hyderabad police for the death
of Telangana chief minister K.
Chandrashekar Rao’s dog,
Husky. The veterinarians were
booked on charges of medical
negligence and cruelty after
11-month-old Husky died in his
office-cum-residence Pragathi
Bhavan. KCR’s political rivals have
accused the CM of being more
GL ASSHOUSE
worried about his dogs than children
SISTER ACT
dying of dengue in the state. It’s the
city’s veterinarians, though, who
have reason to be truly scared—the
W ILL THE 2022 Uttar Pradesh
CM has eight more dogs.
assembly election see battle lines
drawn between Priyanka Gandhi
Vadra and Chief Minister Yogi
Adityanath? According to Congress
party sources, Priyanka, national
general secretary in-charge of
east UP, is being groomed as a CM
candidate. This, despite the party’s
crushing defeat in the state in the 2019
Lok Sabha election. The Congress,
though, hasn’t given up hope. They
ANI
have plans to organise a youth
conclave in November to be chaired
by Priyanka, who has been specially
active on Twitter lately, targeting the
Encounter at
state government. She is assisted by Nallasopara
a team, led by the state organisation
secretary Shiv Pandey, which sends
her an e-mail at 9 am every day
C ontroversial Mumbai
police ‘encounter specialist’
Pradeep Sharma opted for
containing news headlines from
voluntary retirement from the
regional channels. Is Priyanka likely to
police force on September 13.
achieve what brother Rahul couldn’t?
Illustration by SIDDHANT JUMDE Oddly, the senior inspector
seemed to have been sure that the
director general of police, Subodh
Babu English? Kumar Jaiswal, would
RATHEESH SUNDARAM
clear his retirement
F ollowing a debate over the imposition of

Hindi as India’s common language, Kerala
has decided to conduct the state public
by afternoon
since he joined
the Shiv Sena
service examinations, including the state only four hours
administrative service exams, in Malayalam, later. Sharma is
as well as in English. After a two-week likely to be fielded
hunger strike by citizens, activists against BVA candidate Hitendra
and personalities like filmmaker Adoor Thakur—who was once allegedly
Gopalakrishnan, CM Pinarayi Vijayan associated with fugitive gangster
announced that exam papers would Dawood Ibrahim—in Mumbai’s
henceforth be printed in both languages. Nallasopara constituency, in the
Talk about overcoming language barriers! October assembly election.
Sandeep Unnithan with Ashish Misra, Kiran D. Tare, Jeemon Jacob and Amarnath K. Menon
STATES
KARNATAKA: MP: THE
VOKKALIGAS ON WATER WARS
THE WARPATH PG 1 8 PG 2 1
UNCERTAIN
FUTURE
An apple orchard in
Shopian, Kashmir
ABID BHAT
K ASHMIR
UPSETTING THE G
hulam Mohammad Mir does
not recall ever having to sit idle
in the apple harvesting season,
which begins mid-August in the
APPLE CART
Kashmir Valley. The 55-year-old
farmer from Pattan in north Kashmir says
his 19 acre orchard generates more than
25,000 boxes of apples a year for supply
to the rest of the country. Not this time.
Security restrictions and militant Apple-growers like Mir say the heightened
threats make it a bitter harvest for security restrictions in the Valley since the
abrogation of special status under Article
the Valley’s apple trade 370 have brought in logistical uncertainties
and taken a heavy toll on their business.
By Moazum Mohammad “It’s a miracle that I am at home in Sep-
tember,” says Mir, sitting in the verandah
SHOPIAN of his two-storey house, surrounded by
FRUIT BOWL UNDER FIRE
ing a minor girl, suffered gunshot wounds as militants came
home looking for him.
A measure of Kashmir’s apple crisis Many apple traders are now operating in the dead of
night, loading their produce onto trucks parked at isolated
spots. Since a stone throwing incident on August 25 in
South Kashmir’s Anantnag, in which a transporter was
killed, many of them also fear for their lives. It’s not only a
risky but also an expensive proposition. Mir says he man-
aged to get some of his produce sent off on trucks from an
open field at night. The cost of transporting a box of apples,
weighing 18-20 kg, to Delhi has shot up from Rs 45 to Rs
120, he says. A 20 kg box of the delicious Shimla apple is
fetching Rs 500-600 in Delhi against the earlier price of Rs
1,200. “At this rate, I anticipate 60 per cent losses,” rues Mir,
whose annual turnover usually crosses Rs 1 crore.
2/3rd Kashmir is the country’s largest producer of apples, with

the annual trade pegged at Rs 9,000 crore. Apple farming
and trade are, directly or indirectly, the livelihood of 700,000
of India’s apples
families and, according to the 2017 J&K Economic Survey,
are produced
accounted for exports worth Rs 6,500 crore in 2016-17. Apple
in Kashmir
is grown in over 67 per cent of the Valley’s land under fresh
fruit cultivation. Of the 2.16 million metric tonnes of fruits
produced in the Valley last year, apples accounted for 1.9 mil-
lion metric tonnes. The state’s horticulture department has
estimated a 10 per cent growth in the apple harvest this year.
J&K governor Satya Pal Malik’s warning that militants
intimidating apple growers and traders won’t be spared has
done little to instil confidence. “While militants prevent
10
PER CENT
700
THOUSAND
`
6,500 88%
CRORE of the
us from carrying out our business during the day, security
forces do not allow us to operate at night. So, we have left
the fruit to rot on trees,” says an apple farmer, requesting
of the families Valley’s Valley’s fruit anonymity. Mushtaq Ahmad Malik, president of the fruit
state’s GDP engaged apple production growers and zamindar association in Shopian, says the
comes from in apple exports in in 2018 was apple trade may have survived the hailstorm earlier this
apples trade 2016-17 apples year but there is little hope of overcoming the current crisis.
“After god, the apple harvest was our only means of survival.
What do we have left now?” he asks.
With reports of distress sales growing, the state
government announced a support scheme on September 12.
The scheme will see the National Agricultural Cooperative
giant walnut trees. “We lose track of time during the harvest Marketing Federation (Nafed) directly purchase 1.2 mil-
season. This time, we have lost all hope of doing business lion metric tonnes of apples—of all three grades. But many
and have stopped harvesting.” The situation is just as grim growers are citing a price mismatch—for example, they say,
in other parts of the Valley. Its three largest mandis—in while a kilogram of grade ‘A’ apple is priced Rs 52 under the
apple bowl Shopian, Parimpora and Sopore—which serve as scheme, standard market rates are in the range of Rs 65-70.
the main collection centres for the fruit, are deserted. Shops A state horticulture official says there wasn’t much room
remain shuttered and traders say most labourers are either for negotiations as Nafed follows the pricing system of the
not reporting to work or, being migrant, have fled the state. National Horticulture Board.
At the Sopore mandi, where apple trade turnover was J&K government spokesperson Rohit Kansal said while
about Rs 1,070 crore last year, militant outfits have slapped the scheme will discourage distress sales, apple growers were
posters on shops and mosque walls warning against any under no compulsion to sell their produce through this route.
attempt to get on with the trade. Few are willing to take the A sure positive, though, is the assurance of payments within
threat lightly, given the September 6 attack by militants on 48 hours—unlike market schemes of the erstwhile PDP-BJP
the family of Abdul Hamid Rather, a local fruit grower who government, under which, growers complain, payments have
defied the diktat. Four members of Rather’s family, includ- still not materialised. n

STATES
U T TA R P R A D E S H
A NEW POWER
CENTRE?
Governor Anandiben
LUCKNOW
Patel’s proactive interest in

administration raises eyebrows
By Ashish Misra
VAIBHAV
O
n September 5, on the occasion deputies Keshav Prasad Maurya Narendra Modi’s agenda of eradicating
of Teachers’ Day, the Gandhi and Dinesh Sharma. The remaining tuberculosis by adopting at least one
auditorium at Lucknow’s Raj ministers were seated in front of the TB-affected child or patient.
Bhavan had turned into a sort governor. One by one, they introduced Patel, who took over as the state’s
of classroom. There was a makeshift themselves to Patel and gave a brief 28th governor on July 29, has been
stage and a ring of tables facing the profile of their departments. The chief proactive in the administration from
stage. This was the first time a governor minister, then, presented a ‘report the start, using her very first day in
of Uttar Pradesh was holding a meet- card’ of his government. Adityanath office to inspect a government-run
ing with the entire cabinet of the Yogi highlighted the achievements of vari- home for children in the state capi-
Adityanath-led BJP government. ous departments and elaborated on the tal. Among other things, the former
The session started at 6 pm sharp. plans ahead. At the end of the two- Gujarat chief minister inspected the
On stage, governor Anandiben Patel hour meeting, Patel appealed to the kitchen. In a month and a half, Patel
was flanked by Adityanath and his ministers to aggressively pursue PM has toured at least six districts, visiting
ANI
K A R N ATA K A
Communal Unrest
The Vokkaligas are up in arms against the ruling
BJP. The D.K. Shivakumar arrest was the last straw
By Aravind Gowda
N
othing seems to be going right for lar) and the Congress. But in the past
new chief minister B.S. Yediyur decade, the BJP has been able to make
appa. After the floods and the inroads into the community. However, the
infighting in the BJP over appointments massive rally in Bengaluru on September
in the council of ministers, he now faces 11 to protest the arrest of exminister and
another major challenge—placating the senior Congress leader D.K. Shivakumar
Vokkaligas, the second largest commu (a Vokkaliga) has rattled the BJP.
nity in the state. They have declared war The irate community sees a pattern
against the BJP, alleging the party was in the antiVokkaliga stand: in what they
targeting their leaders. see as a telltale sequence of events,
The Vokkaligas, who constitute 13 they cite, first, the bringing down of the
RAGING IRE per cent of the state’s population, have JD(S)Congress coalition government
Vokkaligas protesting the Shivakumar arrest traditionally backed the Janata Dal (Secu headed by H.D. Kumaraswamy (a Vok

police personnel who were part of
her security detail. She has also cut
back on the use of state aircraft,
and has been opting for commer-
cial flights instead.
Political observers say it’s
a matter of time before Patel’s
interest in day-to-day administra-
tive affairs ruffles feathers in the
Adityanath government. Says Ajit
WHO’S IN
Kumar, retired professor of politi-
CHARGE?
Anandiben Patel
cal science at Banaras Hindu Uni-
at the Sachendi versity: “The governor’s activities
police station in suggest dominance over the state
Kanpur, Sept. 12 BJP government. Patel belongs to
Gujarat and is thought to be close
to the party’s top leadership, so this
several schools and police stations. could create a [parallel] power
In Kanpur, on September 12, she centre in the state, which is not a
visited the Sachendi police station good sign for any government.”
and expressed displeasure at the Manish Hindvi, associate
shabby state of the building. She professor of political science at
also demanded information on Lucknow University, however, does
action taken against top criminals not anticipate any trouble. “The
in the area and told the officers to governor is an active politician and
work extra hard. has been a BJP chief minister.
Anandiben’s austerity mea- The political complexion of the
sures have not gone unnoticed. She state and central governments is
trimmed her security cover, leading the same. A confrontation is un-
to the redeployment of 50-odd likely,” he says. n
kaliga); followed by the The massive vere… Malnad loved him for
suicide of V.G. Siddhar
Vokkaliga what he did for the region,
tha (founder, Café Coffee especially in creating jobs,”
Day), who had blamed
rally in says a Union minister.
central government
Bengaluru “The Vokkaligas know
agencies for his troubles; has rattled that the JD(S) is a lost
and, finally, the arrest of the BJP cause,” says historian A.
Shivakumar. “What more Veerappa. “Their best hope
do you want?” asks Sri is Shivakumar, considering
kante Gowda, a leader of the powerful that the BJP is dominated by Lingayats,
Vokkaligara Sangha forum. “Okay, they the other big community in the state.
brought down the coalition government Naturally, his arrest has led to an explo
to make Yediyurappa chief minister, but sion of Vokkaliga anger.”
who was behind Siddhartha’s death? The BJP is already in damage con
This is unpardonable.” trol mode. It has appointed BJP youth
The demise of Siddhartha, who leader Ashwath Narayan, a Vokkaliga,
strengthened the coffee economy as a deputy CM. Yediyurappa has also
in Karnataka, has dented the BJP’s announced a 101ft statue for Benga
image in the Malnad region, a party luru’s founder Kempe Gowda (another
stronghold. Senior leaders admit it has Vokkaliga) at a cost of Rs 500 crore.
become difficult for them to delink the But it’s going to be a long battle to win
death from the alleged ‘hounding’ by back hearts. Even the Vokkaliga seers
central agencies. “The backlash is se are visibly upset with the BJP. n
STATES
W EST BENGA L
RETURN OF THE REDS

After a long interregnum, the Left makes a splash with
KOLK ATA
a big youth protest rally

By Romita Datta of India (DYFI), both CPI(M) affili-
ates, had lost an estimated 1.6 million want to ask Didi, ‘what is the use of
members after the Trinamool came to Didi ke bolo (the helpline for reg-
E
ven as the ruling Trinamool power in 2011. But over the years, they istering grievances) if she uses her
Congress (TMC) and the BJP have been able to regroup somewhat as police to silence the aggrieved.”
continue their daily cat-and- the youth lost confidence in the TMC The Left parties say they con-
mouse manoeuvres, another government’s ability to offer jobs or ducted a month-long survey across
battlefront is opening up in the state. recruit people in a transparent manner. 22 districts of the state to under-
Cadre of the Left parties clashed with the That said, the last time the Left stand the job crisis in the state.
police at Howrah, just a few kilometres held a successful protest in Bengal was “We have a list of over 1 million
away from the administrative headquar- in 2017 over farmers’ deaths. Even the educated youth who are either un-
ters, Nabanna, on September 13. CPI(M) mandarins were surprised employed or working in decidedly
The police used water cannons and at the turnout this time. DYFI state inferior jobs,” says Mitra.
teargas to disperse a 40,000-strong secretary Sayandeep Mitra says he was The student leaders say they
crowd of jobless youth near Mullick “overwhelmed by the huge response. We only wanted to apprise Didi of the
Ghat in Howrah. The rally, taken expected around 7,000, but it turned job crisis and the police action was
out under the banner of 12 left-wing out to be a sea of Left supporters and unwarranted. But political insiders
student organisations, had been on the sympathisers”. DYFI state president say it has come as a kind of blessing
road for two days. They were protesting Meenakshi Mukherjee, who was injured for the CPI(M) leadership, who had
the TMC government’s tall claims of in the police lathi-charge, insists it was been taking flak for ‘surrender-
having created 7.7 million jobs between a peaceful demonstration. “The police ing’ to the friendly overtures from
2012 and 2018. The march, with its resorted to the worst kind of barbarism; Mamata Banerjee. In the recent
sea of red sickle-and-hammer flags 60 of our comrades had to be hospital- assembly session, worried by the
and ‘Inquilab zindabad’ slogans, was ised and 22 were arrested,” she says. rise of a dogged BJP, Mamata had
a throwback to a time when the Left “We just wanted somebody from pleaded with “committed Left
parties had a strong appeal among the the administration, on behalf of chief sympathisers” (the 7 per cent voters
young, educated classes. minister Mamata Banerjee, to take our who had stuck with the party in the
The Students’ Federation of India petition,” says Mukherjee. SFI state general election while others shifted
(SFI) and Democratic Youth Federation secretary Srijan Bhattacharya says, “We allegiance to the BJP) not to desert
the party and assured them full
COME NO FURTHER protection and cooperation.
Police use water cannons to disperse the Left rally It’s no secret that a section of
the Left leadership had taken a
SUBIR HALDER
shine to Mamata after this. The

police action, then, has at the very
least rid the Left of the reputation
of being the TMC’s B-team. “The
barbaric police action against our
comrades has once again proved
that we are the real opposition
in the state,” says CPI(M) state
committee member Robin Deb.
“Compare this with the way the
police dealt with the BJP Yuva
Morcha strike on September 12.
Again, this proves that the TMC
and BJP are hand-in-glove.” n
NO SURRENDER
Medha Patkar protests with villagers
at the NVDA office in Indore
should look at it from a humanitarian

point of view. How can it let people
drown?” asks Surendra Singh Baghel,
MP minister for the NVDA. Public rela-
tions minister P.C. Sharma even says
Gujarat owes MP Rs 10,000 crore for
the lost land and revenue.
Gujarat chief secretary J.N. Singh
PRAVIN BARNALE denies the allegations. “We complied
M A D H YA P R A D E S H
with all the directives of the Supreme
Court and the NCA. So we are well
THE WATER WARS

As the Sardar Sarovar dam fills up, issues of
within our rights to close the gates
to fill the dam to full height,” he says.
Adds another officer on condition of
anonymity, “If 2,000 families were being
rehabilitation, compensation come to the fore too submerged, there would have been a
hue and cry on September 16 when the
By Rahul Noronha dam reached full height. But nothing of
the sort happened.”
A
s the water level of the Sardar get submerged by the backwaters. Fingers are also being pointed at
Sarovar dam inches towards its Sources in the Narmada Valley the previous Shivraj Singh Chouhan
full capacity of 138.98 metres Development Authority (NVDA), the nodal government in MP. “Gujarat says they
(thanks to a plentiful monsoon), agency for all matters concerning the dam, have transferred the compensation
Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat are locked in told india today that even if MP had another amount. The earlier BJP regime in MP
yet another dispute. The MP government month, they might not have managed to says it has utilised the amount. If so,
has accused Gujarat of closing the sluice evacuate people from these areas. why are there people who have still not
gates of the dam ahead of the schedule In February 2017, the Supreme Court got compensation?” asks Baghel.
agreed upon by the states in consultation ruled on a final settlement in which each The Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA)
with the Narmada Control Authority (NCA), project-affected family that had not has been protesting the submergence
the agency set up to implement the orders accepted the earlier compensation pack- of the villages for long now. NBA leader
of the Narmada Water Disputes Tribu- age was to get Rs 60 lakh. The then MP Medha Patkar began a hunger strike
nal. The closing of the gates, alleges MP, government announced an additional on August 25, but relented nine days
threatens to submerge the land of more Rs 900 crore under which families that later after the MP government prom-
than 2,000 families in 60-odd villages of had accepted the earlier Rs 5.8 lakh pack- ised action. “Our data shows that there
the Dhar and Barwani districts of the state. age, would get an additional amount. are 28,000 project-affected families.
The dam height was raised in 2017, but The Gujarat government says it has The MP government had worked out a
this is the first year when it is likely to fill transferred its share of the compensa- Rs 1,857 crore rehabilitation package,
to capacity. By August-end, tion. By March 2019, the which is inadequate. This should be
the water had reached 135 Madhya Pradesh govern- revised,” says Rahul Yadav of the NBA.
2,000
metres, flooding the banks in ment had disbursed Rs 419 The crux of the issue is the differ-
Chikhalda and numerous oth- crore as compensation and ence in the number of project-affected
er habitations in MP. The state spent Rs 90 crore as a sec- families, as seen by the states and the
FAMILIES
had protested even then—as ond instalment package. activists. The NBA says a total of 192
in the 60-odd
per the schedule agreed upon, villages of Dhar The issue has now taken villages and a town, Dharampuri, are
the storage was to reach 135 and Barwani in MP a political turn, with the cur- affected; the MP government says only
metres only by September are set to lose their rent Congress government 178 villages are affected. “MP has been
homes, swamped
30. With gates closed ahead in MP alleging that Gujarat telling the NCA throughout (2008-2016)
by Sardar Sarovar
of schedule, MP says it didn’t dam water as it has “not transferred the that there are no more families to reha-
have adequate time to move hits capacity entire compensation amount bilitate. Who are these people then?”
people from areas that would we had demanded”. “Gujarat asks Yadav. n

