Roadmap for Implementation of Water-Sensitive Urban Design and Planning in Odisha

July 02, 2020

Rainwater harvesting in public parks and open spaces

The Housing and Urban Development Department (HUDD), Government of Odisha, in collaboration with Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), aim to work towards mainstreaming Water-Sensitive Urban Design and Planning (WSUDP) in cities and towns of Odisha. In view of this, CSE and HUDD entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the objective of mainstreaming storm water management and rainwater harvesting (RWH) in towns and cities of Odisha.

Cognizant that rooftop RWH has had limited success and needs incentivization and other measures, HUDD has decided to undertake radical changes in the RWH strategies for cities. Noting that there lies immense potential of rain/ storm water harvesting via public parks, roads and flyovers, HUDD released an Advisory1 to relevant stakeholders for the implementation of WSUDP Phase-I.