PhD
Karan Barpete
Area of Research: Rent Burden and Relocation
This research tries to understand the impact of urban metro rail on housing choices, rental prices and landuse changes.
Keywords: Residential location choice, Rental housing prices, travel behavior
Publications:
- Barpete, K. and Jana, A., 2022. Evaluation of Hedonic Price Models that Explain Transit Induced Impact on Housing Prices.
- Barpete, K., Jana, A. and Meakin, K., 2022. Dynamics of Rental Prices and Land Value Relative to Changes in Transportation Infrastructure. Lecture Notes in Civil Engineering, pp.531-542.
Mayank Gupta
Area of Research: Surface Energy Balance and associated networks
My research investigates land-climate interactions by observing and modelling surface energy balance and developing associated networks. In my work, the land feedback to climate is observed by developing a Low-cost Eddy covariance flux station infused with IoT devices. I use Thermodynamic principles to develop a Physics-based climate model, validated based on ground observations and satellite measurements, to analyse global land feedbacks. The networks between land and climate variables are developed based on Information theory.
Keywords: Urban Climate; Surface Energy Balance; Eddy Covariance; Process Networks; Thermodynamic-based land-climate model; Impact of land processes.
Publications:
- Gupta, M., Chauhan, T., Murtugudde, R. and Ghosh, S., 2020. Pollutants control the process networks of urban environmental-meteorology. Environmental Research Letters, 16(1), p.014021.
- Gupta, M. and Ghosh, S., 2019, December. Characterization of Urban area using detection of Urban morphology and land surface parameters: Evidence from Mumbai city, India. In AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts (Vol. 2019, pp. GC43I-1462).
Swapnil Kendre
Area of Research: Water-Energy Nexus in Urban Water System
Keywords: Household Metabolism; End use water consumption
Anujkumar Ghorpade
Area of Research: Urban Water Supply Systems Improvement using Hydraulic Isolation Structures
In India, the Water Supply Systems are designed as Continuous Water Supply (CWS); whereas the operation is based on Intermittent Water Supply (IWS); with average supply hours of six hours per day. The wide gap between design and operation leads to failure of the WSS. Hence, high Non Revenue Water (NRW), inequitable supply, deterioration of network is commonly seen across the country. The focus of the research is to improve the performance of the WSS with interventions based on operational hydraulics. The effect of two Hydraulic Isolation Structures (HIS), the multi-outlet storage tank and shaft is studied in detail in the present research work.
Keywords: Continuous water supply; Equitable water supply; Hydraulic isolation; intermittent water supply; multi-outlet storage tanks; shaft
Publications:
- Ghorpade, A., Sinha, A.K. and Kalbar, P.,2021a. Drivers for Intermittent Water Supply in India: Critical Review and Perspectives. Frontiers in Water, p.121.
- Ghorpade, A., Sinha, A.K. and Kalbar, P., 2021b. Multi-outlet storage tanks to improve water distribution networks in India. Urban Water Journal, 18(7), pp.570-578.
Patent:
- Kalbar, P., Ghorpade, A., and Sinha, A.K. 2021. A Zonal Storage water supply system with Hydraulic Isolation Structures and a method thereof. (Indian patent, application no. 202121029380). Office of Controller General of Patents, Design and Trade Marks, Government of India.”
Nikita S. Kakwani
Area of Research: Sustainable Wastewater Management in Urban Areas: Circular Economy and Life Cycle Thinking Approach
Nikita’s research work mainly focuses on Urban water management from Circular Economy perspective. The basic idea is to assess or measure water flows in Urban areas considering Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Reclaim, and Restore (5R’s) strategies. Using an indicator, the circularity level of urban areas can be assessed. She is also focusing on the ways through which water consumption can be reduced on domestic level with a scope for utilities in managing future demand.
Keywords: Urban Water Circularity ; Wastewater Management; Life Cycle Thinking; Urban Water Flows, Water Consumption Reduction, Water Resource Management
Publications:
- Kakwani, N.S. and Kalbar, P.P., 2022. Measuring urban water circularity: Development and implementation of a Water Circularity Indicator. Sustainable Production and Consumption, 31, pp.723-735.