Cover Story
I N D I A N ROA D S
HELL ON
WHEELS
THE MOTOR VEHICLES ACT, 2019, HAS
SPARKED FEAR AND PROTEST, BUT
WILL IT MAKE INDIAN ROADS SAFER?
AND SHOULD STIFF PENALTIES FOR
VIOLATIONS BE ACCOMPANIED BY A DRIVE
TO BUILD BETTER ROAD AND TRAFFIC-
MANAGEMENT INFRASTRUCTURE?
BY KA U S H I K D E KA
Photograph by HARDIK CHHABRA

RIGHT OF WAY?
A traffic jam in Mohan
Estate, an industrial area
in New Delhi, Sept. 16
Cover Story
I N D I A N ROA D S SONU KISHAN
Last week, when traffic constables in Delhi

stopped a girl riding a two-wheeler with a broken
number plate, they weren’t ready for the commo-
tion that followed. Not only did the girl refuse to
pay the fine (which had gone up as another vio-
lation had been discovered—she wasn’t wearing
a certified helmet), she also threatened to
1.5
commit suicide on the spot. At another lo-
cation in the national capital, a man, faced Rs
with a challan of Rs 11,000 for drunk driv-
ing and other offences, set his motorbike
on fire even as cops were in the process of
impounding it. He later said he had refused biles, India accounts for 15 per
to pay a Rs 11,000 fine for a bike he had cent of global traffic deaths,
bought for Rs 15,000. LAKH CRORE according to the World Bank.
The steep hike in fines for violating traffic laws, as Between 2002 and 2017, India
The annual cost of
provisioned by the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act, lost 1,961,301 lives to road ac-
traffic congestion during
2019, which came into effect from September 1, has led cidents—nearly the combined
peak hours in Delhi,
to sharp debates and bitter divisions over the big ques- population of Goa and Sikkim.
Mumbai, Bengaluru and
tions—can stiff penalties make Indian drivers better Kolkata. It’s equal to The amended MV Act has
behaved, and the roads safer in India? Nitin Gadkari, the combined budget received support from most
the Union minister for road transport and highways, for education and quarters. A study conducted by
has been the strongest proponent of the new act. He healthcare in India SaveLIFE Foundation at four key
believes this is a critical step in bringing discipline to stretches in Delhi and Mumbai
Source: Boston Consulting Group
the traffic mess in Indian cities. “There was no fear of after the implementation of the
the law because the fines were low. People got away act notes higher seat-belt compli-
cheaply. And fines are just one aspect of the new Motor ance and fewer overloading viola-
Vehicles (MV) Act. We are aiming for larger reforms,” he says tions by two-wheelers and commercial vehicles. “On average,
(see interview: ‘Fines are just one aspect...’). 18 accident deaths were reported every day in Bihar prior to
The intent behind amending the act cannot be faulted. the new MV Act; this is down to 12 now. In Patna, 98 per
Indian roads are among the deadliest in the world: 147,913 cent bikers are wearing helmets now,” says Sanjay Agarwal,
people died in the country in road accidents in 2017 alone. principal secretary, transport department, Bihar.
That amounts to 405 deaths every day or 17 deaths every Critics, however, have slammed the Centre for making
hour. Tragically, with just 1 per cent of the world’s automo- people pay for the chaos on Indian roads, almost as if the

QAMAR SIBTAIN/MAIL TODAY
In Jaipur, authorities
have hung flowerpots
from traffic signal
poles, often
obstructing the
drivers’ line of vision
adequate lack of public transport and poor road
PANKAJ TIWARI
administration had no role in the sorry state of
affairs. In June, the Supreme Court Committee
on Road Safety sought the response of states to a
report by the Delhi-based Institute of Road Traffic
Education (IRTE). The report said a large percent-
age of traffic signals and road signage violated the
standards set by the Indian Roads Congress, a
premier body of highway engineers. “Seventy-five
per cent of the traffic signals in Delhi are faulty.
Ex-Union minister Gopinath Munde died in an
accident in Delhi in 2014; the signal light at the
accident site is still defective. What’s the point in
penalising people without giving them good infra-
structure?” asks Rohit Baluja, president of IRTE.
The situation is much worse in other places.
In Jaipur, authorities have hung flowerpots from
signal poles, often obstructing the drivers’ line
of vision. It comes as no surprise to Vishwas
Jain, MD of the city-based Consulting Engineers
Group, a leading firm in road safety planning. He
claims that the Rajasthan government does not
have a single transport planner or engineer on its
rolls, leave aside a department for it.
It’s the story of every Indian city—congested,
with poor public transport, little room for
pedestrians or cyclists, badly engineered roads,
abysmal parking facilities, traffic signals on the
blink, reckless drivers and indifferent enforcement
agencies. Anil Kumar, additional commissioner
of police (traffic), Hyderabad, points to other
maladies—poor implementation of municipal laws
that convert residential areas into commercial
zones; houses with inadequate parking, leading
to encroachments on roads and sidewalks. Not
to mention the rampant corruption in the traffic
management system—from driving licences to
challans for road transgressions.
SOMNATH SEN
TOO FEW ROADS, TOO MANY CARS
NOT FINE WITH IT What makes matters worse is the unsupport-
Clockwise from top left: Police action at an anti-MV Act rally in Patna; able vehicular burden on city roads. Urban roads
cops issuing challans in Delhi, Bhopal and Ranchi account for only 9 per cent of India’s total road net-

Cover Story
I N D I A N ROA D S
THE INFAMOUS FIVE
These five cities record the
MILES
highest fatalities in accidents
TO GO...
Persons killed per 100 accidents in 2017
73.4 Jamshedpur
...before road travel 63.8 Asansol
becomes safe in India 56.3 Amritsar
53.8 Agra
53.6 Dhanbad
KILLER ROADS
Indian roads are among the
most dangerous in the world
Deaths per 100,000 population in road accidents
CAUSES OF ACCIDENTS
Year 2017 Accidents People
UK 3 (%) killed (%)
Germany 4 Overspeeding 70.4 66.7
Japan 4 Driving on the 6.3 6.4
wrong side
USA 12
Drunken driving 3 3.2
China 18
Use of mobile 1.8 2.1
India 23 phone while driving
Jumping 1.4 1.2
traffic signal
FATAL FRONTIERS No violation

Not known
3
14
3.8
17
Road accidents in
India have turned
more fatal than they
were a decade ago
31.8
29.1 DANGEROUS CITIES
Cities with highest number of accident deaths in 2017
25.8
29 Delhi Chennai Jaipur Kanpur Lucknow
21.6 26.3 2017
2015
23.9 6,673 7,257 2,983 1,568 1,515
2010
1,565 1,264 753 608 581
19 % of fatal accidents
2005 Persons killed per 100 accidents
1,584 1,299 813 682 655
Source: Union ministry for road transport and highways Total number of accidents Total number of fatal accidents Total deaths
work, but vehicle numbers here have been growing at an alarming rate.
Major Indian cities are now consistently ranked among the world’s most
congested. The average speed for vehicles in some metros is as low as 17
By 2018, Mumbai’s
kmph. An estimate by the Bengaluru Development Authority, released BEST buses
as part of Master Plan 2031, found that some 11.8 million citizens waste
600 million man-hours a year and almost 280,000 litres of fuel every
were crawling at
hour in the city because of congestion. 9 kmph, down from
In the cities of developed countries, public transport is encouraged
to decongest roads, at least during peak hours. In India, the reverse 16 kmph in 2008
is true. According to a December 2018 report by the Mumbai Envi-
26 INDIA TODAY SE P T E M BE R 3 0, 2 019 Graphics by TANMOY CHAKRABORTY

Cover Story
I N D I A N ROA D S
MORE VEHICLES,
LESS ROADS
THE SQUEEZE The number of vehicles
in India has multiplied
more than 70 times
the rise in population
VEHICLE DENSITY and over 40 times the
increase in road length
Mumbai has the highest
number of cars per kilometre
Population
Mumbai 510 (in millions)
1,500
Pune 359
1,200
Kolkata 319 900
Chennai 297 600
300
Bengaluru 149 0
Delhi 108
Source: State governments Vehicles
(in millions)
250
IT’S STILL SO CHEAP IN INDIA 200
150
Most developed countries impose
100
heavier fines for traffic rule violations 50
0
UK Germany Japan
` 9,000 ` 800 ` 24,000
` 9,000 ` 7,200 ` 6,000 Road length
(in thousand km)
` 220,000 ` 120,000 ` 700,000 6,000
4,800
3,600
2,400
1,200
0
No. of accidents
(in thousands)
500
400
USA India Singapore 300
` 11,000 ` 2,000 ` 8,000 200
` 3,600 ` 5,000 ` 26,000 100
` 180,000 ` 10,000 ` 260,000 0
1970
1980
1990
2000
2010
2016
Overspeeding Signal violation Drunken driving
All figures converted to rupee and rounded off Source: Union ministry for road transport and highways
ronmental Social Network, road space occupied by private Delhi (343 km). Despite such impressive connectivity, more
vehicles in the city has risen from 59 per cent to 77 per cent than half of Delhi’s population does not have easy metro ac-
in the past two decades; in the same period, road space oc- cess—beyond a 1 km radius from any metro station.
cupied by buses was down from 6.2 per cent to 2.2 per cent. Gadkari accepts these flaws and says he is focusing on
By 2018, Mumbai’s BEST buses were crawling at 9 kmph, improving public transport. “We are planning to launch
down from 16 kmph in 2008. A roads ministry study in double-decker buses that run on bio-ethanol fuel,” he says,
2016 found that four cities—Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad buts adds a rider—there is a limit to the scope of government
and Kolkata—showed a continuous reduction in bus fleets. enterprise. “It has to be a public-private model of investment,
A 2010 McKinsey report says the share of public transport we need to think out of the box,” he says. The Union minister
in an average Indian city is just 30 per cent, well short of the has reason to be optimistic about private investment. The
ideal of minimum 50 per cent. Currently, the metro rail net- McKinsey report predicted that transport would be one of the
work in 13 cities spans 630 km, with more than half of it in most capital-intensive sectors in India by 2030. It also said
Cover Story
I N D I A N ROA D S
CHANDRADEEP KUMAR CHANDRADEEP KUMAR
India would need to build over 7,400 km of remained piecemeal, restricted to small
metros and subways. In fact, many experts areas within a city. While the Centre has
300
point towards Delhi Metro as an example pushed for reforms in road and transporta-
of how world-class public infrastructure tion through the new act, the implementa-
can result in better public behaviour. tion and required infrastructure support
will depend critically on the initiatives
SMART TRAFFIC SYSTEMS THOUSAND of states. In Uttar Pradesh, poor camera
The government’s policy think-tank NITI The number of people,
infrastructure has resulted in challans
Aayog and the Geneva-based Interna- according to WHO, who frequently being issued to the wrong indi-
tional Road Federation have signed an died in road accidents in viduals. State IG, traffic, Deepak Ratan,
agreement on intelligent transportation India in 2018—23% of the now says an e-challan system is being put
systems to design a policy framework global traffic fatalities in place. The traffic directorate will spend
for the same. In Mumbai, traffic signal that year more than Rs 25 crore to provide 3,656
synchronisation is now carried out at busy traffic police personnel with a mobile
corridors through real-time monitoring handset, thermal printer and a body-cam.
465
via CCTV cameras. At places like Haji Ali,
the signal cycle has reduced by over 25 per WILL OF THE PEOPLE
cent, helping streamline traffic flow. An A most crucial element for the success of
intelligent traffic system, which includes the MV Act will be the political will of
camera-based traffic sensors and message state leaders. The new law has already hit
THOUSAND
boards to gather, infer and disseminate political roadblocks, with several BJP-
real-time traffic information to commut- road mishaps in India in 2017 ruled states refusing to implement the
ers, was launched in Ahmedabad in 2014. killed 147,913 people; the hefty fines pushed through Parliament by
same year, terrorism killed
In February this year, ‘smart’ traffic signals 26,445 people globally
their party’s central government. The MV
installed in four places in Gurugram. The Act comes under the central list, and if the
system involves automatic and real-time Union government makes an amendment,
71
management of traffic signals. Delhi police it prevails over the state’s powers. States
is all set to roll out an intelligent traffic have discretionary powers to ease penalties
management system that proposes to use for certain offences. West Bengal, Punjab,
artificial intelligence to manage traffic Madhya Pradesh and Telangana have
and an array of sensors to detect viola- refused to impose the revised penalties. In
tors. Under the Smart City mission, cities PER CENT the south, Kerala initially implemented the
like Pune, Bhopal and Indore have built accidents happen and new act, but withdrew it later after protests
a central command structure to monitor 73 per cent people die at from the people and trade unions.
and manage traffic and other services in unmanned traffic junctions Among the BJP-ruled states, Gujarat
the city. and Uttarakhand have lowered the fines.
The problem is, most initiatives have Maharashtra has decided that it will not

SPOT THE ROAD
From far left: Cars
navigate an under-
construction road in
Ghaziabad, UP; road
rage in Ghazipur, UP;
Mumbai’s potholes
MILIND SHELTE
even implement the amended MV Act and ers after the new MV Act was passed by
is seeking the opinion of legal experts in Parliament, exhorting people “to follow
11
the matter. “The heavy fines could spark traffic rules and save money”. It seems
unrest among the people. We are in no to have achieved the objective—a 10-city
mood to go against their wishes,” says state study commissioned by Ford Motors
transport minister Diwakar Raote. Two last year found that 81 per cent drivers
years ago, Raote burnt his fingers trying PER CENT in Hyderabad followed traffic rules, the
to impose a Rs 1,000 fine on helmet-less highest level of compliance among metros.
of fatalities occur in
bikers. With an assembly election round Additional commissioner of police Kumar
50 Indian cities with a
the corner, the state BJP is not keen on any population of over 1 million, suggests that traffic rules and lessons on
action that will rile the electorate. says the Institute of Road safe driving should be part of school cur-
Karnataka, also under the BJP, is Traffic Education riculums. “The mindset in India is that the
studying Gujarat’s decision to lower the traffic police is responsible for implement-
fines, while UP too is going the same way. ing the law, while in most countries people
21.1
“We are getting negative feedback, the follow rules voluntarily. Challans will
government will review the fines,” says UP come to an end if people start respecting
transport minister Ashok Kataria. Other laws,” he says. The study found 45 per cent
BJP-ruled states such as Haryana, Bihar, respondents in six metros do not stop at a
Assam and Tripura are implementing signal if police are absent.
the new MV Act in toto. These political THOUSAND As Gadkari points out, the reck-
positions notwithstanding, the bigger people died on the road in less driving on Indian roads is hardly
roadblock for authorities will be in enforc- India in 2017 because they surprising given that “30 per cent of the
ing voluntary changes in public behaviour. did not use safety devices licences are bogus”. Some states have now
Most drivers are unaware of even basic implemented a computer-based transpa-
traffic rules such as the right of way for rent model of testing driving skills. For
6-9
pedestrians, use of high beam and lane instance, the Delhi government has coll-
driving. “Even the traffic cops on the street aborated with Maruti Driving School to
don’t have adequate information about the set up automated driver testing centres.
laws,” says IRTE’s Baluja. But several other states continue with the
The south fares better in this regard. old practices. The Centre is now working
States like Telangana, which has declined PM towards digitally connecting the databases
to implement the enhanced fines, have Time of day when highest of all state transport departments so that
been educating drivers on traffic norms number of road accidents records of all drivers and vehicles are avail-
and better road behaviour. The Hyderabad were recorded in 2017; this able online. “We have set up 22 training
period accounted for 18 per
traffic police reached out to 270,000 youth institutes so that we can have better driv-
cent of total accidents
in schools and colleges last year with an ers on the roads,” says Gadkari, who claims
awareness campaign. It also put up post- that within 15 days of the implementation

Cover Story
I N D I A N ROA D S
“FINES ARE JUST

I N T E RV I E W
ONE ASPECT,
THE NEW MV ACT
AIMS AT LARGER
REFORMS” VIKRAM SHARMA
The Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act, just one aspect of the new MV Act—it aims at larger reforms.
2019, has been a passionate project for Every stakeholder will be held accountable. For instance, the
new law has provisions to fine contractors for bad roads. We
NITIN GADKARI, the Union minister for
have ensured the names of engineers and contractors of a
road transport and highways. While there is a road are made known to the public. If anything goes wrong
broad consensus that India needs stricter traf- because of their fault, they will be publicly shamed.
fic enforcement, the hefty fines under the new
law have triggered outrage even as critics point Q. Several states refused to implement the act, some
to motorists’ right to better road infrastruc- BJP-ruled states have reduced the fines.
ture. In an exclusive interview to Shwweta The states are not opposing the act. Except Mamata Baner-
Punj and Kaushik Deka, Gadkari explains jee, no party or politician has opposed it. The act has seven
clauses on fines. Some subjects are in the concurrent list. The
the larger goals of the new MV Act and how
states are the final authority on fixing fines for some viola-
he plans to improve road infrastructure and tions. Some of them have reduced the maximum fine in the
make the authorities accountable. Excerpts: clauses they are authorised to [fix fines in].
Q. How do you view the public criticism of hefty fines Q. Madhya Pradesh, Punjab and Telangana, too, refused
under the new MV Act? to implement the new fines.
I have received tremendous support. There was some They will do so, soon. To draft this law, we studied the motor
confusion among the people about the fines. But what’s more vehicles acts in the US, UK, Singapore, Canada and Argentina.
important—[saving] people’s lives or [having lower] fines? The Twenty state transport ministers, from 12 different parties,
fines are not meant to earn revenue, which anyway doesn’t recommended the draft bill. There could be some reservation
come to the Union government. The main purpose is to save about the fines, but it’s just one part of the act. There is mas-
lives on our roads. sive public support for the amendments.
Q. Critics say the new act squarely blames people for Q. Do you feel isolated by the lack of support from your
traffic violations while road and transport authorities own party?
remain unaccountable. I’m a conviction-oriented person. I don’t feel isolated. The
We cannot wait till everything gets perfect. There was no fear people and media are supporting me. I got support even from
of the [previous] law because fines were so low. And fines are Sonia Gandhi and Arvind Kejriwal. Reforms face such fric-

