Nainital

2 day residential training program (15-16 June 2023), regarding ‘Managing Urban Rivers : from Planning to Practice” was organised by the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG), Ministry of Jal Shakti & National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA), Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs, Government of India & the Urban Development Department, Government of Uttarakhand, at the Dr. R. S. Tolia Uttarakhand Academy of Administration, ATI, Nanital Uttarakhand. 

The training program was organised under the aegis of the “River Cities Alliance (RCA)”, a joint collaboration by NMCG & NIUA. The RCA currently comprises of 115 cities across different River basins in India. In Uttarakhand, 10 cities namely, Dehradun, Haridwar, Rishikesh, Srinagar, Kashipur, Nanital, Uttarkashi, Selaqui & Vikasnagar are members of the RCA. Additionally, 4 other cities of Uttarakhand were onboarded as a part of RCA, namely, Kotdwar NPP, Ramnagar NPP, Muni-ki-Reti NPP & Tehri Garhwal NPP. 

Shri B. P. Pandey, Director General, ATI, Nanital, Shri Bhaskar Dasgupta, ED(F), NMCG (virtual mode), Shri. Dheeraj Joshi, Deputy Secretary, NMCG, Shri Sumit Chakraborty, Urban Lead, NMCG, Shri, Rahul Sachdeva, Senior Program Specialist, NIUA & Shri Rohit Jayara, M&E Specialist, SPMG, Namami Gange, Uttarakhand welcomed the participants during the Inaugural Session held on 15 June 2023. Shri B. P. Pandey, Director General delivered the Special Address to the participants, emphasising the need for river centric development for economic & social growth. Director General also stated that other cities of Uttarakhand may also be integrated as a part of RCA. 

Shri Bhaskar Dasgupta, ED(F), NMCG joined the meeting through virtual mode and delivered the Keynote Address, apprising that the Urban River Management Plan (URMP) initiative of NMCG & NIUA is the result of the wake up call from Hon’ble Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi.  He also highlighted that URMP is critical from the urbanisation perspective as it involves integrated water management with Sanitation and sewage infrastructure. He also added that Uttarakhand known as ‘Devbhoomi’ needs to save and maintain the critical river ecosystems. He stressed that NMCG & NIUA are committed towards handholding the river cities of Uttarakhand on technical aspects related to development of URMPs, with the necessary support , cooperation and initiative from the Urban local bodies (ULBs), with the sustained commitment and ownership from the State Authorities.

Shri Dheeraj Joshi, Deputy Secretary, NMCG outlined NMCG’s ‘New Urban Agenda’, which focuses on the development of the urban river management plan (URMP). 5 cities of Uttarakhand has agreed to develop URMPs, and the training program is the first step toward the operationalisation of this visionary and critical initiative.

On behalf of SPMG, Namami Gange, Uttarakhand, Shri Rohit Jayara, Monitoring & Evaluation Specialist,  welcomed all the member cities participants & dignitaries in the RCA meeting. He reflected on the importance of this 2 day URMP focused training session and extended all possible support to RCA member cities from SPMG Uttarakhand.