Anil Kumar
Mayor of Kochi, Kochi, India
“Communities and the city government should maintain and rejuvenate our canal networks and their surroundings.”
Geographical scope:
Kochi, Kerala
Climate Action:
Everyday actions by city leaders can make a huge difference. Since his inception as the new Mayor of Kochi, Adv. M. Anil Kumar has been devising strategies to build and manage urban growth, ensure delivery of basic services and enabling the civil society to have an active role in the decision-making processes.
He believes that decisions taken today will shape not only the destiny of his city but the social and environmental future of human kind. In order to create a green, safe, healthy, inclusive and liveable city, he launched the HEAL (health, education, environment, agriculture and livelihood) program that aims to provide an opportunity for all to live happily in the city. His actions trys to consider urbanization as a positive force that needs to be harnessed in support of social equality, cultural vitality, economic prosperity. and ecological security.
Innovation:
Adv. M. Anil Kumar has been very proactive in building catalytic and transformative alliances by engaging the civil society, the business sector, the research community and various government departments in a movement of converging interests to address challenges in the city. His efforts to contain the spread of the Covid-19 virus was well received by the citizens and the support came in from all quarters. Crowdfunding for Covid- related activities was initiated to provide immediate support to Covid-hit families. Food kits were provided to those families who couldn’t afford to buy adequate food. Through his leadership, he could mobilise various resources including funds to take up these issues. He initiated the Art Space Kochi (ASK) project intended to support the performing arts and artists and in-turn inculcate a culture of street performances in Kochi. He also began the Janakeeya Hotels or community kitchens that ensured that no one goes hungry in the city
Impacts:
Under the leadership of Adv. M. Anil Kumar, the newly constituted Council of the Kochi Corporation is planning to implement strategies to make the city clean, green and healthy and has also declared 2021 as 'The Year of Green Urban Mobility for Kochi’. As part of its efforts to mitigate the effects of temperature rise, a number of urban forests will be set-up in the city. Eco-grove, a brain child of Adv. M. Anil Kumar, aims to plant endemic trees in areas earmarked for the project. A few other projects identified and proposed is to convert the traditional vehicles used for cargo delivery into Electric vehicles with the hope to cut down Carbon foot prints. 100 E-autos will be deployed in the city marking the cities hope and aspiration to bring-in change for a sustainable future. He has also been advocating the blue-green system to tackle the issue of flood in the city. The Mayor has been playing a very proactive role in the Kochi Metropolitan Transport Authority (KMTA), an umbrella body formed to integrate, plan and regulate different commuting modes in the city. Adv. M. Anil Kumar has been providing the much-needed impetus for all projects to reach its logical conclusion.
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newindianexpress.com/cities/kochi/2021/apr/09/move-over-miyawaki-city-set-to-go-thekavuwaki-way-to-battle-climate-change-2287653.html