What is River Cities Alliance? Know Themes, River Cities, Significance, Objectives

Union Minister for Jal Shakti Gajendra Singh Shekhawat on November 26, 2021, launched the River Cities Alliance, a platform for river cities in India to ideate, discuss, and exchange information for sustainable management of urban rivers. Two Ministries namely Jal Shakti Ministry and Housing & Urban Affairs Ministry have partnered for a first of its kind alliance in the world. PM Narendra Modi during the National Ganga Council meeting in December 2019 held at Kanpur highlighted the need for new river-centric thinking in planning for cities on the banks of rivers.

What is River Cities Alliance?

River Cities Alliance is a platform for river cities in India to ideate, discuss, and exchange information for the sustainable management of urban rivers. The Jal Shakti Ministry and Housing & Urban Affairs Ministry has partnered for the initiative. The National Institute for Urban Affairs (NIUA) and the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) have collaborated for launching the River Cities Alliance. The Secretariat of the River Cities Alliance will be set up at National Institute for Urban Affairs (NIUA) with the support of the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG).

Three Themes

The River Cities Alliance will focus on three themes: Networking, Technical Support, and Capacity Building.

30 Participating Cities

Ayodhya, Aurangabad, Bhagalpur, Bagusarai, Bijnor, Berhampore, Bhubaneswar, Chennai, Dehradun, Rishikesh, Haridwar, Srinagar, Munger, Hooghly-Chinsurah, Patna, Howrah, Maheshtala, Jangipur, Rajmahal, Farrukhabad, Sahibganj, Kanpur, Mathura-Vrindavan, Prayagraj, Mirzapur, Pune, Varanasi, Vijayawada, and Udaipur.

River Cities Alliance: Significance

The River Cities Alliance will play a significant role in connecting cities with their rivers. The Alliance can be a model for all cities in the Basin and beyond. The initiative will aid cities in learning from the successes and failures of each other, said Union Housing & Urban Affairs Minister Durga Shankar Mishra. The River Cities Alliance will play create an opportunity for municipal administrators and their teams for undertaking innovative initiatives. Director-General of National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) Rajiv Ranjan Mishra said that the Alliance began with the Ganga basin cities and got extended to include cities beyond the Basin as well.

Under the River Cities Alliances, the participating cities get the opportunity for strengthening governance aspects for river cities and improving their liveability. The Alliance will aid these cities in attracting external economic investments, access state-of-the-art knowledge and frameworks, and serve as the site for demonstration purposes for implementation by NMCG and NIUA.

River Cities Alliance: Objectives

The primary objective of the River Cities Alliance is to aid the participating cities with a platform for discussing and exchanging information on aspects that are vital for the sustainable management of urban rivers. These aspects include reducing impacts on river and water bodies, minimizing their water footprint, capitalizing on natural, intangible architectural heritage, and developing self-sufficient, self-sustainable water resources through the reuse & recycle strategy.

The participating cities of the River Cities Alliance will work to adopt and localize national policies and instruments with key river-related directions, develop city-specific sectoral strategies for sustainable urban river management, and prepare their Urban River Management Plans.