The underutilised potential of sister cities in India

Partnerships and collaborations amongst cities are not new. They have been established since the start of this century. However, before the COVID-19 pandemic, their aim was limited to growth and development of the concerned cities. The pandemic made many cities realise that their sister cities can actually help them survive. Indian cities, however, are yet to realise the importance of the concept of sister cities and utilise them to their full potential

The COVID-19 pandemic has reminded the world of one of the greatest lessons in history– no man can live as an island. The pandemic proved that without strong collaborations between people, communities, cities and countries, an obstacle as fierce as the COVID-19 pandemic cannot be overcome. Since coronavirus reached India’s shores in January 2020, numerous cities have grappled with the burden of an ever-increasing caseload and crumbling health infrastructure. During such a time, what has come to the aid of most cities is knowledge and resource sharing, and adoption of best practices tried and tested by other cities.
With Bhilwara proactively containing the spread of the virus during the early days of the pandemic in India, several other cities like Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai followed suit. The information shared by the Bhilwara district administration and the lessons learnt by the urban local bodies of other cities played a vital role in keeping the virus spread steady at the time. However, what must be noted here is that the sharing of information and best practices between Bhilwara and other cities was neither formal, not established through proper channels. It was simply based on what the media reported and what the ULBs of other cities understood. Even though the virus spread in other cities was much more violent in comparison to Bhilwara, it could have been reduced had an established medium of knowledge sharing been used by the concerned cities.
A similar case was seen when the city administration of Seoul, capital of South Korea, set up hundreds of drive-in testing centres across the city in order to increase the testing infrastructure of the city as much as possible. This helped the city become one of the first globally to have flattened the curve of coronavirus in the early stages of the pandemic. Soon, this model of temporary drive-in testing centres were adopted everywhere across the world. In India, the first city to do this was Delhi where one private lab came up with the idea and established the first drive-in COVID-19 testing centre at Siri Fort Auditorium.
What must be noted in both the cases is that there was no formal exchange of ideas or information between the cities. No one simplified medium was established by any city in the two examples stated above which could have facilitated sharing of actual on-ground data. It is obvious that if the city implementing a strategy put to use in another city had on-ground data and statistics, it would be better equipped to mould the idea to suit its own needs and obstacles.
This brings us to question the role of sister cities and how it could have come in handy at a time like this. The concept of sister cities is quite unique and entails that cities form partnerships amongst themselves and share knowledge, best practices, resources, manpower and technologies with each other. One city can have multiple sister cities, as is the case with the city of Mumbai, which has nine sister cities across the world, the highest for any Indian city. The very essence of the sister cities concept was that cities, which may even be in different continents, share and help one another grow and develop. Thus, their role during a pandemic would be heightened, considering the disease caught every city unaware and unprepared.
Regardless, examples of any Indian city helping or getting help from a sister city are yet to come to light, despite 42 Indian cities having over 90 sister cities across the world. In the case of cities from other countries, the scenario was different altogether.
When China was witnessing record-high COVID-19 infections last year, the Canadian city of Markham raised $20,000 in a dinner event for its sister city of Wuhan. When the pandemic came under control in Wuhan, the city returned the favour by supplying 12,000 surgical masks to the frontline workers in Markham. This, according to administrations of both the cities, helped them greatly in curbing the virus spread. The funds collected by Markham helped Wuhan purchase essential supplies while the masks supplied by Wuhan helped Markham in safeguarding the lives of their frontline and healthcare workers.

The American city of San Antonio also showcased a similar example when the city’s residents came together to fund cost of essential medical supplies to be sent to their Chinese sister city Wuxi when cases in China were rising exponentially. When the condition deteriorated in the United States of America, the city of Wuxi sent 30,000 face masks to the city of San Antonio to aid their battle against the virus.

These are just some examples of how cities across the world managed to make use of their sister city partnerships in times of need and helped each other in fighting the virus. The case of Indian cities, on the other hand, is pitiful. One of the very few examples of such a collaboration helping an Indian city fight the pandemic is that of Delhi. On May 5, the National Capital Territory of Delhi’s sister city Chicago announced that it will be hosting a fundraiser to help those in need and ravaged by the pandemic. The city of Chicago will be using the funds to buy essential medical equipment for use in hospitals across Delhi and will coordinate with the Indian Red Cross Society to ensure that the supplies reach their destination. According to a report by the Sister Cities International, one of the main reasons for this is that there is no wing of either the central or the state governments in India which deals with establishing and promoting sister city partnerships. Indeed, when the concept was new to India, cities formed multiple partnerships. However, due to the lack of an effort on the part of Indian cities to maintain the true essence of the partnerships, they were unable to be of any real help during the pandemic.

Another reason, the report states, is that the structure of city administration in India is not uniform. While in some cities, the head of the city administration is a Mayor who is elected by the people of the city, in other, the head is a chairperson who is appointed by the state government. Thus, it becomes difficult for the concerned cities to communicate with their sisters in India. The lack of communication, in turn, translates to weakened partnerships and the absence of a ‘sister’ in time of need.

Conclusion

The Government of India and the various state governments need to realise the importance and uses of sister cities in the contemporary world, which have been highlighted by the pandemic. In doing so, Indian cities will finally be able to benefit from cities across the world and in turn, benefit them in their development and growth too.