Ajay K Katuri

Ajay Kumar Katuri

Architect-Urban Planner

PhDCandidate,

ITC-CEPTU-VUA

International Institute for Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation (ITC),

KL Campus, University Road,

Navarangpura, Ahmedabad-380009

Mobile – 9998443469, 9924301308

Email: ,

CAREER SUMMARY

  • Currently working on PhD at International Institute for Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation (ITC),The Netherlands and Center for Environmental Planning and Technology CEPT, Ahmedabad. Promoted by Institute of Environmental Studies, Free University of Amsterdam.
  • International education and exposure
  • Worked as Research Associate at CEPT-Research and Development Unit, CEPT, Ahmedabad(March 2001 to June 2006)on various projects related to Urban and Regional Planning, Disaster Management, Environmental and , Land use Planning, Community Development and Rehabilitation.
  • Taught at Center for Environment and Sustainable Development (CEED)for Urban Management and Water Resources Management courses
  • Aspiring a teaching career in Urban and Regional Planning/Disaster Management/Community Planning with special focus on Application of Geographic Information System (GIS)
  • Exposure in Project formulation, Design, Methodology Development and Implementation
  • More than 8 years of experience in the field of Planning
  • Good skills in all required software and hardware
  • Self-motivated and cooperative. Result-oriented, trouble-shooter, creative and good organizational skills
  • Good communication and interpersonal skills

URBAN PLANNING/ ANALYTICAL SKILLS

Regional delineation;Land Use simulation;Infrastructure needs assessment; infrastructure planning;infrastructure costing;project conception, methodology formulation and development, Evaluation studies.

GIS ANALYTICAL SKILLS

3D Analysis, Network Analysis, Spatial Analysis, Municipal Database creation, Multi-criteria Evaluation, Land suitability/Capability Analysis, Mobile GIS / GPS applications

DISASTER MANAGEMENT

Multi-Hazard Risk Assessment, Urban Risk Management, Preparedness and Awareness, Reconstruction and Rehabilitation, Damage and Loss Assessment

EDUCATION

  • 3 week module in Planning and Decision Support Systems using Multi-Criteria Evaluation, International Institute for Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation (ITC), The Netherlands, May 2006
  • 3 week module in Risk Assessment, International Institute for Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation (ITC), The Netherlands, June 2006
  • 3 week module,Planning Support Systems and Decision Analysis, International Institute for Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation (ITC), The Netherlands, April 2004 to June 2004
  • Master of Planning[1] (Housing), Center for Environmental Planning & Technology (CEPT)University[2], India,August 1997 to Feb 1999
  • B.Arch, School of Planning and Architecture, Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, Hyderabad, India, June 1997

OTHER TRAINING

  • Geomatics for Business – A training program organized by Indian Society of Geomatics, Ahmedabad Chapter at Space Application’s Centre, ISRO, Ahmedabad. Four day training program aimed at introducing the application Geomatics in various fields.
  • Environmental Law for Urban Planning – A training program organized by CEPT, Ahmedabad. Five day training program aimed at introducing the importance of Environmental Law and some case studies. This program was funded by USAID
  • Mobile GIS/GPS – Trainingprogram at ITC as a part of the PhD course work
  • Scientific English Writing – course for 5 weeks aimed for Personal Development atITC

Employment Record

TEACHING EXPERIENCE

Visiting Faculty, School of Planning, CEPT, Ahmedabad, India December 2003 to March 2004

Housing Strategies Studio: Preparing the housing strategies for the workers of Alang- Bhavnagar.

Student’s Level – Post Graduate students

Development of the course outline, inputs for the preparation of the primary survey questionnaire and analyzing the data collected, coordination of the field trip

Visiting Faculty, Center for Environment and Sustainable Development (CEED), Ahmedabad, India September 2003 to March 2004

Water Resource Management Lab: Water Resource Management strategy for two drought hit talukas of Gujarat.

Student’s Level – Post Graduate students

Development of the course outline, inputs for the preparation of the primary survey questionnaire and analyzing the data collected.

