Water expert spells out a strategy for resilient Chennai

‘Water as Leverage’ to tackle city’s challenges

CHENNAI,07/09/2018: Henk Ovink, Special Envoy for International Water Affairs, Netherlands. Photo: R. Ragu

There is no silver bullet to resolve water woes of the city. People tend to wait for disasters to trigger improvement.

Instead of a reactive approach, a transformative approach for a better understanding of challenges will help Chennai become less vulnerable.

With an aim to identify interventions to tackle challenges and build resilient cities, ‘Water as Leverage’, a global water innovation programme, was launched earlier this year. The programme was launched by the Dutch government, along with the International Architecture Biennale Rotterdam and Architecture Workroom Brussels.

It all started with a nearly three-year-long research project on water challenges by Henk Ovink, Special Envoy for International Water Affairs, the Netherlands. Speaking to

The Hindu here on Friday, Mr. Ovink said the South and Southeast Asian regions were the most vulnerable to floods, going by the data collated in the past 25 years. Three cities with different hotspots — Chennai, Khulna (Bangladesh) and Semarang (Indonesia) — were chosen for the programme.

“We need to start understanding the challenges and identify the opportunities that will help build resilient cities through a systematic approach. We must understand and value water in all its complexities. These cities represent the issues faced by most cities of the world and the projects could be replicated in other regions too,” he said.

For the first phase to identify opportunities, 15 bids for Chennai were received for the call of action. Two teams with international and city-based voluntary organisations and academic institutions were chosen to develop innovative and comprehensive approaches to urban climate and water challenges.

Other partners include 100 Resilient Cities. The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and Dutch Development Bank will help identify the projects.

The teams will come up with ideas after a nine-month-long collaboration. Though they would study the issues broadly on ‘Rising Waters, Raising Futures’, addressing floods, and ‘City of 1,000 tanks’, the teams would analyse various aspects, including socio-economic, cultural and environmental factors, said Mr. Ovink.

“Chennai was chosen for its capacity to understand and manage its resources,” said Mr. Ovink. It has a unique geographical condition with many urban hotspots. Challenges in coastal, riverine and the water bodies front need to be addressed, he said.

Each team will bring in three to five project proposals. The initiative will involve collaboration with various agencies, including government and financial institutions. “This will be an ongoing process to turn a comprehensive strategy into reality and make the city less vulnerable. There can be no one big solution to address the water challenges,” he added.