Cities in UP beside river banks to be developed under ‘River Cities Alliance’

Prayagraj: Cities in Uttar Pradesh to be developed under River Cities Alliance (RCA), a joint initiative of the Ministry of Jal Shakti (MoJS) & the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA).Planning of development work along the rivers for the proposed alliance has begun. In the first phase, on the orders of the Union Jal Shakti Ministry, a blueprint for development along the banks of Gomti in Ayodhya, Ganga in Kanpur and Ramganga in Moradabad has been prepared. Further, it will be done for other cities including Prayagraj. Bithoor is being developed on the banks of Ganga in Kanpur. Preparation of an Urban River Management Plan to develop Prayagraj and other cities on the banks of rivers. In a workshop on water management with experts from the Netherlands, central officials gave information about forming the RCA in the state. Jal Nigam executive engineer Surendra Singh Parmar said that under River City Alliance, the aim is to clean the river, develop river banks, develop river front along with some such development which will improve the economic condition. In connection with the River City Alliance, development work has started here also on the banks of Ganga-Yamuna.Green belt will be developed along the banks of river Ganga. Here also the help of an expert or professional agency can be taken to prepare an urban river management plan. Development work on the banks of Ganga in the city will be visible during Maha Kumbh.Meanwhile, experts from the Netherlands have suggested that there is no shortage of water in the city but crores of liters of water is being wasted here every day in different ways which has to be stopped. In a two-day workshop on city water management, all departments presented their respective plans. It was only after the presentation that it was revealed that the situation in Prayagraj could become grim if wastage of water is not stopped. After looking at the city’s population and daily consumption data, it became clear that government agencies do not have accurate data of water used daily.