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Report on the visit of Afghanistan delegation to India [18 February to 28 February 2006]

Prepared by ICMA South Asia

III floor, Ahmedabad Urban Development Authority, Usmanpura, Ahmedabad – 380 013, India

Phone: + 91 79 2754 6403, 2754 1599

Report on the visit of Afghanistan Delegation to India

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Contents

No. Particulars Page No.

1. Report on the study tour of the Kabul delegation 02 - 08 2. Annexure A 09 – 09 3. Annexure B 10 - 15 4. Annexure C 16 - 17 5. Annexure D 18 - 18 6. Annexure E 19 - 20 7. Annexure F 21 – 22 8. Annexure G 23 - 27


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REPORT ON THE STUDY TOUR OF KABUL DELEGATION [18 FEBRUARY TO 28 FEBRUARY 2006]

A 15 member delegation led by Deputy Mayor of Kabul Honourable Mr. Bahram Faqeer visited India for a study tour to learn best practices of Indian city governments with emphasis on park development, solid waste management, traffic management and street maintenance. This study tour was organized by ICMA South Asia and ICMA Kabul with the support of US AID and facilitated by the undersigned along with Mr. Xerxes Rao from the ICMA, South Asia office. The list of delegates is attached in Annexure-A. Two mega cities of India viz. Hyderabad and Ahmedabad which are identical with Kabul were selected for the study tour of Kabul delegation as these cities have undertaken several innovative measures to improve the urban governance and offer a wide range of subjects for study by cities facing problems of urban management. These two cities were taken for study as they are similar culturally and also with regards to population. The delegation comprising of the members from Kabul Municipality and ICMA, Kabul arrived Hyderabad in the earlier hours of 19th Feb. 2006 and were received at the airport and escorted to Hotel Viceroy. They were joined by a 4 member team of interpreters from New Delhi to facilitate translation of deliberations in English and Hindi into "Dari" language used in Kabul. 19th Feb. 06 being Sunday, no formal programs were arranged on the day but a briefing session was kept in the evening at 5.00 pm to distribute study material, appraise them about situation of urban management in India and their program of the study tour. [Agenda for the tour is attached as Annexure B] both at Hyderabad and Ahmedabad. A letter of welcome is attached as Annexure C. The Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad represented by public relation officer as well as engineer in charge on solid waste management also met the delegates on the 19th evening and apprised them of the program at Hyderabad. On 20th morning the delegates were split into three groups as under.

Group 1 Group 2 Group 3

Group on greening of the city’s parks and gardens.

Solid waste management and drainage.

Traffic management, road construction and maintenance.

Senior officials of the respective departments of Hyderabad Municipal Corporation accompanied the delegates to show them on site the best practices adopted by the city government in the respective areas and innovative measures taken by them to improve the level of services and quality of life. After the site visits in the morning hours the delegates assembled in a conference hall of the municipal corporation of Hyderabad at noon where they were received by the Honourable Mayor Mr. T. Krishna Reddy, Deputy Mayor Mr. Subhash Chanderji and the Municipal Commissioner Mr. Sanjay Jaju [IAS]


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of Hyderabad City. The mayor of Hyderabad made a brief presentation of the actions taken by the city government to improve urban governance. The deputy mayor of Kabul as well as chief of party of ICMA gave a brief idea of the problem faced by the city of Kabul for which they need solutions. At the end of this meeting the honorable mayor of Hyderabad gave memento and some literature of the city to the Honourable deputy mayor and the ICMA chief of the party and the deputy mayor of Kabul in return presented a memento to the mayor of Hyderabad.

Deputy Mayor of Kabul Mr. Faqeer Bahram exchanging memento and literature with the Mayor of Hyderabad Mr. T. Krishna Reddy.

The Kabul delegation with the Mayor, Deputy Mayor and staff of ICMA South Asia. After this meeting with the Mayor, a detailed presentation was made by Mr. P. U. Asnani [undersigned], a solid waste management expert, to appraise the members of the current situation of solid waste management in India, the deficiencies identified in the system, the direction given by the Supreme Court of India on solid waste management and the mandatory directions contained in Municipal Solid Waste Management & Handling Rules 2000 to improve the system and how the deficiencies in the system of solid waste management could be corrected by adopting seven essential steps as under. 1. Storage of waste at source in two bins. One for biodegradable waste and another for recyclable

material. 2. Primary collection of biodegradable waste from the doorstep on a day to day basis using

containerized tricycle/handcarts/pick up vans, and collection of recyclable material through NGOs at appropriate intervals.


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3. Street sweeping covering all the residential and commercial areas on all the days of the year irrespective of Sundays and public holidays.

4. Abolition of open waste storage depots and provision of covered containers or closed body waste storage depots.

5. Transportation of waste in covered vehicles on a day to day basis. 6. Treatment of biodegradable waste using composting or waste to energy technologies meeting the

standards laid down. 7. Minimize the waste gong to the land fill and dispose of only inert material at the landfills which

