Publication
River Cities Tribune | Volume 1
2026
The River Cities Tribune is the bimonthly print magazine of the River Cities Alliance (RCA), bringing together research, reporting and expert voices from across RCA's 145 member cities. Each edition carries guest columns, commissioner interviews, and a running record of the Alliance's work on the ground. It exists on a simple premise: cities managing very different rivers still have plenty to learn from each other. Volume 1 leads with RCA's review of Master Plans across twelve member cities, an interview with Jhansi's former Municipal Commissioner on managing the Pahuj, and perspectives from the Director General of NMCG, the Director of NIUA, and experts from GIZ. It also covers the RCA S…
Publication
Sustainable Urban River Management Framework
2026
The Sustainable Urban River Management (SURM) Framework builds on the experience of India’s Urban River Management Plan (URMP) Framework, taking its approach to river-sensitive urban planning into a global context. It responds to the growing pressures on urban rivers and freshwater ecosystems from urbanisation, pollution and climate change. The framework provides cities with a structured set of goals, actions and indicators to assess existing practices, identify priorities and strengthen river-sensitive planning and implementation. It also connects urban river management with wider global priorities for sustainable cities, freshwater ecosystems and biodiversity. SURM marks the next step in t…
Publication
Urban India: Supplementary Edition (Re-thinking Urban Rivers)
2023
Volume 43 of Urban India, the National Institute of Urban Affairs’ (NIUA) bi-annual journal, contains nine pioneering research articles written by the student finalists of the Student Thesis Competition (STC), Season 2, along with various sector experts. STC is conducted annually by NIUA in collaboration with the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) to provide a platform for students to pitch their innovative research proposals, and gain financial and academic support. In 2022, students across India developed their projects across various thematics such as blue green infrastructure planning, the revival of urban waterbodies and groundwater, pollution abatement in rivers, wastewater pollution, engaging citizens in river management activities, and many others. Research conducted by successful student candidates has been published in this supplementary edition of Urban India, now available to all. This edition dives deep into various well-rounded case studies on the Thamirabarani River (Tirunelveli), Shekha Jheel (Aligarh), River Ganga, Assi and Varuna River (Varanasi), Hooghly River (Kolkata), the Cauvery Basin, Yamuna River (Delhi), and Jhelum River (Srinagar) – where students have offered their valuable insights and evidence-based policy inputs on urban river management in India.
Publication
Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) For River-Sensitive Gatherings Along Riverbanks
2024
Riverbanks across India serve as dynamic public spaces, hosting a diverse range of gatherings — from spiritual festivals and cultural celebrations to concerts, civic ceremonies, environmental campaigns, and tourist activities. While these events foster community engagement and cultural expression, the concentration of significant numbers of people along the river's edge places considerable pressure on both natural and administrative resources, often exceeding their carrying capacity and posing risks to the ecological integrity of riverine environments.
Report
Outcome Report: Management of Urban Water Bodies
2022
Urban water bodies are critical components of city ecosystems, yet their effective assessment and management remain a persistent challenge across South and Southeast Asia. To address this, a two-day technical workshop on the Management of Urban Water Bodies was organised on 17–18 November 2022 in New Delhi, with the primary objective of building understanding and enabling practical application of the Urban Water Body Diagnostic Tool.
