Some time ago, a Delhi FM RJ introduced the Richard Marx love ballad “Endless Summer Nights” thus: “For him (in the west), a beautiful night of love, for us Indians, an endless summer night sounds more like an endless nightmare!”
She has a point. For most Indians, heat and humidity are constant companions to their surroundings and way of life, often cramping their lifestyle. It is not uncommon for a Delhiite to suffer dehydration and sunburn if he is out in the sun for too long during those long and ‘endless’ summer days, while it doesn’t take much more than a few minutes outdoors for a Chennai labourer to sweat profusely.
The middle and upward classes in general and the young in particular take refuge in anything from sunscreen and deodorants to, of late, air-conditioned malls that have popped up even in small towns.
Yet, that still leaves out a crucial ‘last mile’.
“Whilst India has excelled at building large-scale systems like metro networks, it has failed to address the 35 per cent of urban trips below five kilometres and the 30 per cent of Indians who walk one or two kilometres daily to reach their livelihood,” pointed out D. Thara, additional secretary at the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Development.
The ministry has a solution. Solar-cooled pathways for people to walk!
It’s no joke. The International Labour Organisation (ILO) estimates that India loses about Rs 9 lakh crore worth of productivity due to heat stress every year, with manual workers, small businesses and farmers more at risk. The economic cost could be as much as 4.5 per cent of the GDP by 2030, according to the UN body.
In this context, then, air-conditioned pathways or public areas do not sound like they are in the realm of unreasonable indulgence or unnecessary spending anymore. The Urban Development ministry is now looking at a pilot project to figure out the feasibility.
As the additional secretary pointed out, the idea is even more relevant considering India’s urban transport inequity. “While only 25 to 30 per cent of the population own cars, they consume 80 per cent of the road space.”
While metro systems and air-conditioned cabs (also AC buses in some metros) do alleviate the heat issue many commuters face, it is not a solution that addresses their last-mile connectivity. And therein lies the relevance of air-conditioned pedestrian walkways.
Thara’s comments came at an Urban Transportation Conclave organised by the business body FICCI in New Delhi.
Air-conditioned pathways are not solely in the realm of fantasy, but a reality very close to India. Qatar, which faces the intense heat of the Arabian Desert, has many streets, parks and walkways with outdoor air-conditioning systems. For example, Katara’s 21 High Street in Doha, the Qatari capital, as well as the Umm al Seneem Park, have outdoor spaces that use underground chilled water pipes and vents to create comfortable microclimates.
Not one to be left behind, Dubai in the UAE is developing a climate-controlled city with indoor streets, as well as ‘The Loop’, a covered 93km long cooled pathway for walking and cycling. The route is expected to connect important areas in the city like Jumeirah and Sheikh Zayed Road, and will feature green spaces and cafes. The plan also includes putting in place small-scale outdoor cooling with misting systems and cool pavements that can bring down temperatures by at least 10 degrees Celsius.
While the Indian government awaits the project, India’s first air-conditioned high street is set to come up in the national capital in a public-private partnership soon. The AC shopping area, which features shops facing ‘cooled’ outdoor pathways, is part of the Omaxe State, an integrated commercial project in Sector 19B of Delhi’s Dwarka suburb, being developed by realty company Omaxe in partnership with the Delhi Development Authority (DDA).
