Two pilot initiatives have been undertaken in Solapur city. While one looks at safeguarding the common water resource of a lake in the rural area through bio-remediation of waste water flowing in (supply side water resource protection), the other looks at reducing urban water demand by using roof top rain water harvesting in municipal schools (demand side management).

The pilot project on rooftop rainwater harvesting assessed the potential of roof top rain water harvesting for ground water recharge for 25 Solapur Municipal Corporation (SMC) buildings, and implemented roof top rain water harvesting for ground water recharge at one municipal school complex in Solapur. The other project on low cost wastewater treatment plant using constructed wetland systems at Talehipparga village, has helped to treat waste water entering into the Ekrukh (Hipparga) Lake from village Tale Hipparga at Solapur.

ICLEI South Asia, Solapur Zilla Parishad and Solapur Municipal Corporation (SMC) organised the 3rd RURBAN meeting in Solapur on the 6^th of March, 2020. The meeting was organised to deliver the outcomes of the project and handover of the pilot projects executed under the project to the authorities.

Detailed discussion was carried out on the role of RURBAN platform after the closure of IAdapt project. Mr. Sachin Jadhav, District Program Manager – Swachh Bharat Mission agreed to take these initiatives forward through the Namami Chandrabhaga Project of state government to reduce pollution load on the river. It was also proposed by the district water and sanitation mission cell to use the constructed wetland – one of the pilot project as a model site to showcase low cost treatment facility. Hon’ble Mayor of SMC Mrs. Srikanchana Yamman and Commissioner Mr. Deepak Taware appreciated the hydrological and climate modeling conducted under this project and committed to work further on the action plan provided in Integrated Catchment Management Plan to get funding from various schemes.

The 4th RURBAN Meeting was held on 13th February 2020 at the end of all the project activities to showcase the outputs and key outcomes with the working group members. The meeting, chaired by P.S. Surya Prakash, CEO, Zilla Parishad, focused on next steps to be followed by the catchment managers to take the RURBAN meetings forward on their own.

The discussions provided a recap of overview of project outputs and key outcomes and the way forward for the catchment managers to hold RURBAN meetings, to use the CMP and to operate the DST. The working group members suggested hand holding by Athena Infonomics while the subsequent RURBAN meetings are planned and a knowledge transfer session with the working group on usage of WEAP software.

A training program was organized on Hydrological Modelling of Rurban Basins at Indian Institute of Technology, Chennai (IITM) on 5th and 6th February, 2020. The main objective of the training program was to build capacity of local governments to understand hydrological and climate considerations in water management at basin level. This training focused on simulations and its use in decision making and provided hands on training for operating simulation models. This training program was attended by the officials of Solapur Municipal Corporation, Solapur Zilla Parishad, Vijaywada Municipal Corporation and Vijaywada District.

An exposure visit by Solapur government officials to Vijayawada was organised on 7th February 2020. Four officials from Solapur travelled to Vijayawada to understand the water management initiatives and to encourage some cross learnings through shared dialogue. The participants visited the Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) centre in Vijayawada and met with senior officials from the Zilla Parishad and the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation..

ICLEI South Asia organised a training workshop on catchment level planning for management of water resources using the IAdapt Framework, a decision support tool for climate adaptive interventions of water management and financial modelling of waste water reuse in Solapur on 19-20 December 2019. The workshop, organised at the Zilla Parishad, Solapur (ZPS), was chaired by Sri Prakash T. Vaichal, CEO, ZPS, Mr. Vijay Londhe, Deputy CEO, ZPS, and Mr. Ajaysingh Vijaysingh Pawar, Chief Advisor and Deputy Commissioner, Solapur Municipal Corporation (SMC). It addressed the participants from the RURBAN committee, including water and sanitation department engineers, environmental engineers from ZPS; municipal engineers from the public health and engineering department and SMC, and Gram Sevak, Tale Hipparga village. Students from Dayanand College also attended the training workshop.

The second RURBAN platform meeting was organized by Athena Infonomics in Vijayawada under the chairmanship of District Collector of Krishna District at his camp office on the13th of September. Around 25 participants attended the meeting, including rural and urban catchment managers. The Catchment Management Plan and the Decision Support tool was presented at the meeting. The prioritised interventions were discussed with all the participants. The meeting also provided the much need buy in from officials to formalize the RURBAN Platform through a government order. Following this meeting, the RURBAN Committee was institutionalised by the District Collector in Vijayawada.

A Decision Support Tool (DST) has been developed in August 2019 to review proposed investments in water management by the RURBAN Platform members.

The tool is aimed at promoting equitable outcomes on allocation and use of water resource among all catchment stakeholders. It aids decision makers in introducing adaptations for each stakeholder group and assist in prioritization based on risk assessments and stakeholder inputs. The tool captures impacts of climate change on water resources and develops innovative and equitable responses to meet the water demand. The DST brings about a paradigm shift towards scientific and informed decision making processes in the local bodies.

