Pune , 14 February 23

Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs, Shri Kaushal Kishore has emphasized the need to spread the message of ‘Swachh Dhara, Sampann Kinara ‘to the citizens of the country. Presiding over the culminating session of DHARA 2023, he said, the River Cities Alliance currently consists of 107 cities, including 16 SMART cities, which have connected 72 rivers across the nation. In these 107 cities, there are sewage treatment facilities in about 70 cities. Security of the water resources is a shared responsibility. The RCA and those in attendance today emphasized the significant progress made in water resource protection and sustainable urban development as a result of the collaboration of the two ministries. We anticipate being able to include 150 cities in our family by the time of the following DHARA meeting next year, he added.

Providing a platform for the Commissioners, Executive Officers, and senior officials of RCA member cities to discuss and co-learn good practices for managing urban rivers, DHARA 2023 (Driving Holistic Action for Urban Rivers), two days annual meeting of the RCA members, has been organized by the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) and the National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA) under the MoHUA in Pune.

On second day of DHARA 2023 Pune Municipal Commissioner (PMC) Vikram Kumar laid out a six point solution for the revival of Pune’s rivers. The PMC Commissioner highlighted that six major issue area that had impacted the condition of the Mula, Mutha, and Mula-Mutha (confluence of both rivers) rivers, and identified the following solutions: 1) Cleaning the river to make it pollution free, 2) Reducing the risk of flooding, 3) Making the riverbank accessible to the public, 4) Retain and reuse water, 5) Improve the city’s connectivity and amenities to the Riverfront, and 6) Integrating existing heritage structures, recreational, religious,  socio-cultural  activities and improve ecology.

Mr. Hoe Yun Jeong, Deputy Country Director, Asian Development Bank said, ADB’s financing Plan for India is a $20-25 billion pipeline for the next 5 years (2023-2027). At least 40% ($8-10 billion) has been allocated for climate financing including climate adaptation and disaster resilience. The plan entails a strategy for distribution through sovereign financing which includes loans and guarantees while non-sovereign financing includes equity investments and bonds.

Hitesh Vaidya, Director, National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA) said , With the strengths of two ministries coming together to align on the collective goal of water conservation and enhancing water security for our 107 river cities, part of this alliance. Climate adaptation and resilience are crucial to the future discourse of managing these rivers. It is now time to look to the future strategies that will ensure climate financing, data distribution, action research, capacity building, and holistic partnerships could be the cornerstones of a possible Mission DHARA.”

The two-day international meeting, which concluded on Tuesday evening, drew 300 people from river cities in India, including commissioners, additional commissioners, chief engineers, senior planners, academicians, water security experts, financial specialists, and others, to co-learn and discuss solutions for managing river stretches in their cities.

Gwalior has been chosen as the location for the following RCA international meeting, DHARA 2024, announced NMCG Director General G Asok.

MI/PM

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