should be constructed as per the specifications given in the rules. They were further explained the financial, institutional and legal aspects to be taken care by the municipal authorities for improving the systems of waste management. They were explained the improved systems of waste management that could be adopted cost effectively involving the community, NGO and the private sector and how the cost recovery could be made through the introduction of user charges for the services rendered, etc. In the evening the delegates were taken to Golconda fort to show them how a heritage site could be preserved and utilized by the city in creating awareness of the past and maintaining the heritage site green and beautiful through levy of entrance fees. On the 21st morning all the delegates were taken to waste to energy plant at a distance of about 70 km. from the city to see how waste can be converted into a resource by using the burnable fraction of the waste for generating power and how private sector could be involved in the treatment of municipal solid waste without any liability on municipal authority of paying for the treatment and disposal of waste. A 400 MT per day waste to energy plant set up by Celco International was shown to the delegates and all the details of the plant and its operational benefit as well as cost benefit were explained by them by the private operator of the facility. It was interesting to see how a municipal solid waste is utilized for making refuse derived fuel and converted into energy. A 6.5 MW power plant put up at a cost of nearly 10 million dollars was shown to the delegates where the entire investment is made by the private sector and 400 MT of municipal solid waste per day is taken care of by the private operator without paying any tipping fee by the municipal authority. The sustainability of the project through private sector participation was explained in details. In the evening the delegates were taken to the old part of the city of Hyderabad to see how the city is managed and how an old heritage site Charminar in the walled city is protected and maintained by the city government. The delegates enjoyed the beauty of the city monuments protected by Archaeological Survey of India. The delegates also enjoyed shopping within the old part of the city which included traditional dresses and lifestyle accessories. On the 22nd Feb. the delegates were taken to Hyderabad Urban Development Area where they were shown the decentralized wastewater treatment facility at Safilguda and how the treated wastewater is


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used for greening the area and for recharging the lakes. The entire system of treatment of wastewater was explained to the delegates.

[Left] Kabul delegation being shown the treatment plant at Safilguda by the HUDA officials. [Right] Hon. Deputy Mayor of Kabul being shown the treated water that is used for recharging the nearby lake. The delegates were also shown how the road side plantation is carried out in a massive way by the development authority to improve the environment in the city and to beautify the city. The participants thereafter had a meeting with the chairman Mr. D. Sudheer Reddy and vice chairman Mr. Jayesh Ranjan [IAS] as well as vice chairman of the Hyderabad Urban Development Authority where the chairman and vice chairman gave a detailed account of their activities and made presentation on their activities as well as greening of the development authority area.

The Kabul delegation and the staff of ICMA South Asia being welcome by the Chairman [Mr. D. Sudheer Reddy] and vice chairman [Mr. Jayesh Ranjan] of Hyderabad Urban Development Authority [HUDA]. In the afternoon, the participants were taken to large parks and gardens to show how the urban development authority has been in a position to develop beautiful parks with several attractions of fountains, rides, etc., to attract the people and generate revenue to self finance the entire project and receive additional income to maintain other parks and gardens in the city.


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[LEFT] Mr. Afzal Qayoumi addressing on behalf of the Kabul delegation. [RIGHT] Officials of the HUDA greenery department explaining the concept, implementation and maintenance for Oxygen Park. On 23rd morning, the delegates left for Ahmedabad and reached Ahmedabad around 2 pm. Soon after arrival at Ahmedabad they had a meeting with the mayor, deputy mayor, standing committee chairman, leaders of the ruling party and opposition party and the municipal commissioner of Ahmedabad. All deputy commissioners were also present in the meeting with the delegates. The mayor and the commissioner welcomed the delegates and made a brief presentation on the developmental activities of the city of Ahmedabad. This followed by a detailed meeting at the city civic center where the deputy municipal commissioner made a presentation on e-governance and the innovative developmental activities undertaken by the city government to improve the quality of life in the city. The entire system of development of the city, the public grievances rederessal mechanism and system of e-governance for on the spot solution of public problems was shown and explained to them. The discussions went till late evening.

On 24th morning the delegates were divided into three groups like Hyderabad and they were led by senior officials of Municipal Corporation of Ahmedabad to show them various activities in the respective sectors undertaken by the city government. In the afternoon, the delegates were taken to CEPT University, School of Planning where a detailed presentation was made by Associate Director of CEPT University Mr. Shivanand Swamy and Additional Commissioner of Police Ahmedabad City Mr. Vikas Sahay. They made power point presentation on city development strategy of Ahmedabad, traffic management plan of Ahmedabad, bus rapid transit system of Ahmedabad, etc. These presentations also went on till late evening.


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On 25th Feb. 2006 the delegates concerned with traffic management and road maintenance went to see the traffic park developed by the city police and also taken to the special facilities created for quick construction of roads using hot mix plant, etc. They were shown how the traffic can be regulated in the city, how people can be educated on traffic sense and how difficult junctions could be managed effectively. The another group went to state capital Gandhinagar where they were shown how the city can be made green by massive plantation and public parks can be created and used to educate the citizen about variety of plants, the forest products. They were also shown how the solid waste can be converted into manure by using vermi composting technology as well as microbial composting technology. The actual operation of the same was shown to the delegates. They also saw a nature park developed by the state government at Indroda circle between Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar where they could see how a nature park could be developed attracting large number of citizens everyday to learn about variety of species of plants and animals. The element of cost recovery was also explained for the maintenance of parks and gardens. They were also explained how a newly built capital city is maintained by the city government. 26th Feb. was Sunday. So no official programs were arranged. However, with a view to give them a better understanding on how city can utilize its resources for the benefit of the people, they were taken to a heritage walk in the morning. The heritage cell of Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation explained to them the highlights of the heritage sites in the city and took them to a large number of sites on foot to see various aspects of heritage site conservation. They were also shown the old system of rain water harvesting. The heritage walk lasted for about two and half hours. In the evening they were taken to see Kankaria Lake developed through private sector participation by Municipal Corporation to provide entertainment to the citizen without any cost the municipal corporation. The cost recovery mechanism for the maintenance of such facilities was explained. On 27th morning, the delegates were taken to environmental planning collaborative office where detailed presentations were made by professionals of EPC on the development of river front in the city of Ahmedabad which includes construction of walkways on both sides of the river, parks and gardens and places of entertainment to convert the river as a resource and place of entertainment to the people. They were also shown the planning of the C. G. Road which is the prime commercial street of the city through private sector participation where entire money for the construction of the road was invested by private sector as per the design of the leading architect and urban planer of EPC. The cost of road construction was allowed to be recovered through advertising rights on the streets and parking fees for five years. The entire cost was recovered with interest within a period of five years and the municipal corporation got back the rights of levying adverting charges and parking fees on that road which has become a resource for the city government besides having an excellent commercial street. Later the delegates were then taken to the river front to show how the riverfront is being developed through private sector participation.