- Kakwani, N.S. and Kalbar, P.P., 2020. Review of Circular Economy in urban water sector: Challenges and opportunities in India. Journal of Environmental Management, 271, p.111010.
Kanchan Sen Sharma
Area of Research: Media Discourse Analysis and Urban Journalism around LARR policies in India and Chhattisgarh
The policy-scape of Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (LARR) in India is rich and full of undulations. Media coverage and reportage of the policy and its changes constitutes reports ranging from announcements, to justifications to elaborate discussion pieces. Studying discourse reveals how media has had the potential to start housing revolutions or brush over the struggles of the project affected people (PAP). Apart from these extreme outcomes, discourse analysis also reveals the different layers of policy’s feedbacks and various challenges urban journalism faces today. How urban scientists can contribute to fill these gaps is the main agenda.
Keywords: Land Acquisition, Resettlement, Content Analysis, Urban Journalism
Publications:
- Sen Sharma, K. and Jothiprakash, V., 2022. Defining Sustainable Involuntary Resettlement Policies for Project Affected Women through Qualitative Review- a case of Mumbai, India. Urban and Transit Planning – Towards liveable Communities: Urban places and Design Spaces, (Advances in Science, Technology & Innovation).
- Sen Sharma, K. and Jothiprakash, V., 2021. A Descriptive Analysis of Rehabilitation and Resettlement Policies in India Through Policy Feedback Approach. Urban Science and Engineering Proceedings of ICUSE 2020, pp.373-383.
Abhishek Kumar Sinha
Supervisors: Prof. Pradip Kalbar, Prof. Om Damani
Date of Joining: July 2018
Email: aksinha.cuse@iitb.ac.in
Area of Research: Performance based design of water networks
The complexity and prevalence of Intermittent water supply in the global south required context-specific knowledge output to improve water supply access and service delivery. Current research is focused on delivering the same through developing a performance-based design framework for Water Distribution Systems in India. In addition, Operational and rehabilitation strategies of existing Water Distribution Systems are evaluated for resource constraints context.
Keywords: Water Distribution System; Pipe Network Analysis and Optimization; Intermittent Water Supply; Performance based Design; Experimental Hydraulics
Kallakurchi Venkobarao Jagannath
Area of Research: Innovative pedagogy for secondary education
The impact and outcomes of adapting technology in India’s secondary education are analyzed through extensive primary data from private and Government schools in India. The observations are students attending Focuessed Communication Technology have an edge in academic performance. During the pandemic, online education effectiveness is higher in private schools than the Government schools in India. Implementing the Personalized Learning Path tool will help bottom of the pyramid students and help reduce the dropouts.
Keywords: K-12; Robotics, Pandemic; ACT; PLP
Neenu Thomas
Supervisors: Prof. Arnab Jana, Prof Santanu Bandyopadhyay
Date of Joining: July 2018
Email: thomas_neenu@iitb.ac.in
Area of Research: Transport Mode-Split in a Heterogeneous Society
The research focuses on developing a framework to evaluate the sensitivity of transport supply and demand characteristics on travel behaviour and transport mode-split in heterogeneous societies. The framework uses a holistic approach that can incorporate the impacts and features of all transportation actors, such as transport supply, urban infrastructures, people and planning authority. The approach is versatile, and it can help the planning authorities to introduce transportation solutions for building cities based on their goals and targets.
Keywords: Transport mode-split; Transport demand and supply; Transport demand characteristics; Transport mode characteristics; Travel behaviour; Developing countries
Publications:
- Thomas, N., Jana, A. and Bandyopadhyay, S. (2022). Physical distancing on public transport in Mumbai, India: Policy and planning implications for unlock and post-pandemic period. Transport Policy, 116, pp.217–236. doi:10.1016/j.tranpol.2021.12.001.
- Thomas, N., Jana, A. and Bandyopadhyay, S. (2021). Do Socioeconomic Characteristics Affect Travel Time and Transport Perception? Insights from Mumbai, India. Lecture Notes in Civil Engineering, [online] pp.171–181. doi:10.1007/978-981-33-4114-2_14.
Thomas, N., Bandyopadhyay, S. and Jana, A. (2019). - Investigating the Association of Individual and Neighborhood Characteristics with Travel Time: Empirical Evidences from Mumbai, India. Journal of the Eastern Asia Society for Transportation Studies, 13. doi:10.11175/easts.13.238.
