Narain highlighted the impact of climate change on rivers and hydrology
Water Sensitive Urban Design and Planning and Urban Water Efficiency and Conservation are key areas of a new capacity building initiative on ‘Making water sensitive cities in Ganga basin’ programme, announced the Jal Shakti Ministry as part of the National Mission of Clean Ganga (NMCG). Decentralized Wastewater Treatment and Local Reuse, Urban Groundwater Management and Urban Waterbodies as well as Lake Management are also key focus areas in the programme, announced on 27 July 2021.
The programme was launched by NMCG in association with Centre for Science and Environment (CSE).
Launching the initiative, NMCG Director General Rajiv Ranjan Mishra reiterated the need for respecting traditions and suggested focusing on the basics of water cycle in urban areas. He emphasized the need of protecting, conserving and restoring ecosystem and not just pollution abatement.
He also shared insights about Jal Shakti Ministry’s ‘Catch the Rain’ initiative for rain water harvesting. “There is a huge need for public spaces in urban areas. What could be better than river fronts which connects community with water bodies in cities,” he said.
Mishra suggested that a framework for integration between Urban Built Form including landscape and urban water cycle are needed. He also emphasized on how cities have largely been held responsible for the deteriorated state of rivers, and therefore, will need to play a vital role in the rejuvenation efforts as well.
There is need to mainstream river sensitive approach while planning for the cities. For the first time, there is a paradigm shift in planning for River Cities. He also listed the “River Cities Alliance” which will provide a unique platform for river cities to collaborate for collectively achieving river rejuvenation through sustainable development and capacity building.
CSE Senior Director Suresh Kumar Rohilla shared that the aim of the program is capacity building and action research for promoting sustainable urban water management for improved river health in Ganga basin cities. He also explained how the program will engage all the stakeholders which includes, SPMGs (State Program Management Group, Namami Gange), Municipal corporations, Technical & research constants, international organizations and local grassroot communities.
CSE Director General Sunita Narain highlighted the impact of climate change on rivers and hydrology, pointing out that the intensity of rain has increased over the years but the number of rainy days has reduced, making water management a crucial subject.
She emphasized the need of returning to roots and bringing back the traditional knowledge of rain water harvesting, sharing the examples of Alhar–Pyne system of Bihar, wells in forts of Rajasthan and Cascade tanks of South India among others.
This initiative is part of the series of ongoing efforts by NMCG aimed to ensuring convergence of the Namami Gange Mission with national flagship urban missions (AMRUT, Smart Cities, Swachh Bharat Mission, HRIDAY, NULM) and other missions (Atal Bhujal Yojana, Jal Jeevan Mission, Jal Shakti Abhiyan) at state and city level across Ganga basin states.
There will be more than 40 training programs supported with development of learning material and practitioner’s guides and spread over a period of 3 years under this initiative. This will include residential trainings, online trainings, field visits and webinars. Initially, the project will be implemented in 3-4 pilot cities in the Ganga basin. Technical support will be provided to urban local bodies (ULBs).
Water Sensitive Urban Design and Planning (WSUDP) is an emerging urban development paradigm aimed to minimize hydrological impacts of urban development on environment. This includes the method of planning and designing urban areas for optimum utilization of water (a precious resource), reduce the harm caused to our rivers and creeks and focuse on management of entire water systems (drinking water, storm water run-off, waterway health, sewerage treatment and re-cycling). #technology #cities #water #investment #project /fiinews.com
