REPORT of WEBINAR on “JAL SHAKTI: WATER CONSERVATION”
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REPORT of WEBINAR on “JAL SHAKTI: WATER CONSERVATION” Jointly Organized by National Institute of Disaster Management and DDMA, West Delhi on 18th June, 2021 INTRODUCTION:- Jal Shakti Abhiyan, launched by the Union Jal Shakti Minister, has begun from 1st July, 2019. It is campaign for water conservation and water security in the country. It is a collaborative effort of various ministries of the Government of India and state governments, being coordinated by the Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation (DDWS) that comes under the Jal Shakti Ministry. The focus of the campaign is on water stressed districts and blocks. The teams of officers from the central government will visit and work with district administration in 1592 water stressed blocks in 256 districts, to ensure five important water conservation interventions:- Water conservation and rainwater harvesting, Renovation of traditional and other water bodies/tanks, Reuse of water and recharging of structures, Watershed development and Intensive afforestation. The Ongoing “Jal Shakti Abhiyan: Catch The Rain” campaign (Launched on World Water Day 22nd March, 2021) would ensure water source sustainability in rural areas and would strengthen the ongoing Jal Jeevan Mission being implemented by the Ministry. It covers all rural and urban areas of all districts of the country. National Water Mission, under the Ministry of Jal Shakti, is the nodal agency for its implementation. A total of almost Rs. 14,000 Cr worth of water conservation related work is completed/ongoing under the MGNREGS (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme) of Dept of Rural Development. The campaign aims at tapping rainwater by constructing artificial recharge structures, revitalizing existing ponds and water bodies, creating new water bodies, provisioning check dams, rejuvenating wetlands and rivers before the onset of monsoon. It is also planned to create a data-base of all water bodies in the country by geo tagging them and using this data to create scientific and data-based district level water conservation plans. NIDM and District Disaster Management Authority (DDMA), West Delhi, jointly organized this webinar to propagate further the campaign among the masses. The programme was attended by a huge participation of 791, from Academicians, Research Scholars, Sr. and Middle Management Level Govt. officials, Students, Representatives from Pvt. Organisations, NGOs and other such stakeholders. List of participants is attached with the Report. OBJECTIVES:- Sensitization to the cross cutting issues in the field Water Conservation in India; Awareness generation about various ongoing schemes of Water Conservation; Knowledge dissemination with regard to Jal Shakti Mission of Govt. of India; Discuss issues of water contamination, sewage treatment, recycling of water and behavioural changes required in common man regarding water scarcity and its proper conservation; INAUGURAL SESSION:- Mr. Ashish Kumar Panda, Consultant & Faculty Member, ECDRM Division, NIDM, initiated the programme and welcomed everybody. He mentioned that objective of such programmes are sensitization to the cross cutting issues in the field of DRM and DRR, awareness generation, capacity building and knowledge dissemination among all of us. He further mentioned that depletion of water resources due to overuse and decline in water supplies due to climate change is pushing India closer to the tipping point of water scarcity. Clubbed with unscientific agricultural practices which apply over-exploitation of water, it makes India a water-stressed economy. For sustainable utilization of the stressed water resource, there is a need for follow-through action under the framework of cooperative federalism and citizen activism. He spoke about the over exploitation of groundwater, Groundwater being used to cultivate water-intensive crops like paddy and sugarcane (promoted by Green revolution) in rain deficit states like Punjab and Maharashtra, Large, growing gap between irrigation potential created and that actually utilized, Unreliable water data, Rapid Urbanization in India and heightened water demand from households, industry and agriculture, gross under-investment in water treatment and reuse etc. Government of India has come up with schemes like MGNAREGA for water conservation, Jal Shakti Abhiyan, National Water Mission, National Rural Drinking Water Programme, Niti Ayog’s Composite Water Management Index, Formation of Jal Shakti Ministry and the Jal Jeevan Mission of India etc. Prof. Anil K. Gupta, HOD, ECDRM Division, in his Key Note Address mentioned that Water Crisis is going to be a major existential problem in times to come. He cited example of Chennai