Namya Sharma
Supervisors: Prof. Pradip Kalbar, Prof. Muhammad Salman
Date of Joining: July 2019
Email: namyasharma@iitb.ac.in
Area of Research: Construction and Demolition Waste Management
Construction and Demolition Waste Management has become a global concern. The research objective is to develop a framework based on circular economy principles to enhance resource efficiency in the construction sector. The research also aims to develop a holistic understanding of waste management from the perspective of life cycle assessment, estimating building material stock using material flow analysis, and thereby proposing future interventions for sustainable infrastructural development of urban areas.
Keywords: Circular Economy; Construction and Demolition waste management; Urban Metabolism; Life Cycle Thinking; Material Flow Analysis
Publications:
- Sharma, N., Kalbar, P. P., & Muhammad, S. (2022). Global review of circular economy and life cycle thinking in building Demolition Waste Management: A way ahead for India. Building and Environment, 109413.
Vidhulekha Tiwari
Supervisors: Prof. Arnab Jana, Prof Santanu Bandyopadhyay
Date of Joining: August 2020
Email: 204420004@iitb.ac.in
Area of Research: Urban Energy Optimisation
Keywords: Urban Energy, Urban Planning, Urban Science
Brishti Banerjee
Supervisors: Prof. Himanshu Burte, Prof. Malini Krishnankutty
Date of Joining: August 2020
Email: 204420001@iitb.ac.in
Area of Research: Non-notified slums in Guwahati: The politics and lived implications of policy categories
I mainly explore the implications of state assigned slum categories for the urban poor living in the non-notified slums in Guwahati and the intersections of official slums categories and social categories specific to Assam.
Keywords: Urban policy; Housing; Informality; Urban geopolitics; Cities in Northeast India
Ghule Harshali Damodar
Supervisors: Prof. Himanshu Burte, Prof. Malini Krishnankutty
Date of Joining: August 2020
Email: 204420003@iitb.ac.in
Area of Research: Urbanizing Villages : Dynamics of Census Towns in Maharashtra
The objective of the research is to understand how villages urbanize. The primary focus of research is on emerging census towns in Maharashtra. It would explore the nature of urbanization, socio-spatial and economic characteristics of the settlement form, and its policy issues. It would cover the role of agrarian-rural capital and the local elite in transforming villages into towns.
Keywords: Rurbanization, Agrarian Urbanization , Subaltern Urbanization, Census Town, Small Town
Anil Bansnarayan Rai
Area of Research: Studies on Wastewater Treatment Plants.
Collate baseline data of STPs in India, Understand their operational parameters, investigate on inflows to the treatment plants; investigate on modularity and flexibility provided in the design. Propose an approach for long term design and modular design to achieve maximum efficiencies.
Keywords: Wastewater; STP; Modularity; Flexibility; Biosolids; Recycle; CPCB, Thinking; Material Flow Analysis
Shweta Rajendra Lokhande
Area of Research: Liquid Waste Management in Urban Areas
The emerging urban areas need to be planned with a holistic approach to liquid waste management for attaining the SGD 6 ‘Clean Water and Sanitation’. Although several wastewater treatment technologies exist, gauging their appropriateness in a particular context poses a real challenge in sustaining the treatment infrastructure. My research aims to provide decision support for the choice of centralized or decentralized wastewater infrastructure across various forms of urban areas particularly focusing on natural treatment systems.
Keywords: Liquid waste management; wastewater management; constructed wetlands; natural treatment systems; decentralized treatment
Priya Chavan
Area of Research: Rethinking vulnerability and disasters
The objective of the research is to identify and explore the systemic mechanism of development induced emergencies in urban areas. The study explores the spatial and social vulnerability produced through urban development and planning processes, which is as evident in low grade incidents/emergencies as in large scale disasters
Keywords: Urban disasters, vulnerability, emergencies, low grade incidents, urban development and planning
Arunim Anand
Area of Research: Applications of Remote Sensing and GIS in Urban Energy Demand Modelling
Urban areas are associated with high energy demand and consumption. A quantitative assessment of energy demand in buildings at the city scale by utilizing geospatial advances can assist in addressing future energy needs and saving potential. My research focuses on implementing Remote Sensing and GIS technologies in Urban energy demand modelling with relevance to physical and statistical energy modelling principles for the prediction as well as optimization of urban energy demand.
