Capacity Building Initiative on Making Water Sensitive Cities In Ganga Basin Launched

What is the News?

A new capacity-building initiative on ‘Making water sensitive cities in Ganga basin’ has been launched.

About “Making water sensitive cities in Ganga basin” Initiative:

• The initiative has been launched by National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) in association with Centre for Science and Environment (CSE).

Aim of the Initiative:

• Capacity building and action research for promoting sustainable urban water management for improved river health in Ganga basin cities.

Key Focus Areas: The key focus areas of the programme will be:

• Water Sensitive Urban Design and Planning
• Urban Water Efficiency and Conservation
• Decentralized Wastewater Treatment and Local Reuse
• Urban Groundwater Management and
• Urban Water Bodies / Lake Management.

Other Key Features of the Initiative:

• The initiative will engage with all 1300+ state/municipal functionaries and other sector players involved in promoting sustainable urban water management.
• The activities under the initiative include – developing Practitioner Guides, implementing model projects/interventions in select cities (as learning centres), and a help desk to support practitioners requiring technical guidance and support in implementing similar projects.

Significance of the Initiative:

• This initiative is part of the series of ongoing efforts by NMCG aimed at ensuring convergence of 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 Mission) at state /city level across Ganga basin states.

About Water Sensitive Urban Design and Planning:

• Water Sensitive Urban Design and Planning is an emerging urban development paradigm aimed to minimize hydrological impacts of urban development on the environment.
• The activities under this include:
  • designing urban areas for optimum utilization of water (a precious resource),
  • reduce the harm caused to our rivers and creeks and focus on the management of entire water systems (drinking water, stormwater run-off, waterway health, sewerage treatment, and recycling).