Visiting Faculty, Center for Environment and Sustainable Development (CEED), Ahmedabad, India October 2004 to June 2005

Computer Applications: Application of Statistical packages SPSS, Excel and drafting tools, Auto CAD

Student’s Level – Post Graduate students

Hands-on exercises coupled with the detailed class room explanation in the usage of the above mentioned applications and the problem solving.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

CEPT-Research and Development Unit

1. Project: Developing Methodology for Damage and Loss Assessment for the State of Gujarat

Client:GujaratState Disaster Management Authority

Duration:January 2005 to July 2005

Purpose: To prepare a common format for assessing he damage in case of any eventuality by various state departments. This methodology, developed in collaboration with ADPC and the departments would assist in preparing the memorandum to be submitted to the Central Govt. in a more synchronized manner.

Responsibility: Analysis of the existing formats and designing new formats. Part of the multi-disciplinary team.

Position:Planning Consultant

2. Project: Environmental Impact Assessment for a Township – HiranandaniGardens at Powai, Mumbai

Client:Hiranandani Group

Duration: June 2005 to July 2005

Purpose:To carry out the EIA study for the largest township in Mumbai being constructed by the Hiranandani group, a pioneer in the real estate field in India. The HiranandaniGardens, sprawling across 200 acres, houses a resident population of 12,000 and equal amount of floating population. It will not be exaggeration if one says that it is the single largest private intervention in Mumbai city in providing housing and amenities. It houses residential, commercial, institutional, leisure & recreational, public & semi-public and open spaces. The project was to justify the excavation of the hill area in order to accommodate the residential as well as the commercial areas.

Responsibility: Preparation of the EIA report and the consultations with the client and the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board.

Position:Planning Consultant

CEPT-RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT UNIT, CENTER FOR ENVIRONMENTAL PLANNING AND TECHNOLOGY, Ahmedabad, India

3. Project: Social Impact Assessment of Rehabilitation and Reconstruction (R&R) program after the earthquake in Gujarat

Funded by:The GujaratState Disaster Management Authority (GSDMA)

Duration:on-going

Purpose:To evaluate the impacts of Rehabilitation and Reconstruction (R&R) program on the livesof the beneficiaries in the state of Gujarat. The study will look into the matters of implementation of the Development Plan and the Town Planning Schemes and other rural housing on the social parameters of the citizens. This study would be carried out in 6 towns and 20 rural areas of Gujarat.

Responsibility: Proposal and methodology development

Position:Senior Research Associate

4. Project: Development of Master Plan for Hazira Industrial Area

Funded by:Gujarat State Petro-Chemical Limited

Duration:October 2004 to February 2005

Purpose:To develop a physical master plan along with defined roles of the Area Development Authority is the main purpose of this project. The industries that are part of this area are also actively involved in this project in giving inputs for the plan. I was responsible for development of survey methods, field visit and report preparation.

Position:Senior Research Associate

5. Project: Development of Methodology for Damage and Loss Assessment for the state of Gujarat

Funded by:GujaratState Disaster Management Authority (GSDMA)

Duration:January 2004 to March 2005

Purpose:This study, with the collaboration with Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC), Bangkok, is to develop a methodology for assessing the physical damages and economic losses in case of any disaster for the state of Gujarat. Also the end product would be a set of formats for the government departments to collect the data. This study would yield a training programme for the government officials to get acquaintance with the new formats of data collection for the damage assessment.

Position:Senior Research Associate

6. Project: Wealth Creation and Well Being Impacts of Slum Upgradation and Improved Service Delivery to the Poor – Evaluation of Slum Networking Projects in Ahmedabad

Funded by:Water and Sanitation Program – South Asia, the World Bank

Duration:April 2003 to March 2004

Purpose: The study evaluates whether wealth creation is an out come of upgrading, and if it is, under what conditions it happens for both households and cities. Overall, the study’s results will shed light on the value of investments in urban upgrading and will demonstrate how to target service provision efforts for the poor maximize their wealth creation potential. This will assist cities in extending programmes to scale by enhancing cost recovery and will improve livelihood outcomes for poor city residents.