tions. We have to face these for public good. We cannot of the act, the number of people seeking licences has spiked.
ignore the fact that nearly 50 per cent of those who die in Meanwhile, the states still remain non-committal on reforms
accidents are in the 25-45 age group. in the transport sector. For instance, the electronic delivery of
RTO services is still not mandatory.
Q. Roads are in poor shape, road engineering is There is also a growing apprehension that the enhanced
faulty and traffic signals frequently malfunction. fines will open more windows for corruption. Telangana’s
How does the government plan to fix these issues? e-challan system could be a model for other states here. The
We need to introduce transparent traffic management by system, which uses CCTV footage, digital cameras and the
improving road and automobile engineering and making integrated traffic manage-
extended use of e-governance. In the past five years, we ment system, is cashless
409
spent Rs 12,000 crore to improve 786 ‘black spots’ on and violators can pay the
national highways. Now, we plan to improve ‘black spots’ fine online. In Maharash-
on state highways and other roads and will provide the tra, a vast network of
states Rs 14,000 crore through the World Bank and Asian CCTV cameras installed
Development Bank. We have made tremendous progress on major roads has led
in road engineering, though I won’t claim we are perfect. to a healthy 55 per cent
conviction rate for traffic
THOUSAND
Q. There is a direct correlation between traffic indis- violations. Conviction rates
cipline and public transport. Our cities have abysmal road-rage incidents for urban road accidents
public transport. Vehicle numbers are growing much
in India in 2016. Kerala typically hover between 5
topped (109,000),
faster than road length. and 10 per cent.
though it has only 10%
China has 6 million buses, we have only 1 million. We plan The new act also faces
of vehicles in India
to launch double-decker buses running on bio-ethanol. criticism over fixing the
Parking takes away most of the road space. Vehicles are accountability of govern-
increasing at an alarming rate. The government alone ment authorities. Although
cannot fix all these issues. It has Section 198(A) of the amended law requires that road safety
to be a public-private model of standards meet norms laid down by the Centre, it prescribes a
“What’s investment. We are studying the penalty for violations only when an accident leads to death or
more London transport model. We disability. “Why should the government wait for a death when
important: are gradually building multi-level a faulty road has been constructed?” asks Baluja.
saving parkings with new technologies. Government officials, however, are unwilling to accept
We need to introduce [more] that bad roads play a significant role in accident deaths.
people’s cable cars and ropeways in the According to roads ministry data for 2017, 78.4 per cent
lives or hilly regions, more helipads too. accidents were due to driver error, only 2.8 per cent were on
lower There should be more focus on account of the neglect of civic bodies. Potholes accounted
fines?” waterways, which are anyway for only 2 per cent of accidents. Traffic experts, however, say
cost-effective. there is no independent investigation into the role of bad
design, or condition of roads or poor management of traffic
Q. Unlike cities, there is hard- in causing accidents. “It’s easy to blame the drivers because
ly any enforcement on highways, which account for most deaths happen on the highways, where there is hardly
over 50 per cent of the fatalities. any traffic enforcement,” says Baluja (55 per cent of total
Highway policing is a law and order issue under state accident deaths happen on national/ state highways, which
governments. I had promised to reduce highway deaths by account for only 5 per cent of total road length). “I can only
50 per cent. In the past five years, I could bring it down by build highways. Highway policing is a law-and-order issue,
only 4 per cent. It is hugely disappointing. which is under state governments,” says Gadkari.
It is this lack of coordinated effort by all stakeholders
Q. What tech applications can we expect to make that makes Indian roads so dangerous. It’s time for political
traffic enforcement more effective? leaders to take collective responsibility to provide commuters
We are moving towards a pan-India online system for issu- an environment where enforcement is a routine affair and
ing driving licences. All transport authorities will soon be not a punitive, occasional drive. The debate is not about the
under a single grid. Data of every driver and vehicle will be quantum of fines but about their fairness—and their efficacy
available online. Intelligent traffic management systems, as a deterrent in the absence of enabling infrastructure. n
utilising cameras, are functional in almost all metros. I was
fined when my car exceeded the speed limit in Mumbai; With Uday Mahurkar, Rohit Parihar, Rahul Noronha,
the challan came home. Union minister V.K. Singh has been Kiran D. Tare, Jeemon Jacob, Amarnath K. Menon,
fined. We hope to extend this to every city. Romita Datta, Amitabh Srivastava and Ashish Misra

THE BIG STORY
REALTY
REAL ESTATE
BITES
By M.G. Arun
Illustration by
Nilanjan Das
INDIA’S REAL ESTATE SECTOR

IS IN THE DOLDRUMS. A SLUMP IN DEMAND
HAS LEFT OVER 450,000 HOMES UNSOLD IN
EIGHT MAJOR METROS. WHAT WILL IT TAKE
TO REVIVE THE SECTOR?
REAL
ESTATE
ames Joseph, a media professional, had been house-

hunting for over a year. He had hoped to buy a two-
bedroom flat in Navi Mumbai to accommodate his family
of four, who were then cramped in the single-bedroom
flat he owned. He sold his old flat, looking to purchase an
apartment in one of the upcoming towers in Kharghar, a
residential node in the city where 1,000 sq. ft flats were
priced at Rs 1.3 crore upwards. He had almost zeroed in
on an apartment—but then, following the larger downturn
in the Indian economy, his company froze staff wages.
“There is no point in taking a loan with monthly instalments over market, while investors backed out of the
Rs 50,000 when the future of your job is uncertain,” he says. Joseph is now market entirely,” he says. Though there were
planning to move into a rented two-bedroom flat instead. Will he buy a flat some indicators of a modest revival in 2018,
in Mumbai in the future, considering that his two children are studying at current trends indicate that sales are unlikely
schools in the city? “Why buy a home here and take a financial hit?” he asks. to rally back to their peak levels anytime
“I would rather invest my money in a scheme that gives me good returns by soon. However, compared to the residential
the time my children are in college.” He’s not alone. Several potential buy- real estate market, commercial real estate—
ers in Mumbai share his sentiment, shying away from home purchases as which makes up just 12 to 15 per cent of the
employment prospects turn gloomy. overall property market—has shown good
The Indian real estate sector—valued at Rs 8.3 lakh crore, as per growth, with new transactions in the office
the NITI Aayog’s February estimate—is in the grip of one of the worst space growing over 11 per cent in the first half
slowdowns in a decade. A report by realty consultant Knight Frank India, of this year. This was on the back of strong
published in July, estimated that unsold home inventory in eight key cit- demand for office space from corporates.
ies—Mumbai, the National Capital Region (NCR), Bengaluru, Chennai, The reasons for the slowdown are not
Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Pune and Kolkata—stood at 450,263 units in hard to identify. Demand has dropped as
the first half of 2019. And although new launches in these cities were up a result of stubbornly high prices and the
by 21 per cent in the first half of 2019 (compared to the same period in overall economic slowdown, characterised
2018), sales rose just 4 per cent in the same period. The Mumbai Metro- by job losses and frozen wages. Highlighting
politan Region had the highest unsold inventory, at 136,525 units in the this, in January, in an interview at the World
first half of 2019. The NCR came in second with 130,000 unsold units, Economic Forum, former RBI governor Ra-
while Bengaluru was third with 85,387 unsold units. “The golden years of ghuram Rajan told india today that the real
Indian residential real estate are well and truly over, at least in the short to estate industry was bedevilled by high prices.
medium-term,” says Anuj Puri, chairman, Anarock Property Consultants. “[The real estate industry] was holding
Buyer sentiment—of both end-users and investors—is seriously depressed, prices too high. As a result, demand wasn’t
he adds. “Housing sales were at 350,000 units in 2014 (the highest between picking up. They didn’t want to cut prices
2013 and 2019), but fell to a mere 210,000 units in 2017, immediately after because they had already sold some apart-
demonetisation. End-users perched on the fence, awaiting a favourable ments at a high price.” The real estate market
Graphics by TANMOY CHAKRABORTY

SNAPSHOT UNSOLD
Though new launches grew
21 per cent between H1 2018 INVENTORIES
and H1 2019, sales grew only is also facing a credit crunch, as a result of the
4 per cent in that period 497 crisis in non-banking financial companies
(Housing units, in thousands; H1
H1, (NBFCs), a major source of funding for both
468 2018 450 home buyers and developers. Demonetisa-
denotes the first half of the year) 2018 H1,
2019 tion—ostensibly implemented to address
black money, especially in real estate—has
also impacted investment. Judicial activism
SALES
hasn’t always helped in the short-run either.
LAUNCHES 242 The recent cases in which the Supreme Court
2018 stepped in to direct public sector housing
182
129 firm NBCC to complete unfinished con-
2018 124
92 111 H1, H1, struction projects by Amrapali and Unitech,
H1, H1, 2018 2019 have also added to the confusion—buyers
2018 2019
aren’t sure if their homes will be completed
anytime soon, since the state-owned firm
itself is cash-strapped.
THE SLOWDOWN, EXPLAINED

Data for Mumbai, the NCR, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Pune and Kolkata Sanjay Dutt, MD and CEO of Mumbai-
based Tata Realty & Infrastructure, iden-
tifies a number of factors contributing
THE WAITING GAME In some cities, it can take upto three

to the slowdown. “A major issue is excess
development, which led to excessive inven-
tory being built up—and the fact that most
MUMBAI
NCR years to sell a new property. Only of it was not suitable for end users. Other
136,525
8.5 130,001 Hyderabad bucks the trend problems relate to delays in price correction
12.9 as well as an erosion of buyer confidence
BENGALURU due to delays in delivery by developers.”
85,387 The increased cash flow requirement as a
8.6 UNSOLD HOUSING UNITS result of the Real Estate (Regulation and
(Quarters to sell) Development) Act, 2016 (RERA) and the
Goods and Services Tax (GST) have also
PUNE KOLKATA exacerbated the liquidity crisis, which has
31,650 CHENNAI 34,575 already left the sector reeling from the high
3.8 11.3 AHMEDABAD cost of capital.
17,810 HYDERABAD
4.5
10,049 As a result of the slowdown, residential
4,265 2.5 property prices have begun to drop, but not
1.1
enough to kickstart buying. For instance,
prices dropped just 1 percentage point in the
Mumbai and Kolkata markets in the first
450,263
half of 2019. While Pune saw a drop of 2
per cent during the first half of 2019, prices
have remained unchanged in Chennai and
Ahmedabad. Meanwhile, Kerala has seen
a massive drop in demand for real estate.
“We need new strategies to survive these
days,” says S.N. Raghuchandran Nair, a
former vice-president of the Confederation
Unsold homes in Mumbai, the of Real Estate Developers Association of
NCR, Bengaluru, Chennai, India (CREDAI, an apex body of registered
Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Pune and
Kolkata, in the first half of 2019 SE P T E M BE R 3 0, 2 019 INDIA TODAY 35
REAL
ESTATE
Indian real estate developers), and MD external commercial borrowing for afford-
of SI Property Ltd. And the news contin- able housing will be relaxed and govern-
ues in this vein—in Lucknow, demand ment servants will get house-building
has fallen by 50 per cent, according to advances at lower interest rates. However,
Khalid Masood, joint managing direc- Jaxay Shah, national chairman, CREDAI,
tor of Shalimar Corp., affecting homes says that this will have limited impact
costing between Rs 40 lakh and Rs 3 since the fund excludes projects that are
crore. Making matters worse is the fact facing insolvency proceedings or have
ONE RESOLUTION WOULD that though the Reserve Bank of India
recently cut its repo rate—the fourth cut
become non-performing assets (NPAs).
“Last month, we met the finance minis-
BE TO MAKE HOUSING in a row since the beginning of this year, ter and requested several interventions
MORE AFFORDABLE, WHICH this time by an unconventional 35 basis
points (0.35 per cent)—many doubt this
to improve liquidity and boost demand.
These have not been met,” he says.
MEANS ALLOWING PRICES will have an impact as banks are trans-
TO FALL ; YOU’LL ALSO

T
ferring only a fraction of the repo rate he finance minister had also
cuts to retail consumers as cheaper loans. announced a package to improve
HAVE TO MAKE LIFE EASIER Also, potential real estate buyers contin- market sentiment, boost
FOR DEVELOPERS BY EASING ue to delay buying decisions. “Customers

today postpone decisions to buy as they
demand and improve credit flow
on August 23. The package involved sub-
ACCESS TO FINANCE” know the prices aren’t going to go up.
Also, they wait for the government to
stantial tax interventions (including the
rolling back of the surcharge on capital
RAGHURAM RAJAN announce some scheme or the other,” says gains for domestic and foreign investors),
former RBI governor
Ram Walase, MD & CEO, VBHC Value as well as measures to strengthen the
Homes, a Bengaluru-based developer of financial system, including a Rs 70,000
affordable homes. crore capital infusion into public sector
Although late, the government has banks and the linking of retail loan rates
stepped in to help. On September 14, with the RBI’s repo rates to improve trans-
finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman mission of rate cuts to the public. But how
announced the creation of a special fund helpful will these measures be in reviving
to provide financing to the many stalled the real estate sector?
affordable and middle-income hous-
ing projects in the country. The govern- THE WAY FORWARD
ment will contribute Rs 10,000 crore, There are no quick-fix solutions, but
with an equivalent contribution expected industry leaders have proposed a slew of
from firms such as the Life Insurance interventions to revive real estate.
Corporation of India, banks and sovereign
THE ASSET QUALITY OF funds. The move, says the finance minis-
try, will benefit around 350,000 housing
Revive the economy: Experts say that
the primary reason for the depressed
NBFCs AND HFCs HAS BEEN units. Last-mile funding will also be made demand is the overall drop in consump-
tion caused by the tottering economy. The
HIT BY DISBURSEMENTS
available to affordable and middle-income
projects that are at least 60 per cent com- downturn is visible in a host of macroeco-
TO REAL ESTATE FIRMS plete, though this will not apply to proj-
ects that are going through resolution
nomic parameters—India’s GDP growth
slumped to a six-year low of 5 per cent in
WHERE HOMES HAD NOT processes under the National Company the first quarter of 2019-20, compared to
YET BEEN BUILT. THERE Law Tribunal (NCLT). “This will provide
relief to customers and help restore confi-
8 per cent a year ago, and experts say the
country is staring at a protracted slow-
SHOULD BE VERIFICATION dence in the sector,” says Dutt. The sector down. “The question is this: where will
BEFORE RELEASING FUNDS” requires funding of over Rs 3 lakh crore,

he says, adding that the government’s fund
you find buyers? Even in the IT sector,
there have been some worrying signs due
RAJEEV TALWAR is a first step in that direction. That apart, to the global slowdown,” says Gulam Zia,
CEO, DLF the norms for raising money through executive director at Knight Frank India.
Price/ sq. ft in H1 2019
(12 month change) TOO PRICEY
Despite the slump in demand, prices
MUMBAI have remained high, dropping by no
`7,115 more than 2-3% in most cities
-3%
Layoffs and wage freezes have become
common in most parts of the economy, BENGALURU
such as the automotive sector, where over NCR `4,821 PUNE CHENNAI HYDERABAD
300 dealerships have closed and manufac- `4,400 2% `4,304 `4,377 `4,373
turers have begun to mothball factories to 3% -3% 9% KOLKATA
-4%
address inventory build-up. `3,227 AHMEDABAD
When people are unsure about their -2% `2,850
1%
job prospects, the incentive to buy major
assets like new homes or cars dips sharply.
And the situation has worsened in the past
five years. While there was a slight uptick
in home sales in 2018—especially in low-
cost housing, on the back of the Pradhan
Rs 2.66 Rs 2.02
Mantri Awas Yojana, which targets the
construction of 20 million affordable
homes by March 31, 2022, with tax sops to
boost sales—the momentum soon faltered.
Experts are of the view that a revival in
economic activity is central to any recovery
of the market. “Real estate is a secondary
industry that caters to consumers who are
doing well in their primary industries,”
LAKH CRORE LAKH CRORE
says Zia. “We cannot revive real estate Investments in the NBFC Investments in the NBFC
through artificial means.” Some argue sector by mutual funds sector by mutual funds in
that if the government were to just follow
in July 2018, before the July 2019, after the defaults;
through on its promise of major invest-
ment in infrastructure, that itself would
defaults by IL&FS and other Rs 64,000 crore withdrawn
provide a boost. Dutt also says that only housing finance companies as a result of defaults
economic growth of 8 per cent and above
can accord a real boost to the real estate
sector, because that is what will lead to an
improvement in the jobs situation, which
in turn will boost housing demand. higher borrowing costs. Adding to the sec-
tor’s woes, the RBI has laid down stricter
Ease the flow of credit: Another major MOST DEVELOPERS DO norms for housing loans. In recent times,
factor is the trouble with India’s NBFCs,
which supply credit to buyers and devel-
NOT HAVE THE KIND OF the loan-to-value ratio—the maximum
loan allowed for a property of a given
opers in this industry. Beginning in July LIQUIDITY TO PAY FOR value—has been restricted to 70 per cent.
last year, IL&FS, a major NBFC, began
defaulting on interest payments on its LAND UPFRONT. MORE In other words, property buyers now have
to put up 30 per cent of the cost them-
short-term debts and bonds. This was PROJECTS NEED TO BE selves, says Puri.
DEVELOPED THROUGH A
followed by a similar default by Dewan Further complicating matters is the
Housing Finance. This led to mutual fact that regulations to prevent fraud
funds—major suppliers of funding to
NBFCs—reducing their exposure to the
PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN have also worsened the credit squeeze.
For instance, the National Housing Bank
sector, from Rs 2.66 lakh crore in July THE LAND OWNER AND (NHB), an apex government institution,
2018 to Rs 2.02 lakh crore in June 2019.
Since NBFCs (and other housing finance THE DEVELOPER” recently directed housing finance compa-
nies (HFCs) not to extend loans for interest
companies) account for about 60 per cent subvention schemes offered by builders—
of the loans to property developers, this RAM WALASE schemes in which builders pay a percent-
resulted in a major credit crunch and MD & CEO, VBHC Value Homes age of the equated monthly instalments

HOME,
INTERRUPTED
REAL Jaypee Wish
ESTATE Town (pictured)
is another major
housing project
on the blocks as a
result of the pain
(EMIs) on home loans on behalf of home- Niranjan Hiranandani, co-founder and in this sector
buyers for a certain period. “The real managing director of Hiranandani Group,
estate sector is already suffering from a major Mumbai-based developer. “This
several issues,” points out Manoj Gaur, rejig of the spending model by the govern-
MD of the Noida-based Gaurs Group. “In ment is clearly intended to stoke demand
such a situation, the closure of subven- and ease bank credit, which had been
tion schemes is certainly disappointing. acutely hit across the industry.”
Making all developers suffer for the fault
of a few is not right. Instead, offenders Lower taxes: Many argue that the gov-
should be dealt with sternly.” However ernment should lower taxes—for example,
Rajeev Talwar, CEO of DLF, feels that the saying that taxing ready-to-move apart-
NHB’s decision is a welcome move, since ments is unreasonable. Though GST has
it is trying to link the big data with RERA simplified taxation, it has not led to lower
guidelines. “Disbursement by NBFCs and real estate costs. Under-construction
HFCs to real estate firms without homes homes attract 5 per cent GST for mid-
actually being constructed has resulted range properties and 1 per cent for afford-
in a fall in the asset quality of NBFCs and able homes. However, it does not include
HFCs. There should be proper verifica- input credit benefits, which would have
tion of the progress of construction before reduced the overall purchase cost. Nitin
releasing funds to individuals to protect Agrawal, president, CREDAI Bhopal, says
home buyers’ interests, ” he says. that frequent changes in the tax structure,
especially relating to GST and service tax,
H
owever, Deepak Kapoor, director have also taken a significant toll. Beyond
of Gulshan Homz, another GST, stamp duty and registration charges
Noida-based developer, says that in the 5-7 per cent range apply to under-
such interventions could do construction homes. This cumulative cost
more harm than good. Referring to a cir- effectively negates the price advantage
cular issued by the RBI on February 12, they once offered, says Anarock—under-
2018—which prescribed rules for recog- construction homes were once the default
nising one-day defaults by large corpo- choice, thanks to their competitive prices,
rates and called for insolvency proceedings but buyers are now increasingly wary of
as a remedy—Kapoor sounds an alarm on such projects.
moves that impose blanket bans on project
refinancing. “Suppose a builder with a Make RERA uniform: The real estate
project valued at Rs 100 crore feels that he sector had traditionally been charac-
will be able to collect Rs 40 crore (as terised by its unorganised nature, with
advances) from the sale of properties—and inordinate delays in project completion
70
so, takes a loan of Rs 60 crore. If, due to and unscrupulous developers who mis-
the slowdown in the market, collections used buyers’ money or made changes to
are only Rs 30 crore and the builder project plans at will, leaving buyers in the
requires an additional loan of Rs 10 crore, lurch. The real estate market is also noto-
the bank would have to categorise the ear- rious for large cash payments—the ‘black
lier Rs 60 crore loan as a non-performing money’ component of property purchas-
asset,” he explains. “Thus, a shortfall of es. This has made the sector opaque and
just Rs 10 crore could mar a project worth
Rs 100 crore.”
attracted a large number of ‘investors’
who view the market as something akin PER CENT
The government’s move to recapital- to a gamble—diverting funds into real of the property price is the
ise banks will help to some extent. “The estate, only to sell properties for higher
instant recapitalisation of public sector values at opportune moments. This not
maximum loan a buyer can
banks with Rs 70,000 crore ensures the only drove real estate prices to levels
get. In other words,
re-opening of the NBFC funding funnel, mostly unaffordable to the middle class, s/he has to cough up 30 per
which will boost the demand for homes but also resulted in developers ignor- cent of the cost upfront
and allow a spurt in fresh loans,” says ing basic tenets of customer satisfaction,

