Latest news with #SCENE
Hindustan Times
06-08-2025
- Business
- Hindustan Times
Water credits: A solution to India's urban water crisis
As India continues its rapid urban expansion, one critical issue has emerged as both urgent and inescapable—water scarcity. With over 35% of the country's population now residing in cities, the pressure on freshwater resources is intensifying. The situation is further exacerbated by shifting land use patterns, climate extremes, and ageing infrastructure. Major cities like Bengaluru and Delhi face routine water rationing, Chennai has experienced entire reservoirs running dry during summers, and many Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities are urbanising faster than their water systems can support. Water (Photo by DIPTENDU DUTTA / AFP) / TO GO WITH Asia-environment-river-India-climate,SCENE by Abhaya Srivastava (AFP) By 2050, the crisis is expected to deepen significantly. Between one-third to nearly half of the global urban population is projected to face water scarcity—with India likely to be among the most severely affected. In fact, the number of large cities, including 10–20 megacities, exposed to water stress is anticipated to reach 284. Surging demand and deteriorating supply infrastructure threaten not just the sustainability of urbanisation but also public health, social equity, and economic growth. In this context, traditional supply-side interventions—digging deeper wells or transporting water from distant sources—are not only unsustainable but also insufficient. This is precisely where water credits emerge as a transformative, market-driven solution. Much like carbon credits, water credits assign a tangible economic value to every litre of water saved, reused, or replenished. This incentivises a shift from unchecked consumption to conservation. Developers, industries, and even households can earn credits by adopting sustainable practices—such as greywater recycling, rainwater harvesting, or water-efficient plumbing—and trade these credits with entities that exceed their usage thresholds. The system introduces a market mechanism into what has long been a regulatory domain, creating a self-sustaining ecosystem around water conservation. In India's context, this mechanism holds significant promise. For the real estate and urban development sectors, water credits offer the best of both worlds: flexibility and sustainability. Developers can earn credits by integrating water-positive infrastructure into their projects and use these credits for regulatory compliance. Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) can set thresholds for per square metre water use in new constructions and allow excess usage to be offset through the purchase of water credits. This not only ensures compliance but also promotes innovation and avoids bottlenecks in development permissions. Moreover, water credits align well with recent policy frameworks. India's Green Credit Programme, launched in June 2023, and specifically lists water conservation among the activities qualifying for green credits, paving the way for broader adoption. Further, the Power Tariff Policy of 2016 mandates power plants to use treated sewage water (STP water) within a 50-kilometre radius an existing regulation that could be synergised with Water Credits to monetise such compliance and incentivise industries to invest in water reuse. Similarly, companies implementing Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD) technologies critical in curbing industrial wastewater discharge could be offered easier access to loans and green financing if linked to credit-generating frameworks, thereby mainstreaming water accountability in industrial growth. On the global stage, California's Onsite Water Reuse Program serves as a compelling case study. By encouraging buildings to treat and reuse water on-site, the state has successfully integrated market incentives with regulatory frameworks to accelerate investment in decentralised treatment solutions. Water credits could also catalyse an entirely new segment of economic activity. Startups, NGOs, and water-tech innovators focused on groundwater recharge, IoT-enabled monitoring, or decentralised water treatment can now monetise their impact by generating and selling credits. This makes water innovation commercially viable, reducing its dependency on government grants or philanthropic support. It also decentralises water resilience when neighbourhoods begin managing their own water cycles, it reduces reliance on overstressed municipal systems and enhances urban resilience during supply shocks or extreme weather events. A new area of exploration could be green water credits, which integrate environmental co-benefits like improved groundwater recharge, reduced pollution loads, and biodiversity restoration into the water credit framework. This intersection between water conservation and ecosystem services would help enhance the environmental impact of credit-based systems and open up new financing channels via climate and resilience-linked funds. Yet, for all their promise, implementing water credits in India will require robust groundwork. A key challenge lies in standardising what qualifies as a credit and establishing mechanisms for credible measurement, verification, and reporting. Without technical rigour and regulatory oversight, the credibility of the system could erode. Coordination across central, state, and municipal governments will be essential to scale adoption, enforce standards, and promote transparency. Equally critical is stakeholder awareness. Developers, planners, utilities, and citizens must be educated on the value of Water Credits not merely as a compliance tool, but as a long-term investment in urban sustainability. Overall, water credits represent more than just an environmental policy they offer a scalable economic instrument to rebalance demand, reward stewardship, and future-proof India's cities. By embedding water conservation into the very economics of growth, they enable a shift from reactive crisis management to proactive resilience building. If adopted and implemented thoughtfully, Water Credits along with existing initiatives like the Power Tariff Policy, ZLD incentives, and green water credit frameworks could be one of the most important levers in securing a water-secure urban future for India. This article is authored by YR Nagaraja, managing director, Ramky Infrastructure.