Position:Senior Research Associate

7. Project: Environmental Hotspots - As an Emergence of Industrialization - A case of southern Gujarat

Funded by: NUFU, University of Oslo, Norway

Duration:September 2002 to till date

Purpose:The study views industrialization in both positive and negative terms. Positive being the healthy urbanization, increase in realized per capita incomes, increased access to better/higher order amenities, results of multiplier effect based on the investments. The negatives impacts being, environmental degradation, loss of livelihood due to factors such as increased pollution levels, mass conversion of limited land holdings into single ownership and subsequently industrial use and other activities which are not equally remunerative. The study takes the help of Geographic Information System and RS to quantify the spatial impact of the industrialization in Gujarat.

Position:Senior Research Associate

8. Project: Sustainable Governance for Safer Cities – A case of Gujarat

Funded by: NUFU, University of Oslo, Norway

Purpose: The study deals with the issues of sustainable Cities and Good Governance like Accountability, Responsiveness, Management Innovation, Public-Private Partnerships, Local Government - Citizen Interaction, Decentralized Management, Networking and Human Resource Development. It also deals with the current status of the Municipalities in Gujarat in the context of the Safer Cities. The study finally comes up with a set of suggestions and practices the Local Government should follow to become good governance.

Position:Urban Planner

9. Project: Preparation of People’s Oriented Development Plan – A Participatory Development Plan for Sanand and Dholka towns in Gujarat

Funded by: FORD Foundation

In collaboration with: UNNATI, an NGO

Purpose: Preparation of a peoples oriented development plan based on the development plan prepared by the authority. This is to ensure the people’s participation in the preparation of the need oriented planning involved by the stakeholders. This aims at reviewing the existing situation and the development plan prepared by the authority, and giving suggestions including the additional proposals made by the stake holders during the stake holder’s consultation.

Position: Urban and Community Planner

UNITED NATIONS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME (UNDP) AND KACHCHH NAV NIRMAN ABHIYAN, Bhuj, India

10. Project: Household Security – Long term drought Proof Strategy – A Geographic Information System – Management of Information System – Decision Support System

Funded by:UNDP, Prime Minister’s Officeand Dutch Embassy

Duration: August 2001 to October 2001

Purpose: Preparation of a strategy to establish the gap between the income required and income being earned of the households and propose drought mitigation strategies to ensure the household economic security over five year cycle. The project also identifies the direct relation between the unit rainfall and the unit income generated because of the rainfall.

Position: GIS and Regional Planner

Responsible for:

  • Designing, testing and implementation of the questionnaire, Preparation of Database to evaluate the household income generating activities.
  • Study of the predominant economic activities in Kachchh (8 villages across all the talukas were taken as a pilot project) and the corresponding income generation per capita.
  • Preparation of the database in MS Access with form in Visual Basic 6
  • Preparation of the maps of all the agricultural plots of the villages and the connection of the database with maps to enable the decision support system.
  • Also responsible for the setting up the system that enables the NGO to carryout with same exercise in the absence of the Consultant
  • CapacityBuilding of the host NGOs in GIS, A-Cad and Database management
  • The software Used: ArcView GIS version 3.1, MS Access 2000, Visual Basic 6 and some digitizing software.

CEPT-RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT UNIT, CENTER FOR ENVIRONMENTAL PLANNING AND TECHNOLOGY, Ahmedabad, India

11. Project: Rehabilitation Strategy for earthquake hit villages of Bhachau taluka

Client: Confederation of Indian Industry, CII

Duration: March 2002 to August 2001

Purpose: Formulating a rehabilitation strategy for the earthquake hit 26 villages of Bhachau taluka

Position: Research Associate, Urban and Regional Planning

Responsible for:

  • Preparation of a strategy for the development of 26 villages adopted by Confederation of Indian Industry
  • Preparation of design proto-types for the construction of houses for various economic groups
  • Consultations with the villagers for finalizing the design and the construction strategy
  • Coordination between the client and the Villagers for the deciding the level of infrastructure to be provided
  • Preparation of the construction schedule and the facilitating the preparation of Bill of Quantities and the Tender Document.

