Annual meeting of river cities alliance to be held in Pune

The Union Minister for Jal Shakti, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat will deliver the keynote address on the inaugural day, while the Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs, Kaushal Kishore will deliver the valedictory address on day two

The annual meeting of the members of the River Cities Alliance (RCA) under the programme Driving Holistic Action for Urban Rivers (DHARA) has organised the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) in association with National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA) on February 13 and 14 in Pune.

The event has strong synergies with the Urban20 (U20) initiative under the ambit of India’s G20 Presidency. (HT FILE PHOTO)

The Union Minister for Jal Shakti, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat will deliver the keynote address on the inaugural day, while the Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs, Kaushal Kishore will deliver the valedictory address on day two.

DHARA 2023 will provide a platform for senior officials including commissioners, Addl commissioners, chief engineers and senior planners of the 95-member river cities in India to co-learn and discuss solutions for managing local water bodies.

The event has strong synergies with the Urban20 (U20) initiative under the ambit of India’s G20 Presidency. One of the thrust areas of U20 is to promulgate urban water security. Healthy rivers have a vital role to play in enhancing the overall water security of the city. DHARA 2023 will witness multiple sessions over the two-day event that include sessions on ‘National Case Studies on Innovative River-related Practices’ to introduce the participants to several unique and innovative solutions for different aspects of urban river management involving lake and pond rejuvenation, de-centralized used-water management, enhancing river-related economy, groundwater management, and flood management and ‘International Case Studies’ to focus on Innovative River-related practices in countries like Denmark, reuse of used water in Israel, floodplain management in Netherlands, river health monitoring in USA, pollution control in Japan, and water sensitive city design in Australia.