Bhubaneswar: The Odisha Housing & Urban Development Department will host the ‘Odisha Urban Conclave 2026’, a review-cum-orientation programme for Urban Local Bodies (ULBs), at the Convention Centre Auditorium of Lok Seva Bhawan here on August 23.
The day-long conclave will bring together senior administrators, urban planners, municipal leaders and engineering officials to review ongoing urban development interventions, assess field-level challenges and set priorities for faster and more effective urban transformation across the state.
The programme will begin with an inaugural address by the Housing & Urban Development Minister, followed by a presentation by the Additional Chief Secretary on key governance priorities.
The conclave will deliberate on several aspects of urban governance, including augmentation of ULB revenue, Standard Operating Procedures for Town Planning Schemes in Tier-II and Tier-III cities, Samruddha Sahar, the Urban Challenge Fund and infrastructure development under the Mukhyamantri Sahari Bikas Yojana (MSBY).
Other sessions will focus on water body rejuvenation under AMRUT 2.0, urban flood mitigation, pedestrian-friendly mobility and expansion of city bus services through the Capital Region Urban Transport (CRUT). Welfare initiatives such as PM SVANidhi, Shelters for Urban Homeless and Aahaar will also come up for discussion.
Parallel technical sessions will take up used water management, compliance related to Solid Waste Management and housing initiatives under PMAY-U 2.0.
The conclave will also undertake a focused review of low-performing ULBs to identify bottlenecks and facilitate timely corrective measures. At the same time, best practices adopted by better-performing urban local bodies will be showcased for possible replication across the state.
The department said the conclave is envisaged as a platform to strengthen coordination and institutional capacity while promoting responsive, resilient, financially sustainable and citizen-centric urban governance in Odisha.