ICLEI South Asia organised the second RURBAN meeting in Solapur on 2nd March 2019, in collaboration with Smart City Cell of Solapur. Ms Shobha Banashetti, Mayor, Solapur Municipal Corporation (SMC), inaugurated the meeting that was attended by 25 stakeholders representing governing authorities from the cities, villages and district level departments. The meeting discussed and verified information collected on water resources and allied sectors and executed a climate vulnerability assessment for the water resources of Solapur in consultation with the RURBAN members.

A focus group discussion was organised on 11th of February 2019 in the office of the CEO, Zilla Parishad, Solapur. The discussions centred on the activities that were undertaken in Solapur region to implement IAdapt tools. Programmes that were being implemented and proposed at the district level and opportunities to integrate with the district government were also discussed. Mr. Vijay Londhe, Deputy CEO, Zilla Parishad, Solapur, presided over the meeting, which was attended by officials and engineers from the District Water and Sanitation Mission Cell. The meeting also discussed on the mechanisms to promote integrated water resource management across jurisdictional boundaries.

Representatives of ICLEI South Asia met officials of the Water and Sanitation Support Organisation (WSSO) of Maharashtra on the 8th of February 2019 at Navi Mumbai. This state level review meeting was chaired by the Director, WSSO. Through the coarse of the discussions, updates on the project activities undertaken in Solapur, including micro-catchment selection, formation of RURBAN platform, assessment of water resources through the climate lens, prioritised projects, capacity building and awareness activities were provided. The meeting also focussed on the next steps in the project as well as the possibility of carrying out such work in other areas of the state.

Catchment managers of Vijayawada micro-catchment area undertook an exposure visit to Hyderabad on the 21 st of January 2019, to study some of the best practices in urban water management, being implemented there. Two officials from Vijayawada Municipal Corporation, and one official from Water Resources Department also accompanied them. The visitors met Dr. Dinesh Kumar of Institute for Resource Analysis and Policy and discussed various aspects of integrated water management. Following this, the team visited a sewage treatment plant at Amberpet. The lake restoration site at Durgam Cheruvu, where an STP of capacity 5 MLD has been constructed was also showcased. During the tour, the participants also interacted with the Chief General Manager, Revenue at Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board and discussed issues related to tariff structure, technology and payment modes.

An exposure visit to Nagpur was organised on 22nd to 24th October 2018 by ICLEI-South Asia under the IAdapt project for municipal officials of Solapur in order to see best practices in sustainable water management, interact with local government officials from Nagpur involved in water management and to learn about technological progress in the field of water and waste water management from National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI).

Solapur Municipal Corporation (SMC) nominated three officials of Public Health and Engineering Department looking after water and waste water management in the city who are involved in day to day operation of water management as well as new projects proposed under Smart Cities Mission and Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) mission. The learnings from this exposure visit was useful to implement projects in pipeline in Solapur with better understanding and improved planning.

All project partners visited the Vijayawada micro-catchment on the 9th of October 2018. During the visit, they interacted with the village sarpanch of Jekkulanekkulam village and a few farmers to understand the prevailing agriculture and irrigation methods and the challenges faced with regard to the same. Project partners also visited the sewerage treatment plant in Ajith Singh Nagar. Detailed discussions on the water treatment process, SCADA monitoring, water-quality testing facilities, and the supply and distribution system for the city were carried out with the head of water works of Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC). Meetings were also held with Additional Commissioner, VMC and project director, District Water Management Agency, Krishna district.

The Urban Institute, a research organisation in the US, collaborated with Athena Infonomics to allow the students to study the RURBAN experiment attempted under the IAdapt initiative and to evaluate its relevance and sustainability to promote greater co-ordination in water management. As part of this programme, four students, pursuing international development studies at George Washington University, Washington D.C visited India for 10 days, of which they spent a week in Vijayawada, the project site. They participated in the stakeholder consultations with state, district, city and mandal-level catchment managers, farmer groups and rural people as part of their final project work with the Urban Institute.

Rural stakeholders in Gannavaram mandal of the pilot micro-catchment in Vijayawada attended a training session on integrated water resources management on the 11th of July 2018. The catchment managers shared their issues and challenges in watershed management, participatory groundwater management and rain-fed agriculture with experts. Best practices on demand side management in rural household use, adaptive water management for agriculture, participatory watershed and groundwater management and crop water budgeting were also discussed. The session was attended by over 30 people, including Gannavaram mandal parishad president, mandal parishad development officer and ex-chairman of the zilla parishad, and sarpanchs and panchayat secretaries of the villages.

C. R. Babu, Professor Emeritus, Centre for Environmental Management of Degraded Ecosystems, Delhi University, and Ex-Pro-Vice-Chancellor, and Dr Vijay Kumar, Assistant Professor, Shivaji College, Delhi University, accompanied a team from ICLEI South Asia to Ekrukh lake, Tale Hippargha and Haglur villages. The visit aimed at identifying pilot projects in the Solapur micro-catchment area, which will help to reduce pollution in Ekrukh Lake. Professor Babu interacted with the local officials and the villagers in Tale Hippargha and Haglur to understand prevelant water-related issues and challenges. He recommended ecological restoration of the lake through constructed wetlands. Three potential sites for project implementation have been identified near Ekrukh Lake.

