Stakeholder consultation for preparation of a Master Plan to develop Haridwar and Rishikesh as Solar cities

The Solar Cities project is a program from MNRE wherein a total 60 cities/towns have been proposed for development. TERI, has developed Master Plans for three cities viz. Gandhi Nagar, Chandigarh and Faridabad and is presently developing for Haridwar along with Rishikesh. Under this, TERI in association with Haridwar Municipal Corporation and Uttarakhand Renewable Energy Development Agency (UREDA) organized a Consultative Stakeholder workshop for the preparation of a Master Plan to develop Haridwar and Rishikesh as Solar Cities, on June 14, 2013. This half day program was attended by representatives from the Municipality of Haridwar and Nagar Nigam Rishikesh; Hotels and Ashrams, industries, JNNURM project proponents, private consultants etc.

The event was inaugurated with the opening remarks by Haridwar City Magistrate in which he cited the importance of this task in the development of the city. Further, in his speech, Mr C P Agrawal, Chief Project Officer, UREDA gave a background of the assignment in order to sensitize the audience.

The presentation covered the concept of 'Solar cities' and the draft master plan prepared by TERI, which consists of baseline study of the two cities, current level of development, and interventions proposed, along with Case Studies. Further discussions took place during the events along with suggestions from participants.