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In the afternoon they visited Ahmedabad Urban development office where chief executive authority of AUDA welcomed the delegates. Thereafter presentations were made by the chief town planner and environmental officer of AUDA to show how the AUDA area is developed and road net work has been created adopting town planning schemes and how parks, gardens, lakes have been developed by the authority. The development plan of earthquake affected area of Bhuj was also discussed with the participants. At the end of the day the feed back was taken from all the participants about the study tour [Evaluation and Feedback forms are attached in Annexure D]. The study tour concluded with the vote of thanks by the participants to the ICMA and US AID which facilitated a very useful visit for them. It was observed that the entire study tour was extremely beneficial to the participants as they were exposed to the best practices adopted by the two leading cities of India which were very relevant to the development of the Kabul city. The participants were very sincere and punctual and willing to learn. It could be seen all the time that they have learned a lot from the site visits and presentations that were made during the study tour and well interpreted in a local language by the interpreters hired for the benefits of the participants by the ICMA. It is hoped that the participants would be in a position to utilize the knowledge gained in improving the level of service in Kabul.


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Annexure A

Date Organization Name Job Title Department Contact No.

Mr. Xerxes Rao Program CoordinatorMr. P. u. Asnani ICMA Consultant

Eng. Afzal Qayoumi Chief of Party Administration 0799155965

Eng. Sayed Karim Nadim S/O A. Raouf General Manager Administration 0799155964

Eng. Mohammad Aqa Rasooli S/O M. Rasool Site Engineer Drainage Rehabilitation 0799305948

Eng. Abdul Rashid S/O G. Mohammad Site Engineer Trash Collection 0799305936

Eng. Amanullah Afghanzoi S/O Abdullah Site Engineer Road RehabilitationEng. Ibrahim Walli S/O Walli Mohammad Site Engineer Greenery Rehabilitation

M. Faqir Bahram S/O Deputy Mayor of Kabul Kabul Municipality 0202101352

Habibullah S/O Director Greenary Dep. Greenery Dep.

Ghulam M. Nooristani S/O Hazar Khan Deputy Director Sanit. Dep. Sanitation Dep. 070207174

Ali Ahmad Khosti S/O Mohammad Khan Director District 4 Kabul Municipality 0799390332

A. Satar Amini S/O Head of Inspection Dep. Kabul Municipality

A. Ghafar Officer, Protection Dep. Kabul Municipality

Sher Ahmad Sadeq Officer, Protection Dep. Kabul Municipality 070277369

Ghulam Abas S/O M. Mosa Head of Traffic Sign Traffic Dep. 0799340156Mohammad Din S/O Emamuddin Deputy Head of Traffic Sign Traffic Dep. 0799340157

Kabul Municipality

18,0

2,06

to

28

,02,

06

List of Participants for the study tour to India

ICMA-Afghanistan

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Annexure B AGENDA FOR STUDY TOUR OF KABUL DELEGATION [18 February – 28 February 2006]

Best Practices of Indian City Governments Emphasis on: Park Development, Solid Waste Management, Traffic Management and Street Maintenance

Time Agenda Venue Notes

19th February [Sunday]

1. Flight from Delhi to Hyderabad [Flight No.: IC 952] 2. Reach Hyderabad at 05:00 [check into Hotel Viceroy]

Hotel Viceroy Mr. Asnani and Mr. Xerxes Rao will receive the delegation at the Hyderabad airport.

17:00 Meeting with Mr. P. U. Asnani and Mr. Xerxes Rao – introductions, discussions on urban management set up in India, understanding expectations of the week.

Hotel Viceroy Welcome address and presentation of details of the India trip.

20th February [Monday]

08:30 to 11:30 Field Visit in three groups 1. Solid Waste Management 2. Parks and Green Spaces 3. Traffic Management and Street Maintenance

MCH The delegation will be grouped according to their professional interest.

11:30 – 13:00 1. Meeting of all delegates with the Mayor and Municipal Commissioner Hyderabad 2. Presentations at Hyderabad Municipal Corporation [MCH]

o Welcome by MCH commissioner, mayor/deputy mayor will be present o Presentation by MCH on their profile, governance set up, best practices

[budgetary reforms, municipal bond, resource mobilization, etc.] 3. Brief presentation by Kabul Delegation on their e-governance set up and issues

MCH We request the Kabul delegation to make a presentation at MCH for their e governance and other issues relating to cities in Afghanistan.

13:30-15:00 LUNCH [Break for offering prayers for delegates] Lunch at hotel or restaurant


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15:00-17:30 1. Meeting with various officials of MCH as per the groups 2. Presentation by the Municipal Commissioner on E-Governance at MCH.

