Water and Maritime - India
Water is life !
India and the Netherlands have a long-standing strategic partnership on water to cope with the water challenges: too much, too little and too dirty water.
‘Knowledge exchange’ is key outline of this bilateral partnership.
India-Netherlands Strategic Water Partnership
The framework of our Strategic Water Partnership is knowledge exchange for mutual benefit. The focus of our strategic water partnership is on water safety and water security; to address water related challenges and promoting sustainable development, to meet the needs of people and ecosystems.
We are actively working with National Mission for Clean Ganga, State Government of Kerala, West Bengal (Sundarbans), Uttar Pradesh (Prayagraj) and Tamil Nadu (Chennai).
The Netherlands is a member country of CDRI (Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure) and is co-creating the Urban Water Infrastructure Resilience Programme, directed at making water infrastructure more resilient against water related hazards.
Water-Resilience Initiatives to secure our water future
Our cooperation with National Mission for Clean Ganga, New Delhi
Under the India-Netherlands Strategic Water Partnership (SWP), we are developing a new framework for cooperation, including the establishment of a "Centre of Excellence" on Water with NMCG (Ministry of Jal Shakti), as agreed by the two ministers. This approach will bring together all components and areas of collaboration under one umbrella.
The Centre of Excellence will serve as an accelerator, focusing on various topics of water management (including cross-sectoral) and encompassing projects related to policy, research, implementation, and innovation. It will also provide a platform for Dutch Water Technology, including startups and projects funded by the NL government, fostering knowledge sharing. It will also strengthen the Urban River Management Plan – Water as Leverage process in Prayagraj.
Our Cooperation with Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI)
The Netherlands is a member country of Govt. of India led organisation i.e. CDRI focusing on disaster resilient infrastructure. The Netherlands resonates with the objectives of CDRI and therefore working together on co-creating a capacity building / training module for Urban Water Infrastructure Resilience (UWIR). The training modules focus on 4 key topics i.e. Water Governance, Finance, Nature-based Solutions, and Risk Assessment.
Our cooperation in Sundarbans, with Government of West Bengal:
Flood Resilience and Nature-based Solutions
Water security is a prerequisite to allow for any sustainable development in the Sundarban delta. To realise a freshwater environment for habitation and agriculture on the islands, dikes need to be safe and strong, where possible combined with Nature-Based Solutions.
A Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) mission was mobilized by the Dutch Govt. in 2022, following which the cooperation has been extended to the West Bengal Govt. The scope of this cooperation has been to assist the design engineers of the West Bengal Irrigation and Waterways Department in hands-on technical assistance to improve their capacity in planning, design, construction preparation and logistics and monitoring of flood resilience interventions in the Sundarbans Delta. The cooperation aims at providing IWD engineers improved knowledge on conventional (hard) and application of Nature -Based Solutions for flood protection and anti-erosion works in the Sundarbans delta.
Our cooperation with Government of Kerala:
Integrated Water Resources Management and Integrated Coastal Zone Management
Following the major floods in Kerala in 2018, a Netherlands Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) team was mobilized. The DRR team advised on how to increase flood risk management at the request of the Government of Kerala. Together, we have been working on a flood management programme which consisted of two primary themes i.e. Integrated Water Resources Management and Integrated Coastal Zone Management. Two tailor-made trainings have been organized by IHE Delft and capacity building initiatives on ICZM will be provided by Dutch experts in the near future.
Maritime
India’s maritime sector is a robust engine of the nation’s development and plays a pivotal role in its overall trade growth. The Ministry of Ports, Shipping & Waterways (MoPSW) of India has undertaken various initiatives and formulated comprehensive policies and programmes through key interventions. The ‘Maritime India Vision (MIV) 2030’ released in February 2021 translates this vision to a blueprint with 150 initiatives, suggesting coordinated and accelerated growth over the next decade across the various maritime subsectors like Ports, Shipping, and Waterways.
As India seeks to enrich its cooperation with advanced maritime countries for collaborations, the Netherlands is willing to pose as a preferred knowledge, implementation, and co-development partner to India. Thus providing further impetus to our engagements, by leveraging expertise and offering our assistance to the Indian maritime sector in its growth trajectory towards a globally competitive maritime nation.