WE CANNOT REVIVE
REAL ESTATE THROUGH
ARTIFICIAL MEANS. THE
GOVERNMENT SHOULD
LOOK AT REVIVING THE
ECONOMY AS A WHOLE.
THE REAL ESTATE
REVIVAL WILL FOLLOW”
GULAM ZIA executive director,
Knight Frank India
YASIR IQBAL
leading to frequent legal tussles. RERA term. “The timing of RERA, perhaps,
was expected to solve many of these wasn’t right. What has taken 70 years to
problems, ending the role of fly-by-night change in the country, can’t be done in
players who held the real estate market to one month,” says Dutt.
ransom all these years. Some of RERA’s But Zia differs. “RERA is all about
buyer-friendly objectives included the delivering what was promised. It is devel- THE GOVERNMENT NEEDS
TO CHANGE ITS DEFINITION
enforcement of timely project deliver- opers’ inability to adhere to compliance
ies and the protection of buyers’ money that is landing them in trouble,” he says.
by mandating that developers put 70 per
cent of advance payments into an escrow
He also points out that while RERA
came into force only two years ago, the
OF ‘AFFORDABLE’ HOUSING.
account. But the regulation has not been market slowdown is about five years old. THE R s 45 LAKH PRICE
implemented uniformly across the coun-
try. As of May 2019, only 19 states had
Implementing a major change like RERA
when the market was anyway in the
TAG IS TOO LOW FOR
implemented RERA in letter and spirit, midst of a fundamental correction is the DELHI-NCR OR MUMBAI.
ALSO, THE PRICE DEFINITION
with dedicated online portals to provide perfect timing, he argues.
details of registered real estate projects.
However, some feel that the imple-
mentation of RERA could have been
Expedite clearances: A long-pending
demand from industry players has been
OF ‘MID-SEGMENT HOMES’
postponed, coming as it did when the
sector was going through a slowdown.
a single-window clearance system for
projects. Delays in clearances leads to
IS NOT CLEAR”
They also say that RERA’s structural increased costs, which are ultimately ANUJ PURI chairman, Anarock
changes bring uncertainty in the short passed on to buyers. Experts say that a Property Consultants
REAL
ESTATE
THE NEW FUND ANNOUNCED ON SEPTEMBER 14 IS NOT
FOR PROJECTS ALREADY UNDER THE NCLT. DELAYED
OR STALLED PROJECTS IN THE NCR, FOR EXAMPLE,
WON’T BENEFIT FROM THIS STRESS FUND”
Niranjan Hiranandani managing director, Hiranandani Group
faster approval process with reduced at 28 per cent under GST. Industry premiums for additional buildable area
documentation will, therefore, benefit leaders have been arguing for a similar or floor space index for projects.)
the industry and, ultimately, buyers. reduction on a number of inputs to 18
They also say that a single-window per cent, which will lead to a reduction Remove caps on deductions: In the
clearance system will not only resolve in the cost of construction. (On a relat- 2019 budget, the government permit-
operational issues prevalent in the ed note, there is also a demand for bet- ted taxpayers a deduction of Rs 1.5 lakh
industry but also improve the produc- ter regulation of cement prices. Cement against interest paid on home loans
tivity of the real estate industry. companies allegedly raise prices by Rs taken up to March 31, 2020, for afford-
100 per bag during peak construction able homes valued upto Rs 45 lakh.
Improve ease of business: Many season. This, developers say, is not a This deduction stacked on top of the
are of the opinion that the government consequence of demand and supply— existing Rs 2 lakh already permitted
needs to improve the ease and cost of the price increase by cement companies under Income Tax provisions. Several
doing business in the real estate sec- is arbitrary.) Agrawal also says that experts, including CREDAI’s Shah,
tor. “If the cost of capital [in India] fees charged by some state govern- say the government should remove the
is much higher than that of a devel- ments have been hiked massively. price cap of Rs 45 lakh and allow the
oped nation, then there is a problem. “Earlier, builders paid Rs 50,000 as deduction to apply to all home pur-
It affects the profitability of a business submission fees for projects on 10 hect- chases. He also says the interest rate on
where the margins are in the range of ares of land. This fee has been hiked to affordable housing should be lowered
10 to 15 per cent,” says Dutt. He adds Rs 25 lakh, as has the fee by municipal for both home buyers and developers,
that the government should also speed bodies”, he says. Businesses have also while also stressing the need to bring
up the approval process for infrastruc- argued for a reduction in corporate down capital gains tax. Both these
ture, both physical and social, to attract tax from 33 per cent to 25 per cent to interventions would make property
more real estate investments. Others allow more financial flexibility to deal purchases more appealing to buyers
say that the government needs to ease with market risks and policy changes. and investors.
the approval process to attract invest- (Just weeks before the state assembly
ments. As Agrawal says, “There are polls, the Maharashtra government Continue the focus on ‘Housing for
more than 20 permissions required has unveiled a Rs 2,200 crore fis- All’: The government has already taken
to begin projects, which take between cal package for Mumbai’s real estate several steps to meet its ambitious
six months and a year to secure. This industry, comprising significant cuts in ‘Housing for All by 2022’ target. These
period can be reduced if the govern- include interest subsidies and reduc-
Rs 70,000
ment implements a genuine single-win- tions in GST rates on such properties,
dow system.” Manikant, MD of Surya among others. Calling for such inter-
Nestbuild in Patna, echoes this point. ventions to be continued and ramped
And regarding the Madhya Pradesh up, experts have also recommended
government’s proposal to reduce land that the National Housing Policy
CRORE
circle rates by 20 per cent to boost the consider boosting rental housing, as
sector, Agrawal says that this will help, this will also create surplus housing
but only if more people know about it. Public sector bank stock. As former RBI governor Rajan
recapitalisation, announced says, “I think one resolution would be
Reduce costs: Agrawal says that a to make housing much more affordable
by FM Sitharaman on August
broader economic stimulus plan—say, [in general]—that would mean allow-
23. This is expected to
by reducing costs—will benefit real ing house prices to fall. At the same
estate. One immediate intervention he
improve credit access and time, you also have to make life easier
suggests is to reduce taxes on key inputs
boost housing demand for the real estate developer [by eas-
like cement, which are currently taxed ing] access to finance.”

A NOTE OF HOPE
Over the past four years, CPI has outpaced growth
in real estate prices in all eight cities in review except
Hyderabad
135 CPI
Index Value (Q1, 2013 = 100)
125
Implement investor-friendly initiatives:
Over the past few years, the returns on invest-
115 ments in residential real estate have dropped
from two- or even three-digit values to single-
105 Mumbai digits. In many locations, returns have even
NCR become negative. “The return on investment
from housing currently clocks in at a meagre
95 2-3 per cent even in the most favourable mar-
Q1, 2013 Q2, 2019 kets across Indian cities,” says Puri. This has
kept investors at bay—and investors need to
be in the driver’s seat for the market to revive.
Help trapped home buyers: A host of real

estate players, including Jaypee Associates,
Amrapali, Ansal API, Raheja Developers and
HDIL, are currently in resolution proceedings
with lenders under the NCLT. This has left
many home buyers in the lurch, with homes
left incomplete and monthly instalments on
bank loans continuing. This has made several
buyers, especially in the NCR, approach the
courts for reprieve. While court intervention
has given some assurance to buyers that their
investments will not suffer, and they will see a
FAINT RECOVERY?
The first half of 2019 was the third consecutive period of
completion of their dream homes, albeit much
delayed, it doesn’t augur well for the sector.
Shubham Jain, senior vice-president and
year-on-year growth for launches as well as sales group head (corporate ratings) of rating agen-
cy ICRA, says the Supreme Court’s decision
140,000 to direct public sector housing firm NBCC
Sales to complete the projects is “definitely a relief
120,000
to home buyers, but also increases the risk of
Million square metres
100,000 real estate developers defaulting”. He adds

that since even individual home buyers can
80,000 now initiate insolvency proceedings against
Launches
builders, issues like these could lead to major
60,000
problems for builders whose projects have
40,000 stalled due to weak demand, falling prices or
insufficient capital.
20,000 Since a sustained crisis in real estate can
H1, H2, H1, H2, H1, H2, H1,
cripple not just the sector itself, but also asso-
2016 2016 2017 2017 2018 2018 2019
ciate industries, it is imperative that the Centre
act quickly. Though there are no easy solutions
to resolve this crisis, there are a host of short
and long term measures that could bring the
economy back on track. n
(With Rahul Noronha, Amarnath K. Menon,

Amitabh Srivastava, Jeemon Jacob
and Ashish Misra)

N AT I O N
MAHARASHTRA
RIDING
THE WAVE
A CONFIDENT DEVENDRA FADNAVIS STEPS OUT TO SEEK A SECOND
TERM FOR THE BJP-SENA GOVERNMENT IN THE ASSEMBLY ELECTION
By Kiran D. Tare
evendra Fadnavis’s and the disarray following Rahul Gandhi’s resignation
D
4,232-kilometre Maha- as party president have left the state unit dazed and
janadesh Yatra across Ma- confused. The rift in the Pawar family, too, is working
harashtra could well be a to the BJP’s advantage. At least 20 top leaders of the
metaphor for how far he Congress and NCP have defected to the BJP and Sena
has come in his political in the past couple of months.
journey. Gone is the dif-
fident political novice who TAMING THE TITANS
took over as the youngest Sharad Pawar never lost an opportunity to belittle
chief minister of the state Fadnavis by invoking his caste. “Earlier, a Chhatrapati
(after Sharad Pawar) in 2014. Circa 2019, Fadnavis (Maratha) used to appoint a Peshwa (Brahmin). Now,
seems very much in command, exuding an air of a Peshwa has appointed a Chhatrapati,” the Maratha
confidence in all that he says and does, a politician who strongman had said when Fadnavis convinced Prime
has shown himself capable of taking on more seasoned Minister Modi to nominate Sambhaji Raje, a descen-
opponents such as the Nationalist Congress Party’s dant of Chhatrapati Shivaji, to the Rajya Sabha in
Sharad Pawar and the Shiv Sena’s Uddhav Thackeray. 2017. Fadnavis is now getting his own back as the con-
Five years ago, seniors in the state BJP, such as flicting ambitions of Pawar and his brothers for their
Eknath Khadse, Prakash Mehta, Girish Bapat, Rao- children spill out into the open. Pawar’s media baron
saheb Danve and Vinod Tawde, treated Fadnavis as nephew, Abhijeet, is said to be close to Fadnavis.
a junior. Today, there is no doubt who calls the shots. Fadnavis’s other great achievement has been in
Fadnavis enjoys the confidence of party president and keeping the Shiv Sena and its leader, Uddhav Thac-
home minister Amit Shah as well as Prime Minister keray, on his side, despite their open tirades against
Narendra Modi, who have publicly vested their faith his government. Figuring out that Uddhav would
in his leadership. Shah attended the second leg of his not be won over by political means alone, Fadnavis,
yatra, Modi will join him in the concluding phase. consciously went out of his way to drop in on the Sena
On September 1, Shah announced that Fadnavis will chief from time to time, discussing political as well
continue as chief minister after the election. as non-political issues. On one occasion, he even took
With a month to go before the assembly election his wife Amruta along and the Thackerays hosted the
in Maharashtra, Fadnavis knows he and the BJP have couple for dinner. Apparently, the CM fell sick on the
never been on better footing in the state. The over- drive home. The seafood dinner may have brought
whelming Lok Sabha mandate in May has only buoyed it on—but Fadnavis kept the story to himself. It was
the party’s prospects. The decimation of the Congress Fadnavis who convinced both Uddhav and BJP

MAN ON THE MOVE
Fadnavis transiting
through Dhule district
on August 23 on his
MANDAR DEODHAR Mahajanadesh Yatra
president Amit Shah to fight the Lok Sabha election initially reluctant to subject the state exchequer to the
together despite the several verbal duels between the heavy burden. In the end, he did announce waivers
two parties. “Hindutva is our common base. I didn’t of up to Rs 1.5 lakh, but cleverly kept government
want that to be shattered,” Fadnavis says. So much so employees, politicians and income-tax payers out of
that political observers believe Uddhav will agree to it. Alongside, his decision to link loan waiver accounts
remain with the alliance on the BJP’s terms. to Aadhaar, and the resultant mismatches, allowed
his government to limit the number of eligible ben-
CRISIS MANAGER eficiaries to 5.2 million from 8.9 million and the total
Fadnavis had arrived as a serious politician by the waiver amount to Rs 21,000 crore from the originally
end of 2017 when the BJP, under him, came to be in estimated payout of Rs 32,000 crore.
power in 60 per cent of the local governing bodies. His next big test came when the Dalit community
His personal equity was further cemented when he erupted in protest following the violence at Koregaon-
skillfully handled three major crises during his term Bhima in 2018. Fadnavis was under tremendous pres-
as chief minister. At a time when state after state was sure to arrest Sambhaji Bhide, a Hindutva leader, for
announcing loan waivers for farmers, Fadnavis was allegedly inciting the riot. But in the end, it was dubbed

N AT I O N
MAHARASHTRA
1
Task for Fadnavis 5
14 NORTH
The Maharashtra CM will have to 7 35 MAHARASHTRA
10 44
7 VIDARBHA 4 62
build on the BJP’s gains in 2014
MUMBAI MARATHWADA
5 15
36 8 15
WESTERN 46
41 14 MAHARASHTRA 9 BJP
Total 122 11
seats Shiv Sena
KONKAN 24 Congress
42 288 19
10 70 NCP
8 39 Others
63 10 13
14
1 Source: Election
Commission of India
Graphic by TANMOY CHAKRABORTY
a Maoist conspiracy and five social activists—Varavara corruption against some of them.
Rao, Sudha Bharadwaj, Vernon Gonsalves, Arun Fer- For the upcoming election, the BJP is expected to
reira and Gautam Navlakha—accused of having Maoist offer the Sena 120 out of the 288 assembly seats, and
links were arrested. Their arrests under the draconian fight 150 itself. The remaining 18 seats will be allotted
Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, though highly to smaller allies, such as the Republican Party of India,
controversial, secured for Fadnavis the loyalty of the the Rashtriya Samaj Paksha and the Shiv Sangram.
BJP’s core constituency while also dividing the opposi- The Congress and NCP have agreed to contest
tion—by provoking the emergence of a third front in the 125 seats each, leaving 38 seats for smaller allies.
state, the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA), led by B.R. Maharashtra Navnirman Sena leader Raj Thackeray
Ambedkar’s grandson, Prakash Ambedkar. was supposed to be part of the alliance too, but an
Finally, Fadnavis proved his political mettle with Enforcement Directorate inquiry into a case of alleged
his management of the Maratha demand for reserva- money-laundering of Rs 78 crore against him has ruled
tion. Realising that as a minority Brahmin, he could him out of the race. MNS might not contest the election
become a target of the agitating Maratha community, at all, using its opposition to electronic voting machines
Fadnavis took decisive steps to douse the fire. He re- as an excuse. Aware that the opposition is on a weak
constituted the dormant Maharashtra Backward Class wicket, Fadnavis could not help but quip at Nanded,
Commission, which eventually evaluated the Marathas, “The next leader of opposition will be from the VBA.”
who comprise 32 per cent of the state’s population, as Or perhaps not. The VBA alliance came apart on
socially and economically backward. This paved the September 6 when alliance partner All India Ittehadul-
way for 12 per cent reservation for Marathas in educa- i-Muslimeen parted ways with the Dalit Bharip Ba-
tion and 13 per cent in government hujan Mahasangh over seat-sharing
jobs in June this year. Fadnavis differences. The alliance had created
also announced the construction of a sensation of sorts when it secured 14
hostels and reimbursement of 50 per Fadnavis had arrived as per cent of the votes and contributed
cent fees for Maratha students.
It also helped that a weak op-
a politician when the BJP, to the defeat of 10 Congress-NCP
candidates in the Lok Sabha election
position was unable to corner Fad- under him, came to be in this May. Their split now has tremen-
navis on any issue, despite delays
in disbursal of farm loan waivers or power in 60 per cent of the dously boosted the BJP’s confidence.
“Earlier,” BJP state president Chan-
the many agitations during his rule.
They also failed to nail any minis-
local governing bodies by drakant Patil said on September 10 in
Mumbai, “we had set a target of 220
ter, though there were allegations of the end of 2017 seats. Now, we can win up to 250.” n
THE BIG STORY | THE SUNDARBANS
MASSACRE OF
THE MANGROVES
ILLEGAL TREE-FELLING TO BUILD HOMES AND CREATE FARMLANDS IN A SECTION
OF THE PROTECTED MANGROVE BELT—ALLEGEDLY TO FAVOUR RULING PARTY
LOYALISTS—HIGHLIGHTS NEW THREATS TO THE ECOLOGICALLY FRAGILE SUNDARBANS
By Romita Datta
AXE EFFECT
A cleared patch
of mangrove
forests on
Sagar island,
Sundarbans
OR DECADES, THE 4,265 SQ. KM tree stumps stick out of the soil like
F
MANGROVE belt, spread over the cigarette butts. Around 25 brick and
Sundarbans delta and the reserve concrete structures, built illegally by
forests of South 24 Parganas in West cutting mangrove trees, have come up
Bengal, has acted as a line of defence over three acres.
for its 2.5 million people against The semi-built homes are part of
coastal erosion, tidal onslaughts and 5,000 allotments made since 2016 in
natural calamities. While the scars of Sagar island under the Bangla Awas
an expanding human footprint over Yojana, by which the Pradhan Mantri
the years are indisputable, environ- Awas Yojana (PMAY) is known in the
ment watchdogs have spotted and state. “The Sagar panchayat allotted
put a stop to fresh violations in this land without verifying if it belongs
ecologically sensitive region—it seems to the government or is part of the
just in the nick of time. restricted mangrove zone,” says Sagar
Hundreds of acres of the Sundar- block development officer (BDO) Sudip-
bans mangroves—one of the world’s ta Mondal. “Five thousand houses were
largest such forests—are feared to have sanctioned by the housing department
BANDEEP SINGH
been lost due to illegal felling carried under PMAY, but no assessment was
out for government schemes aimed done regarding where these would be
at providing housing and farmland built. Around 4,800 houses are ready.”
to the poor. This has happened under Sagar island, consisting of 41 vil-
the patronage of the local administra- lages and a population of 0.2 million,
tion, allegedly to benefit Trinamool has a 230-acre mangrove belt. Mondal
Congress (TMC) loyalists. says the number of illegal construc-
The zone of illegal activity is Sagar tions could be higher as not all PMAY
island in South 24 Parganas, where houses built have been physically
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, in assessed. The round-the-clock felling
2013, announced a project each in of trees and excavation of soil from
Dheusagar and Rupsagar to promote the area came to a halt mid-August,
mangrove conservation and tourism. more than a month after the National
An estimated Rs 1 crore was spent Green Tribunal (NGT), on July 9, drew
to fence off the sites, spread over a the state government’s attention to
total of 50 acres, with plans to create the large-scale destruction of man-
a ‘mangrove walkway’ for tourists. groves in Sagar from construction and
Six years on, there is little evidence rampant changes in land use pattern.
of conservation. Instead, swathes of The NGT was acting on a complaint
mangrove vegetation have given way to filed by environmentalists. On July 19,
a greyish landscape of sediment where the state’s principal secretary (envi-
ronment) and the district magistrate
of South 24 Parganas ordered that
construction work stop immediately.
STUDIES Earlier this year, two helipads used
SUGGEST THE by the chief minister for her visits to
SUNDARBANS Sagar were shut down. These had been
ARE LOSING built allegedly using some 15,000
cubic feet of coastal clay sourced last
200 METRES A December by dismantling a mud em-
YEAR TO THE bankment in Dheusagar.
SEA. FOUR The Sundarbans delta, a Unesco
World Heritage site spread over a part
ISLANDS HAVE of Bengal and adjoining Bangladesh,
SUBMERGED, is made up of a complex network of
ANOTHER IS tidal waterways and small islands on
SINKING FAST the Bay of Bengal. In India, mangroves