MCH

21st February [Tuesday]

08:30 -13:00 All delegates to visit the Waste Energy Power Plant in Hyderabad.

13:00 -14:30 LUNCH [Break for offering prayers for delegates]

14:30 - 17:30 Internal discussions and meeting with department heads of MCH followed by Visit to Golconda Fort

MCH

22nd February [Wednesday]

09:30 -13:30 All delegates to visit various green spaces and parks, Traffic Management and road development and SWM with the HUDA officials.

13:00- 14:30 LUNCH [Break for offering prayers for delegates] Lunch at hotel or restaurant

14:30- 16:00 Wrap up session with the officials in Hyderabad and question answers MCH

16:00-19:00 Visit to Charminar and surrounding areas in the old city of Hyderabad

23rd February [Thursday] ARRIVAL TO AHMEDABAD

08:00-11:30 Start from Hyderabad for Ahmedabad via Mumbai [All Kabul delegates + ICMA staff + Interpreters] [Flight No.:9W 2452 HYD-BOM and 9W 327 BOM-AMD] Arrival at Ahmedabad [Check into Hotel Fortune Landmark]

Hotel Fortune Landmark

Pick up by hotel van

11:30-15:15 LUNCH [Break for offering prayers for delegates] Lunch at hotel or restaurant

15:30 - 16:00 Meeting of all delegates with Municipal Commissioner of AMC

16:00 - 16:30 Meeting of all delegates with the Mayor of Ahmedabad

16:30 - 18:30 All delegates to visit Ahmedabad Civic Centre at Law Garden for good e-governance practices by AMC

AMC Civic Centre at Law Garden

18:30-20:00 Visit to Law Garden [A public Private Partnership model] and visit to C. G. Road [Development through Public Private Sector Partnerships]


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24th February [Friday]

09:00-11:30

Field Visit in three groups 1. Solid Waste Management 2. Parks and Green Spaces 3. Traffic Management and Street Maintenance Solid Waste Management Group [Mr. J.S. Makwana] Road Show on SWM- morning door to door collection Various stages of collection, transportation Disposal- waste composting Equipments design Monitoring System

Parks Development [Col. Kakkad] Horticulture department of AMC Privatization of parks maintenance and development by AMC Park design, choosing plant species suited for Ahmedabad Climate

Traffic Management and Street Maintenance Group [Mr. B. R. Sheth] Site visit for Street Design - Example of C.G. Road [Public Private Partnership

model] and visit to Ashram Road street design Round about design and implementation Signage design, advertising rights etc. Traffic regulation and control , solar & mobile traffic signals and visit to traffic park

12:00 – 13:30 Visit to ICMA South Asia Office Meeting of all the delegates with Mr. Jon Bormet and Ms. Jami Sachs

ICMA office


15:00 – 18:00 Visit to CEPT University followed by presentation 1. Mr. Vikas Sahay [A.C.P., Traffic] 2. Mr. Shivanand Swami [Director, CEPT University]

CEPT University auditorium


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Presentation on City Development Strategies for Ahmedabad Traffic Management Plan for Ahmedabad Bus Rapid Transit System for Ahmedabad 3. Mr. B. R. Balachandran [Executive Director, EPC] Presentation on Post Disaster Reconstruction of Bhuj, India

18:00 Visit to Sarkhej Roja

25th February [Saturday]

8:00 -12:00 All delegates Visit to Gandhinagar [Capital city of Gujarat and 2nd Greenest capital of the World, 25 km. from Ahmedabad]

12:00 – 13:30 Visit to Step well at Adalaj popularly known as Adalaj ni Vav [Heritage site managed by the Archaeological Survey of India]


16:00 – 17:30 Visit to Gandhi Ashram [The place where Mahatma Gandhi started his non violence movement for India’s freedom struggle]

Gandhi Ashram

19:00 onwards Dinner at Vishala [Traditional Gujarati food]

26th February [Sunday]

07:15 – 10:30 Heritage walk of Ahmedabad [this is one of the best practices of the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation]

Swaminarayan Temple

We have to reach the starting point for the Heritage walk at 07:40

10:30 – 14:00 Free time for delegates and LUNCH

14:00 – 16:30 Visit to Calico Museum of Textile, Ahmedabad [It’s a treasure house of the finest of fabrics-woven, spun, painted and printed in India over the past five centuries.]

Calico Museum of Textiles

16:30 onwards Free time for shopping in Ahmedabad

27th February [Monday]


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10:00-13:00 1. Visit to EPC [A professional Urban Planning and Management Firm] Presentation on Town Planning Schemes and SRFDCL If possible we do a presentation on Kankaria redevelopment by HCPDPM 2. Mr. P. U. Asnani [ICMA Consultant] Presentation on Urban Solid Waste Management in India – National Perspective

EPC Conference Room

Check with EPC for time and HCPDPM

13:00-14:30 Break for offering prayers for delegates followed by Lunch

14:30- 17:00 Presentation by 1. AUDA [Presentation on Town Planning Scheme Mechanism] 2. Mr. Anuj Malhotra [presentation on Urban Landscape in Bhuj]

AUDA Board Room

17:00- 17:30 Wrap up session and Evaluation of the Study Tour AUDA Board Room

28th February [Tuesday] DEPARTURE TO KABUL

06:30 Start from Ahmedabad to Delhi [Flight No.: 9W 702, departure at 08:10]

