In order to address challenges and issues associated with water, waste water, and solid waste management and disposal, NITI Aayog will hold a two-day workshop in New Delhi for secretaries of the Urban Development Department (UDD) of four states including Maharashtra.

A Maharashtra UDD official said secretaries from Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, and Assam will participate in the workshop to be conducted on June 15 and 16.

According to information from sources, the workshop will cover two broad themes —firstly, integrated urban water cycle management for sustainable and resilient water infrastructure and healthy cities and secondly, solid waste management.

In a bid to improve urban infrastructure, NITI Aayog also plans to discuss prospects of public financing under the PPP model to develop urban infrastructure. The Maharashtra UDD official said, “This initiative of NITI in partnership with Singapore Cooperation Enterprise (SCE) and Temasek Foundation Singapore provides a platform to state governments and urban local bodies (ULB) to share the challenges being faced in urban transformation in these key areas. It is also an opportunity to evolve and design efficient solutions to some of these challenges through partnership with urban sector experts from Singapore.”

Meanwhile, NITI Aayog also conducted a pre-workshop meeting recently in collaboration with experts from Singapore, which was attended by UDD secretaries of all four states. Municipal commissioners of Kalyan-Dombivali Municipal Corporation and the Nashik Municipal Corporation also participated in this meeting, informed sources from the Maharahstra UDD.

The official said, “We pointed out that Maharashtra is developing a PPP model to provide sewage treatment plant with territory capability to provide treated water to thermal power station.”

The experts from Singapore pointed out at the ineffectiveness of household rainwater harvesting (RWH) and insisted that it needs to happen at a larger level in the city instead. A plan on these lines is being made to set up RWH infrastructure in Bengaluru.