India is the global host of 2018 World Environment Day which will take place on June 5, 2018.With “Beat Plastic Pollution” as the theme for this year’s edition, the world is coming together to combat single-use plastic pollution.
“Beat Plastic Pollution”, the theme for World Environment 2018, urges governments, industry, communities, and individuals to come together and explore sustainable alternatives and urgently reduce the production and excessive use of single-use plastic polluting our oceans, damaging marine life and threatening human health.
On the eve of world environment day, we all need to rethink on our social responsibilities toward fast growing development. The Indian Institute of Architects (Goa Chapter) stressed on demand to promote sustainable development in Goa, primarily the challenges and opportunities of climate change.
With current issues related to climate change, it’s must for Goa to reconsider the prevailing ground conditions and strategies adopted towards nature of development. The natural & built environments are always subjected to pressures from development in the entire section from Coastal to hinterland belts upto eco sensitive Western Ghats.
The carbon footprints being adopted for our urban and rural areas need a sensitive revisiting in terms of carrying capacities of a tiny State like Goa, especially the framework for planning strategies and policies with a vision for every identity based context.
Considering planning strategies for development, it’s must to look at restoration, preservation & conservation of our natural resources in terms of landform, water and vegetation right from coastal belts to Western Ghats which are loaded with rich biodiversity and its unique characters.
Green buildings
Architecture globally is also undergoing a transformation wherein application of concepts of ‘Green building’ with sustainable growth models is being looked at with positive initiatives.
The strategies of green buildings whether they are actually practised in reality or used by commercially driven building industry only to lure the buyers as marketing tool to boost the sales is a question that needs to be addressed.
The actual definition of green buildings needs to be spread across the various stake holders and connect with the masses citing their advantages and benefits in the long run.
Sensitivity to architecture and planning in terms of prevailing ground realities, socio economic aspects & futuristic growth trends, emerging built forms in terms of volumes (both horizontal & vertical), third dimension, and its impacts on evolving urban built-forms – urbanism and changing skyline and typologies on village / rural development.
Water
Conservation of water is essential by water harvesting policies, recharging ground water, restoration of polluted water bodies in both urban & rural areas, habitat based developments for aqua marine fish life and environmentally rich catchment areas with appropriate storm water management policies. Are we making the policies of water harvesting mandatory for our development is something that needs to be debated for its benefits in the long run. Does water harvesting concepts stay as a tag line only used by developers as a marketing tool or is it looked at with a policy of conservation of water. Can regulation insert this as a mandatory policy with concepts of recharging with a direction to preserve and conserve water as a natural resource? Recycling grey water areas could also be looked at for long term policies of development.
Pollution of ground water and subsoil through septic tanks and soak pits is always a challenge in our development both on laterite plateaus and low lying areas. Is the sewage treatment plant an only option or can the said guidelines set by pollution control boards be made feasible and industry friendly with a common realistic goals?
Landform
Development along slopes beyond permissible regulations and initiatives to stabilise & promote soils conservation techniques need be strictly enforced in the said development areas under the tag of eco sensitive zones. Consistent monitoring of development along slopes in terms of cutting of hills and filling of low lying paddy field type of areas need a stringent action plan for Goa.
Vegetation
Pattern of vegetation typologies across salinity based coastal belts across paddy fields via khazan lands / back waters up to dense & thickly vegetated eco sensitive zones of Western Ghats all provide a rich habitat for our bio diversity that needs to be restored in the long run.
Forest areas and agriculture need to be integrated with the entire planning processes, with due technical sanctions as per regulations.
Regulations
Regulations & legislations need a monitoring of policies and its impacts.
Need to be design friendly with people centric norms along with logistics and demands of commercially driven growth models.
Execution of polices and management of the same in the long run is a key framework that dictates a sustainable development.
Alterative building
materials
What are the alternatives or substitutes for building materials as available over the years? Are they used rightfully as per the context? Are they under an ecological threat post removal of such materials from quarries and water bodies?
Use of alternatives forms of energy conservation for our development in terms of resources like power, water, etc and building materials with factory made modules from recycled resources is the way forward. Considering scarcity of raw materials and depleting availability of local naturalistic materials like laterite stone, clay, sand, etc it’s very important to explore innovative building materials for its futuristic concerns toward environment and related development.
The kind of heat radiation from development and attempts to subdue this cooling effect on planet earth needs to be balanced so that we can look at controlling impacts related to issues of climate change.
Horizontal growth trends was an old time planning strategy, were land scarcity wasn’t an issue. Depleting land resources in Goa especially the developable zones have a bearing capacity in today’s date. So whether the development should spread horizontally across or do we look at a global trend of making compact vertical development is a concept to look for with appropriate infrastructure.
Over dependency on mechanised forms of technology like technology based equipments like power, air conditioning, etc always need a relook at the design of built form and the same need be addressed at a larger forum for Goa state. The growing footprint of development is causing a huge concern on the heat radiations in terms of solar energy.
Are we tapping the solar forms of energy or just getting into a situation of over dependency on air condition based technologies. Aren’t the recurring expenses of operation costs a concern?
Attempts and initiatives on world environment day need to be looked at with wider perspective so that Goa gets a sustainable development in holistic growth trend with an objective of protection of environment which is the way forward key in Goa.
(The writer is the chairman of The Indian institute of Architects-Goa chapter)
