Mula-Mutha River
Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Union Minister for Jal Shakti will deliver the keynote address on the inaugural day of DHARA 2023.
WD News: DHARA which stands for Driving Holistic Action for Urban Rivers, the annual meeting of the members of the River Cities Alliance (RCA), is being organised by the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) in association with the National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA) from 13-14 February in Pune.
The Union Minister for Jal Shakti, Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat will deliver the keynote address on the inaugural day of the event while the Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs, Shri Kaushal Kishore will deliver the valedictory address on day two.
DHARA 2023 will provide a platform for senior officials including commissioners, additional 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.
Highlights
· DHARA 2023 is being organised for municipal commissioners of member cities to come up with possible learning solutions for urban river management
· DHARA has synergies with Urban20 initiative under ambit of India’s G20 Presidency
· River Cities Alliance (RCA) started with 30 cities in 2021 and currently has 95 cities as members across India
· RCA was launched in 2021 as a dedicated platform for river cities across India to discuss and exchange information for sustainable management of urban rivers
· Day 2 of the event will witness a Yoga session & visit to the Mula Mutha riverfront
· PM laid the foundation stone for a pollution abatement project for the Mula Mutha River in Pune in March 2022.
· Expected outcome includes the development of a compendium of technological solutions that cities may adopt for enhancing the management of local rivers
· DHARA will shine a light on unaddressed issues and challenges for river management in cities and help NIUA and partners in formulating an effective work plan
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. 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, decentralised used-water management, enhancing the 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 the Netherlands, river health monitoring in USA, pollution control in Japan, and water sensitive city design in Australia.
On Day 2 of the event, a Yoga session and a visit to the Mula Mutha riverfront will also be organised. Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for a pollution abatement project for the Mula Mutha River in Pune in March 2022. The project, under National River Conservation Plan, envisages the creation of 11 sewage treatment plants of a total 396 MLD capacity at the cost of Rs. 990.26 crore. Other dignitaries participating in the event include Shri Manukumar Srivastava, Chief Secretary, Maharashtra; Shri G. Asok Kumar, Director General, NMCG; Ms. Sonia Sethi, Principal Secretary, Urban Development, Maharashtra; and Ms. D. Thara, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.
Source: PIB
Image courtesy: Wikimedia Commons/rsrikanth05
