- More than 300 participants came together to be a part of this conference on Water Vision @ 2047.
- Minister of 16 states shared their thoughts and contributed in making this unique conference successful.
- The two-day mega-conference saw the participation of 23 states and two union territories in which works related to Water Vision 2047 were shared and discussed.
- Highly engaging and inspiring 33 technical presentations and 21 short film presentations were made during the conference.
- Two important framework documents related to Water Vision 2047 – ‘Best Practices of Jal Shakti Abhiyan’ and ‘Jal Itihas Portal’ were released.
- An exhibition was also co-located with the conference in which 14 organisations participated.
WD News: The two-day first All India Annual State Ministers’ Conference that witnessed active participation of various states and government departments through technical presentations and short films pertaining to Water Vision 2047, concluded with one plenary and five thematic sessions.
There were three thematic sessions (water governance, climate change resilient water infrastructure, and water quality) on day two. Senior ministers and officials from the states and Centre were present at the valedictory session.
The second day of the conference on Water Vision @ 2047 (January 5-6, 2023) began with the thematic Session-3. The focus was on “Water Governance.” Shri Devendra Fadnavis, Hon’ble Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra chaired the session. He said that water is an economic commodity with a value and we should move towards sustainability through water governance. Shri Subhash A Shirodkar, Hon’ble Minister, Water Resources, Goa was the co-chair of this session.
This was followed by technical presentations on water governance by Ms Archana Varma, Mission Director, National Water Mission; Shri Sriram Vedire, Advisor to Hon’ble Minister of Jal Shakti; Dr Manas Ranjan Bhunia, Hon’ble Minister in Charge, Water Resources – West Bengal; Shri P Anbalagan, Secretary, Water Resources, Chhattisgarh; Smt Tukuni Sahu, Hon’ble Minister, Water Resources, Odisha, Ms Anu Garg, ACS, Odisha; and Ms Mamta Verma, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Panchayati Raj.
The focus of the thematic Session-4 was “Climate Change Resilient Water Infrastructure.” Shri Swatantra Dev Singh, Hon’ble Jal Shakti Minister, Uttar Pradesh chaired this session. In his opening remarks, he said that climate change is affecting people and resources alike and we need to work in this direction from now on. Shri Pijush Hazarika, Water Resources Minister, Assam was the co-chair of the session.
Highly engaging technical presentations on resilient water infrastructures with reference to climate change, were made by Shri Kushvinder Vohra, Chairman, Central Water Commission; Shri LK Atheeq, ACS, Karnataka; Shri Jayanta Malla Baruah, Hon’ble PHED Minister, Assam; Shri Sandeep Saxena, ACS, Tamil Nadu; and Shri Neelesh Kumar Sah, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change. Shri Awangbow Newmai, Hon’ble Minister, Water Resources, Manipur and Shri Kunvarjibhai Bavaliya, Hon’ble Minister Water Resources, Gujarat were also present during this session.
“Water Quality” was the theme of the thematic Session-5. Shri Prahlad Singh Patel, Hon’ble Minister of State, Ministry of Jal Shakti and Food Processing Industries chaired this session. He opened it by saying that lack of awareness about the quality of water is a challenge for us. Removing harmful elements from water and stopping it from reaching the public is our objective. Shri Bram Shankar Sharma, Hon’ble Water Resources Minister, Punjab was the co-chair of this session.
Shri Anand Mohan, Joint Secretary, National Water Conservation Directorate, Ministry of Jal Shakti; Shri Awangbow Newmai, Hon’ble Minister, Water Resources, Manipur; Shri Mithilesh Kumar Thakur, Hon’ble Minister, Drinking Water & Sanitation, Jharkhand; and Dr Prashant Gargava, Member Secretary, CPCB gave very insightful technical presentations in this session about monitoring and improving water quality in water resources and drinking water supply projects. Shri Shravan Kumar, Hon’ble Minister, Rural Development, Bihar and Shri Manish Ranjan, Secretary, DWS, Jharkhand were also present during this session.
Short films showcasing the work of various states (Karnataka, West Bengal, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Nagaland, Kerala, Bihar, J&K, and Madhya Pradesh) were played during the conference on day-two.
Earlier in the day, Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Hon’ble Minister of Jal Shakti, GoI and Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, along with Shri Prahlad Singh Patel, Hon’ble Minister of State, Ministry of Jal Shakti and Food Processing Industries, GoI, State Ministers and other dignitaries planted saplings at the ‘Water Vision Park’.
The conference concluded with the valedictory and summing up session. In his closing address, Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat said that as a country we’ve always worked on contingencies in the past due to limited availability of resources, and now that we are moving ahead on becoming a developed nation, we need to work on the basis of futuristic planning with conviction. He further stated that this conference was successful in sowing the seed of making our country a water secure nation.
The dignitaries present on the stage during the valedictory session included Shri Shravan Kumar, Hon’ble Minister, Rural Development, Bihar; Shri Mithilesh Kumar Thakur, Drinking Water & Sanitation Minister, Jharkhand; Shri Brajendra Singh Yadav, Public Health Engineering Minister, Madhya Pradesh; Shri Tulsi Ram Silawat, Minister, Water Resources, Madhya Pradesh; Shri Swatantra Dev Singh, Hon’ble Jal Shakti Minister, Uttar Pradesh; Shri Prahlad Singh Patel, Hon’ble Minister of State, Ministry of Jal Shakti and Food Processing Industries, GoI; Shri Satpal Maharaj, Irrigation, MI, PWD Minister, Uttarakhand; Shri Kunvarjibhai Bavaliya, Hon’ble Water Resources Minister, Gujarat; Shri Bram Shankar Sharma, Hon’ble Water Resources Minister, Punjab; and Shri Awangbow Newmai, Water Resources Minister, Manipur.
