CHENNAI: Chennai’s first Chief Resilience Officer (CRO) eyes better solid waste management and water supply system as the first step towards making the city resilient. In a collaboration with various stakeholders, including government agencies like Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) and Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (CMWSSB) and NGOs, Rockefeller Foundation will be coordinating this initiative.
Out of the 1,000 odd cities that applied, only four Indian cities, including Chennai, were selected for this programme. Globally reputed experts along the likes of Waggonner & Ball Architects, New Orleans and Dutch think tank Deltares for creating urban resilience and importing knowledge through the network will be roped in.
An agenda-setting workshop was conducted in 2015 as a first step and the panel came up with three important recommendations - understanding waterbodies, establishing a link between existing water ecosystem and restoring Pallikaranai marshland which has saved Chennai from floods traditionally. The group of participants identified hurricane/typhoon/cyclone/monsoon, flooding, road accidents and heat waves as the ‘priority shocks’ in the city and overpopulation, pollution and environmental degradation, encroachment and unplanned growth, lack of affordable housing and traffic congestion as priority stresses.
“We are in the process of preparing a preliminary resilient assessment in which we will be identifying the strengths, weaknesses, map assets and risks and do a perception analysis,” said R Krishna Mohan, the city’s first CRO. He added that to enhance these actions within the strategy as a recommendation or we can link a potential platform partner to the action we will be able to that easily in the next phase.
Krishna also said that pilot projects would be introduced on the two key areas of focus - SWM and water management - and would expand to other areas based on the results.
The CRO’s role will primarily involve coordinating various government departments that have already taken up some works on the said lines and ensure that the progress can be achieved using their strategy in the next three years.