12:30 Delhi to Kabul flight

List of Abbreviations AMC Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation AUDA Ahmedabad Urban Development Authority CBO Community Based Organisations CEPT Centre for Environmental Planning and Technology HoD Head of the Department HUDA Hyderabad Urban Development Authority MCH Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad EPC Environmental Planning Collaborative SWM Solid Waste Management SRFDCL Sabarmati Riverfront Development Corporation Limited


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Important Phone numbers Mr. P.U. Asnani 93752 63484 Mr. Xerxes Rao 98252 13779 Ms. Manvita Baradi 98240 92145 Ms. Meghna Malhotra 93279 18456 ICMA office, Ahmedabad [079] 2754 6403 ICMA office, Ahmedabad [079] 27541599 ICMA office, Ahmedabad [079] 2754 5303 Address and Phone numbers for Hotels in Hyderabad and Ahmedabad, India 1. Hotel Viceroy, Hyderabad [040] 2753 8383

Opposite Hussain Sagar Lake, Tank Bund Road, Hyderabad - 500 080

2. Hotel Fortune Landmark, Ahmedabad [079] 2755 2929 Usmanpura, Ahmedabad – 380 013

Phone numbers of Interpreters Mr. Ram Kheswani 9312215076 Homa Khan 98104 40226 Shams Sherwani 9312269344


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Annexure C Welcome Letter

Dear Participant, A Warm Welcome to India Following are a few tips for your convenient stay in India. 1. CONTACT NUMBERS, pl. do not hesitate to call us if you need anything

ICMA-India Office staff Mr. P.U. Asnani 93752 63484 Mr. Xerxes Rao 98252 13779 Ms. Manvita Baradi 98240 32145 Ms. Meghna Malhotra 93279 01379 ICMA office, Ahmedabad 2754 6403, 27541599, 2754 5303

Hotel Viceroy, Hyderabad 2753 8383 Hotel Fortune Landmark, Ahmedabad 27552929 and 27552921 ICMA Office C/o 3rd Floor,

Office of Ahmedabad Urban Development Authority, Usmanpura, Ahmedabad Heritage Walk on 26th February The walk is about 2-2.5 km. long and starts at 7:45 in the morning. It is advisable to wear comfortable but removable shoes (since one has to remove them often while seeing temples, mosques). Please have breakfast by 7:15 in the hotel and you could also carry some food with you. Also carry your water bottles with you. This is a trail to old houses and mansions, temples and mosques within the walled city of Ahmedabad.

2. LOCAL TRAVEL [for personal travel within the city]: Hyderabad The autorikshaw are metered, so make sure that the meter is showing the minimum fare (Rs. 7 now) when you get in, and that he's set the meter after you've engaged him. Ahmedabad Auto Rickshaws are the most common mode of travel. They are safe, but avoid very late nights although in hotel vehicle would not be a problem. Auto Rickshaws charge on the basis of distance travelled as per a metre fixed near the driver’s seat. The driver also carries a tariff card. 3. SHOPPING: Hyderabad Main shopping areas are Abids, Basheerbagh, Nampally and Sultan Bazar in Hyderabad and MG Road and Rashtrapati Road in Secunderbad. The markets around Charminar are favoured for bangles and pearls. Hyderabad is synonymous with pearls. Cultured pearls studded in gold and silver jewellery of exquisite


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design are a specialty. Pearls come in many shapes and of particular interest is the ‘rice-pearl’ – a tiny variety. Ahmedabad C.G. Road, where you could get anything ranging from clothes, accessories, books to home appliances Law garden where you could get ethnic Gujarat handicrafts, garments, wall hangings, purses etc. this is

open from 5:00 to 10:00 in the evening. one should bargain for almost 1/4th the quoted price) 4. MOVIES: Ahmedabad has a few multiplexes where you could watch movies, eat and shop. Fun Republic: in jodhpur area, offers movies, shopping and food City Gold, Ashram Road, offers movies and food Wide Angle, Gandhinagar Sarkhej highway, offers movie and food

5. EATING OUT Ahmedabad

Beef may generally not be available in the restaurants here Some of the places where you could have your food apart from your hotel are: Hotel Cama, Shahpur Gate Le Meridian, Khanpur Tomatoes, C.G. road Café upper Crust, vijay char rasta, Mc Donalds fast food joint, City Gold Multiplex complex, Ashram Road Dominoes Pizza, Stadium Cross Roads, C.G. Road Pizza Hut, Swastik Cross Roads, C.G. Road


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Annexure D Press Note

A 15 member delegation led by deputy Mayor of Kabul Municipality are in the city to learn urban best practices with special focus on solid waste management, greening of the city and management of traffic. The International City/County Management Association has facilitated this visit with USAID's financial support as a part of on-going resource cities and city links program in Kabul. The delegation comprises of heads of various departments of Kabul Municipality headed by the Deputy Mayor of Kabul Mr. M. Faquir Bahram and the officials of ICMA, Afghanistan led by the Chief of Party Eng. Afsal Qayoumi.

The delegation called on the Honourable Mayor and the Municipal Commissioner of the City to get the city's perspective on urban governance and various urban infrastructure services provided in the city and are to stay here for four days and visit various sites accompanied by the municipal officials to understand the best practices adopted in the city so that they can take back home some new ideas on innovative ways of providing essential urban infrastructure. The delegation has come to India for a period of 10 days and is to cover Hyderabad and Ahmedabad, mega cities of India.


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Annexure E News Paper Clippings

News paper cutting from Gujarat Samachar, Ahmedabad Edition [28.02.2006]

News paper cutting from The Etemaad Urdu Daily, Hyderabad Edition


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News paper cutting from Eenadu Telugu Daily, Hyderabad Edition


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Annexure F Analysis of the Feedback and Evaluation Form

To enable us to assess the programme, we would appreciate it if you could complete this evaluation form by indicating the answer that best describes the extent to which you agree with the statements below. Please feel free to write your comments, views and suggestions in the spaces given.

Name of Participant: ICMA Afghanistan + Kabul Municipality and Kabul Traffic Department 1. Please rate the following on a scale from 1 to 5 with 1 as the lowest score and 5 as the highest score. 2. Methodology

• Was there enough time for discussions? __4___ • Were the site visits relevant? __5___

• Was the interpretation understandable? __3___ 3. What was the highlight of the study tour? After visiting of the areas we all learnt a lot in the Solid Waste Management, Park and greenery, Road and Traffic Management sections, which will be done in our work here in Afghanistan.

4. Study Tour content (please write in the ones applicable)

Sr. Presentation/Site Visit Relevance Understandable

HYDERABAD1

Hyderabad Municipal Corporation Presentations on urban mgmt best practices.

5 5

2 Visit to Waste to Energy Power Plant 5 5

3 Visit to Horticulture department 5 5

4 Visit -Solid Waste Management 5 5

AHMEDABAD5

Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation Presentations on urban mgmt best practices.

5

5

6 Site Visit- Solid Waste Management 5 5

7 Site Visit- Roads and Traffic Engineering 5 5 8 Site Visit- Parks 5 9 Presentation on Indian MOEF Solid waste handling and

t id li b5 5

10 Presentation by Mr. Vivek Sahay, Traffic AND Presentation by Prof. Shivanand Swamy on BRTS

5 5

11 Presentation by AUDA on town planning schemes 5 5 12 Presentation by Mr. Anuj Malhotra on urban

l d k Bh j5 5

5. Was the Study material enough and comprehensive? 4

Complete presentations in CD should be distributed. II. Has the study tour enabled you to implement some of the initiatives in your region?

Yes/No Yes

If no? Then what additional inputs do you require?


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If yes, then List at least 3 new ideas gained from this visit that you can utilize in your work. Solid Waste Management 1. Door to door trash collection method, processing, segregation, recycling and disposing. 2. Participating of private sectors in rehabilitation and improvement activities. 3. Producing of Power from solid waste. Traffic Engineering and Management 1. Installation of traffic signals and signs a long the roads. 2. Ditches should be covered along the roads. 3. Improving of traffic system and traffic control. 4. Expanding the streets the roads do not be blocked. Parks and greening 1. Nursery plantation and producing fertilizer form leafs and dead plants. 2. Participation of private sectors in greenery and parks. 3. Irrigation system with new method III. What was the value of the On-Site Visits? First we thank you to provide the visit, and then actually it was valuable, efficient, understandable & helpful. IV. Once you return to Afghanistan, what additional assistance would you require in implementation of these initiatives? 1. We try our best to use the experience that learnt from Hyderabad and Ahmedabad cities. 2. Provide private sectors activities, for all section we have seen in our visit such as trash collection, greenery, road and traffic management. 3. With cooperation of ICMA-Afghanistan we will try to develop and improve Kabul Municipality as much as possible. V. Others 1. How were the logistics? (Please rate from 1 to 5 with 5 as the highest and 1 as the lowest) • Appropriate duration of the study tour? __4___ • Pace of the study tour? __5___ • Were you comfortable at the hotel? __5___ • Was the food ok? __4___ • Were overall logistics efficient? __5___ • Was the overall study tour well organized? __5___ VI. What is your overall assessment of the 2-week study tour? • • Excellent: It was excellent. VII. After returning to Kabul, what are three ideas that you would want to implement? 1. Provide facility to participate privet sector in all municipality activities like door to door trash collection, drainage improvement and cleaning, greening of the parks, constructing of roads, installing of traffic signs and installing of traffic lights etc. 2. To share municipality activities with people and pay attention for their views, then start the projects which is the need of people. 3. Renewing the municipality regulations and try to make new rules to be easy for people.


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Annexure G

Study Tour Report from ICMA Afghanistan ICMA MUNICIPAL EXPERINCE EXCHANGE TOUR INDIA 2006 February 18th through February 28th, 2006 ICAM Afghanistan under the management of the CityLinks program a municipality experience sharing tour of Best- Practices India (City of Hyderabad and City of Ahmadabad) was organized for the staff Kabul Municipality, Kabul Traffic Department and ICMA Engineer Technicians from the City of Kabul Project. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: I want to appreciate USAID for their help and support by making our challenges a great success and I want to express my appreciation for all my ICMA colleagues’ from home office Jon Bormet and Asli Failmezger and from ICMA India office Meghna Malhotra; Manvita Baradi and Xerxes Rao. My special gratitude to Mr. P.U. Asnani, who was putting tremendous efforts for organizing meeting with Mayors, Commissioners and other organizations. This experience exchange tour was an excellent window of opportunity for Afghan team to meet and to study the Best Practices from their Indian municipal colleagues. They learned the challenges that that City of Hyderabad and the City of Ahmadabad overcome and resolved major city problems and improve City services. PURPOSE OF EXPERINCE EXCHANGE TOUR & STUDY TOUR: The objective of this study tour included the Afghan Municipal delegates to meet their Indian municipal colleagues and learn how their colleagues have resolved the city’s major issues by creating sustainable programs. City of Hyderabad and City of Ahmadabad are similar to the city of Kabul in many respects. Both cities have implemented the best practices, promoted initiatives, innovations, ideas and actions undertaken by local governments to be able to make it more understandable by the residents and the City staff. The Best Practices are initiatives have been undertaken by the government and private sectors creating a tangible impact on improving people quality of life and living environment. The organizer of this tour was Mr. P.U. Ansani who is an Urban Management Consultant by ICMA-Indian office. Kabul delegation included fifteen participants, (6 staffs from ICMA-Afghanistan, 7 from Kabul Municipality and 2 from Kabul Traffic Department). The team had three objectives to study: 1. Solid Waste Management 2. Roadway development and Traffic Management 3. Parks and Greenery Management ABSTRACT: India situated in South Asia with a one of the largest most populous countries in the world. The population includes multi- religious communities living side-by-side in peace and harmony. Indian population is growing rapidly creating challenges such as unemployment and poverty. While the population is growing rapidly, India, among all developing countries, has progressed rapidly and optimizes the cost of living in last two decades. India has long proud heritages that are conserved and managed in a very sound and professional manners by its cities. India considers its Heritages as a strong root that can keep and support the present generation for prosper futures strategy and planning. ICMA South Asia in India selected two cities of India, Hyderabad and Ahmadabad. Both cities are growing fast and both City municipalities are establishing a sustainable and institutional strategy for the improvement