Publication
White Paper: A Qualitative Framework to Evaluate the Extent of Integrated Urban Water Management in Indian Cities & Applying the Framework to Delhi
2021
Integrated Urban Water Management (IUWM) has emerged as a widely recognised philosophy for managing the urban water sector, advocating a holistic treatment of water supply, wastewater, and stormwater systems to strengthen urban water security. While India has acknowledged IUWM as a sound and robust approach since 2015, its adoption has remained limited — constrained by gaps in awareness, the complexity of translating philosophy into practice, and the need for a nuanced understanding of a city's water dynamics across hydrological, economic, institutional, governance, and social dimensions.This White Paper seeks to bridge that gap. It presents a qualitative framework comprising ten criteria — organised under three heads: enabling environment, institutional arrangements, and management instruments — designed to help cities assess the extent of IUWM implementation and identify priority areas for progressive advancement. Conceived as an introspective instrument, the framework is intended to support honest internal assessments rather than inter-city benchmarking or comparison.The framework is subsequently applied to Delhi, India's capital city, to evaluate its current standing in terms of IUWM adoption. The assessment reveals that Delhi possesses a strong enabling environment, underpinned by progressive policies and a robust financial position. Its institutional arrangements are larg…
Report
Use of ICT for Water Supply and Sewerage Services in Smart Cities, SAAR–Sameeksha Series – Impact Assessment
2025
This research report presents a comprehensive assessment of the role of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in enhancing water supply and sewerage services across India's 100 Smart Cities under the Smart Cities Mission (SCM). By integrating ICT and Internet of Things (IoT) devices into urban water and sewerage infrastructure, the SCM sought to optimise the performance and operational efficiency of cities spanning the full spectrum of urban scale — from small towns to megapolises. Of the 100 Smart Cities, 94 responded to the national-level assessment questionnaire developed for this study, providing a robust empirical foundation for analysis. The report documents the range and …
Report
Managing Shallow Aquifers in Urban Areas: Pune Workshop Report 2024
2024
In 2022, the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) 2.0 initiated a pilot project on Shallow Aquifer Management (SAM) across ten select cities — Jaipur, Dhanbad, Gwalior, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Rajkot, Pune, Thane, and Bengaluru. The pilot aims to sensitise city officials to the potential of recharge wells and structures as practical interventions for shallow aquifer recharge, while simultaneously addressing the compounding urban challenges of groundwater depletion, urban flooding, and contamination of shallow groundwater reserves. Central to the initiative is the revitalisation of traditional water management structures, including dug wells and urban water bodi…
Manual
Water-Smart School Manual
2025
This manual is designed to help primary school students at G-Block, JJ Colony Bakkarwala learn about water security, groundwater recharge, and the benefits of the Rainwater Harvesting and Micro-irrigation systems installed on their campus under the AIWASI project. The goal is to raise awareness and encourage responsible water use among students.The Australia-India Water Security Initiative (AIWASI) aims to improve water security and liveability in underserved communities in Delhi. Guided by Water Sensitive Cities (WSC) and Gender Equality, Disability, and Social Inclusion (GEDSI) principles, the project emphasizes active participation—especially of women and girls—in planning and implementing Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD) solutions. AIWASI acts as a ‘living laboratory,’ demonstrating sustainable environmental, social, and economic outcomes. It is supported by forums at different levels : the Community Water Forum (CWF), and Community Action Groups (CAGs) focused on local, inclusive planning, and the Delhi Water Forum (DWF), which facilitates city-level stakeholders toward a water-sensitive Delhi. Together, they strengthen collaborative governance and institutional capacity for sustainable urban water management.
Manual
Community-led Tree Census: A Guidebook for Local Action
2025
This guidebook emerges from a shared need for environmental assessment, voiced at both the city and community levels through structured discussions within the Delhi Water Forum and Community Water Forums (CWFs) in two AIWASI demonstration sites: Bakkarwala Resettlement Colony and Mubarakpur Dabas Urban Village. In both communities, residents identified a significant lack of green cover and trees in their neighbourhoods, reinforcing the urgency for localised action. In Bakkarwala, while neighbourhood and pocket parks exist, the internal streets and open spaces remain largely devoid of tree cover, exacerbating residents’ exposure to urban heat island effects and severe air pollution. This obse…
Publication
Delhi Water Inventory
2025
The Delhi Water Inventory has been developed to serve as a centralized compendium of water-related information for the National Capital Territory of Delhi. Its main objective is to compile fragmented datasets scattered across different institutions and present them in a structured, accessible manner. By bringing this information together, the inventory aims to support evidencebased planning, policy-making, and research on water resources in Delhi. The purpose of this document is to serve as a one-stop reference for data on Delhi’s water resources. It covers information on surface water, groundwater, and water quality, along with data on sewerage infrastructure, governance frameworks, and cat…
Report
Towards a Water Sensitive Delhi: Strategic Recommendations for the Delhi Development Authority (DDA)
2025
This Position Paper is an outcome of the Australia-India Water Security Initiative (AIWASI), led by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), Australia, and implemented through a consortium comprising the World Resources Institute (WRI), the National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA), the Mahila Housing Trust (MHT), and McGregor Coxall (Australia). The Initiative seeks to advance the adoption of water-sensitive planning and design principles within the Indian urban context.Informed by the Delhi Water Sensitivity Baseline Assessment — which evaluated Delhi's performance against the seven goals of the Water Sensitive Cities Index, as conceived by the Cooperative Research Centre for Water Sensitive Cities (CRCWSC), Australia — this Paper identifies the city's current standing in urban water management and delineates critical areas requiring targeted intervention.The Paper is specifically intended to guide and support the mainstreaming of water-sensitive planning and design principles within the operations and institutional vision of the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) — the apex body responsible for planning and development in Delhi. As the custodian of approximately 5,050 hectares of green cover, 15 sports complexes, 429 local shopping centres, 7 district centres, and several urban heritage sites, and as the preparing authority for the Master Plan for Delhi — the city…
Report
Delhi's Water Sensitivity Baseline
2025
Delhi is confronted with escalating and interconnected water challenges that demand urgent, structured attention. The city faces a daily water supply deficit of 260 MGD against a total demand of 1,250 MGD, with groundwater extraction persisting at unsustainable levels of 126 MGD. Its drainage infrastructure — comprising over 4,000 drains — has become severely fragmented, with only 700 distinctly identifiable, and 19 major natural drains documented in the 1976 Drainage Master Plan no longer in existence. Urban water bodies have recorded a 7% reduction in area between 1999 and 2012, and the Yamuna River, though entering Delhi in a relatively unimpaired condition, exits as one of the most pollu…
Publication
AIWASI Compendium on Water Sensitive Urban Design
2024
Indian cities are at a critical crossroads. With over 90% grappling with waterlogging and floods, 70% of water resources contaminated, and nearly three-quarters of urban water bodies lost in just four decades, the need for a new approach to urban water management has never been more urgent. Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD) offers a transformative pathway — one that moves cities beyond basic service provision toward adaptive, climate-resilient environments that serve both communities and ecosystems. This Compendium brings together 50 water-sensitive initiatives — 14 from Indian cities and 36 from across the world — organised across five thematic areas: Lakes and Waterbodies Rejuvenation, R…
Report
Database of Nature-based Solutions in Bhubaneswar
2025
This document presents a Database of Nature-based Solutions (NbS) in Bhubaneswar, developed under the EPIC project, which identifies and analyses key urban flooding hotspots in the city based on field assessments, risk mapping, and community inputs following recurrent monsoon flooding. From an initial set of flood-prone locations, selected sites were studied in detail to understand flooding patterns, land use, drainage conditions, and surrounding ecosystems, leading to the proposal of site-specific nature-based and ecosystem-based adaptation interventions such as sponge parks, constructed wetlands, drain restoration, riparian buffers, and blue-green public spaces. The database serves as a practical planning resource to support climate-resilient urban water management, flood risk reduction, and sustainable urban development in Bhubaneswar.
Publication
Ecosystem Evaluations of Three Ecosystems in Bhubaneswar, Odisha
2025
This study, conducted under the “Proliferating Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) Practices in Indian Cities” (EPIC) project supported by the Global EbA Fund, assesses the ecological, socio-cultural, and economic value of three key urban ecosystems in Bhubaneswar: Bindusagar Lake, Jaidev Vatika, and a wetland. As part of the EPIC project’s efforts to demonstrate the economic valuation of urban ecosystems, the study engaged 769 stakeholders—including residents, visitors, and informal workers—to capture diverse perspectives on ecosystem use, benefits, and conservation needs. Using a comprehensive mixed-methods approach, the research integrates quantitative and qualitative data to provide a holis…
Publication
Strategy for Flood Management in Bhubaneswar City using Nature-based Solutions
2025
This strategy document presents nature-based solutions for managing urban flooding in Bhubaneswar, developed under the “Proliferating Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) Practices in Indian Cities” (EPIC) project, supported by the Global EbA Fund. Bhubaneswar, selected as the pilot city, underwent a detailed baseline assessment to identify flood hotspots and vulnerable areas. Simultaneously, the city’s natural ecosystems were mapped to assess their potential in mitigating flood risks. Based on this analysis, targeted nature-based interventions were designed for twelve critical locations. The document provides a comprehensive account of the methodology and process used to integrate ecosystem-bas…
Publication
Strategic Framework for Estimating the Economic Value of an Urban Ecosystem
2025
Water is the primary medium through which the impacts of climate change are felt, with cities worldwide facing increased flooding, water scarcity, and related challenges. In India, urban areas experience frequent floods alongside growing summer water shortages, making water security central to climate adaptation strategies. The National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA), with support from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), implemented the “Proliferating Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) Practices in Indian Cities” (EPIC) project under the Global EbA Fund. Using Bhubaneswar, Odisha, as a pilot city, the project demonstrates how ecosystem-based adaptation can help cities address flooding and water scarcity. A key component of this effort is the economic valuation of urban ecosystems—such as wetlands, forests, floodplains, and riparian buffers—to highlight their tangible benefits for climate resilience. This Strategic Framework simplifies the process of valuing ecosystem services, providing a step-by-step methodology for policymakers, urban planners, and practitioners to make evidence-based decisions, strengthen ecosystem-based planning, and integrate nature into urban water management.