A new capacity-building initiative is launched on ‘Making water sensitive cities in Ganga basin’.
Context
A new capacity-building initiative is launched on ‘Making water sensitive cities in Ganga basin’.
About the initiative
- The initiative is launched by National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) in association with the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE).
- This is the first of its kind capacity-building program for river conservation.
- It is aimed at improving river health/flows.
- It is Water Sensitive Urban Design and Planning (WSUDP) program.
- This initiative is part of the series of ongoing efforts by NMCG which aim to ensure the convergence of the NamamiGange Mission with national flagship urban missions (AMRUT, Smart Cities, Swachh Bharat Mission, HRIDAY, NULM) and some other missions (AtalBhujalYojana, JalJeevan Mission, Jal Shakti Abhiyan) at state /city level across Ganga basin states.
Water Sensitive Urban Design and Planning (WSUDP)
- It is an emerging urban development paradigm that is aimed to minimize hydrological impacts of urban development on the environment.
- This includes methods of planning and designing the urban areas for optimum utilization of water, to reduce the harm caused to rivers and creeks.
- It focuses on the entire management of water systems (drinking water, stormwater run-off, waterway health, sewerage treatment, and recycling).
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Features of the initiative
- The key focus areas of the program will be:
- Water Sensitive Urban Design and Planning
- Urban Water Efficiency and Conservation
- Decentralized Wastewater Treatment and Local Reuse
- Urban Groundwater Management and Urban Waterbodies / Lake Management
- 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.
- The program will engage the stakeholders from SPMGs (State Program Management Group, NamamiGange), Municipal corporations, Technical & research constants, international organizations, and local grassroots communities.
- Under the initiative, there will be more than 40 training programs that are supported with the development of learning material/ practitioner’s guides and spread over 3 years.
- This will include residential training, field visits, online training, and webinars, etc.
- Initially, the project will be implemented in the 3-4 pilot cities in the Ganga basin.
- Technical support will be provided to the urban local bodies (ULBs).
Efforts to clean the Ganga
- In May 2015, the government approved the NamamiGange program to clean and protect the river.
- It is a100 percent central government-funded program.
- Ganga Action Plan (GAP) in 1985.
- The IIT Consortium, in 2011, for water diversion and effective treatment.
- The National Mission for Clean Ganga in 2011.
- River Cities Alliance
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