A special workshop was conducted in Glasgow under the aegis of Centre for Ganga River Basin Management and Studies (cGanga), IIT Kanpur on January 19, as an extension of the collaborative work being done by India and Scotland to conserve and develop River Ganga and River Clyde in their respective countries.

The two countries took the opportunity to share their knowledge as well as technology that could help address the challenges in the direction of river conservation.

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The workshop, which was held in the Rangers Football Club, saw illustrious personalities like G Asok Kumar, Director General, NMCG, and Founding Director of Centre for Ganga Basin Management and Studies (cGanga) Prof. Vinod Tare of IIT Kanpur, addressing the gathering there.

The workshop saw participation of the representatives of administrative and non-administrative organisations working in the area of river management and welfare of River Clyde in Scotland, researchers working on river science, and representatives of private companies working on environment and river conservation. The constitution of the Ganga-Clyde Environment and Economic Partnership (GCEEP) Forum was also officially announced at the workshop.

The purpose of the constitution of this forum was to encourage bilateral trade, investment and exchange of knowledge between the two countries. Sanmit Ahuja, who is an expert of C-Ganga, also gave a presentation on the Ganga-Clyde Environment and Economic Partnership Forum at the event.

The foundation of the collaborative project between India and Scotland was laid in 2017, and the agreement signed between Hydronation Initiative of Scotland and Government of India was also documented in 2017. National Mission for Clean Ganga and IIT Kanpur’s Centre for Ganga Basin Management and Studies, representing the Government of India, shared techniques that would aid in river conservation as well as the new experiments in this direction with the James Hutton Institute of Scotland.

Following the collaboration between India and Scotland, Glasgow hosted the COP26 conference in November 2021. It organised Ganga Connect exhibition and road show at the venue under the joint sponsorship of the local Indian Embassy and National Mission for Clean Ganga and C-Ganga. An exhibition, centering on Ganga, was also organised in London as well. The Indian Economic Embassy of Edinburg followed it up with a round table-conference in November 2022, which was participated by 25 Scottish companies working in the field of environment. Now, the conduction of this workshop is another step in strengthening this collaboration.