In the presence of Mr. Rajiv Ranjan Mishra, Director General, National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) Mr. Hitesh Vaidya, Director, National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA) and Dr. Biswajit Roy Chowdhary, Chairman, South Asian Institute for Advanced Research and Development (SAIARD), NMCG signed an Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with SAIARD to create an academic platform to engage young students as well as develop a research and capacity building hub to support regional development in the eastern region. Both NMCG and SAIARD will work together to create and enhance capacity building on integrated river basin management, with a focus on geospatial technology in riverine ecosystems. With the signing of this MoU, SIAIRD will also henceforth be considered as the regional capacity building center for NMCG in the eastern region.

The areas of collaboration include

•          To conduct studies pertaining to diverse thematic areas in the field of integrated river basin management with an emphasis on management of water, wastewater and integrated urban water management for the development of sustainable practices for rejuvenation of river and water systems.

•          To provide support in policy making for the development of riverine areas and river sensitive urban planning

•          To provide support in the preparation of river data base

•          To develop a capacity building programme on geospatial technology and other areas for NMCG and other stakeholders to support internship and research

•          To develop a dedicated GIS application-based river research center in the eastern and north-eastern region

•          To develop a digital river library, river museum and online news portal

Additionally, in the presence of DG NMCG, an MoU was also signed between NIUA and SAIARD. NMCG is working with NIUA to develop river sensitive master plans and urban river management plans. In this collaboration SAIARD Centre for Urban and Built Environment (CUBE) will take the lead on behalf of SAIARD to work with NIUA to implement all kinds of capacity building activities which include the development and sharing of knowledge products for concerned stakeholders for mainstreaming climate resilience; providing handholding support for formulating, implementing and performance monitoring of strategies and actions plan under Climate Smart Cities Assessment Framework; development and implementation of innovative practices, data and technology frameworks for addressing climate impact in cities; and collaboratively work towards urban climate resilience.

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