Rivers at Risk: Reassessing Riverfront Development, Ecology and Community Rights in India.
The month of July was largely dedicated to organising and conducting the second national consultation, Rivers at Risk: Reassessing Riverfront Development, Ecology and Community Rights in India. Held on 24- 25 July 2026 at the Indian Social Institute, Lodhi Road, New Delhi, the consultation was organised by PARISAR in collaboration with the People’s Resource Centre (PRC) and the Institute for Democracy and Sustainability (IDS). The two-day consultation brought together community leaders, researchers, academics, planners, engineers, journalists and campaigners working on rivers and river-dependent communities from different parts
of India. The conference was the culmination of several weeks of planning, coordination and preparation. The intention was not simply to hold a conference around the growing number of riverfront development projects across Indian cities, but to create a space where experiences from different regions could be brought together and examined collectively. The discussions focused on the ecological changes produced by riverfront development, the impact of infrastructure on river-dependent communities, and the ways in which rivers are increasingly being treated as sites for urban redevelopment, beautification and commercial activity.