Sponge City, a pathbreaking sustainability solution to mitigating floods and addressing water scarcity, will be presented at the Innovation Week – Sharjah by impact-maker Dake Rechsand in conjunction with the UAE Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure (MOEI).
Dake Rechsand along with the UAE’s MOEI, is representing ‘Sponge City’ at the Innovation Week – Sharjah. The event is facilitating multi-stake holder participation for socioeconomic impact. Sponge City, promoted by Dake Rechsand in the form of its proprietary product IDer, has emerged as a pathbreaking solution to mitigating floods and simultaneously addressing water scarcity.
The Innovation Week, helmed by MOEI kickstarted on 21st and will get over on 23rd February 2023. Under the tutelage of H. E. Suhail bin Mohammed al Mazroui, Minister of Energy and Infrastructure – UAE, The Innovation Week aims to mobilize stakeholders from across the public and private sectors for collaborative efforts toward sustainability. Shaikhah Alshehhi, representing the Financial Investment Department of MOEI, joins Chandra Dake, CEO of Dake Rechsand, in presenting Sponge City to attendees.
“Sponge City ticks several sustainability boxes — social, economic, and environmental — that are topical to regional issues: Water scarcity and recurrent flooding. Such issues have grown in severity in recent years, underscoring the need for actionable solutions, such as Sponge City. To that end, the Innovation Week couldn’t come at a better time. By touching upon demonstrated outcomes, we intend to raise awareness about the solution at the event,” opined Chandra Dake, CEO of Dake Rechsand.
Sponge Cities, by design, are expansive areas where permeable pavers absorb rainwater and either drain it to proper sewers or store it in underground reservoirs. The harvested rainwater — the purest form of natural water — helps enhance water security. So, Sponge City is an interdisciplinary solution, finding applications in decentralized rainwater harvesting as well as stormwater management.
Sponge City, a new urban development model is aimed at creating sustainable and resilient urban environments by utilizing technologies such as permeable roads, honeycomb water storage, rain gardens, and ground water recharging to manage stormwater, reduce runoff, improve water quality, and increase green spaces, alleviating flooding, water scarcity, and stormwater pollution.
“We are glad to associate with the Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure (MOEI) in its concrete efforts to enable multi-stake holder participation. The private sector’s competency in developing actionable solutions needs top-down undertaking from governing bodies for maximum impact. My gratitude to MOEI for not only recognizing the need for multi-stake holder participation but also creating an avenue to facilitate it,” added Chandra Dake.
