OPINION | Why India’s Cities Need Water-Wise Urban Planning Before It’s Too Late
By Sunil Pandita
While the cities of India grow, their thirst for water is becoming one of the most critical issues in our cities today. By 2030, according to NITI Aayog, water demand is expected to double in Indian cities. Urbanisation, climate uncertainty, and old water infrastructure are affecting the entire water ecosystem.
However, the solution is not simply to build more reservoirs or pipelines, but to manage water more intelligently, from the very beginning.
Resilience At The Core
It is a reminder that urban planning must have water resilience at its very core. Here, Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) technology is becoming an essential facilitator. With the utilisation of Building Information Modelling (BIM) and Digital Twin technology, designers can include water management in the actual design and implementation of urban developments.
What this implies is that water consumption, recycling infrastructure, stormwater management, and flood resilience control can be simulated, tested, and optimised well before development work starts.
Cities such as Singapore have shown the way in how digital planning can lead to near self-reliance in water through a combination of harvesting rainwater, recycling wastewater, and desalination — all integrated into infrastructure plans. In India, visionary projects are now starting to explore similar thinking.
For instance, greenfield smart cities are considering real-time tracking of water flow and quality by using IoT-facilitated Digital Twins, so that every drop is tracked and reused wherever possible.
The opportunity for impact is immense. Research indicates that the use of BIM on infrastructure projects can shorten construction times by around 20 per cent, as well as minimise operational inefficiencies that result in water losses.
The Rs 48,000+ crore Google Visakhapatnam Data Centre project, with its combined renewable power and sustainability master plan, is a good example of how mega-infrastructure can tie resource efficiency from inception. Whereas this initiative is energy-centred, the same concepts of up-front digital planning apply — and should be applied — to urban water networks as well.
High Stakes, Higher Gains
Water-sensitive urban planning is not merely reacting to shortage; it is creating climate-resilient cities where water is treated as a shared, conserved resource.
To do this will take cooperation between municipal authorities, private developers, and technology collaborators, as well as regulatory incentives that promote sustainable design.
Suppose the adoption of BIM and Digital Twin becomes the standard and not the exception. In that case, India can bypass conventional urban planning paradigms and build cities where water moves sustainably for generations to come.
The stakes are big, but so is the gain. If India's cities embrace AEC technology today, they can ensure each litre of water is utilised with precision, efficiency, and vision, and set an example for the rest of the world to grow without running dry.
(The author is the New Chief Division Officer for the Planning & Design Division and Digital Twin Business Unit Nemetschek Group)
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