From droughts in Delhi to floods in Bengaluru, there is no denying that climate change is real and major cities are getting affected by it. Seeing such incidents occur, we shouldn’t forget the direct link between increasing population and climate change. As the population in big cities continue to increase, the demand for housing, oil, gas and other fuels increases too. This leads to deforestation, grilling into the Earth’s surface and burning of fuel, causing an increase in carbon dioxide emissions.
Zerodha CEO Nithin Kamath pointed this out on Twitter and said that the solution to this problem is having smaller cities with their own economies, reported Economic Times.
Most large Indian cities weren't built in a way to handle as many people living in them today. Disasters are bound to continue. The only real solution is to have many smaller cities with their own economies.
Over 50% of our team now live there; a silver lining from Covid. 1/5
— Nithin Kamath (@Nithin0dha) September 9, 2022
He further urged companies to allow employees to work from home or set up smaller offices in tier-2 and tier-3 towns.
If companies can afford to have teams work remotely or through small satellite offices, I think they should nudge teams to work out of small towns & cities. This way, the company can play a part in problem-solving.
Moving to another large city will only be a temporary fix. 2/5— Nithin Kamath (@Nithin0dha) September 9, 2022
He argued that this will decrease the pollution of big cities and help in circulating money at local levels.
If companies can afford to have teams work remotely or through small satellite offices, I think they should nudge teams to work out of small towns & cities. This way, the company can play a part in problem-solving.
Moving to another large city will only be a temporary fix. 2/5— Nithin Kamath (@Nithin0dha) September 9, 2022
The best part is if these people consume locally, it can also help in terms of climate change issues & creation of livelihood, probably the two biggest problems we are facing as a nation. Otherwise, money keeps circulating in the large cities, enticing everyone to migrate. 4/5
— Nithin Kamath (@Nithin0dha) September 9, 2022
This ignited an interesting debate on Twitter. On one hand, there were people who agreed with him and on the other hand, many claimed that the climate disasters happening in bigger cities is due to design flaws. Have a look:
It is true, couldn’t agree more. Some of the big multinational companies have started doing that, however there are several challenges associated with it. A hybrid approach is one of the safest options and it creates a win-win situation for both employees and employers.
— Delta Neutral (@idelta_neutral) September 9, 2022
There is a fundamental design issue. Moving to smaller cities may minimise loss of lives but flooding can’t be avoided. Concrete roads prevent water seepage to ground, storm water drains lead to lakes but not to water plants. Every major city in the world has flooding problems.
— Kala Chandramouli (@kalaCmouli) September 9, 2022
Smart villages and or town would have been far better options to hold our expanding economy and cultural values together..!!
— Maulik (@Mulikkk) September 9, 2022
I really hope many companies start encouraging it more in India but the one problem is Moonlighting which is at large and it’s a headache for managers since they are not trained well to manage a virtual team located in diverse cities
— Gobind Vijay (@GobindVijay) September 9, 2022
this sounds nice in theory but the more number of offices the more mamagement problems. every office will require a management or manager of its own. the work efficiency reduces, most of the time is spent on reporting rather than making decisions
— Direckt (@niftygoVroom) September 9, 2022
Good solution. Moving towards smaller cities, small offices is and to contribute into economies of small cities is good idea. It’s coat effective and very beneficial for employees as cost of livings is drastically reduced, they get to save and invest more money. #bengalurufloods
— Dr. Harshad Rane (@HarshadRane7) September 9, 2022
This is also another reason why WFH is coming to an end. As Bengaluru is the prominent IT hub, it’s economy is fully dependent on people living there. Govt will put pressure on resuming WFO to revive economy.
1/2
— Kalesh Kaladharan (@kalesh_13) September 9, 2022
WFH is best solution with monthly or 2 month once office visit or visit office only when in need.
By this talents of rural India stays there , cities inflation comes under control , rural India get some business and life .
Family system strives again.
But will lobbies allow ?— Ramesh Birwe (@BirweRamesh) September 9, 2022
Well said. Decongestion planning should have started 20 years ago. When the IT boom was happening it was clear that work could happen remotely, and now with cloud computing, even lesser infra is needed. Manufacturing can also be less labour intensive.
— Utsav Mulay (@sust_energyguru) September 10, 2022
Couldn’t agree more. If companies can promote decentralised working and satellite offices across smaller cities, it solves for both space/congestion in large cities and opportunities/consumption in smaller ones.
That’s how we bring back balance— Lokesh Dash (@Lokesh_Dash) September 10, 2022
Trust me, I have said this enough times on my timeline but people don’t seem to agree. Cities cannot accommodate everyone, smaller towns need to develop equally and this can only happen when orgs promote wfh.
— Snehaa (@snehaa_avula) September 9, 2022
What are your views on this topic?