DECLINE OF THE
SUNDARBANS
THE BIG STORY | THE SUNDARBANS
THE DESTRUCTION OF THE

PROTECTED MANGROVES WEST
HAS BEEN SYSTEMATIC AND BENGAL
fall under the ecologically most fragile
Coastal Regulation Zone-1 (CRZ-1), RAMPANT OVER THE YEARS
where tourism and human activity is
severely restricted. The Sundarbans
have been protected as a Critically Vul- BANGLADESH
nerable Coastal Area (CVCA). Under-
scoring the fragility of the Sundarbans WEST BENGAL
is the annual 12 mm rise of the mean
Basanti
sea level on Sagar island and the adjoin-
ing areas—six times the global average.
Studies suggest the Sundarbans are Namkhana
retreating 200 metres a year, putting
inhabitants at the risk of displacement.
Four islands have already been wiped Sagar
Bay of Bengal
island
out. Ghoramara, another island with
some 150 villages, is fast sinking.
“Deforestation is one of the major 20.3 ha of
12/11/2018 18/4/2019
reasons for the coastline retreating. mangroves
Roughly 7 sq. km of mangroves in the cleared in
inland creek areas have already been Basanti
cleared for various development works, 1.4 ha cleared in
rendering the coast there practically Chandanpiri,
defenceless,” warns Subhas Acharya, Namkhana
former joint director of the Sundarbans island, for
Development Board. “Though NGOs aquaculture
are planting mangrove saplings over
large areas, it will take decades for the 2/3/2017 18/4/2019
trees to grow strong enough to be able
to resist the sea waves and tides and the
gradual rise in the sea level.”
With construction in Sagar coming
to a halt, PMAY beneficiaries, many of
whom are TMC loyalists, are peeved.
“Sagar panchayat deputy headman
Haripada Mondal asked us to stop the Source: School of Oceanographic Studies, Jadavpur University
construction for a few days, saying the
party is in poor shape,” says Madan Mo-
han Chiti, a TMC activist and resident der the 100 days’ scheme. In Boatkhali,
of Gangasagar colony in Dheusagar. land is being dug up using machines,
Chiti, a migrant, has built a structure SCORES OF but the panchayat has distributed Rs 6
over a 2,100 sq. ft area allotted by the TRINAMOOL lakh among ghost workers.”
panchayat under PMAY. “I had already
spent Rs 90,000 out of the allotted
SUPPORTERS Among those who got work are
Gurupada Jana, Tulsi Jana and Ganga-
funds on the construction when politi- WERE HIRED dhar Tamang. The trio says they lost
cians told me to slow down,” he com- UNDER THE their homes to coastal erosion multiple
plains. Chiti and several hundred TMC
supporters like him were hired under
STATE’S 100 times. “We helped the panchayat clear
the area of trees, hoping to make a
the state government’s 100 days’ work DAYS’ SCHEME quick buck under the 100 days’ work
scheme to clear mangrove stretches and TO CLEAR scheme,” says Tulsi Jana, whose hut
build houses. Another resident, Sheikh MANGROVES stands 20 metres from a construction
Mohammad, alleges favouritism and site. He claims it was a rare employ-
corruption: “People like me, who are AND BUILD ment opportunity in this remote region.
not with the party, are denied work un- PMAY HOUSES “We have had job cards since 2011, but

ROOTS OF MISERY
PMAY houses coming
up in Gangasagar
gram panchayat,
Sagar island
SUBIR HALDER
where does one get work in the Sundar- ries were allowed to violate land use Environment and Wildlife Society, an
bans? All our men and boys have left for pattern rules and dig bheris or fishing NGO planting mangroves in the region.
Kerala to find work. We are so vulner- ponds. Shakti Maity, a TMC supporter Asked how a government scheme
able. How can we be expected to protect and patta-holder, insists beneficia- had come to destroy protected man-
the mangroves?” he asks. ries had no other choice. “Cyclone groves, housing secretary Onkar Singh
Haripada Mondal claims the de- Aila turned our soil so saline, grow- Meena says: “Our department has no
struction of mangroves began under the ing crops became a challenge. People role in PMAY. The allotment of such
Left Front rule. “The land was selected started digging bheris.” homes is the job of the panchayats
for housing by the Left government in But digging a pond and opening a and rural development department.”
2008-2009. Around 300 people were channel to the sea exposes the soil to Reached for comment, panchayats
listed as beneficiaries,” he says. Mondal, more salinity. Changing the character and rural development additional chief
however, concedes the plots were dis- of coastal land requires clearance, secretary M.V. Rao did not take calls.
tributed after the TMC came to power. in this case from the land reforms BDO Mondal insists officials are
Bankim C. Hazra, the TMC’s MLA department. But for many villagers, it now on alert. “We are inspecting all the
from Sagar, denies any illegal activity is good business sense. “The panchayat controversial sites and have pulled up
under his party’s patronage. “Come gave us fishing rights. Often, we merge the panchayat,” he says. “We will even
with me, I will show you. These are sto- small chunks of land consisting of seek a refund of [PMAY] grants if any
ries from more than a year ago,” he says. bheris and lease them out in bighas, construction is found to be illegal.”
Not just Dheusagar and Rupsagar, earning Rs 1-1.5 lakh a year,” says a Sugata Hazra, director, School
the destruction of mangroves extends TMC activist, requesting anonymity. of Oceanographic Studies, Jadavpur
to Benuban, under Dhablat gram pan- “About 5,000 hectares of man- University, highlights the impending
chayat. Here, approximately 290 acres groves have been converted into fishing threat. “Tidal invasion, climate change
of mangrove plantations have been areas, and the tendency to cut man- and sea level rise are natural causes of
distributed among 181 beneficiaries as groves and build houses is particularly the depletion of the Sundarbans man-
pattas for farming and construction observed in the years preceding an elec- groves. What’s ironic is that the forest
of homesteads—by cutting the trees. tion—as happened in 2017, 2018 and cover in areas under habitation is disap-
Of this, in about 120 acres, beneficia- 2019,” claims a senior official of Nature pearing due to man-made reasons.” n

THE BIG STORY | TIGER TOURISM
RUMBLE IN
THE JUNGLE
A PROPOSAL TO SET UP AN EMPOWERED COMMITTEE TO BOOST
TIGER TOURISM IN MADHYA PRADESH SPARKS A TURF WAR IN
THE GOVERNMENT, DIVIDING CONSERVATIONISTS
By Rahul Noronha
plan to set up an responsibilities would include developing
A
‘empowered wild- measures to reduce man-animal conflict
life advisory com- and encouraging public-private partner-
mittee’ in Madhya ships for wildlife initiatives.
Pradesh has been When this plan was forwarded by the
caught up in the chief minister’s office to the forest depart-
conservation ver- ment for comments, it ran into immediate
sus tourism debate resistance. Sources say the chief wildlife
and is facing stiff warden believes this committee to be
resistance from the state’s forest depart- unnecessary for several reasons, includ-
ment. A proposal to create such a body ing the fact that there are already two
was recently sent to the state government statutory bodies—the state wildlife board
by Delhi-based conservationist Valmik and the tiger steering committee—both
Thapar (who was also recently appointed established under the Wildlife Protection
to the state’s wildlife advisory board). The Act, 1972 and both chaired by the chief
proposal has been rejected by the state’s minister, that look into these and other
chief wildlife warden, U. Prakasham, issues. The forest department’s note on the
AJAY TIWARI who says that such a committee is not proposal elaborates on these points—for
needed. A section of conservationists had instance, highlighting the fact that Thapar
also opposed the proposal—they argue is already a member of the state wildlife
that such a committee would favour tour- board and could offer suggestions at that
ism over conservation. forum, and that subject
Tourism has emerged as matter experts could
a major focus for the Kamal The chief wild- easily be nominated
Nath-led state government, life warden says to the tiger steering
which hopes the sector can the committee committee. It also
provide substantial employ- is unnecessary, notes that the state
ment and revenue. In his already has an eco-
proposal, Thapar wrote
because there are tourism development
that he was suggesting such already two such board, which regularly
a committee—aimed at bodies that implements tourism
restructuring wildlife policies report to the CM initiatives. “There are
governing the use of forest already other com-
areas—after a discussion with mittees that have the
the chief minister, and that he same mandate,” says
would be willing to accept an assignment Prakasham. “Moreover, there is no provi-
as vice-chairperson of the said committee. sion in the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972,
Former chief minister Digvijaya Singh has for setting up such a committee.”
been suggested for the post of chairperson, The primary reason for the opposition,
with other members drawn from the ranks according to sources, was the depart-
of tourism experts, forest department of- ment’s resistance to a tourism-centric
ficials (including the chief wildlife warden) policy for wildlife conservation, even
and eminent wildlife scientists, such as though the chief wildlife warden’s note on
Raghu Chundawat. The committee was to the proposal does not highlight tourism as
submit its first report in October. the main grounds for opposition. This is
The committee, which would report somewhat understandable, given the chief
directly to the CM, would oversee all minister’s focus on the sector.
issues relating to wildlife protection. Defending the proposal, Thapar told
It would also be responsible for creat- india today: “Other states have stand-
ing tourism initiatives inside protected ing committees on wildlife because the
areas, targeting annual revenues of Rs [state] wildlife advisory boards do not
100 crore, as well as the implementation meet very often,” adding, “[the proposal to
of models that engage local communities set up such a committee] was not my sug-
CAT(CHING)
THE SIGHTS living in buffer areas surrounding tiger gestion—it came from the state govern-
Tourists at Panna reserves, targeting annual revenues of ment.” He also noted that Rajasthan had a
Tiger Reserve Rs 2,000 crore. The committee’s other similar committee up till 2019.

THE BIG STORY | TIGER TOURISM
THE MONEY
IN THE GAME
Wildlife tourism revenues were static
27
When asked about the committee, 2018-19
till 2017, when permits and fees were
ex-chief minister Digvijaya Singh in- significantly increased 18.5
voked a ‘middle path’ approach vis-à-vis 2017-18
tourism and conservation. “I feel that
Madhya Pradesh should not do what 10.1 10.2 10.2 10.7
Rajasthan did in promoting wildlife 2015-16 2016-17
2013-14 2014-15
tourism at the cost of conservation, but
at the same time, it’s not that the state
should not [be allowed] to capitalise
on its heritage,” he said.
The note of dissent from the state
chief wildlife warden’s office is currently
being examined by forest minister
Umang Singhar. However, problems
loom: Singhar and former chief minis-
ter Singh have, at best, a rocky equa- Source: MP assistant conservator of
tion. Singhar recently accused Singh Graphic by ASIT ROY forests; Revenue in Rs crore
of trying to influence state policy, with
the acrimony rising to the point that
chief minister Nath had to ask him to in entry fees was implemented in 2017. in tiger reserves.”
restrain himself and not speak to the However, underlining the conserva- While forest department officials do
media. Given this strained background, tion concerns was a Supreme Court not have a favourable view of tourism,
it is unlikely that the forest minister intervention in 2012, which led to the there are others who differ. “In the 2014
would have a positive view on a com- decision that areas open for tourism in wildlife census, in Madhya Pradesh
mittee proposed to be headed by the tiger reserves should not exceed 20 per alone, 79,000 sq. km of forests were
former chief minister. cent of the reserve’s core areas. surveyed for tigers. [They were found
Resistance to the committee “The national wildlife action plan to inhabit] 15,000 sq. km of area. Of
notwithstanding, the state has much to of 1983 is the only policy guideline [to these areas, only 4,000-5,000 sq. km
cheer about when it comes to tigers. In be] followed on the subject of wildlife of tiger territory was in protected areas,
the recently announced wildlife census, tourism,” says former principal chief while the rest was outside. To protect
Madhya Pradesh reclaimed its ‘home conservator of forests and member of these tigers, the forest department only
of the tiger’ tag, which it had lost to the state wildlife advisory board Suhas wants to create more protected areas—
Karnataka in 2011. With 526 tigers, the Kumar. “It states that tourism can be but who will protect wildlife in these
state currently has the highest num- used to elicit the support of the local areas?” asks wildlife scientist Chun-
ber of tigers in the country. It is also community, but conservation cannot dawat. He adds that the current policy
home to some of the best managed and be treated as a source of income. In of conservation, based on exclusive con-
best known national parks, including case of conflict between conservation trol by the forest department, needs to
Kanha, Pench and Bandhavgarh, which and tourism, the former will prevail.” change. “A country like Scotland, with
attract tourists from all over the world. He adds: “It is not legally tenable, and no big cats, earns 4.6 billion pounds a
Madhya Pradesh has a total forest in fact laughable, that a committee is year from tourism—we don’t even get a
cover of about 90,000 sq. km, of which proposed to be set up that will override fraction of that.”
a little more than 10,000 sq. km (about Supreme Court guidelines on tourism Chundawat says the forest depart-
12 per cent) has been set aside for sanc- ment vilifies those who have differing
tuaries and national parks (there are 11 views on conservation. “Tourism has to
“There is no
national parks and 24 sanctuaries in be within the conservation framework,”
the state). Of these, the bulk of tour- difference between he says. “Right now, there is no differ-
ist footfall is at the six tiger reserves, tourism at the Taj ence between tourism at the Taj Mahal
namely Kanha, Bandhavgarh, Pench, Mahal and at wildlife and at wildlife reserves, which is the
Satpura, Panna and Sanjay. In 2018-19, reserves—this is the root of the problem.” He also supports
about 1.9 million tourists visited the Thapar’s candidacy. “He was behind
root of the problem”
state’s wildlife areas, generating about the decision not to include forest staff in
Rs 27 crore of revenue. These revenue — Raghu Chundawat
election duty,” says Chundawat, adding
Wildlife scientist
numbers had remained largely static in that those outside the department have
the recent past until a substantial hike an interest in conservation too. n

LEISURE
THE EVERYDAY MADHURI VIJAY’S
HEROISM OF TWO TAKE ON LIFE IN
OLD LADIES PG 55 J&K PG 57
SHANTA GOKHALE’S Q&A WITH

BODY OF PROOF MANOJ BAJPAYEE
PG 5 9 PG 60
CI
Photograph by BANDEEP SINGH
WITH UNUSUAL FILM CHOICES AND AN

ENVIABLE BOX-OFFICE RECORD,
AYUSHMANN KHURRANA IS HIS OWN INDUSTRY
LEISURE
A
yushmann Khurrana cannot who gave him his big break in Vicky he had to speak like a woman and, at
rest. Recently, he checked into Donor in 2012. And if this wasn’t times, even dress like one. “I’ve always
Bollywood’s favourite getaway, tiring enough, Khurrana has already treaded middle-of-the-road territory
the Austrian wellness resort begun shooting for his next, Shubh and been critic-friendly,” says Khur-
VivaMayr, with his wife, Tahira Mangal Zyada Saavdhan, in which rana. “This time I went mass-y. Dream
Kashyap, a cancer survivor. Not his character is a gay man—a type of Girl is an ode to the ’90s comedies. It’s
even a week after his return, Khurrana role few popular heroes have played. over the top, slapstick and where I tell
was promoting Dream Girl, his second “You need a mass hero to normalise you to leave your brains behind and go
release of 2019. He needed the break. it,” says Khurrana. “Though Section and have fun.”
The National Award-winning actor 377 is decriminalised, it is still a taboo Dream Girl is again proof
has been on a shooting spree since late for many. I’m excited that it [cinema] that Khurrana realises a talented
2018, jumping from one film to anoth- goes to smaller cities. Only then will supporting cast only makes him and the
er, much like his predecessors did two you be able to address the prejudice. film better. In Bareilly Ki Barfi (2017), it
decades ago, and which only Akshay Otherwise, you are preaching to the al- was Rajkummar Rao and Pankaj Tripa-
Kumar does currently. Khurrana’s ready converted.” On a career high af- thi, while in Badhaai Ho, it was Gajraj
busy calendar included Dream Girl; ter three successive hits—Andhadhun, Rao, Surekha Sikri and Neena Gupta.
Article 15, Anubhav Sinha’s powerful Badhaai Ho and Article 15—Khurrana In Dream Girl, the comic timing of
investigative thriller which went on to says it’s “the perfect time” to tackle Vijay Raaz, Annu Kapoor and Manjot
earn Rs 65 crore; Bala, to be released the subject. It’s this decisiveness that Singh keeps the audiences amused.
in November in which his character makes him a trailblazer in Bollywood. Khurrana is in a league of his own at
suffers from premature baldness; and Dream Girl, his latest, is another the moment. Like his contemporaries,
Gulabo Sitabo, a 2020 release which example of Khurrana’s tendency to he isn’t playing real-life heroes or star-
will see him team up once again with surprise audiences and, in the process, ring in big-budget action spectacles.
acclaimed filmmaker Shoojit Sircar challenge himself. To play Karam, He isn’t even appearing in every second
commercial that plays on air. Instead
he is carving a niche as the ordinary
man grappling with quirky, yet relatable
problems and negotiating them with
an infectious energy. It’s a formula that
has worked so far. “I have stopped being
r for overwhelmed by the big names,” he says,
A poste urrana’s
ann h K while citing the long list of first-time di-
Ayushm ase DREAM
le
latest re in which his rectors he has worked with. “A good idea
GIR , er speaks
L
can come from anywhere. I am open to
charact an and, at
m ideas from rank newcomers and not just
like a wo en dresses
v
times, e e one the industry bigwigs.”
lik
More than the film’s budget or the
producer, Khurrana is drawn to the
premise and how it unfolds. ‘How in-
teresting and different it is’ determines
his participation in it. Though he is
now eager to push the envelope and do
an action film or a love story. “I’d love
to change genres and the tone of my
acting too,” he says.
At the moment, though, Khurrana
finds himself in an interesting predica-
ment. He doesn’t know what he will do
after Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavd-
haan. “I will wait for another year if I
don’t get a good script,” he says. “I can
afford to because next year’s slate is
ready.” With great success, apparently,
also comes great confidence. n
—Suhani Singh
MANDAR DEODHAR
NO FILTERS
(Clockwise from far left)
Tanuja Chandra and stills from
Aunty Sudha Aunty Radha
D O C U M E N TA RY
GREENER
PASTURES
embracing; their habits and
preferences which no force
on earth can now alter...these
things informed the structure
and tone that the film eventu-
ally took,” says Chandra.
The filmmaker believes
O
and possibly awkward,” lishment. She teases out how her experience in Lahra will
Chandra says in an e-mail the household is a particular help the feature projects
interview. Her aunts’ banter example of interdependence, she’s currently working on.
and unselfconsciousness laying bare the loyalty and “Very serious topics like
helped her get over the love between the aunts and death can be addressed in a
pressure of being on camera. the staff. “Their chatter, sprightly manner and not lose
One of the most striking “They don’t bother with trying comforting attendance and any of their relevance,” she
things about Tanuja Chandra’s to impress anyone or disguis- wicked sense of humour are says. It was also “a revela-
first documentary, which ing anything, whether it’s to crucial to the daily existence tion” to witness “the lives of
premiered internationally last do with their physical ap- of my aunts,” she says. so-called ordinary people.
month and features her 93 pearance or what they speak Conversations about the If we look with patience and
and 86-year-old aunts, is her about,” she adds. For ex- past and the inevitable future empathy, there is so much
own uninhibited presence. As ample, a lovely scene shows are light but poignant. “Their everyday heroism and love.”
Chandra laughs goofily, en- Sudha popping a chocolate brand of honesty, which is Chandra hopes docu-
couraging Sudha and Radha in bed once Radha has fallen brutal but not bitter; their mentaries in India will one day
to describe their lives, it’s asleep. “There’s practically no sarcasm, sharp but oddly be “valued the way they are
easy to identify with her—the filter there—something most internationally”. She says:
aunts’ patterns of story- of us urbane and modern “There are countless stories
telling and declaiming will people can only aspire to.” EVERYDAY (in India) waiting to be docu-
resonate with those who have Chandra is known for her HEROISM RUNS mented. Funny, dramatic,
spent time with elderly rela- women-centric commercial tragic, mysterious…” Aunty
THROUGH THIS
tives. But it’s rare to see this features, but Aunty Sudha Sudha Aunty Radha is cur-
kind of interaction onscreen, Aunty Radha is a world apart, WARMTH- rently on the festival circuit
particularly among women of capturing the slow rhythm of FILLED and will likely be on a digital
different generations. daily life in a kothi in Lahra, Ut- DOCUMENTARY platform next year. n
“At the start, I was tense tar Pradesh, without embel- —Sonal Shah
LEISURE
AN AGENT OF CHANGE
Stills from Son Rise
D O C U M E N TA RY
Women in Dark Times

Vibha Bakshi’s National award-winning Son Rise shows that
documentaries can be instruments of social transformation
I
n her first Indian documentary, Daughters of Mother mentary-making. She never goes in with a script or even re-
India, Vibha Bakshi looked at the public agitation that search; instead, she lets her travels and interaction with the lo-
followed Nirbhaya’s gang-rape and the change in laws it cals inform her narrative. From November 2016 to June 2018,
effected. In her latest, Son Rise, the documentary film- Bakshi and her small crew made 11 trips to Haryana, covering
maker has focused on Haryana’s sex 45 villages and returned with stark observations.
ratio, skewed as a result of illegal sex “You go from village to village and you find there
determination tests and subsequent fe- are no girls,” says Bakshi, who had to overcome
male foeticide. The lack of a female voice in her own bias and fear of travelling in the state. “We
the state’s khaps only confirms Haryana’s discovered that there are unmarried men and bride
deep-rooted patriarchy. Both films have trafficking,” she says. Brief footage of an Assamese
won the National Award for best non-fea- woman talking about adapting to life in Haryana
ture films, with Son Rise also winning the becomes all the more hard-hitting in the wake of
Hemanti Sarkar the prize for best editing. Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar’s
“Gender violence, gender inequality remark that women can now be brought from
and global warming are very compelling Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370.
issues, but unfortunately they are not easy In the film, we meet Kusam, a gang-rape sur-
to watch,” says Bakshi, an erstwhile business vivor fighting a hard battle for justice along with
reporter and anchor. “While I do show you her supportive husband, Jitender Chattar, who has
the dark side, I leave you with hope. These Vibha Bakshi’s depleted his savings. With a crowdfunding cam-
are fights we can’t afford to lose.” Bakshi films show the paign already underway to help Chattar with legal
made the best of her 12-year stint in the fees, it’s clear that the film has made an impact.
US, working on Al Gore’s global warming
dark side of Recently, Kusam, now a mother of two, has even
film, Too Hot NOT to Handle, and Terror At issues like gen- started studying law. Documentaries, Son Rise
Home, part of the US government’s cam- der violence, but proves, don’t just throw light on the ills of society.
paign to stop violence against women. leave you They have the capacity to change it too. n
Bakshi has a nifty approach to docu- with hope —Suhani Singh

BOOKS
C A U S I N G
A S T I R
THE ACUITY WITH WHICH
M A D H U R I V I J AY D E S C R I B E S
LIFE IN JAMMU AND KASHMIR SEEMS
P A R T I C U L A R LY P O I G N A N T T O D A Y
a political coming of age for

Shalini as she stumbles across
the seams of violence that
disfigure Kishtwari society. MANVI RAO
THE FAR
FIELD Shalini’s inability to quite
by Madhuri explain her motivations makes she might stay and help, but
Vijay her an object of suspicion, her hopes run up against the
FOURTH ESTATE but the kindness of a local security protocols in place and
`599; Kishtwari family keeps her she is forced to return home.
444 pages going. She finds in their midst Worse, her residual faith in the
an odd kind of belonging, but fair-mindedness of an army
O
n the face of mains at odds with the stifling also begins to learn about the brigadier brings catastrophe
it, the plot of conventions that define her enormous human losses that to the family which sheltered
Madhuri Vijay’s milieu and Shalini notes how have transformed life in the her in Kishtwar.
The Far Field Bashir Ahmed’s visits used border areas. Their son has Vijay’s sharp-eyed obser-
should not to provide her mother with been taken away by soldiers vations of Kishtwari life post
work: Shalini, an alienated a libidinal charge missing in and he is one of many such the decline of the militancy will
24-year-old from Bengaluru, her daily life. At some point— “disappeared” young men. puncture the delusions of any
uncertain what to do with her presumably the early 1990s, Other families take her in and well-meaning Indian liberal
life (and financially able to do as militants fought the Indian even their wary welcome is who believes that the security
not much at all), decides to security services in Kash- balm for her own dislocations. apparatus can do no wrong.
go off to Kishtwar in search mir—Bashir Ahmed’s stories No one here has escaped the This is no small achievement
of Bashir Ahmed, a travelling begin to include mentions of violence. All remain mistrustful for a first-time novelist. Vijay
shawls and clothes salesman “difficulties” at home and his of army patrols even as they is an astute chronicler of the
who used to visit her home need to be away from the fear armed outsiders. The everyday emotions that roil
when she was a child. She has conflict zone. These are the militancy has waned, but the seemingly calm lives, whether
not seen him for over a decade hazy memories that trigger soldiers remain and are even in Bengaluru or in Kashmir.
and has little clue about where Shalini’s decision to go off to a more destructive. Shalini, the She is also a sharp observer
to find him. Unlikely? Very. place that she knows nothing privileged outsider, thinks of the myriad ways in which
However, Vijay’s hetero- about. If this feels like a quest the Indian aspirational classes
dox insights into the function- for narcissistic self-discov- gloss over the state violence
ing of English-speaking, upper ery premised on uncertain in Kashmir. That combina-
middle-class families suggest possibility, it is just that. VIJAY IS AN A S T UTE tion is particularly unsettling
credible reasons for Shalini’s However, The Far Field is today, as Kashmiri lives are
disjointed desires and actions. at its best once Shalini gets to CHRONICLER OF THE once again held hostage to
While her entrepreneur father
is busy building his business,
Kishtwar and then to Bashir
Ahmed’s village high in the
DAILY EMOTIONS the uncaring designs of the
Indian State. n
her stay-at-home mother re- mountains. What ensues is THAT ROIL SEEM- —Suvir Kaul
INGLY CALM LIVE S

BOOKS
THE PAST IS
POROUS
In his tales from India’s history, Manu S. Pillai pokes some holes and patches others
At first, reading historian Manu S. employ the same ‘infidels’, support their religious estab-
Pillai’s The Courtesan, the Mahat- lishments, and act in a completely different manner.”
ma & the Italian Brahmin feels like Context—the idea that people have their reasons, even
falling into a Wikipedia rabbit hole, terrible ones—tends to defang history’s wolves and de-
though with better-researched and throne its heroes. “This is people being people,” Pillai says,
more engagingly written articles “and yet demonstrating imagination in a way that we don’t
(some first appeared in a newspaper generally understand when thinking of our ancestors as
column). Pillai—whose previous books pious and proper and tediously correct always.” Even criti-
are a thick history of royal Travancore and an introduc- cal chapters employ a slightly eulogistic tone—a respect for
tion to the medieval Deccan through its leaders—flits here acknowledging the past, good or bad.
between north and south, medieval and early modern, and This respect is bolstered by a few ‘What if…’ chapters,
even myth and fact. Social reformers like the Phules sit next in which Pillai wonders, for example, what India may have
to socially repressed Ammachis; the Mappilas of Malabar looked like without the Raj, or had Gandhi lived longer.
jostle with the Mughal emperor Jahangir. Speculating, “not out of a sense of nostalgia or to glorify
In an e-mail interview, Pillai said the book “reflects the alternative,” Pillai says, “but out of a genuine curios-
three major themes I tend to work on in general: gender, ity”, he demonstrates the futility of the logic of those who
caste, and human quirk”, and, indeed, as in his previous seek to erase history entirely.
work, political history mixes refreshingly with the politics Pillai wants to “persuade readers who find history
of sexuality to provide a more nuanced, often less patri- too distant or difficult to give it a chance, by telling them
archal view of the past. There are moments when jumps they could dip in and out of the book without getting
in time or geography can be disorienting, but the loose lost or overwhelmed”. The format may be popular, but
structure—the book is divided only into Pillai’s humour is almost exclusively dry,
pre-Raj and Raj sections—ultimately and his arguments restrained, growing
reflects a decentralised, pluralistic idea more forceful only as the book progresses.
of the nation itself. A pattern emerges, “Once an interest has been generated and
with each brief account of a person, place, the reader is safely in, you can get more se-
community, language or legend darning a rious,” Pillai says. “In a time when history
bit of the somewhat frayed idea that India is daily perverted, if you can’t communi-
represents unity in diversity (not just in cate sensible perspectives well, why even
adversity against a common enemy). At claim to be outraged by the drivel that is
the same time, Pillai doesn’t hide rough offered in its place online and elsewhere?”
seams or tears in the social fabric. Pillai ends the book with a subtle dig at
“We often fall into the trap of looking Indians who appropriate Trump’s MAGA
at Indian history as entirely, unequivo- motto to boost their own jingoism. What
cally syncretic, or altogether ‘commu- emerges through the book is a different
nal’,” Pillai says. “Depending on the con- idea of “greatness”, a persistent, if some-
text, the same king could act in different times weak, uniquely subcontinental strain
ways. In a territory under conquest, THE COURTESAN, of liberalism. At a time when the philoso-
he could declare jihad, smash temples THE MAHATMA & THE phy is often attacked for being western-
that legitimised his enemy, and demand ITALIAN BRAHMIN centric, an accessible but more complicated
Tales from Indian
conversion… Meanwhile, without irony, History picture of the past is invaluable. n
in his own settled territories, he could by Manu S. Pillai —Sonal Shah
CONTEXT
`599; 394 pages
Write side of LEISURE
history
from entering it. By the time one

reaches the final chapter, one
is sure that Gokhale has
shared herself with
ONE FOOT ON
THE GROUND the reader as com-
DAUGHTERS OF THE SUN A Life Told pletely as is pos-
Empresses, Queens and Begums Through the Body sible for any writer.
of the Mughal Empire by Shanta Gokhale
SPEAKING TIGER And that, as far as I
Ira Mukhoty
`399; 264 pages am concerned, is the
Read more about the often-
ignored women of the Mughal true test of a
empire, who played a surprisingly good autobiography.
big role in the shifting tides of This is not to say that
power at the court. there are no intimate accounts of
the human relationships outside
BOOKS her own body, for she introduces
us to many remarkable men and
HER
women she has encountered and
forged relationships with. These
memories include the pain of broken
BODY OF
marriages, the difficulties of single
parenthood and an unfulfilled liaison
with a fellow student in Bristol.
PROOF
However, these are presented as
the muscle and nerve tissue of her
A SOCIAL HISTORY OF THE tough skeleton.
DECCAN, 1300-1761 Gokhale, one of the finest
Eight Indian Lives
THE WRITER’S ANATOMY translators of Kannada and Marathi
Richard M. Eaton BECOMES A STOREHOUSE writing, switches seamlessly from
Bringing together elements found one idiom to another as she records
in Pillai’s Rebel Sultans and The OF MEMORY IN THIS
conversations with her Marathi-
Courtesan…, Eaton’s 2008 book GRIPPING MEMOIR speaking childhood friends and her
paints eight diverse portraits that
bring to life the “social processes” mother. And hidden underneath
of the Deccan. the delicately drawn portraits is
I
have seldom read a moving homage to her parents,
an autobiography as who gave her the liberal values that
interesting or as honest fashioned her, as much as her teeth
as this. For sure, there are some and hair. Her education in the UK
that inspire respect for the life por- at a time when students travelled
trayed, but Gokhale’s life is drawn on on ships rather than in planes, the
a grid never attempted. She maps misery of the English winter and
her body parts to record all her sig- her deep gratitude to her father
nificant memories, so that the story who was determined to give his
of her life provides the reader with daughters the best education he
a head-to-toe picture that is nothing could (not) afford, are all laid out
less than a literary MRI scan. on the grid of Gokhale’s body. As a
Starting with her birth in 1939 device to map her life, this liberates
JAHANGIR
An Intimate Portrait of a Great to the funny and sad stories that her story from becoming a maudlin
Mughal are connected with each part of her account of a difficult life.
Parvati Sharma body—from teeth and hair, to the So, by keeping one foot on the
An accessible biography, bunions on her toes—this is a journey ground, Gokhale retains her balance
Sharma’s portrait of Jahangir recounted with such wit and verve perfectly throughout. A great read. n
stands out for memorable details that self-pity is resolutely barred —Ira Pande
and well-chosen anecdotes that
complicate and humanise this
major ruling figure.
Q A Q. There’s talk of introduc-
ing certification for online
content. Your thoughts?
It is great as long as there is no
censorship. Online content has
become parallel to the film
experience. But directors and
producers should be ultra-
responsible. Sometimes we don’t
respect our freedom and
that’s when we falter.
Having played iconic characters
such as Bhiku Mhatre and Sardar
Khan, Manoj Bajpayee will
now be seen as an everyday spy
in Amazon Prime’s new web show
The Family Man
Q. You have taken your

time to do an OTT show…
I see a lot of OTT shows, and in the
clutter of content, I realised there’s
unnecessary violence and sex to get
eyeballs. The makers are all follow-
ing a similar story template. I am not
against showing intimacy or violence
on screen, but I have to agree with the
intention of the filmmaker. The story
has to have some integrity.
Then Raj and DK [filmmakers]
happened to me.
Q. In The Family Man,

you play a man who is in
control at work but
dominated at home…
This is a first-hand account. No mat-
ter how much you achieve or how
much people respect you, once you
go back to your place, it’s ghar ki
murgi dal barabar. My effort was to
show that an Intelligence agent is as
normal and as middle class as any of
us. There’s no James Bond strutting
about here.
Q. It’s also not every day that

we see you doing comedy…
Unless you do an out-and-out
slapstick film here, they don’t
consider it comedy. Bhiku Mhatre
[Satya] and Sardar Khan [Gangs of
Wasseypur] don’t fit a conventional
definition of comedy, but they still
make you laugh. I can make you
laugh without making an effort to
make you laugh.
SHIVAM SAXENA/ GETTY IMAGES
—with Suhani Singh
60 Volume XLIV Number 39; For the week September 24-30, 2019, published on every Friday Total number of pages 80 (including cover pages)
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Editor-in-ChiEf: Aroon Purie
Group Editorial dirECtor: Raj Chengappa
Group CrEativE Editor: Nilanjan Das
Group photo Editor: Bandeep Singh
SEnior dEputy Editor: Prachi Bhuchar
aSSoCiatE Editor: Ridhi Kale
photo rESEarChErS: Prabhakar Tiwari
and Saloni Vaid
art dirECtor: Angshuman De
aSSoCiatE art dirECtor: Rajesh Angira
produCtion: Harish Aggarwal
(Chief of Production), Naveen Gupta,
Vijay Sharma, Prashant Verma
publiShinG dirECtor:
Manoj Sharma
aSSoCiatE publiShEr (impaCt):
Anil Fernandes
SEnior GEnEral manaGEr (impaCt):
Jitendra Lad (West)
GEnEral manaGErS:
Upendra Singh (Bangalore)
Kaushiky Gangulie (East)
Group ChiEf markEtinG offiCEr

Vivek Malhotra
Photo courtesy SANS SOUCI
Lighting Special
10
VOL. 14 NUMBER 9; SEPTEMBER 2019
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world. Reproduction in any manner is prohibited.
Printed and published by Manoj Sharma on behalf of Living Media India
IN THE LIMELIGHT
Limited. Printed at Thomson Press India Limited, 18-35 Milestone, Delhi From 15 Indian light brands that are changing
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contents
HOME
Photograph by RAVI KANADE

expert
POWERED BY
27 speak
ENTERTAINMENT INC
Six architectural firms tell
you how to get your space
ready for a party.
Photograph by MILIND SHELTE

interiors
6 HUES IN CHARGE
With equal measure of colour and drama, designer
Krsnaa Mehta's Mumbai apartment is a visual delight.
36
profile
ARCHITECT OF THE MONTH
Architect Reza Kabul shares
his design journey.
Photograph by DANESH JASSAWALA
3
LAUNCHES
40
LAST LOOK
2 INDIA TODAY HOME SEPTEMBER , 2019

n ews
Launches
iSpy
Your guide to the hottest
new stores and products
Text By RIDHI KALE
natrual beauty
Saying it with flowers, but what about the
vase? A good option are these coral vases
from Visionnaire’s new capsule collection of
functional and sculptural objects.
PRICE on request
AT www.visionnaire-home.com
art of craft
If you are looking to update your lamps,
Fabindia’s latest collection called Jeev is
perfect for you. The handcrafted range
celebrates local crafts and looks great.
PRICE `990 to `10,000

AT www.fabindia.com
festive fare
Hand drawn designs that celebrate
imperfections are the USP of ta.da
tableware by artist Rajini Nair. The
collections are a showcase of objects,
thoughts or even
movements that inspire her.
PRICE on request
AT @ta.da.insta (Instagram)
n ews
Launches
set in
stone
Delhi-based interior designer Nandita Kalaan
has developed a range of handcrafted home decor
products in concrete. Retailed under Grey Sorbet
by Nandita Kalaan the cement pieces are the
perfect industrial chic additions to a home.
PRICE on request
AT www.nanditakalaan.com
full plate
Founder, Nandita Aron started White
Hill Studio because of her love for ceram-
ics and story telling. The latest range called
Midnight in Mashobra is a story set on
the slopes of Mashobra near Shimla.
PRICE `1,100 onwards

AT www.whitehillstudio.com
stick a fork in it
What jam is to bread, cutlery is to crockery. XAKA
Cutlery’s new Kalahari series inspired by the beautiful
Kalahari desert of Southern Africa is all you need to
complete the look of your festive tables.
PRICE `1,800 to `17,000

AT www.xakacutlery.com
n ews
Launches
out of the closet

Stack, stash and store clothes and more with the
Ray two-door wardrobe from FORMA. It offers a
complete knockdown assembly with an option to
add a mirror. The closet also comes in an array
of vibrant colour options.
PRICE `18,911
AT www.forma.co.in
green thumb
Make your space stand out with
Linchpins Design’s latest range
of geomtric planters.
PRICE `2,700
AT www.steelpodz.in
drink up
Here’s something that will get you in high spirits.
The new retro-inspired bar range from
Baaya Design is a mix of Art Deco style, brass
inlays and well defined, geomtric forms.
PRICE `2,400 to `12,150

AT www.baayadesign.com
COLOUR
ME BRIGHT
In designer Krsnaa Mehta’s Mumbai apartment, Seletti lamps are just as
much at home as the red chairs, fuchsia cushions and floral wallpaper.
BY ADITI PAI
h ouse that
Interiors
A 5
quirky India Circus footprint doormat
is your first brush with Krsnaa Mehta’s MUST-HAVES
colourful Peddar Road home. As you
step inside waiting to discover more FOR THE HOME
of his creations, a riot of colours—red,
blue, pink and green—and beautiful artefacts
l DELICATELY DESIGNED CUSHIONS
l BRIGHT WALLPAPERS
welcomes you into a vibrant and cosy space
which the famous designer shares with two l FLORAL PRINTED MATS AND RUGS
friendly cats. “I am a firm believer that a per- l SHOWER CURTAINS
son’s home should be a true reflection of their l PRINT GLASSES

personality. Interiors add a certain facet to the
soul of your home and play an integral part in
making a house a home,” he says. His home,
predictably, reflects his designs and
offers a creative showcase of his works that
adorn several homes through India Circus.
The latest from his brand, most definitely,
comes home. Every lamp, side table, wall art
and decor piece is thoughtfully and neatly
placed in different parts of the house. While
most are his own designs, there are several art
pieces that have been gifted by friends or
collected by the designer as souvenirs during
his travels. There are no rules that he follows
while designing a space; all he
looks out for is a mix of eclectic
colours and strategically placed HUE KNEW
art and decor pieces. “Every The vibrant
room is designed and decorated dining room
(left); Krsnaa
for its specific purpose,” he says.
Mehta in his
What was earlier a guest room entertainment
has been converted into his “en- den with his two
tertainment-den” and is vastly cats (right)
different from the living area
and bedroom.
Brush Strokes Red, blue, pink and orange

meet effortlessly in Mehta’s home. The living
room shows off wallpapers (from India Circus)
and artworks, all beautifully complemented by
vibrant upholstery and furniture. Red chairs
Photographs by DANESH JASAWALLA
stand a few feet away from a blue sofa with

fuchsia and pink cushions in different shapes
that rest against a bright red wall. Right oppo-
site is a large wall with printed wallpaper that
has images of flowers and a boat sailing. The
light tones of the wall get a burst of colour with
orange chairs and a bright blue-green lamp-
shade with images of butterflies, placed between
SEP T E M BE R , 2019 INDIA TODAY HOME 7

h ouse that
Interiors
RED ALERT
The colourful living room is
home to art, collectibles and
souvenirs (left); a beautiful
wallpaper frames the wall
next to the dining (below)
the chairs. The designer’s favourite colours are

aubergine, fuchsia and teal, “as this particular
palette of burnt colours adds a sense of cohesive-
ness to the collection”. Bright yellow is a big no
for him unless it is used with other colours, “or
fletches of it here and there, but never solo.”
Souvenirs Memories of Mehta’s many “esca-

pades around the globe” have a special place in
the house. He has a beautiful Ardmore trinket
from the South African heritage brand and
an array of Seletti lamps, of which one is
sculpted in the form of a swan and another
as a picturesque monkey.
Right Combinations Mehta recommends

using the right combination of colours depend-
ing on the natural light every room gets. If a
room gets ample natural light, dark colours work
well. In a dimly lit room, light hues are best.
Seasonal Palette “Indoor greens are some-

thing one must have to keep the home naturally
cool. Bright hues in cushion covers, tropical
prints on rugs, wallpapers, mats are absolute
essentials to make a home ready for the season,”
he says. While picking prints and colours, Mehta
suggests that nature should be an inspiration.
Similar elements in prints should be picked to
complement each and other and black and white
can be used to balance out colours. “There’s
an entire theory behind how one should pick
colours. Mostly colours with tinted tones com-
plement each other. Even opposite colours com-
plement one another,” he says.
18 INDIA TODAY HOME SEP T E M BE R , 2019

OORJA, Bangalore
www.oorja.in
WHEN Light designer Jenny Pinto has always been

a champion of sustainable materials and design. She
launched her handmade paper studio (in 1998), which
was later transformed into a light studio and now (in
2018) she has collaborated with Radeesh Shetty of
decor and design store The Purple Turtles to launch a
bespoke lighting brand, Oorja Designs.
USP Creating structural lamps out of waste, combined

with natural fibres in Pinto’s signature design language.
The lamps use paper, faux concrete, cork and water
hyacinth from the Tungabadhra River to create
contemporary, warm lighting for spaces. In fact as per
Pinto hyacinth is a fast-growing weed that chokes our
rivers and water bodies all over the country and needs
an urgent solution.
BUY THIS You can choose from pendant, floor, wall

and table lamps. They also do customised site-specific
pieces based on your needs.
WHAT’S NEW While the Oxide collection is made up

of fibre-concrete lamps in earthy shades of blues,
rusted pink and cement grey, the Uncork collection
uses harvested tree barks to create industrial-themed
lamps. The Wabi Sabi range uses water hyacinth as a
GO BANANAS material, among others, for an asymmetric approach.
Sculpted from handcrafted banana
fibre paper the Meander Pendant PRICE `500 to `1 lakh
Lamp is ideal for mood lighting —By Prachi Sibal
cover story
Design
THE GLOW
GETTERS
From traditional chandeliers and contemporary industrial lighting to
small pendants and large lamps, the market is full of options. To help
you pick the right one, we have put the spotlight on 15 Indian lighting
brands you need to know about.
THE BLACK STEEL, Delhi

www.theblacksteel.com
WHEN It was when product designer

Prateek Singh realised that a large audience
did not have access to functional lighting,
he decided to reinvent lamp design. The
solution? Launch of The Black Steel in 2015.
USP To offer a range of industrial decor

inspired lighting products with a touch of
minimalism and dollops of elegance.
BUY THIS Besides ceiling, desk and floor

lamps, you can also purchase wall sconces.
WHAT’S NEW Glass balls, minimal frames

and adjustable arms are just a few of
the contemporary features of the latest
collection called Mid-Century Modern.
BLACK MAGIC
PRICE `850 to `54,000 An industrial style wall light (left); limited
—By Ridhi Kale edition Sprocket Wheel Desk Lamp (right)

cover story
Design
ANEMOS, Mumbai
www.anemos.in
WHEN A take on the name for the Greek WHAT’S NEW The Chandel-aires which
gods of wind, Anemos was born in double up as ceiling fans with glamorous
2005 when friends Nipoon Agrawal and lights. The pieces are decorative and high
Rajkumar Jain set up a store celebrating on utility and energy efficiency.
fans in innovative quirky designs and went
on to add lights and audio players. BUY THIS Elaborate chandeliers, ceiling
lights, floor lights, accent lamps, bed side
USP The museum-like set-up of the store and table lamps and fans with lights.
offers a unique shopping experience. They
have re-imagined a light from a wrecked PRICE `1,500 onwards CHILD’S PLAY
ship and restored a light from a century- Colourful and creative
old home to develop statement lighting. —By Aditi Pai lighting for children
SUNSHINE BOULEVARD, Bangalore

www.sunshineboulevard.in
WHEN It was when Namita Agarwal was working on the interiors

of her new apartment that she had to make the difficult choice
of Chinese remakes or expensive Italian designs for her lighting
needs. She began wondering if this was due to a dearth of good
Indian lighting designers but soon found out that was not the case.
Their work was at par with other expensive imports. To make good
lighting accessible to all, she decided to open up her own lighting
and decor store and brand, Sunshine Boulevard, in 2010.
USP The brand’s USP lies in the customisation options one can
avail. The designs range from minimal and baroque to earthy and
industrial. There is innovative use of fabric and a selection of
classic chandeliers as well.
BUY THIS The store houses floor, ceiling, wall and table lamps
WHAT’S NEW Collections made using environmentally friendly

material like cork and cardboard.
SMART DESIGN
Metal desk lamps PRICE `1,000 onwards
look good anywhere —By Prachi Sibal

cover story
Design
LIGHT ART
Dream Catcher
chandelier uses
coated brass
discs and jade
mint handblown
glass beads
KLOVE, Delhi BUY THIS Wall murals, table and floor lamps, wall
www.klovestudio.com scones, installations, chandeliers and pendants.
WHEN Prateek Jain and Gautam Seth co-founded WHAT’S NEW Totems Over Time, the latest
Klove in 2005 with the vision of preserving talent collection, comprises mirrors, chandeliers,
through their partnership with Indian craftsmen pendants and lighting installations in the form of
and reinventing India through lighting. necklaces.
USP A luxury boutique studio transforming real PRICE On request

places into surreal dimensions, they specialise
in decorative lighting installations which grow to
become pieces of contemporary art. — By Akanksha Thirani
DBEL STUDIO, DELHI

www.dbelstudio.com TOP BRASS
The Dhahab floor
WHEN Launched by architect Dillraj L Bhatia in 2017, the lamp made from
idea behind DBEL Studio is to create awareness around the brass blends classic
importance of psychological and physiological impacts of
influences with
lighting in architectural design.
geometric shapes
USP Customised lighting built from scratch to create
a distinctive emotional benefit.
BUY THIS From customised chandeliers to pretty

pendants, they retail every conceivable light one could want
for a home or a commercial space.
WHAT’S NEW A blend of contemporary and modern

classic, the Dhahab collection comprises table lamps, floor
lamps, chandeliers and light screens inspired by geometric
shapes designed to reflect artistic elegance.

—By Akanksha Thirani
cover story
Design
HIVE HOME, Mumbai

www.hivehome.in
WHEN Shivangi Shah, a

product designer from
the London School of
Communication and Design
with hands-on experience
on film sets and an interiors’
magazine, set up her studio of
luxury lighting specialising in
bespoke luxury hand-blown
glass lighting in 2014.
USP The products blend

handicraft and cutting edge
advanced technology to
design lighting options. Hand-
blown glass offers endless
possibilities of shapes,
colours, optical effects and
combinations with other
materials.
BUY THIS Light sculptures
WHAT’S NEW Halo by Hive

Home is inspired by the belief
that life comes a full circle so
the eight elegantly handcrafted
moulds of blown glass come in
hues of crackled gold, luster
brown, earthen amber, grey,
yellow and transparent to
complement the space.
PRICE On request
—By Aditi Pai
FALL IN LOVE
Titled Falling Leaves this bespoke
light adds oodles of drama
cover story
Design
MOTHER GONE MAD DESIGN, Delhi

@Mother_gone_mad (Instagram)
WHEN Ritika Nanda, a mother of two, was always

interested in design. She realised that there was a
gap between the Chinese mass market and European
luxury market. She bridged this gap when she started
Mother Gone Mad Design in 2015.
USP Nanda offers hand crafted and customised designs

in a wide range of materials such as wood, acrylic, glass,
metal, ceramic, cement and found objects.
BUY THIS From floor and table lamps to pendant

and wall lights, she has unique illumination ideas for
every room in a home.
WHAT’S NEW The Disc wall light started as a minimal

white wall light and now it has a brass version, a painted
graphic version similar to the lightastic (an art-inspired line),
as well as a concrete version.

—By Ridhi Kale
LIGHT AND YOU, Delhi

www.lightandyou.com
WHEN Co-founders of one of India’s oldest lighting

companies vis à vis, Hardeep Gupta, Amit Gupta and
Samta Nadeem launched an online lighting platform
called Light and You in 2016. The idea behind this was to
bring to fore the best of global and Indian brands to both
professionals and consumers.
USP They have the largest collection of lights available

online in the country. The platform also offers products,
technology, trends, stories and inspiration from global
thought-leaders, brands and designers.
BUY THIS Just about any kind of light from any

UNIQUE LOOK part of the globe.
Disc wall light in yellow
and white, and Hand WHAT’S NEW They are about to launch phase two.
wall light made from Curated by artist Vishal K Dar it will be a collection of
fibre glass lamps from AKFD, Klove and Rooshad Shroff.
PRICE `5,000 to `5 lakh upwards

—By Ridhi Kale
MARBLE MARVEL
Carved marble bulb lights from
Rooshad Shroff
cover story
Design
INDILED, Hyderabad
www.indiled.in
WHEN Inspired by the colour consistency

of lights overseas, after researching for
over a year, Ram Agarwal and Lakhan Agarwal started
Indiled in 2017.
USP Creating lights through encapsulation, a process

which makes lights water proof and dust resistant, Indiled
installs lights
in walls and on floors.
BUY THIS Customised lights, retailed as linear

architectural lighting.
Photograph by PHOTOGRAPHIX
WHAT’S NEW Their new range comprises Jal, a linear
special grade aluminium profile made for under water
applications such as swimming pools; Vayu, that makes
lights look as if they are in flight; and Dori, bendable LED
lights for curved spaces including staircases, gardens and
facades.
PRICE `2,000 to `25,000

—By Akanksha Thirani
EBB AND FLOW

Convergence light installation at an eatery in Mumbai
depicts fluid patterns in waters
LINE OF WORK
This light called IL1 can take the shape or
form of any linear pattern or shape
STUDIO AVNI, Mumbai
www.studioavni.com
WHEN An architect from KRVIA Mumbai and a Masters

degree holder from London’s Chelsea College of Art and Design,
Avni Sejpal set up Studio Avni in 2011 to work with
new materials and experiment with different forms and
has developed bespoke lights and illuminated installations
for several spaces in Mumbai.
USP Exploring and experimenting with different materials.

For the Samsara lighting series, Sejpal worked with cork, rubber,
silicon and metal.
BUY THIS The entire range of decorative lights including pendant

lights, chandeliers, table and floor lamps
and lighting installations.
WHAT’S NEW The Voyager series is a collection of light

sculptures, drawing from the explorative space modules and
inspired from post apocalyptic sci-fi movies. The Fin Cloud series
is a sculptural take on biomorphism. While the Grace Light series
uses lights constructed from extremely fine steel wire mesh used
for aviation industry and metals such as brass and copper. For a
restaurant in Mumbai, she developed an experiential installation
called Convergence depicting fluid patterns in water.
PRICE On request Interior design by AAMIR and HAMEEDA Associates;

—By Aditi Pai Photograph by RICKEN DESAI PHOTOGRAPHY

cover story
Design
HIGHLIGHT THIS
These innovative
lights work well
as table and floor
lamps as well
as pendants
CLIMB UP
The Maiden
THE WHITE TEAK COMPANY
Voyage floor
Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Hyderabad
lamp with a www.whiteteak.com
ladder-like
design has WHEN Pawan Mehta, Anu Mehta, Gagan Mehta and Mamta
wooden fittings Mehta were tired of the disorganised lighting market in the
country. So, they launched The White Teak Company in 2016 with
contemporary lights in the forefront.
USP They give a new spin to ordinary lights and a modern twist to
the classic chandelier.
BUY THIS Chandeliers, pendants, ceiling lights, table and floor

lamps, wall brackets and wireless smart lights.
WHAT’S NEW The brand’s latest, the Smart Lighting Collection

features smart LED lights even on bespoke chandeliers. You can
then choose from 16 million colour combinations
and control brightness.

—By Ridhi Kale

HATSU, MUMBAI
www.hatsu.in
WHEN A mechanical engineer with a

keen interest in art and design,
Saumil Suchak decided to set up
his own studio for home accessories
but wanted to create designs that
people hadn’t commonly seen in Mumbai.
So, he collaborated with artists from all
over to develop products that add that
wow factor to interiors. He launched
HATSU in 2016.
USP Bold and neat design language that

is inspired by the Scandinavian style
of design. They fuse creative ideas by
artists with their own design knowledge
to make lighting installations that stand
out in a room.
BUY THIS Pendant lights, chandeliers,

wall sconce and table and floor lights.
WHAT’S NEW The new collection is

designed as an attempt to merge lighting
and fashion with high-quality leather
accents, magnetic wireless switches,
and look and a Star Wars feel.
PRICE `7,000 to `35,000

– By Aditi Pai
PAUL MATTER, Delhi

www.paulmatter.com
WHEN Nikhil Paul is an alumnus of Domus

Academy, Milan. When he was setting up his
studio in Delhi he realised the lack of utilitarian
yet elegant lighting in the market. This pushed
him to begin his experiments with lights and
he subsequently opened the lighting atelier,
Paul Matter in 2016.
USP At the studio light sculptures meet

contemporary designs and art meets
luxe materials.
BUY THIS Pendant lights, chandeliers, wall

lights and table and floor lamps are retailed.
WHAT’S NEW The latest collection, God and

Goddess, takes its inspiration from strong
SYMBOLIC symbols that are an integral part of the Indian
DESIGN culture. With custom made bulbs, simple
From the God geometry and unique surface finishes the
and Goddess new collection truly stands out.
collection this
wall sconce PRICE `80,000 onwards
has been made —By Ridhi Kale
from brass
cover story
Design
THE ILLUMINATI
The Casa light is
inspired by a weaver
bird’s nest
SOGANI, Delhi
www.sogani.design
WHEN Vibhor Sogani and Navdeep

Sogani have always been passionate
about lights and design. In 2002 they
launched Sogani, after they decided
to merge the two disciplines and
create out-of-the-box, installation-
size lighting.
USP Their designs are concept

driven and customised to suit a
space and lifestyle through quality
craftsmanship, avant-garde
aesthetics and state-of-the-art
technology.
BUY THIS Project specific light

installations and customised lights
for corporate offices, hospitality
industry and individuals.
WHAT’S NEW Launched in

Frankfurt, the lights from the new
series such as Casa, Drape and
Umbra are more sculptural in form.
Most of the new range has already
won the international Light ME
award in UAE and EDIDA awards
as well.
PRICE On request
— By Akanksha Thirani

LIGHT
YEARS
AHEAD
Bulbs that listen to your voice
commands and tube lights that
change colour with the flick of
your phone, here’s a look
at future-ready illumination
By RIDHI KALE
WHAT IS SMART LIGHTING?

“It is lighting technology designed for energy efficiency
while fulfilling an aesthetic or practical effect,” says
Alok Hada, Director at Anusha Technovision, a home
automation company. This implies that such a lighting
system reduces your carbon footprint without compro-
mising on the looks. “With smart lighting, conventional
lights are swapped with technology enabled lights,
which can be easily fixed into the existing sockets in
your home. An inter-connected point links all the bulbs,
giving control over the lighting from a unified area,”
says Gurumukh Uttamchandani, Executive Director,
Syska Group, adding, “Conventional light bulbs are op-

cover story
Smart Lights
erated by flipping a switch on and off whereas smart lights

enable a user to control lighting using voice-controlled
devices.”
WHAT’S ON OFFER?
“Smart switch-off, night lamp, multi scene and colour
changing options, are a few of the smart lighting devices
popular at Luminous,” says Jitendra Agrawal, Senior Vice
President, Luminous Power Technologies. Smart switch
off (`1,200) ensures that the light switches off a few sec-
onds after you switch it off to ensure there is enough time
to leave the room. Night lamp (`1,250) is a lighting device
with two small lamps fitted on the sides which work as
dim blue lights while you are sleeping at night. Multi scene SHINING EXAMPLES (clockwise from above) A smart
(`1,499) is a device that lets you have multiple levels of il- light from Luminous (above); Anusha Technovision has
luminations in the same light fixture. The colour changing installed lighting controlled through a central system
batten (`900) has a LED batten that allows you to change in this home (left); light controlled from a smartphone
the colour with the flick of a switch. That’s not all, today we
are also seeing products that provide multiple benefits

such as lights with in-built Bluetooth speakers or
those that also double up as security cameras. Syska
has on offer smart LED bulb (`1,799) and smart table
lamp (`3,699) that are WiFi enabled and compatible
with both Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant. You
can also opt for Philips Hue (`20,500). “With Philips
Hue you can choose from 16 million colours and any
shade of white light. Using the Philips Hue Sync App,
you can also synchronise the colour and brightness
of these lights with the on-screen action and sound of
games, movies and music,” says Sukanto Aich, CMO,
Signify India.
ARE THERE ANY INNOVATIONS?

According to Agarwal the biggest innovation a smart
light offers is that, “you don’t need to install separate
ambience lights as it gives you that at a fraction of
the overall cost.” However, the latest trend in lighting
controls is human centric lighting. “It is defined as
the time controlled lighting system with a circadian-
friendly light sequence, meaning the LED fixtures
adapt their light colour and intensity during the
course of day,” says Hada. Another feather in the
smart lighting cap is the move to Li-Fi solutions (data
through light) for greater security and safety and fast
data transmission, explains Uttamchandani.

cover story
Bathroom
IN THE
SPOTLI GHT
The lights in your bathroom require
planning and thought if you want to
make the most of this space
By NISHITA KAMDAR
Photograph by STUDIO KUNAL BHATIA
I
f you were to ask a group of ten people, what their THE TWO LIGHT ZONES
favourite room in the house is, chances are that eight The shower area and the basin or vanity area are the two
out of ten would say it is their bathroom. However, we zones in a bathroom that require adequate task lighting.
often just focus on the aesthetics of the bathroom and The shower space can have a ceiling mounted light fixture,
neglect the importance of the right kind of lighting but the basin area requires adequate face lighting to en-
here, which is an important factor in how the bathroom sure one can see clearly while shaving or applying makeup.
looks and feels when occupied. There are two types of The Indian lighting market has some extremely efficient
lighting required in the bath—task lighting and ambient energy saving bright LED ceiling mounted lighting op-
or accent lighting. A thoughtful combination of task, tions. The mirror light can be a more decorative one, while
ambient, and accent lighting, in addition to any natural still ensuring adequate brightness for the face. Halogens
light from windows or skylights, is the best way to achieve can be avoided as they tend to heat up and create shadows
layers of light. When light is layered, you can change the on the face. The best light temperature of around 6,500k
feeling of your room to match a ny mood. works well for task as well as ambient lighting. We tend
to look our best in warm light, where our imperfections

are not immediately noticeable. A cooler
Photograph by TALIB CHITALWALA

colour will show off every flaw we have on
our faces and give us a more realistic idea
of what we look like in the light of day.
MIRROR, MIRROR
ON THE WALL
A light by the mirror is important but
avoid placing it at a point where it can
cast shadows on the face, especially near
the eye. Lighting should always be placed
at face level, perhaps on both sides of the
mirror. A good and bright decorative
mirror wall sconce also acts like an ac-
cent piece as well as functional lighting.
Accent lighting can be added in various
ways in a bathroom—wall lights, inside a
niche, backlighting from behind the mir-
BRIGHT IDEAS Examples of different kinds of lighting options (ranging ror or even a decorative pendant light.
from pendant to scones and recessed) in the bathroom from real projects
by Nishita Kamdar (bottom right) NATURAL LIGHT IS
ALWAYS RIGHT
Never underestimate the power of natu-
ral daylight. If you have the luxury of a
large window don’t forego it. The softness
of natural sunlight makes us feel most
comfortable and also allows for fresh air
to ventilate the bathroom. That said don’t
forget to add that one accent light when
you want to soak in your bathtub with a
glass of wine.
Nishita Kamdar is the Principal

Architect of Mumbai-based
Studio Nishita Kamdar.
@studionishitakamdar (instagram)

cover story
Instagram
What’s Trending
Bright lights perfect for the little one, step-by-step guide to
creating your own art-inspired illumination and glowing
geometric designs, a look at what’s popular on social media
THE RIGHT ANGLE
By AKANKSHA THIRANI Geometric lights are in vogue. And
Timothy Oulton’s Meta Table Lamp
takes this trend to a whole new level.
Besides being an out-of-the-box
design, it mimics the look of a rock
picked up from the seashore. The
idea is to fill the space with soft
warm light, making this perfect for
corners, mantles, as a centrepiece
or on bar counters.
AT @timothyoulton (Instagram)
FOR THE LITTLE ONE

Built from 100 per cent natural
pinewood, hand-polished and
hand-painted—lamps by Little
Lights are a child’s dream come true.
Perfect as reading lights or bedside
lamps, manufactured in Poland, you
can count on them to sprinkle magic
dust and add a burst of colour.
Rainbows, rockets, and animals,
Little Lights has all you need to add
a fairytale to a child’s bedroom.
BOTTLED UP
What happens when a homemaker and an interior designer realise they both love
AT @little_lights_ (Instagram)
handcrafted lights? A unique lighting company is born that brightens up your decor
and does its bit for mother earth. Called Light It Up, it was started in 2017 by mother
and daughter duo, Meena and Nishtha Mediratta. Nishtha’s interior design back-
ground comes in handy while selecting the right colour and Meena looks after the
business side. The duo have shared their step-by-step guide to creating bottle lights.
You need A glass bottle, acrylic paints, a paint brush and a permanent marker.
STEP 1 Take a glass bottle and clean it thoroughly. Let it dry.
STEP 2 Take a small quantity of the acrylic paints in one or multiple hues.
Apply it on the surface of the bottle using the paint brush.
STEP 3 After the paint dries, doodle your patterns, quotes or figurines
with a marker. You can also fill colour in these doodles.
STEP 4 Lastly, insert an LED string light or fairy lights inside the bottle.
And your bottle lamp is ready.
AT @light_it_up_by_nishtha (Instagram)

expert speak
Architects
Designed for a Party

BY RIDHI KALE
POWERED BY
SHUTTERSTOCK
Project Osia Villa
Location South Goa
Area 850 sq ft (indoor), 1,500 sq ft (terrace)
Special Features
Indoors there’s a projector with a screen to enjoy any-
thing from a movie to sports with friends and family,
while the spill-out terrace has outdoor seating. There’s
even a bar counter fitted with a fridge along with storage
for bottles. We have placed quirky furniture to give it
character and added junkyard-style accessories.
Quick Tip
An entertainment area should be an easy space with low
maintenance finishes and ‘photo-op’ spots for social me-
dia. Most importantly, it should reflect your personality.

expert speak
Architects
ANU CHAUHAN and PRASHANT CHAUHAN

Principal Architects, ZERO9, Mumbai
www.zero9.in Photographs by ISHITA SIT WALA
expert speak
Architects
Project Penthouse
Location Alkapuri, Vadodara
Area 3,000 sq ft (terrace), 250 sq ft (entertainment room)
Photographs by TEJAS SHAH PHOTOGRAPHY

Special Features
This is a small TV room cum bar on the penthouse terrace which
is surrounded by greenery. It’s designed as a perfect spot to relax
and unwind. The best part is that the area is a seamlessly blends
the indoors with the outdoors.
Quick Tip
One can convert any area into getaway zone. All you have to
do is ensure that the space (whether big or small) is covered
to make it suitable for any weather.
DIPEN GADA
Founder, Dipen Gada and
Associates, Vadodara
www.dipengada.com
Photograph by PRASHANT BHAT
Project Luxury Apartment

Location Lower Parel, Mumbai
Area 228 sq ft (terrace),
1,700 sq ft (apartment)
Special Features
Overlooking the Sea Link, this
terrace opens out from the dining
room fitted with large glass doors
that can be kept open when en-
tertaining. The marble-top ledge
along the glass railing allows
seating for 15 people and garden SHAMI GOREGAOKER
furniture can accommodate a Design Director, GA Design, Mumbai
few more. While the retractable www.gadesign.in
awning provides privacy as well
as protection from the weather. The bar clad in rough wood planks against
a wall panel with sleeper wood, located at the far end adjoins the kitchen
window which makes serving easy. The idea was to add a rustic element to
the outdoors to contrast with the modern interiors. The other end of the
terrace has a very cosy look with green bamboo shoots along the wall and
wicker furniture.
Quick Tip
Outdoor bars can be incorporated into any existing space, as long as the
electric and plumbing lines conform to building regulations. Materials that
can be used for the entertainment area are just as diverse. You can used
wood, faux wood, stone (including marble and granite) and metal.
expert speak
Architects
Project Pool House
Location Vasant Kunj, Delhi
Area 4,500 sq ft
Special Features
The building was conceptualised as “a pebble in the grass” to express a shift
between two buildings set parallel to one another. The pool house exhibits
a non conformist style. It is devoid of any unnecessary ornamentation;
the individual elements are not mixed and matched, rather independently
picked to suit the ethos of the space. Materials such as concrete, wood and
metal are used in their unrefined state rather than a highly polished
surface. The form is developed out of a concrete shell to give the pool house
a bold sculptural identity with a minimalist approach. Since the pool house
is dominated by glass walls, it has been oriented to overlook the pool on
one side and the 2.5 acre of green on the other.
Quick Tip
The entertainment
zone’s style must
contain objects that
are unique in their
form and identity
but when put to-
gether should have
character. This way
nothing will feel
PRIYANKA KHANNA AND RUDRAKSH CHARAN out of place or
Principal Architects, 42 MM Architecture, Delhi
look monotonous.
www.42mm.co.in
Photographs by RAVI KANADE
expert speak
Architects
Photographs by PURAN KHANNA
HARDESH CHAWLA and MONICA CHAWLA

Interior Architects and Founders,
Essentia Environments, Delhi
www.essentiaenvironments.com
Project Bungalow-style Private Residence wooden flooring, has a canopy made of modular
Location New Friends Colony, Delhi metal frame with tensile fabric stretched over it.
Area 3,800 sq ft The all-weather dining table and chairs offer a cosy
place to sit and relax, as the curtains bring charm.
Special Features
This elaborately designed terrace garden with a bar Quick Tip
is the perfect entertainment spot with a green car- Create canopies and pergolas as a shield against
pet and vertically arranged plants. The bottom-lit the elements. When designing the space think
bar counter has been made using travertine with of self-use as well as party-use, so that the
open grain pores, while the filigree white screen furniture and decor can be easily moved around.
behind is made of metal and the relief work on Custom made planters and vertical gardens
the adjacent pillar with stone on stone motif done ensure maximum floor space is kept free to
by hand. The central dining area, demarcated by add a sense of expansiveness.

expert speak
Architects
Photographs by KARL AHNEE
Project House in a Garden

Location Goodlands, Mauritius SIDHARTHA TALWAR
Area 1,500 sq ft Design Principal, Studio Lotus, Delhi
www.studiolotus.in
Special Features
At the House in a Garden, the pool and surrounding
landscape are vital constituents of the entertainment (such as the dining room and drawing room) with the
zone. The kitchen, located towards the northwest, kitchen’s service zone, without routing circulation
forms the core of the family living areas and is an airy, from within the house.
sunlit space which opens out onto the covered deck to
the swimming pool. This deck, framed by a series of Quick Tip
portals and upcycled architectural elements, acts as a The view from an entertainment zone can help create a
quiet family sit-out space as well as a spill over area for distinct mood for the space. For instance, at the House in
poolside parties. The adjoining living room deck that is a Garden, the lush backdrop of the reserved forest at the
accessible via the garden extends this verandah experi- site periphery helped create a sense of privacy and sanctu-
ence for larger gatherings, connecting areas for guests ary that is difficult to find in dense urban settings.
Photograph by MILIND SHELTE
“ARCHITECTURE IS ART
WITH ENGINEERING”
A
From path breaking s a child, he aspired to be a pilot only to fly all over the
world. But life had other plans. After his degree in
projects to pioneering architecture from MSU Baroda and a three-year stint
benchmarks, architect with Hafeez Contractor, Reza Kabul started his practice
Reza Kabul has changed from his father’s Irani café in Worli. “The big advantage
was that the premises had a telephone line,” he says. A telephone
the way we look at design connection was a big luxury in Mumbai in the 80s for anyone
wanting to do business. Three decades later, as a leading archi-
By ADITI PAI tect in the country, Reza Kabul zips across continents building
hotels, resorts and homes in cities from California to Mauritius.
His 7,000 sq ft plush office in Bandra has photographs of all
major projects he has done in the past 31 years, but a place of
pride goes to Shreepati Arcade, the first ever residential tower
project in India, the Marine Plaza hotel and the Radisson Hotel
in Mauritius—projects that remain most special to him.
What was your first big break?

I started my practice in 1988 without having a single client in
36 INDIA TODAY HOME AUGUST, 2019
Photograph by CHANDRADEEP KUMAR

t his & that
Architect of the month
hand. When most people leave a firm TALL ORDER

and begin independent work, they Reza Kabul in
carry a few clients with them. I was his Mumbai
too naïve to realise that I needed office (left); the
clients to start out but I had office Shreepati Arcade
on Grant Road,
premises, a telephone line and I sat
Mumbai (right);
there and then started looking. I Le Meridien,
got some small projects in the ex- in Thimphu,
tended areas of Mumbai like Thane, Bhutan (below)
Badlapur and Kalyan but even
those small jobs were a big thing for
me. I used to take the train and go
there. The first big break came eight
months later when a client had bought the Rogers Soda
factory in Byculla and wanted to build a tower there. Until
then, nobody in Mumbai had built a tower and the client
wasn’t sure of what I’d be able to deliver. He paid me a small
sum after I submitted the final design. The 18 storey tower
got a wonderful reception from buyers and the very next day,
the client called and asked me to quote my fees. I got what
I asked for and that was the major turning point in my life.
I never looked back.

t his & that
Architect of the month
BODY OF WORK
Kanakia
Wallstreet,
Andheri (left);
a residential
housing called
Ekta Tripolis
in Goregaon,
Mumbai (below)
The move beyond India We researched and learnt it. When I did the
I had always wanted to do projects outside 154 meters tall Shreepati Arcade, it was the first
India because flying was my passion. That ever 45 storey building in the year 2000.
opportunity came in the early 90s. I was intro-
duced to a client who wanted to build a hotel What next?
in Dubai and I felt that ‘God’ had come to me. We have just completed the Wallstreet in
It was an interiors project but I jumped at it. Andheri which has a modern glass façade with
After that, other projects started pouring in and a solid surface with classical mouldings and a
in 1992 I even set up an office in Dubai which I silhouette of people walking on the Wall Street
ran for nine years. In 2003, I completed a in the US. We also have a 65 acre township
project for the Radisson Hotel in Mauritius. coming up in Ulhasnagar.
AT www.architectrezakabul.com
What are your memorable projects?
When we got the job to refurbish the Marine
Plaza Hotel in Mumbai, it was a big project. It
was a landmark Art Deco property and came
with a lot of limitations and constraints. We
built a glass bottom pool and though it’s been
more than 20 years now, it’s still a big feature
of the hotel. That hotel is special to me and af-
ter that we got into more hospitality projects.
What’s the role of an architect?

An architect is an artist with engineering and
must be flexible. If someone says I can do only
one kind of work, then that person isn’t an ar-
chitect. They should be able to design anything.
If you haven’t done a particular kind of project
it takes effort but it can still be done. I had nev-
er done a hotel project until I got the first one.

l ast look Over a 1,000 coral islands form what we call Maldives.
The Sanskrit term for this coastal paradise is Malad-
vipa—where mala means garland and dvipa island.
With a name that conjures images of pretty flowers,
leafy palms and tropical scenes, it becomes a befitting
Sight Sea
inspiration for Good Earth’s latest collection by the
same name. Dinnerware, home textiles and decor com-
plete this range. Featured here are the Oceana fine bone
china dinner plates. The designs are reminiscent of wild
flowers, white sand and turquoise waters. With plates
Hibiscus, passifloras and other tropical as pretty as these, dinner will never be the same again.
foliage and flowers form both muse PRICE `28,000 onwards (dining) AT www.goodearth.in
and inspiration for this new collection

By RIDHI KALE

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oc

how to revive india’s reaL estate sector

MOR TH H FTY FIN S, T WILL

EXCLUSIVE MULTIMEDIA CONTENT

SE P T E M BE R 3 0, 2 019 INDIA TODAY 1

A VISION OF Q&A WITH

A NEW ROAD CULTURE

Cover by NILANJAN DAS

2 INDIA TODAY SE P T E M BE R 3 0, 2 019

WHY THE BJP NEEDS NITISH

Why Amit Shah thinks Hindi

How the PMO is getting restructured

Why Mumbaikars are against their

Medical Miracles? by Chinki Sinha

THE LONG ARM OF THE LAW

14 INDIA TODAY SE P T E M BE R 3 0, 2 019

on Saudi Oil from usual 7.4 million

$20.32 BILLION 23.9 MT 6.4 MT 12 `5-6

Illustration by TANMOY CHAKRABORTY

SE P T E M BE R 3 0, 2 019 INDIA TODAY 7

Illustration by TANMOY CHAKRABORTY

Illustration by SIDDHANT JUMDE

12 INDIA TODAY SE P T E M BE R 3 0, 2 019 Illustration by TANMOY CHAKRABORTY

One Country, Many Tongues “Don’t get into those

14 INDIA TODAY SE P T E M BE R 3 0, 2 019

clear his retirement

F ollowing a debate over the imposition of

2/3rd Kashmir is the country’s largest producer of apples, with

SE P T E M BE R 3 0, 2 019 INDIA TODAY 17

Patel’s proactive interest in

18 INDIA TODAY SE P T E M BE R 3 0, 2 019

RETURN OF THE REDS

a big youth protest rally

shine to Mamata after this. The

should look at it from a humanitarian

THE WATER WARS

SE P T E M BE R 3 0, 2 019 INDIA TODAY 21

Photograph by HARDIK CHHABRA

Last week, when traffic constables in Delhi

24 INDIA TODAY SE P T E M BE R 3 0, 2 019

adequate lack of public transport and poor road

SE P T E M BE R 3 0, 2 019 INDIA TODAY 25

FATAL FRONTIERS No violation

26 INDIA TODAY SE P T E M BE R 3 0, 2 019 Graphics by TANMOY CHAKRABORTY

Overspeeding Signal violation Drunken driving

CHANDRADEEP KUMAR CHANDRADEEP KUMAR

28 INDIA TODAY SE P T E M BE R 3 0, 2 019

SE P T E M BE R 3 0, 2 019 INDIA TODAY 29

“FINES ARE JUST

30 INDIA TODAY SE P T E M BE R 3 0, 2 019

SE P T E M BE R 3 0, 2 019 INDIA TODAY 31

INDIA’S REAL ESTATE SECTOR

ames Joseph, a media professional, had been house-

Graphics by TANMOY CHAKRABORTY

THE SLOWDOWN, EXPLAINED

THE WAITING GAME In some cities, it can take upto three

TO FALL ; YOU’LL ALSO

FOR DEVELOPERS BY EASING ue to delay buying decisions. “Customers

BEFORE RELEASING FUNDS” requires funding of over Rs 3 lakh crore,