Delhi seeks 'sister city' agreement with Brisbane in Australia

Mayor Shelly Oberoi has said that she has conveyed to her Brisbane counterpart that Delhi wishes to become a 'sister city' with the Australian city.

Oberoi, who represented the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) at the recently held Asia Pacific Cities Summit and Mayor's Forum in Brisbane, reportedly said on Monday that she was impressed by the city's "sanitation and cleanliness management and preservation of built heritage".

The urban summit took place from October 11-13 and was attended by over 1,000 delegates, including more than 100 mayors and deputy mayors.

"During the Summit, I interacted with the Lord Mayor of Brisbane (Adrian Schrinner), and mayors and deputy mayors from several other cities," Oberoi said.

Brisbane, located on the banks of the Brisbane River and named after it, is one of the largest cities in Australia and the capital of Queensland province, and the Brisbane City Council is the local government authority.

The Brisbane City Council is the largest local government in Australia with 26 wards and 27 councillor positions, according to its official website.

"During an introduction session, we were told about the 'sister cities' concept that they have. They have such tie-ups with multiple cities from many countries. Hyderabad is also in it. During my interaction with him, I told the Lord Mayor of Brisbane that we (Delhi) want to become a 'sister city' with Brisbane," Oberoi told PTI.

The Delhi mayor added, "We have shown our interest, and now, we will wait to learn about the formalities from their side."

"Soon, as we get to know the formalities, we will work on it... In Brisbane, I also had a word with someone from India's mission in Australia and an adviser to the mayor of Brisbane, they will also help us in taking this forward," she said.

"The thought came to me when I visited there and met people at the conference and definitely why shouldn't we bring our MCD to an international platform? This is a very good opportunity to place our model there," Oberoi further said.

"I had a conversation with the mayor of Brisbane on this subject, and I told him that we want to become a 'sister city' of Brisbane, and he said that they will see...," she added.

Brisbane's 'sister city' programme provides for developing commercial, cultural, sporting and other mutually beneficial exchanges for Brisbane-based businesses and its sister cities.

According to the website of the Brisbane City Council, Brisbane's 'sister cities' are Abu Dhabi (the UAE), Auckland (New Zealand), Chongqing (China), Daejeon (South Korea), Hyderabad (India), Kaohsiung (Taiwan), Kobe (Japan), Semarang (Indonesia) and Shenzhen (China).

"They already have nine 'sister cities'. So, we have requested them to consider a seat for us in this programme," the mayor added.

Delhi's MCD governs an area spanning 250 wards. After unification, it was the first time that a Delhi mayor took part in an international summit.

The erstwhile MCD, set up in 1958, was trifurcated into three civic bodies in 2012 and merged again into one municipal corporation in 2022.

The Brisbane summit's main theme was 'Shaping Cities for our Future'.

It had three sub-themes -- 'Cities of Connection', 'Cities of Sustainability' and 'Cities of Legacy'.

Oberoi said on October 12 she had made a presentation on the work being done at the MCD, her talk based on the sub-theme 'Cities of Sustainability'.

The MCD is "fully committed" to scientific disposal of legacy waste at Delhi's three landfill sites and efforts are underway to remove these massive dumps by March, she had said in her presentation.

"I had also shared the story of three municipal parks built on the concept of concept of 'waste-to-wealth' -- Bharat Darshan Park, Waste-to-Wonder Park and Shaheedi Park, which they really liked it" the Delhi mayor said.

These parks feature sculptures made from scrap and waste material, depicting historic monuments from India and around the world.