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of the city’s affaires in various aspects and directions. The two cities, like other communities of India, have precious and ancient heritages buildings and infrastructures such as Golkonda Forth, Charmenar and some other places are represents of the long importance history of India. The team arrived in Hyderabad on Sunday February 19, 2006 and after receiving a very warm welcome from Mr. Xerxes Roa of ICAM and Mr. Ansani, the eight days of the program and schedules were shared to the Kabul delegations Hyderabad Andhra Pradesh is the third largest state in with an estimate geographical area of 275,000 square kilometers. It s located in the southern region of India, surrounded by Andhra Pradesh to the south by Tamil Nadu state, to the west by Karnataka state, to the north and northwest by Maharashtra state, to the northeast by Madhya Pradesh and Orissa states, and to the east by the Bay of Bengal. Population of Hyderabad is approximately five millions residents. The City is 400 years old and has 2000 years of history. Hyderabad municipality showed a warm welcome to the Kabul delegation. Mr. Mayor explained work programs of Hyderabad Municipality. Also, he explained how they improved Hyderabad Roads, how they found solutions the greenery issue and how they managed solid waste, and etc. The delegation was bale to see many common challenges with both Cities and was able to take many ideas to Kabul. Ahmadabad: The delegation arrived City of Ahmadabad on February Thursday 23 2006. Ahmadabad is the capital state of Gujarat and it is situated in the west coast of India. The state is bounded by the Arabian Sea on the west, Pakistan and Rajasthan in the north and north-east respectively, Madhya Pradesh in the south-east and Maharashtra in the south. The state covers an area of 196, 024 square kilometer. Gujarat has 4 national parks and 11 sanctuaries. The game sanctuary at Gir ( the world. s last habitat of the Asiatic lion), the sacred temples of Dwarka and Somnath, Palitana, the picturesque mountain city of Jain temples on about 2000 feet high Shetrunjaya hills, Udwada, the oldest place of the Fire temple of Parsees in India, the 5000-year old archaeological finds at Lothal, the 11th century Sun temples at Modhera, bird sanctuary at nal Sarovar, architectural monuments of Indo-Saracenic style at Ahmedabad and the national shrine of Gandhiji at Sabarmati, are a few of the varied attractions. Gujarat had a great civilization even before the arrival of the Aryans. It had trade links with ancient civilizations of Sumer, Babylon, Assyria and Egypt. The Port of Lothal which has been excavated re-Gujarat is renowned for its temples and monuments associated with momentous historical periods. The architectural and artistic virtuosity of the people of Gujarat is reflected in the many buildings both ancient and modern. As much a part of the state are its wildlife sanctuaries, its hill resorts, its natural grandeur and religious and pilgrim has been identified as an important centre of the 4500 years old Aryan civilization. The city of Ahmadabad is beautiful and it was initially straggling point of Mahatma Gandhi , Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Vikram Sarabhai and Abdul Kalam in western part of India and formerly known as Manchester of India for its Textile industry. It is also known by Gandhi Ashram. Today, the city is on the threshold of a major technological revolution through which the civic services rendered by its Municipal


