India led Global River City alliance launched at COP28

Subject : Environment

Section: Int Conventions

Context: India led Global River City alliance launched at COP28

More about the news:

The National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) launched the Global River Cities Alliance (GRCA) at the United Nations Climate Change Conference COP28 in Dubai.
The GRCA expands the River Cities Alliance, originally formed by NMCG with 142 Indian river cities, by adding river cities from Den Haag (Netherlands), Adelaide (Australia), and Szolnok (Hungary).
The alliance aims to foster global collaboration for river conservation and sustainable water management.
Earlier, the RCA had signed a Memorandum of Common Purpose with the Mississippi River Towns and Cities Initiative of the US.
The NMCG Director General emphasized the importance of mainstreaming rivers in urban planning.

Some facts about River Cities Alliance:

The River Cities Alliance was launched in 2021, to represent a pioneering collaboration between the Ministry of Jal Shakti and the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.
It is the first-of-its-kind global initiative, symbolizing the successful partnership between the two ministries.
The primary objective is to provide member cities with a platform for discussing and exchanging vital information related to sustainable urban river management, sharing best practices, and promoting innovation.
The alliance is open to all river cities in India, the Alliance allows cities to join at any time.
The alliance has been launched initially with 30 cities namely Dehradun, Rishikesh, Haridwar, Srinagar, Varanasi, Kanpur, Prayagraj, Farrukhabad, Mirzapur, Mathura, Bijnor, Ayodhya, Patna, Bhagalpur, Begusarai, Munger, Sahibganj, Rajmahal, Howrah, Jangipur, Hugli-Chinsurah, Berhampore, Maheshtala, Aurangabad, Chennai, Bhubaneshwar, Hyderabad, Pune, Udaipur and Vijayawada.
The Alliance focuses on three broad themes: Networking, Capacity Building, and Technical Support.
The Secretariat of the Alliance is established at the National Institute for Urban Affairs (NIUA).

Some facts about The National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG):

It was registered as a society in 2011 under the Societies Registration Act 1860.
It acted as the implementation arm of National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA) which was constituted under the provisions of the Environment (Protection) Act (EPA),1986.
NGRBA has since been dissolved with effect from 2016 consequent to the constitution of National Council for Rejuvenation, Protection and Management of River Ganga which is referred as National Ganga Council.

What is the Aim & Objective of NMCG

To ensure effective abatement of pollution and rejuvenation of the river Ganga by adopting a river basin approach to promote inter-sectoral coordination for comprehensive planning and management.
To maintain minimum ecological flows in the river Ganga with the aim of ensuring water quality and environmentally sustainable development.
The Act envisages five tier structure at national, state and district level to take measures for prevention, control and abatement of environmental pollution in river Ganga and to ensure continuous adequate flow of water to rejuvenate the river Ganga as below:
National Ganga Council under the chairmanship of Prime Minister of India.
Empowered Task Force (ETF) on river Ganga under chairmanship of Union Minister of Jal Shakti (Department of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation).
National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG).
State Ganga Committees.
District Ganga Committees in every specified district abutting river Ganga and its tributaries in the states.