Himachal Pradesh to collaborate with Netherlands for urban development

SHIMLA: Himachal Pradesh government would work in collaboration with the Netherlands for preparing plans to deal with urban development issues, a state minister said today.

"The state would seek technical know-how from Netherlands for important sectors like solid waste management, urban and regional planning and city development plan," state Urban Development Minister Sudhir Sharma said here while presiding over the mutual cooperation conference.

"The state would seek cooperation from the European country in Water management, sewerage, transport management, saving of energy and capacity building sectors for its all urban local bodies," he said.

Sharma said garbage disposal was one of the major issues for which the state was looking forward to adopt the model of the Netherlands.

The Minister said the Netherlands had advanced in different sectors of urban development and there was a vast scope for the replication of advanced technologies and management practices in the state.

The conference was attended by the Ambassador of the Netherlands Alphonsus Stoelinga along with the business delegates of different companies from the European country.

Stoelinga said feasibility study would offer pragmatic key insights into the intrinsic value of waste as a resource, allowing the local authorities to come up with a strategic business model to manage their waste.