Udaipur, India
In 2016, we entered into a Strategic Sector Cooperation with Aarhus Municipality and the city of Udaipur in India about development on the infrastructure of their water sector. The three Strategic Sector Cooperations have recently been renewed for four more years with a new grant of 56 million DKK.
The water resources in India are scarce and their water management lacks in all areas of the water cycle. A national focus area is bringing down their water loss and securing enough drinking water for everyone by taking care of their resources. Also, handling of sanitation and wastewater as well as establishing sanitary systems for everyone is essential. Last, they need to be able to manage rainfall in the bigger cities. Aarhus Municipality is the project leader on these Strategic Sector Cooperations, but Aarhus Vand also benefits from the projects as we are sharing our knowledge and solutions to improve their living conditions.
Changing the infrastructure and management of the water cycle has to come from the top in India, which we as partners have found out during the first phase of this cooperation that were primarily concerned with the city of Udaipur. Therefore, the next phase will take the project higher and focus on knowledge sharing and establishment of better solutions at the regional level by cooperating with the Government of Rajasthan. This is done with help from the program, AMRUT 2.0, which is a national program established to lift the water management in all of India and, therefore, also important for our strategic cooperation to be a part of. The cooperation with Rajasthan has ultimately strengthened the initiatives we have already established in Udaipur.
In Aarhus we have special competencies about water management, which can inspire and create value other places around the world. The cooperation with India is a good example of a strong cooperation, where we are contributing with knowledge and solutions, that support a sustainable, global development.
The cooperation with Udaipur & Rajasthan has three tracks regarding different areas within the water cycle. Our work focuses on drinking water, wastewater and climate, whereas each track has a different expected outcome for both us and Udiapur. We are working with energy production and energy optimization at the wastewater facilities, which is inspired by the self-sufficiency at the facilities in Aarhus. Also, they find great inspiration in the knowledge and experience with the Aarhus River project as they are developing the areas around the Ayad River in Udaipur.
Track A: Drinking water
The focus of this track is on water efficiency measures such as non-revenue water reduction and the efficiency of distribution. Also, it focuses on water security through improving water resource planning and management in terms of mapping potential surface and groundwater resources. The expected and intended outcome of this track is improved security and quality of drinking water services as well as bringing down the current water loss.
Track B: Wastewater
This is a pilot wastewater project, which focuses on sewage planning and sustainable sludge management in terms of building the capacity of turning wastewater into energy as well as the sewage planning, handling and treatment in Rajasthan. The expected outcome of this track is improved water quality by reducing the proportion of untreated wastewater as well as production of green energy through an optimized facility process.
Track C: Climate
This track focuses on supporting the city with a design for rejuvenation of a river stretch through a demonstration project as well as exchanging experiences in regulation for tender specifications on river rejuvenation. Also, it focuses on the development of urban liveability through nature-based solutions. The outcome of this track is the enhancement of the liveability in the rivers and the blue-green solutions in urban areas.