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Corporation are being thrown open to the citizens using information and communications technology which could be the rare of its kind in the country. We met Mr. Mayer of Ahmadabad who welcomed Afghan delegation warmly and friendly way. We watched a power point presentation of the Ahmadabad Municipality activates. We have learned how by numerous initiative and best practices. They improved Ahmadabad Roads, how they planed and designed the river site development, how they improved greenery and how they are managing solid waste. We went for site visit; we noticed multitude new projects in the city. They showed us how they upgrading the roads, how they are solving traffic problems. The Municipality is planting trees in the open areas and improving the greenery of the city. Solid Waste Management: City of Hyderabad residents produce approximately 2,200 tones of garbage per day. There was no system of trash collection as regular basis, unhygienic and inefficient storage of solid waste and no treatment of municipal solid waste. This situation was a major problem for the city. In order to resolve and control the situation the city passed a low of Mandatory Solid Waste Management Rules in year 2000. The law prohibits littering of waste from the streets, storages of waste at source in segregated manner. From that point city work with the citizen and initiated different methods. Door to door trash collection was instructed by residents. In the heavy concentration of population area containers were placed and Municipality transport collected waste out of the in a dumpsite. Also, new innovation how to turn waste to something useful such as a power plant was established by private sector to produce electricity that sues solid waste as their primary element which was free-delivered by government. This is a good example how government and private sector can work together. Also, city donated the land to build the power plant. This agreement was signed for 30 years and both parties were the winner. It is commonly know that over the past two decades investments in sanitation services in Kabul have been minimal. As a result of this lack of investment, insufficient funding and conflict the sanitation in Kabul is very poor. Hyderabad initiations and methods could be well applied to the City of Kabul. Greenery: There are nearly 150 parks constructed in the city of Hyderabad and they have plans to build around 100 new parks by the end of 2006. One of the parks known as Jalagam Vengala Rao Park at the first people were dumping their trashes, it was a dumpsite. It a dumpsite in the middle of the city an eye soar site. The city took the problem seriously and plans to develop a park at the dumpsite. The cities extended of the park area to 9.85 acres. Now the entire area is enclosed by constructing a compound wall and erecting a see-through railing on it. This was a Great success story and an accomplishment for the city, how they change a dumpsite to a nice park. Here is another example of successful project, Krishnakanth Park, “Yousufguda”. Yousufguda Park, an area of 22 acres, located near Madhura Nagar, Yousufguda. This area was also used as garbage dumping site for years. The existing water body is serving as a recharge center for surrounding bore-wells. The excess water has an entry to a Nala River, which lead to Hussain Sagar River.


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Parks in Ahmadabad: Ahmadabad is one historic city of Gujarat which was established by Ahmad Shah. This city was the biggest city of India before coming of British. Both side of river 18 km developed and 80% land used. Ahmadabad city has almost 100 parks and divided by three categories, best, better, good. Municipality provides three services for parks: 1. Water supply 2. Electricity 3. Security A private company was in charge of administration, management and maintenance of the park. This partnership is working very well. There are few more examples like Usman Pora Garden which is located next to low college, Shet Motilal Hirabhai Park, Nature Park also this is an institute environmental education. Oxygen Park: At the first it was a desert area for years. Municipal built a garden at this location. It looks like a wide garden, varieties of trees have planted. They have studied trees which don’t need a lot water. Rain was the only sources of irrigation system. Benefits: 1. Bio-aesthetic conditions will be improved. 2. production of fruits 3. Fire wood 4. wheat and cereals 5. grasses for animal TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT: In contrast to Kabul Municipality, Hyderabad and Ahmadabad Municipalities have control of Traffic Management and Street Maintenance. We have visited Street Design Center and few street developments projects and roundabout construction. We went to a children traffic park where kids are learning traffic signs and signals. This is important for the young generation to understand the law, and to be a good citizen. Traffic Management Department of Ahmadabad has plan new system of transportation like Rapid Bus Transit System for Ahmadabad to reduce the volume of traffic. All these ideas could be applied in the city of Kabul. RIVER SITE IMPROVEMENT PROJECT: We visited river site construction project which was designed will be constructed by the private sectors. This initiative was another example of Best Practices. When the project will be finished it will generate income for both the city which is the government and private sector. Such project could be replicated to the Kabul River very well. Golconda Monument: Another important center of tourism is Golconda, about 8 km from Hyderabad. The capital of the Qutb Shahi Sultans in the 16th century, Golconda is rich in historical monuments which include the famous Golconda


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fort. Golconda was known the world over as rich mine of diamonds in the medieval times. The famous diamonds Kohinoor and Pitt came from the mines of Golconda. The uncrowned and serene hill stations of Andhra Pradesh offer a cool respite from the heat and grime of the plains area. Nestling in the Eastern Ghats are the charming little resorts of Anantagiri and Araku. Laid out amidst picturesque coffee plantations, the road to Anantagiri is literally enveloped with mango groves and waterfalls that gush and flow into the ravines. Araku is a group of five valleys. The abode of 19 different tribes, life in the valley displays a distinctive culture. Situated south east of Andhra, on the Karnataka border and around 165 km from Bangalore, the Horsley Hills is another popular resort. This serene hamlet offers stunning views of sylvan valleys, offering adventurous forays through sandalwood, eucalyptus, teak and mango plantations. After visiting of Charminar we finished our study tour in Hyderabad. HERITAGE WALK: At the end of our trip we took a walk in the old city called “Heritage Walk of Ahmadabad”. It was really historic place. In this city people of different faiths cohabit and were living side by side pacifically for years. It was a great way to introduce the delegations to the importance of diversity and multi culture importance. CONCLUSIONS: Today, Afghanistan is on a road to recovery, however, after decades of war, the economy is still in ruins, and environment issues are in a state of crises. Afghanistan with the help of the United Nations and the United States, gradually reconstruction moving forwards. At the end of this experience exchanges tour participants have learned new methods, techniques and ideas from visited cities. Prior the trip Kabul Municipal staff was strongly against private sector and they did not want working with private sector to improve the city. This visit was a great school and has changed their minds. They strongly believe there are new ideas to resolve city’s problem. We are confident and optimistic that private sector could work in different areas like; power plant producing electricity, road construction and rehabilitation, building parks or rehabilitation, solid waste management and much more. Recommendation: Such kind of experience exchange tour is very important for the capacity building of Afghans. It will certainly give hope for the new Afghanistan. My recommendation is we should continue similar program in future. Participant can acquire experiences, knowledge and will be able to learn new direction in a short period of time. To change the system after 30 years communist ideas and to build a sustainable work strategy, we have to show and to prove the success of alternative system which is developing private sector. Sincerely, Afzal Qayoumi ICAM Chief of Party

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