Indian Institute of Management Calcutta Alumni Association, Bangalore Chapter
presents
Seminar Talk on
Environment And Economic Development Linkages:
Green is in the Front
Green is in the Front
By
Chandra Vikash
B.Tech. IIT, PGDM IIM
Founder & CEO – TEN Systems & Services
Venue: NDK Kalyana Mandira Hall, 13th Main, 100 feet Road, HAL IInd Stage, Indiranagar, Bangalore- 08.
Date: Sat. 21st April, 2007 on the eve of Earth Day 2007
Program:
05:30 pm-05:45pm Introduction
05:45 pm-06:35pm Talk on Environment-Economic Development Linkages - 30 minutes + 20 min. Q&A
< High Tea >
07:00pm – 07:30pm Wheels of Life - Talk on Health aspects of cycling 20 min. + 10 min. Q&A
07:30pm – 07:45pm IIM Cal AA Press Announcement/Teaser on the forthcomingWheels of Life Campaign for Cycling & Walking for Climate Change and Quality of Life.
07:45pm – 08:30pm Environment Quiz - Open House
(Best participants/ First Right answers will receive T-shirts as prizes)
No Registration Charge
Kindly confirm your participation at the earliest.
Voluntary Contribution: Wheels of Life campaign
Event Co-ordinator:
Shweta Thakker, MBA
Mobile : 9886315735
E-mail : wheelsoflife@gmail.com
Seminar Talk
Introduction:
How do we develop economically without degrading our environment? It is necessary to address this question because a large part of environmental losses is not factored into calculations of the Indian government and opinion-makers. These costs are growing fast, especially in terms of quality of life. Unmitigated air, water and land pollution are already poisoning us. Abuse and overexploitation of environment resources are threatening food security and increasing losses in work time, income and productivity. These constraints are exacerbated by a denial of India's contribution to carbon emissions. The clean development mechanism put in place under the Kyoto Protocol can only have a limited impact and may delay course correction.
In the present milieu, the top 2-3 per cent bracket, economically, of the Indian population is amongst the highest polluters in the world. The national average is misleading because a large proportion of people are not in a position to pollute. It also misses out on those who lead environment-friendly lifestyles, influenced by traditional cultural habits. Yet, an apathy to these fuels aspirations for highly polluting and environmentally indefensible lifestyles amongst a class that hides behind misleading averages. But for how long? Will it be too late when we wake up? What are the strategies that India can adopt to deal with these challenges and the exciting prospects of "leapfrogging" to a higher quality of life level by taking on a new trajectory for its development? | |
About the Speaker:
Chandra Vikash is a thinker and expert on economic development and environment conservation. He has a vision of transform city and rural life with an - exponentially better - faster, safer, cleaner - and cheaper - travel experience than is available today in regions around the world. His design for modification and extension of the London Congestion Charging Scheme to make it fair, equitable and more efficient has been highly commended. He has conceptualized the MobilityXS model. He presented a paper on the model at the 11 th World Congress for Intelligent Transport Systems in Nagoya in Japan in 2004. Combined with a zest to do-what-you-believe-in, he has a rich experience of over 11 years in business development, product design and in strategic planning. He has worked with software companies - Tata Consultancy Services and Mastek - leading their consulting practice in Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) and IndianDynamics.com - a business and economy information-trading portal with a focus on the ITS related eco-system - which he founded. He set up TEN Systems research and consultancy firm that focuses on transportation, land use, energy and environment sectors. Vikash is an MBA in Strategy and Marketing from the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) and a Bachelor in Technology from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT). His article on "Action Plan – India must set house in order, combat climate change" was published in the April 15 issue of Down to Earth.
Wheels of Life campaign
The BICYCLE is one of the most powerful tools to fight global warming, sedentary lifestyle epidemics and the oil addiction, some of the most serious challenges before us. Greater use of bicycle and related traffic calming measures in the neighborhoods also help to recover green spaces/urban gardens in city areas. This is also key to mitigate localised urban heating of up to 2-3 degrees celsius. Similarly, according to a recent report, the concrete structures for the proposed Bangalore Metro will raise temperatures further by 1-2 degree celsius.
It is also one the most significant and also the most cost-effective project that the government can undertake to improve citizen's quality of life and in particular to improve the quality of transportation system is to promote CYCLING and TO PROVIDE A SAFE AND SUPPORTIVE ENVIRONMENT OF CYCLING.
Greater use of cycling in turn reduces emissions, saves petrol/diesel and creates health benefits by substituting trips which would otherwise be undertaken by polluting vehicles. It also allows greater economic availability locally by enabling new trips by cycling and also promotes localization of daily activities which save time and fuel. They also reduce congestion by limiting use of polluting automobiles for local trips.
As part of the Wheels of Life - Bicycle Bangalore Campaign, we propose to organise a campaign that begins on June 5th on the occasion of World Environment Day this year .
Campaign goals:
The objective for a proposed campaign is to kickstart a new chapter for a rightful transport system for Bangalore and how cycling is a key component of such a plan - to share information, generate awareness and inspire action to demand for good quality cycling infrastructure and environment. I would also like to set quantifiable targets for greater use of cycling particularly for short trips. The targets in modal share (by distance) of bicycle trips in Greater Bangalore as follows:
• 10% by March 2008
• 17.5% by March 2009
• 25% by March 2010
(According to trade estimates, there are about 2 lakh bicycles running in Bangalore but most people in a sample survey complaint of poor cycling conditions in the city.) 