Two-day All India Secretaries’ Conference on ‘Water Vision @ 2047- Way Ahead’ concluded
Two-day All India Secretaries’ Conference on ‘Water Vision @ 2047- Way Ahead’ concluded
The two days ‘All India Secretaries’ Conference on Water Vision @ 2047 – Way Ahead’ concluded at Mahabalipuram, Chennai (Tamil Nadu) on yesterday with the key objective to strengthen the water security of the country. 32-States and Union Territories, 30-Secretaries and more than 300 delegates participated in this conference, sharing their best practices and action taken on the 22 recommendations of “1st All India Annual State Ministers Conference on Water” held on 5th and 6th January, 2023 at Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh.
The said 22 recommendations include prioritizing drinking water and its source sustainability, building climate resilience, both demand & supply side management, enhancing water storage both at large & small scale, application of state-of-the-art technology, increasing efficiency of water utilisation, intensifying water conservation programs at every level, encouraging interlinking of rivers, monitoring river health & maintaining environmental flow, undertaking appropriate flood management measures and all these interventions with enhanced people’s participation. This conference follows up on these recommendations to accelerate action.
This conference was divided into five thematic sessions in the area of water management. The first day of the conference covered two thematic sessions i.e. Climate Resilience & River Health and Water Governance. Also there was Ministerial Session which was chaired by Hon’ble Minister of Jal Shakti Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Government of India. Hon’ble Minister flagged the dire needs of collaboration and innovation to ensure the sustainable management of water for the well-being of our communities and the environment. He also reaffirmed the commitment to strengthen the Centre-State partnership for achieving goals of water security in the country.
Day 2 Events of the Conference
The second day of the conference covered three thematic sessions on ‘Water use efficiency’, ‘Water Storage & Management’ and ‘People’s Participation /Jan Bhagidari’.
The brief report and important takeaways of the Conference were presented by Ms Archana Verma, AS & MD, National Water Mission.
In her presentation, she elaborated on the takeaways from the thematic sessions which are as follows:
Climate Resilience & River Health
Water Governance
Water Use Efficiency
Water Storage & Management
People’s Participation /Jan Bhagidari
The suggestions and takeaways from the Conference were also sought from the participants. It was proposed to create an action group of Secretaries on focus areas for taking the agenda of Water Vision@2047 forward through continuous dialogue and deliberations.
In the end, Ms Verma conveyed sincere thanks to all participants and special thanks to the Government of Tamil Nadu for extending all the support in organizing the conference which facilitated bringing all the States/ UTs of the country and the Central Departments & Ministries on a single platform.