Yahoo
30-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Writer on Waking the Dead behind fascinating exhibition in Bolton
A screenwriter behind series such as Waking the Dead and DCI Banks, has recently shifted his focus to sculpture, unveiling his debut exhibition at the P5 Gallery on Bolton Train Station. Heralding from Painswick in Gloucestershire, Laurence Davey moved to South Manchester five years ago after accepting a position at Bolton University (now the University of Greater Manchester) teaching the undergraduate course for Film and Television Production. SCENE took Laurence around a year to fully complete. (Image: Leah Collins) The opening night for his debut exhibition, SCENE, which was unveiled at the P5 Gallery on Bolton Train Station, was a roaring success. The monumental wood ensemble, the tallest being 12 feet high and eight feet across, has evoked powerful and conflicting feelings in spectators. SCENE was unveiled on May 22 at the P5 Gallery on Bolton Train Station. READ MORE: There is a fascinating tension exuding from the exhibit. Laurence's 10 sculptures are made from trees all over the UK, including his hometown. One of the key themes that SCENE explores is the idea of bringing the rural back to one of the centres of the Industrial Revolution, to the train station that once brought so many rural people to cities to make commodities and perhaps be commodified. Laurence said: 'I've had a life-long interest in sculpture, but I decided to study English Literature at Oxford University, which put me on a different path entirely. 'Growing up in Painswick, famous for its 99 Yew trees in the Churchyard next to my primary school, these trees left us frightened and enchanted. They were menacing and had presence. "Each sculpture is made from a different wood; Sycamore, Birch, Holly, Apple wood, Cherry wood, Pine, Walnut wood. The sculptures are vastly different in size, with each one made from a different type of wood. (Image: Leah Collins) 'I used power tools in addition to gouges to create the sculptures, which were then finished with a beeswax polish. I'm a father of two and have a full-time job, so this was certainly a jobs" target="_blank">work in progress. Overall, it took around a year to complete. 'Initially, I sketched an outline, two orbs pulling away from one another but still connected. In this piece, the sculpture as made from a walnut log from Staffordshire. 'I wanted to create this feeling in the viewer when they held the sculpture, interacting with it, of a solid form that becomes fragile and infantile – a collision of protectiveness and violence. 'One of my personal favourites is the maternal figure, placed on the left of the circular exhibit. It has a womb-like body with a protective hand-like figure protruding from it. A mother turned out violent and religious with wings. 'The largest of the figures, passive and male, I first took inspiration from the idea of a crown. It's made from a sawn up birch tree. This figure is mounted on a steel bolt to give the appearance that is erupting from the void.' The largest of the figures was initially inspired by the form of a crown, Laurence adds. (Image: Leah Collins) Each sculpture is placed on a suspended black circular base, which Laurence says was painted with an expensive paint, the closest to military-grade Vantablack in order to absorb the surrounding light and create the impression of a 'void'. Laurence added: 'SCENE explores the return of animism; the combined sculptures are anthropomorphic and zoological. 'It's also uncanny; there's resonance between structures of our sentience – perhaps aspects that we would rather deny. There wasn't a direct inspiration for SCENE and each viewer responds to the sculptures differently. 'Part of the meaning of SCENE comes from the space in which it is exhibited: trees have been bought into Bolton Railway Station. The viewer experiences various encounters with Guardian Trees, Sentinel Trees and Trees of animism.' SCENE is available to view at the P5 Gallery on Bolton Railway Station until June 15.
