The first Boat Race on a stretch of the Bharalu River in Guwahati, organised by the Save Bharalu Abhiyan, is not just a campaign to raise awareness on ecological restoration of the Bharalu River. It is symbolic of the people’s charter for a sustainable city. President of the organisation Dr Rabindra Nath Mazumder and other members deserve the highest commendation for their visionary initiative of elevating the ‘Save Bharalu’ campaign to the next level and raising fresh hopes for restoration and long-term preservation of the river. Sustainable cities cannot be achieved only with Master Plans prepared by professionals and bureaucrats if they lack the framework of empowering people not just to contribute their ideas and suggestions but also to express deep commitment to play their part. The boat race showcases how commitment by people for collective initiative can transform campaigns into result-orientated action. Extending the spirit of this initiative from the Bharalu riverbanks to all other areas of the city can be useful in promoting the idea of shared responsibility among the people. A city like Guwahati grappling with problems of civic amenities, traffic congestion, natural and manmade disasters, etc., needs a dynamic People’s Charter with clear and actionable goals. The real challenge is to move beyond the pages of policy documents which spell out the role of citizens in the development and expansion of a city but often do not reach the intended audience. The citizens having ideas of improving their neighbourhood in respect of cleanliness, land use, solid waste management, and drainage systems is not sufficient. Linking the collective action for better neighbourhoods with citywide goals is essential to achieve the desired transformation in the entire city. For the Save Bharalu to achieve its final goal of restoring the river as a source of clean water and for socio-cultural significance, neighbourhoods along its entire catchment must make meaningful contributions instead of remaining mere observers of sporadic desilting operations and concerted beautification by the city authorities. The conservation of the city hills is critical to addressing the artificial floods in the city localities. A ripple effect of the Boat Race on the Bharalu that inspires residents on the city hills for collective action is necessary to turn the campaign for greening the hills to check topsoil erosion and prevent landslides into an actionable initiative. Unless the conservation of the city hills is included in the framework of people’s charter, more particularly among the dwellers of the hills, official initiatives for afforestation or soil conservation will remain symbolic, disconnected from ground realities and will perpetually fail to achieve the goals. This can be possible only when the sense of ownership and active participation is inculcated among the citizens. The Save Bharalu Campaign has convincingly demonstrated that people’s participation in ensuring sustainable cities is not just a utopian idea but a pragmatic and achievable path for balanced growth and is not limited to policy prescription. The city authorities can leverage collective initiatives for transformation by initiating public discourse on Master Plans, various policy initiatives to address the persisting problems so that the citizens are aware of what the changes are that are happening and how their life is going to be impacted by the commission or omission on the part of the civic authorities. Transparency in such a process is vital to build trust among the citizens about urban development initiatives. A city with residents concerned about well-being, not only of their own but also of future generations, will not passively wait for the authorities to initiate the public consultation and dialogue but take their own initiatives to draw their own charters for resilience of urban life. It is important that any public discourse, be it at the initiative of the civic authorities, which remains unlikely in the current ecosystem, or at the initiative of any non-governmental organisation, be broad to include citizens from all walks of life – office goers, parents and guardians, elderly, women, students and youth, daily commuters, shopkeepers, street vendors, taxi drivers, bus drivers and conductors, food vendors, mall and restaurant owners – so that a comprehensive and pragmatic charter can be prepared which they will find easier to pursue for implementation. Such a board-based people’s charter must reflect the lived realities of every section of the citizens, not just be limited to intellectuals and policy experts, so that residents of different neighbourhoods find it easier to adopt and take part in collective action. A comprehensive and pragmatic people’s charter will complement the Master Plan and policies of the city authorities in making Guwahati an environment-friendly, disaster-resilient smart city in the true sense. The idea of shared responsibility will be able to motivate citizens to take an active part in collective action only when it is reciprocated by the authorities with action so that well-intentioned public initiatives do not run the risks of stagnation.