Keywords: Remote Sensing; Geographic Information System; Urban Energy Demand Modelling; UBEM
Nisha Nair
Area of Research: Indian Streets
Keywords:
Vallary Gupta
Area of Research: Energy efficient building facades
In an attempt to minimize the total building energy consumption, the ongoing research aims to develop climate-responsive building façade that revives some of the lost traditional façade designs as well as employ novel techniques of design, performance assessment and construction. Using advanced computational techniques, the work will assess the thermal performance of building envelopes corresponding to changing parametric values to produce a range of thermally efficient alternatives for different geographical settings.
Keywords: Building Envelope, Thermal performance, Tropics, Facade design
Aditya Saxena
Supervisors: Prof. K.V. Krishna Rao, Prof. Virender Sethi
Date of Joining: January 2022
Email: 214420002@iitb.ac.in
Area of Research: Quantifying the externalities of urban transport system
The aim of the research is to quantify and monetize the negative externalities of urban transport system. Further, the work will understand the change in travel behavior of private vehicles users in the event of internalization of external costs.
Keywords: Externalities, congestion, air pollution, private vehicles, Pigouvian tax
Publications:
- Saxena, A., Gupta, V., & Shrivastava, B. (2021). An Assessment of Public Transport Accessibility Levels for Slums in Bhopal. International Journal of Engineering and Advanced Technology, 10, 252–258. https://doi.org/10.35940/ijeat.E2786.0610521
Anmol Gaur
Supervisors: Prof. Chirag Deb, Prof. Gurubalan
Date of Joining: July 2022
Email: 22D1471@iitb.ac.in
Area of Research: Applications of Machine Learning in Urban Heat Island Assessment and Mitigation
Keywords: Machine Learning, UHI, Data driven decision making, GIS
Pranesh M.
Supervisors: Prof. Pradip Kalbar
Date of Joining: July 2022
Email: pranesh.m@iitb.ac.in
Area of Research: Economics of Urban Water Supply Infrastructure
Debapriya
Supervisors: Prof. Himanshu Burte
Date of Joining: July 2022
Email: 22d1474@iitb.ac.in
Area of Research:
Vipul Parmar
Area of Research: Sensory Perception in Urban Environments: Examining the Impact of Soundscapes on Individual Experience
Urban soundscapes refer to the complex acoustic environment individuals perceive in urban settings. Traditionally, studies have focused on people’s perception of urban soundscapes concerning noise, often considered a negative aspect of the acoustic environment. However, recent research has highlighted the potential positive impact of urban soundscapes on individuals. This research will help to bridge the gap in understanding the potential positive effects of urban soundscapes by exploring the evolving data collection techniques and assessing the sensory experience in urban environments.
Aneerudha Paul
Supervisors: Prof. Pradipta Banerji
Date of Joining:
Email: anirudh.paul@gmail.com
Area of Research: The research situates itself in the background of the compact cities that have gained traction along with the environmental movement in 1990’s. However in the case of Indian cities compact cities are a result of an intensification process has led to a call for high-rise, high-density, compact city development by authorities, spurring a lot of debate about its sustainability or the Quality of life it promotes. The experience in such cities has been different from the compact city models in developed countries. Such models in this context are assumed to have ecological and mobility benefits. Thus this project intends to explore the notion of compaction for Indian cities and how it in such cases enables or disables specific aspects through a case of Mumbai.
Ashish Nair
Supervisors: Prof. Pradip Kalbar
Date of Joining: January 2023
Email: ashish.nair@iitb.ac.in
Area of Research: Urban Water Supply Systems
In India, Water Supply Systems (WSSs) are designed for 24×7 Continuous Water Supply (CWS), however, only few cities, receive 24×7 CWS, with intermittent supply in rest of the cities. This gap in the design and practice of WSSs in India, affects performance and results in the failure of WSSs. The aim of the research is to understand the existing practice of WSSs, and develop locally suited interventions, to bridge the gap between the design and practice of WSSs in India.
Keywords: Continuous Water Supply; Intermittent Water Supply; Hydraulic Modelling