ICLEI South Asia organised a training programme for women from Mahila Bachat Gat in Haglur village on the 28 th of September 2018. The training was conducted by Mr. Mahesh Sudhakar Siddheshwar, President, Appropriate Rural Technology Institute (ARTI), Pune. More than 50 women from two villages (Haglur and Ekrukh) participated in the training programme. Various wet waste management techniques such as composting and production of biogas for use in cooking were demonstrated at the training programme. Some economical methods for constructing rainwater harvesting structures were also showcased.

ICLEI South Asia and Solapur Municipal Corporation (SMC) jointly organised a training programme on solid waste management and rainwater harvesting for women from economically weaker sections and Self-Help Groups formedunder the National Urban Livelihood Mission. Held on the 27th of September 2018 in SMC, the training was chaired by Mr Trimbak Dhengale-Patil, Deputy Commissioner, SMC. Mr Vishali Awad, Technical Expert, NULM, SMC, and Mr Mahesh Sudhakar Siddheshwar, President, Appropriate Rural Technology Institute (ARTI), were also present. The training was provided by ARTI. More than 70 women, municipal sanitary workers and NULM officials attended the training programme. ARTI demonstrated techniques for managing solid waste, besides wet waste management methods. Mr Siddheshwar also explained various ways of constructing rainwater harvesting structures, such as storage tanks, and filtration processes like sand filtration.

ICLEI South Asia organised a two-day training workshop on acoustic leak detection for water supply networks in Solapur City on the 25th and 26th of September 2018. Taisei International, Hyderabad, provided the technical training. Mr Gangadhar M Dulenge, Head, Public Health and Engineering Department, Solapur Municipal Corporation (SMC) and Additional Director, Town and Country Planning (TCPO), SMC, chaired the event. More than 40 municipal engineers and 20 zonal heads of water works attended the workshop. Onsite training for municipal engineers was conducted on the second day of the event.

ICLEI South Asia conducted a training programme on Awareness and Improvement of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) in schools in the rural areas of Ekrukh micro-catchment in Solapur, involving schoolchildren, women’s groups, youth clubs and local authorities. More than 120 participants attended the training and awareness activities conducted in Ekrukh, Haglur and Tale Hipparga villages. The workshop was conducted on the 12th of July 2018 in a secondary school, Haglur village, Solapur. An animated film on sanitation and self-hygiene was shown to the students and children were sensitised about the importance of handwashing with soap, as a key approach to prevent diseases and to save water. They were also given training on waste segregation. The school was provided two dustbins to practice waste segregation within its premises. In addition, a quiz on solid waste and water management and a drawing competition on themes of water management, hygiene and sanitation was held. Meetings and discussions were held with local women stakeholders and the Mahila Bachat Mandal about the project activities, the importance and methods of water conservation, management of wastewater and solid waste and other major issues in their villages.

An inter-school drawing competition was organised by ICLEI South Asia with the support of Solapur Municipal Corporation at Solapur Municipal Corporation School Camp on 26th of July, 2018 under the IAdapt project. The aim was to generate awareness among school children’s, teachers and municipal education department staff on integrated water management approaches. Various activities were conducted with the school children such as training on WASH best practices, showing a movie and conducting quiz on water conservation, and conducting a drawing competition on clean environment and water for life.

ICLEI South Asia organised an exposure visit to BibiDarfal and Wadala villages on the 6th of June 2018. The participants included administrative and elected representatives of Tale Hipparga, Ekrukh and Haglur villages and Agriculture Officer for Integrated Watershed Management Programme from Solapur District Collectorate. In BibiDarfal, Mr Vishal Deshamukh, a local water conservation expert, explained the village topography and the problems of water availability, water pollution and wastewater management, which were causing health and agricultural problems. Lokmangal Foundation, a local NGO, had conducted extensive awareness campaigns in the village. Initiatives like widening of nallahs (stormwater drains), desiltation, plantation and compartment bunding, were undertaken in this village. These helped to recharge groundwater, wells and borewells, increased the farmers’ income and shortened the distance people had to travel to collect water. The extensive work on water conservation executed in Wadala, through people’s participation, has led to the success of the Wadala model for water conservation.

The first RURBAN platform meeting was conducted in Vijayawada under the chairmanship of District Collector of Krishna District at his camp office on the 22nd of May 2018. Around 35 participants attended the meeting, including rural and urban catchment managers to discuss participatory water resource management. The participants unanimously agreed that there is a need to work across jurisdictional boundaries and RURBAN platform provides the ideal environment for the same.

The first RURBAN Shared Learning Dialogue in Solapur under the IAdapt project was conducted on the 15 th of May 2018. The meeting was chaired by the Commissioner, Solapur Municipal Corporation (SMC) and was attended by officials from the departments of public health engineering, town planning and city health, municipal city engineer, development officers of Ekrukh, Haglur and Tale Hipparga villages and elected public representatives of two villages. Officials from water resources department, Maharashtra Jeevan Pradhikaran (Rural Water Supply) and the agriculture department, along with NGOs working in the micro-catchment, were also present. The stakeholders were introduced to the IAdapt Framework, and the results of baseline assessments, water balance analysis and hydrological and climate modelling that have been carried out in Solapur.