The Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCC&I), in collaboration with The Energy and Resources institute (TERI), hosted the first pre-event in the run-up to the next edition of the World Sustainable Development Summit (WSDS) slated for February, 2018 in New Delhi, the new personification of TERI’s annual flagship event, (http://wsds.teriin.org/#) which BCC&I is partnering.

The Regional Dialogue, themed, ‘Urban Landscapes: Transformative Approaches’ was held on 28th February 2017 at Salon 175 in The Bengal Club. The Inaugural Session was graced by Shri Basudeb Banerjee, IAS, Chief Secretary, Government of West Bengal; Mr. Arnab Roy, IAS, Principal Secretary, Environment, Government of West Bengal; Dr. Ajay Mathur, Director General, TERI and Mr. Nazeeb Arif, Executive Vice President Corporate Communications, ITC Limited.

The Valedictory Address was delivered by Dr Sanjeev Chopra, IAS, Additional Chief Secretary to the Government of West Bengal. The Kolkata Regional Dialogue was the first in a series of dialogues to be hosted later in the calendar year in the Indian urban conglomerates of Mumbai and Bengaluru. This series of Dialogues will address key urban issues related to the realms of Waste, Water Management and Sustainable Habitat.

This session brought together experts working on various issues at the urban level, to discuss the various facets and challenges we face and find solutions to them.

The Chamber’s publication “Environmental Appraisal and Planning – A Treatise” was released on the occasion of this programme by Shri Basudeb Banerjee, IAS, Chief Secretary, Government of West Bengal.

The Session on “Sustainable Waste Management – Transformative Approaches” was moderated by Mr. Aloke Mookherjea, Past President, The Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Dr. Suneel Pandey, Director-GGRE, TERI and Mr. Sourav Daspatnaik, CEO, Swach Environment Pvt. Ltd. joined as Speakers.

The Session on “Urban Water Management” was moderated by Mr. Arun Kumar Mukherjee, Chairperson Emeritus, Energy and Environment Committee, The Bengal Chamber. The speakers included Mr. Anshuman, Associate Director-WR & Forestry, TERI; Mr. B K Maity, Director General (Water Supply), Kolkata Municipal Corporation; Prof. Somnath Sen, from IIT Kharagpur, West Bengal and Mr. Nirmal Mallick, CEO, Naba Diganta Water Management Ltd. Kolkata.

The Session on “Transformative Habitats” was moderated by Ms. Shakuntala Ghosh, Partner, Ghosh, Bose & Associates Architects. The Speakers included Mr. Sanjay Seth, CEO, GRIHA Council, TERI; Mr. Harsh Vardhan Patodia, Vice President, Credai National and Chairman & MD Unimark Group; Mr. Debashish Das, BIM Manager, AECOM.

There was also a special session on “Energy Basket of India- Innovations for Clean and Sustainable Practices” which was moderated by Mr. Deb A Mukherjee, Chairperson, Energy and Environment Committee, The Bengal Chamber. Mr. Rounak Bandhopadhyay, Regional Manager, West Bengal & North Eastern States, EESL and Mr. Boben Anto, Chief Operating Officer, India Uniper Power Service Ltd. were the speakers. A film on “UK-KMC Programme on Low Carbon and Climate Resilient Kolkata” was also shown in the programme which was introduced by Ms. Haimanti Poddar, British Deputy High Commission in Kolkata.