to be the new Capetown of India and that there are many such Capetowns in our country as of now. Urban drought is a new important issue of concern. He mentioned that talk on water is not new and cited couplet of poet Rahiman, “Rahiman pani rakhiye bin panish sab sun, pani gae na ubare moti manush chun”. Kautilya Arthashastra also talks about water conservation (Public Administration). Gupta Period examples of community centric water conservation models are very famous. A good quotation is, “Flame of life burns in water”. FRI Dehradun has this famous quotation engraved there, “Vriksh se van, van se jal, jal se anna aur ann se Jivan”. Political relations are often based on Water. There are trans boundary issues viz. Bihar floods on river Kosi and its connection with Nepal. When we discuss water we discuss everything viz public administration, natural resource conservation, science, technology, urban planning, climate change etc. Quantity and quality of water is of utmost importance. For good ground water recharge, every drop of rainfall is important. Water contaminated means health hazards. NIDM is preparing the CPCB Crisis Management Plan on contamination of water. NIDM has also helped in preparation of NADMP. Biggest sector of livelihood in India – Agriculture requires Watershed Management and better Landscape Ecology. Swachchha and Swastha Bharat Abhiyan should work with Jal Mission for co- benefits. Eco restoration of water bodies is essential. He concluded by saying that catch the rain where it falls and conserve it. Evaporation loss has to be minimized. There should be zero discharge. 100% recycling has to be done. If we don’t do it now, one day we will have to follow this route only. Ms. Kriti Garg, DM, West Delhi, in her Inaugural Address congratulated both NIDM and DDMA, West Delhi for taking such a vibrant and emerging issue for this Webinar. With increasing population across the country, huge migration inflow of people from villages into cities and changing climate conditions in the Indian Peninsula are making water a scarce natural resource in the present times. It would be difficult to manage supply of potable water to all the inhabitants of mega cities if this water conservation programmes are not implemented in letter and spirit. She also mentioned that the Citizens have also to come forward to supplement Government Programmes and Schemes to make it successful. She gave examples of how West Delhi Government is managing this issue efficiently. She wished great success to the programme and hoped that many such programmes will be undertaken by DDMA, West Delhi in future as well. Shri Dharmendr Kumar, ADM, West Delhi, in his Special Address, welcomed everybody for the programme and said that Water is an important commodity that is often neglected in care and conservation. He cited examples of flood, drought, heat waves, water contamination, excessive population inflow into the cities and behavioural issues of common man in this regard. He emphasized upon urban rain water harvesting techniques, recycling of sewage water, avoiding industrial outflow into Yamuna River and wise use of every drop of water that is available to us. He concluded by saying that until unless we work hard to find solutions to water crisis in time, it is going to be very difficult in future to manage it. Shri Mohit Kumar, DDMO, DDMA, West Delhi gave the context setting address and highlighted about the details of the programme, the conceptualization, the speakers, their topics and the main objective of conducting such programmes. TECHNICAL SESSION:- Shri Ashish Kumar Panda, Consultant and Faculty Member, NIDM delivered the first talk of the programme on, “Water Conservation: Traditional Wisdom in India”. He mentioned that fresh water is a finite resource that is rapidly becoming scarce and especially in India, warming climate is drying up lakes and rivers. Rapid urbanisation and water pollution are putting enormous pressure on the quantity and quality of surface and ground water. Fragile agricultural system here is primarily rainfed and any bad monsoon season wreaks havoc on the national economy. Water conservation is a key element of any strategy that aims to alleviate the water scarcity crisis in India and there is a need to look at means to revive the traditional systems of water harvesting. These methods are simple and eco-friendly - Highly effective for the people who rely on them. Every region in the country has its own traditional water harvesting techniques that reflect the geographical peculiarities and cultural uniqueness of the regions. He further spoke about archaeological evidence of practice of water conservation in India by citing examples of cities of the Indus Valley Civilisation, settlement of Dholavira, Chanakya’s Arthashashtra, Sringaverapura, near Allahabad, Chola