UTTAR PRADESH BAGS FIRST PRIZE IN NATIONAL WATER AWARDS

Uttar Pradesh, on Friday, bagged the first prize for efforts towards water conservation, in the National Water Awards 2020 orgainsed by the Union ministry of Jal Shakti. Union Minister of Jal Shakti Gajendra Singh Shekhawat announced the winners of the 3rd National Water Awards-2020, here on Friday. In the ‘Best State’ category, Uttar Pradesh has been awarded the first prize, followed by Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu.

Speaking on the occasion with The Daily Guardian, Shekhawat stated that water is fundamental to life. India’s current water requirement is estimated to be around 1,100 billion cubic meters per year, projected to go up to 1,447 billion cubic meters by 2050. Water as a resource is crucial to India, which is one of the fastest-growing economies in the world. While India has more than 18% of the world’s population, it has only 4% of world’s renewable water resources.

Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh received the best district award in the northern zone followed by Shahid Bhagat Singh Nagar in Punjab. In the South, Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala was awarded the best district followed by Kadapa in Andhra Pradesh. East Champaran in Bihar and Godda in Jharkhand were awarded first and second ranks among districts in the East zone while Indore in Madhya Pradesh ranked first in the Western region. Vadodara in Gujarat and Banswara in Rajasthan won a joint second rank.

It is in this backdrop that the National Water Awards (NWA) were instituted to recognize and encourage exemplary work and efforts made by States, Districts, individuals, organizations, etc., across the country in attaining the government’s vision of a ‘Jal Samridh Bharat’, stated the minister.

The Union Minister said that considering the fact that surface water and groundwater are integral part of the water cycle, it was felt necessary to institute a unified National Water Award with the objectives of encouraging the stakeholders to adopt holistic approach towards water resources management in the country. Also, it strives to create awareness among the people about the importance of water and attempts to motivate them to adopt best water usage practices, added the minister.

The first National Water Award was launched by the Jal Shakti Ministry in 2018. National Water Awards have provided a good opportunity to start-ups as well as leading organizations to engage and deliberate with senior policymakers on how to adopt the best water resources management practices in India.