Edu-leaders

The Union Water Resources Minister today launched the CII-Triveni Water Institute in Delhi. At the occasion, he said that the revised national water policy will focus on water demand management, equitable distribution and allocating priority to water for life-support and ecology.

The institute will aim at transforming water conservation and management practices involving all stakeholders.

He emphasised that one of the greatest challenges facing human development is the conservation and equitable distribution of our limited fresh water resources. Water crises are the challenges to the global environment communities, as water issues have been included under the agenda 21 of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

The minister observed that there are serious concerns on the availability of fresh water in India as it has 16 per cent of the world’s population and only 2.45 per cent of the world’s land resources and 4 per cent of the world’s fresh water resources.

He appealed to the people for efficient water management pondering over new approaches to financing and resource management in the water sector. Water Resources Secretary Dhruv Vijay Singh and CII Director General Chandrajit Banerjee were also present at the occasion.

He said the Government of India has taken up various initiatives in promoting water conservation. He described a number of schemes aimed at tackling different aspects of the water problem including promoting surface water irrigation, schemes for ground water conservation and recharge, rural drinking water and urban drinking water supply.

These schemes are: Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Programme (AIBP), Bharat Nirman-Irrigation Sector, National Project for Repair, Renovation and Restoration of Water Bodies, Participatory Irrigation Management (PIM), Command Area Development & Water Management (CADWM), Artificial Recharge to Ground Water through Dug Wells.