Training programme on Water Woes: Understanding urban water management and sustainability

Date: Nov 12-15, 2019

The training programme started with an interactive introductory session with the participants as an ice-breaker. This was continued with a brief introduction about CSE, its ideals, core principles and its role in the water sector followed by an interesting brainstorming and learning session on urban water systems. It was followed by a presentation by Mr. Nitin Kaushal, Associate Director from WWF India, on sustainable water management towards healthy river systems. He discussed in detail about the Environmental flows program and sustainable river basin management with case examples.

The next session post lunch was led by Ms. Veena Srinivasan, Fellow, convenor, ATREE, on “Pipe dreams of Urban India” discussing in detail the demand and supply of urban water systems over a skype call presentation. The day was concluded with an interactive brainstorming exercise on stakeholders mapping through innovative role play exercise.

The second day of the training programme started with reflection session followed by session on Urban Water Bodies by Ms. Shivali Jainer, Programme Manager, CSE. The basic concepts, role and significance of urban water bodies were covered along with some some case examples on urban lakes. The next session was led by Mr. Himanshu Kulkarni, Executive Director, ACWADAM, on Urban Ground Water Complexities. He concluded his session with urban groundwater management components and emphasized on community participation.

The day also included a session on Climate change and Urban Resilience with water systems perspective by Ms. RuhilIyer, Sr. Research Associate. She talked about the ‘Resilient Cities’ approach and considerations for a water resilient city in brief and also gave an overview of 'Sponge City' and water sensitive interventions in Copenhagen. The next session was an informative webinar by Dr. James Grellier, Research Fellow, University of Exeter, on the value of Blue Spaces in cities as a Public Health Resource.

The third day of the training programme started with a session by Dr. Sumita Singhal explicitly talked about “Faeconomics”, understanding sewerage and its costs. This session was followed by an interactive session on Overview of Faecal Sludge Management by Mr. Shantanu Padhi, Programme Officer, CSE. His session was followed by a documentary on faecal sludge management and a brainstorming group exercise based on case study of Tiruchirappali, Tamil Nadu, India. The day was concluded by a session on Decentralised Water and Wastewater Management by Mr. Jyoti Prasad Dadich, Sr. Research Associate, CSE, along with ‘walk the talk’ showcasing water sensitive features at AAETI Campus to the participants.

The final day of the Training Programme was dedicated for the field visit to Dwarka water Bodies with Captain P.S. Mann and Mr. Rakesh, Activists. They enlightened the participants with their experience through revival of Pochanpur Lake, sector 23, Dwarka. A visit to Sulabh International Museum of toilets dedicated to the global history of sanitation and toilets, was also coordinated for the participants which was followed by certificate distribution and feedback session.