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The TREADS Initiative with the support of National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) invites you to the sixth talk in the series Water-Centric Master Planning in India on:
Making River-Sensitive Master Plans
Friday, 20th December 2024, 3:30 PM IST
Speaker:
Dr. Victor R. Shinde, Head, Water and Environment Vertical and the Climate Centre for Cities, National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA)
Moderator:
Dr. Srinivas Chokkakula, President and Chief Executive, CPR
This event will be held in a hybrid mode at the CPR Conference Room and online over Zoom. Please register below to attend either in-person or via Zoom.
About the talk:
Despite their manifold benefits to humankind, rivers in several parts of the world are in state of neglect—almost severely dilapidated in some cases. Encouragingly, there is a growing realization that healthy rivers are a vital cog in the wheel of sustainable development, especially in light of climate and geopolitical concerns.
Restoring riverine ecosystems in urban contexts is a multi-sectoral, multi-disciplinary, and multi-stakeholder endeavor. Far too often, cities have a reactive approach to restoration, acting when the problem is already at hand. However, to achieve wholesome restoration, a proactive approach is needed which involves developing transformational solutions that challenges the business as usual. Arguably, an ideal avenue to germinate such transformational solutions in the urban context is within a city’s larger development plan. The role of urban planning has, for long, been widely acknowledged as a panacea for some of the most pressing challenges; hence, it would be apt to imagine that river-sensitive urban planning is key to reconciling the estranged relationship between rivers and cities.
This theme of this talk is focused on strengthening the symbiotic relationship between rivers and cities through ecologically responsible urban development trajectories. The talk will use the national guidelines for making river-sensitive Master Plans developed by the National Institute of Urban Affairs and the National Mission for Clean Ganga as the basis for building a narrative, and explain how the cities of Ayodhya and Chatrapati Sambhaji Nagar (formerly Aurangabad) have adopted these guidelines to inform their Master Plans.
About the speaker:
Dr. Victor R. Shinde heads the Water and Environment Vertical and the Climate Centre for Cities at NIUA. Over the last eighteen years, his work has focused on managing urban rivers, integrated urban water management; water security enhancement; climate change adaptation in water sector; and M&E frameworks for water and environmental sector. He has led the development of several tools, guidelines, and advisories for different aspects of urban river management in India. A notable example is the national framework for managing urban rivers in India, which was launched by India’s Ministry of Jal Shakti, which has been adopted by 70+ ULBs across India. Likewise, he led the development of the Environment Chapter of the Master Plan for Delhi 2041. He has 60+ publications as books, journal articles, books chapters, conference papers, and knowledge products. Prior to joining NIUA, he worked as a scientist and technical expert in nine countries in Asia and Africa—Bhutan, India, Japan, Mauritius, Philippines, Seychelles, South Korea, Thailand, and Vietnam. Victor has a PhD in Urban (Water) Management from Kyoto University Japan.
