Ahmedabad: Speaking at the National Urban Conclave & Mayoral Summit 2025 in Ahmedabad, D. Thara, Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), emphasized the urgent need for citizens to take shared responsibility in building sustainable and climate-resilient cities.

Addressing mayors, urban planners, and delegates from across India, Thara said that the traditional notion of government-led urban development—where municipal bodies alone handle roads, water supply, sanitation, and infrastructure—must now evolve. “The future demands a paradigm shift where citizens also account for their own consumption, waste generation, and environmental footprint,” she said.

Highlighting the issue of urban flooding and congestion, she remarked that people often blame authorities for waterlogging or traffic while contributing to these problems through poor planning and paving their houses so that water flows outside.

“Until now, governments and urban local bodies have played a major role. Now, citizens will have to take accountability themselves. Rain falls everywhere; electricity can be generated everywhere through solar panels. The system is gradually shifting from a centralized to a decentralized model, with wards and clusters forming zones. These zones are still large, but if we break them down further, each ward generating waste can be held accountable. Producers’ responsibility will have to be enforced. We are not saying people shouldn’t generate waste; rather, we must account for the water and waste we consume or retain at home. We also need to take some responsibility.

“As citizens, we are both citizens and part of the administration….We stand in traffic and complain about congestion, even while sitting in our own cars. I also did the same today. We need to look at the entire issue holistically,” she said.

She cited Ahmedabad’s achievements in affordable housing and urban planning as a model, crediting the city’s conditional zoning policies that kept the slum population below 10 percent. However, she also stressed the need to improve walkability and adopt sustainable practices such as rainwater harvesting, decentralized waste management, and community-level energy grids under programs like Suryaghar Yojana.

“Climate-resilient planning is not a government or European concept—it begins at home. We must learn to design our own houses with green surroundings, tolerate seasonal changes, and innovate solutions like reusing greywater from washing machines for flushing,” Thara said, urging citizens to view urban sustainability as a shared responsibility.

Concluding her address, she remarked, “Government will continue to invest and support, but now the time has come for citizens to build the cities of the future. Accountability is our collective strength—and that’s what Gujarat stands for.”