NMCG Approves Annual Master Plan To Promote River-Sensitive Urban Planning Under RCA
The National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) has approved the annual master plan under the River Cities Alliance (RCA) to chart a roadmap of initiatives to be undertaken across the year.
As per the Jal Shakti Ministry, the plan focuses on integrating river-sensitive urban planning within India’s growing cities. It encompasses a series of capacity-building programs, knowledge exchange platforms, development of technical tools, expert guidance, and thematic case studies.
The Ministry highlighted that the promotion of river considerations within city master plans through the organisation of River-Sensitive Master Planning training programs across states will also be in focus this year.
To support the formulation of Urban River Management Plans, the NMCG will conduct training sessions, including onboarding programs specifically for RCA cities in Tamil Nadu, with further sessions planned for additional states.
The URMP framework, launched in 2020 by National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA) and NMCG, represents a first-of-its-kind approach to ensure that environmental, economic, and social dimensions are considered in the urban management of rivers. Five cities—Kanpur, Ayodhya, Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar, Moradabad, and Bareilly—have already developed their URMPs, setting the benchmark for other urban centres. Notably, Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar’s Kham River Restoration Mission was globally recognised by the World Resources Institute’s Ross Center Prize for Cities, underlining the transformative potential of this initiative.
The year ahead will also see the development of 25 more URMPs as part of the first phase of a larger mission to create 60 such plans across India over the next two to three years. Supported by the World Bank, this initiative marks a bold step in deepening river-sensitive urban governance. Steering Committees have already been constituted in states like Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and West Bengal to facilitate plan formulation and guide implementation.
In alignment with the Hon’ble Prime Minister’s vision, the NMCG is also steering the development of a URMP for the national capital. This initiative seeks to redefine Delhi’s rivers as vital ecosystems and not just water channels, paving the way for sustainable and inclusive urban river management in alignment with national environmental priorities. The URMP in Delhi will serve as a model for other metropolitan cities, anchoring the vision of resilient and river-sensitive urban development.
