TENTH NATIONAL WATER CONVENTION BEGINS
AT BHUBANESWAR
The 10th
National Water Convention opened at Bhubaneswar today. It was
inaugurated by the Orissa Chief Minister, Shri Naveen Patnaik.
Speaking on the occasion, he said that the Department of Water
Resources has already prepared a basin plan for the 11 river basins
of the state, indicating the availability of water and the future
demand. He also said that the state will be soon setting up River
Basin organisations on a pilot scale and for preparing a holistic
water use plan. Shri Patnaik expressed his happiness over sanctioning
of six projects worth Rs. 1200 crores, by the Union Water Resources
Ministry, to provide irrigation facilities to another one lakh
hectare in Orissa.
Presiding over the
function, the Union Minister of Water Resources, Shri Arjun Charan
Sethi referred to the revised National Water Policy –2002 that
lays emphasis on inter-basin transfer of water. He said that after
the completion of the ambitious project of interlinking of rivers,
the sufferings of the flood devastated areas would be mitigated.
To face the enormous challenge of Integrated Water Resources Development
and management, a fundamental change in attitude is required for
which we all need to act fast, the Minister said and added that
a holistic approach and coordination among all Ministries/Departments
handling the subject of water is the need of the hour.. Shri Sethi
said that the pressures on water and land resources are continuously
increasing and this demands sustainable development and efficient
management of available water resources. He hoped that the 3-day
conference will specially deliberate on these pressing issues
to come out with viable solutions. The Minister also released
the publication of the Indian National Committee on Irrigation
and Drainage entitled ‘Report on Participatory Irrigation Management’
Speaking on the occasion,
Shri Rabi Narayan Nanda, the Minister of State of Water Resources,
Govt. of Orissa, put forth a two pronged strategy for future Planning,
Management and Development of Water Resources in the State – first
to ensure an efficient use and conservation of water and to achieve
protection of water quality of both surface and ground water resources.
Shri Mangala Kisan,
MOS for Water Resources, Government of Orissa advocated an Integrated
and Multi-disciplinary approach for water resources development
and management and urged the Centre to give priorities to Orissa
to complete mega irrigation projects.
Expressing concern
while addressing the gathering, Shri T. M. Jacob, Minister of
Water Resources, Government of Kerala said that India has only
2450 reservoirs compared to 25,000 in China and suggested that
the present conflict of environmental loss with the development
of large storage reservoirs needs to be suitably resolved by declaring
water resources projects as green projects for environmental clearance.
Among others who
addressed the Conference included Shri R. Jayaseelam, Chairman,
Central Water Commission, and the Director General, NWDA, Shri
R. K. Sharma.