12. Project: Reconstruction of Earthquake affected village Nani Chirai, Bhachau

Client: Hindustan Lever Limited, HLL

Purpose: Strategy formulation and implementation of a village master plan for Yashodadham (old Nani Chirai) – earthquake affected village

Position: Research Associate, Urban and Regional Planning

Responsible for:

  • Leading a team of Architects, Planners and Engineers to assess the socio-economic profile of the villagers
  • Organizing stakeholders consultations
  • Formulating the master plan, design and the construction strategy in consultation with the villagers
  • Coordination between the client, implementing agency and the Community Based Organisation for the deciding the level of infrastructure to be provided
  • Assisting the client in getting the government approvals and permits
  • Presentations to the client, CBO, and the Govt. on the strategy adopted
  • Also responsible for presenting CRDU at various forums and submitting many competitions.

ENVIRONMENTAL PLANNING COLLABORATIVE (EPC) since

13. Project: Sub-regional plan for Lakhpat-Mandvi-Mundra

Client: Department of Urban Development and Urban Housing, Government of Gujarat

Duration: March 1999 to March 2001

Purpose: Formulating a Regional Plan to facilitate planned development in the coastal areas and minimize negative externalities

Position: Consultant, Urban and Regional Planning

Responsible for:

  • Preparation of a computerized base map
  • Management of both spatial and attribute data
  • Analytical studies of population projection, social amenities, land use, soil and Natural resources
  • Preparation of a Land Management Plan based on the land capability and land suitability analysis
  • Watershed Management Planning and Water budgeting for Kachchh.
  • Road Networking Planning and Traffic Projections
  • Facilitating consultations amongst stakeholders
  • The identification of projects and strategies for their implementation
  • Salient Features of the Plan
  • First of its kind for the state of Gujarat with detailed Land capability and land suitability analysis were done with aid of GIS (Acad Map R2).
  • Water balancing exercise to identify the areas (watershed basins) of water scarcity and quantify the supply-demand gap. The study proposed some strategies to augment the supply and regulations to curb the demand.
  • Study identified strategies for locating Industries considering the environment, natural resource base, assimilating capacities and the location policies.

14. Project: SabarmatiRiver Front Development Project

Client: Sabarmati River Front Development Corporation Limited, SRFDCL

Purpose: Facilitating the implementation of Sabarmati River Front Development Project.

Position: Housing Planner, Resettlement and Rehabilitation

This project includes the development of implementation strategy with the help of the numerous stakeholders including the client, SRFDCL, Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation AMC, the 10,000 h/h of the slum dwellers, and the city of Ahmedabad, itself.

Responsible for:

  • Conducting the primary survey,
  • Organizing the meetings with the CBO
  • Analysis of the primary survey results and
  • Documentation of the process of the Resettlement and Rehabilitation

Part time work:

SETU CYBERTECH PVT LTD Ahmedabad, India

Duration: February 1998–February 1999

Position: Planning and Graphics in-charge

Responsible for:

  • Prepared graphics for the SETU City Map for Ahmedabad.
  • Organized the field survey for the whole city of Ahmedabad (area of 194 sq. kms).
  • Given the planning inputs for the first of its kind of publication in Gujarat. Now the map is online. Can be accessed at e-SETU.com

INNOVATIVE DESIGN GROUP, Hyderabad, India

Duration: May 1995–Nov. 1997

Position: Assistant Architect (part time)

Worked on various residential, institutional and industrial buildings in and around Hyderabad.

Training:

TEAM CONSULTANTS, New Delhi, India

Duration: Dec. 1997–May 1997

Position: Trainee Architect

Worked on various residential and industrial buildings in and around New Delhi

Other experience:

Written Project Proposals for many development oriented projects. More information if needed.

COMPTER SKILLS

Platforms: Windows (5, 98, NT, 2000, Xp and 2003)

Word processing: PageMaker (Adobe, 7), Word (Microsoft Office 2003)

Data management: SQL Server (Microsoft Office Ver 2003), Excel (Microsoft Office 2003), Access (Microsoft Office 2003), Procite for Windows (Research Information Systems, Ver 3.4), End Note

Presentation: PowerPoint (Microsoft Office 2003), Arc Explorer (ESRI), Publisher (Microsoft Office2003)

Drawings: Auto Cad (Auto Desk, R-2006), VISIO Technical (Visio International, Ver 2003)

Graphics: Photoshop (Adobe), Macromedia Flash-MX, Coral Draw – 10

Web authoring: Basic knowledge of HTML, Front Page (Microsoft Xp)

GIS SOFTWARE & DEVELOPMENT SKILLS: