This section covers the key trends and developments in the water supply, sewerage and solid waste segments; updates on central sector schemes such as the Smart Cities Mission, AMRUT, Swachh Bharat Mission; current status and developments in major projects; financings, and key issues and challenges.
Ministry of Urban Development, water supply, sewerage, sanitation, solid waste management, AMRUT, Smart Cities, SBM, urbal local bodies, capacity addition, policy
Water & Waste
Equipping ULBs: Cities take initiatives to ensure judicious use of water resources
India is facing one of the worst water crises in its history, with almost 600 million people under high to extreme water stress, as per a recent report published by NITI Aayog. As per the […]
Water Conscious: Utilities focus on new technologies and greater privatisation to improve water services
Recognising the need for modern infrastructure facilities and improved service delivery, a number of urban local bodies (ULBs) have turned to advanced technological solutions for efficient water supply management. Over the past decade or so, […]
Strategic Intervention: Wastewater recycling and reuse for sustainable irrigation needs
India has a meagre 4 per cent of the world’s freshwater reserves and houses 18 per cent of the world’s population. Over the years, the demand for water from different consumer segments has been increasing […]
Implementation Challenges: Polavaram irrigation project witnesses slow progress due to contractual and funding issues
The state of Andhra Pradesh has large tracts of agricultural land that requires substantial supply of irrigation water. However, the upland areas of East Godavari, Visakhapatnam and Krishna districts have no source of water supply […]
Filtering Seawater: Membrane and thermal technology innovations for water desalination
Indian cities are grappling with acute water shortages due to the fast depleting water reserves and dropping groundwater levels. Wastewater generation and management is another major issue currently plaguing cities. However, water demand from households […]
Trends and Outlook: Increased private participation and technology penetration to drive growth
Rapid urbanisation has led to a massive rise in demand for services such as water supply and waste management. Improving quality of civic services has thus become a key focus area today for urban local […]
Recent Developments: A year of new policies, project awards, capacity expansion and digital initiatives
The past year saw noteworthy developments in the urban water supply and waste management sector. On the policy front, both the central and state governments have taken steps to improve water management. A number of […]
Interview with Rajiv R. Mishra: “HAM has become an attractive option for state governments to overcome financial constraints”
The government launched the Namami Gange programme, an integrated conservation mission for the Ganga river, in May 2015. It aims to abate pollution, and rejuvenate and protect the river. In the past couple of years, […]
Growth Strides: Government programmes and schemes driving greater development
The year 2018-19 witnessed significant efforts by the government to drive investments in the water and waste sector. Progress in terms of infrastructure creation and capacity building was noted under almost all the key government […]
Reducing the Footprint: Decentralised wastewater treatment solutions for congested urban areas
Urban wastewater management in the country suffers on two counts – inadequate availability of sewage treatment plants (STPs) and dismal performance of most of the existing plants. Currently, there exists a huge deficit in terms […]
Digitalising Revenue Management: DJB deploys RMS to improve collection efficiency
Most of the country’s urban local bodies (ULBs) lack an automated billing mechanism to levy and collect user charges for water supply and sewerage services. Inefficient billing and collection practices not only lead to poor recovery […]
Changing Dynamics: Government initiatives and schemes bring new opportunities for private players
The government, over the past few years, has stimulated the process of reviving the water supply and waste management segments through programmes such as the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) (the erstwhile […]
Alternative Supply: Desalination proves to be a commercially viable drinking water model
By Rajneesh Chopra, Global Head, Business Development, VA Tech WABAG Limited Overview and challenges: Bridging the demand supply gap in Chennai Chennai city, located on the coast of Tamil Nadu, currently has a 426 square […]
New Areas of Focus: Significant opportunities in sustainable water and waste management
India houses about 17 per cent of the world’s population and has only 4 per cent of global water resources. The country generates about 145,128 metric tonnes per day (tpd) of municipal solid waste. These […]
Setting Standards: Ease of Living Index to assess sustainability and liveability of cities
Indian cities have undergone rapid urbanisation as the proportion of the country’s urban population has increased manyfold in the past decade. While increasing urbanisation provides an opportunity for fuelling economic growth, it also poses challenges […]