To explore new technologies in water security and rejuvenation of local water bodies in the country, National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) and the Centre for Ganga River Basin Management and Studies (cGanga) had oraganised 5th India Water Impact Summit. The focal point of discussion today on the last day of the 5th IWIS was "River Conservation Synchronised Navigation and Flood Management ".
In the concluding session of the summit, Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Minister of Jal Shakti congratulated NMCG and cGanga for successfully organising the 5th IWIS. Equating the summit as “Vaicharik Kumbh” he pointed out that the conference resulted in greater interaction between investors and stakeholders in the water sector to promote international cooperation between India and many foreign countries for water and river management. He said, “We have learnt a lot from national and international experiences and it is our promise that we will try to bring these learnings and concepts into practice. There is political will and determination like never before, backed by support from academic and self-help organisations.” To make India water rich, the Ministry is working towards collection of data of water resources. Talking about ground water, he said that we use ground water the most in the world. We are working to reduce our dependence on it. We are working on the Atal Bhujal Yojna, a pioneering initiative to map and recharge aquifers and conserve ground water in collaboration with the World Bank. He said that the scheme has been formed with the main objective of strengthening the institutional structure for groundwater management and bringing about behavioural changes at the community level for sustainable groundwater resource management in 7 states. “The scheme would promote panchayat-centric groundwater management and behavioural change with the main emphasis on demand side management.” he added. The Union Minister said that the world needs to come together to meet the challenges of the water sector in the same way as the world united in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic. Minister of State, Jal Shakti Ministry, Shri Ratan Lal Katariya was also present at the summit.
Shri. Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs appreciated the momentum and impact created by Namami Gange mission. He informed that NMCG and National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA) have developed a first of its kind strategic framework for managing urban river areas in the Ganga River Basin called the ‘Urban River Management Plan’. “This framework is a river centric planning framework, designed to help cities manage the rivers within their stretches using a systems approach.”, he said.
Expressing his delight over the outcomes of last four IWIS, Shri. Rajiv Kumar, Vice Chairman, NITI Ayog said, “The attitude of pollute now and rejuvenate later must change.” Speaking about the 5th IWIS he said, “This summit had vast variety and diverse topics of discussion.” He illustrated how conservation and development can go hand in hand and how attempt to involve people in this process is yielding positive results.
Shri Vijay Kumar Choudhry, Hon’ble Minister, Water Resource Department, Bihar apprised the audience about the challenges of Bihar which has rivers entering from Nepal in north and from other Indian states in south. He said that flood management is extremely relevant topic for Bihar because of its geography. He shared that Bihar is actively working on conservation of local water bodies and waste water management. He requested cGanga and NMCG to give have a special focus on flood management in Bihar.
Shri U. P. Singh, Secretary, Minister of Jal Shakti, shared that in last four years the focus of this mission has evolved from just cleaning Ganga to rejuvenating her. “Now the mission is far more holistic which includes not only pollution abatement but also considers e-flow, biodiversity, community participation and small river rejuvenation” he said.
Shri Rajiv Ranjan Mishra, Director General, NMCG thanked all the experts for taking out time and sharing their knowledge. Expressing that Ganga is an entire ecosystem and represents all the rivers of India he said, “What we have learnt in this summit will be equally applicable for all the rivers and will act as a launching pad for the entire water sector.” The summit has been a great example of collaborative efforts of different organisations and countries he added. Shri Rozy Aggrawal, Executive Director, NMCG enumerated various initiative like sustainable agriculture, agroforestry and navigation along the Ganga as the initiatives of the mission under Arth Ganga. IIT Kanpur professor and founding head of cGanga, Prof. Vinod Tare concluded that biggest takeaway from the summit is that development and conservation can go hand in hand.
More than 3000 intellectuals, researchers, water & environment experts and policy makers joined this summit from across the world. Three significant reports developed by cGanga were released in the valedictory session of 5th IWIS, these are Vision Kanh – A sustainable restoration pathway, Jorari - Revival and Protection and Hilsa -Biology and Fisheries of Hilsa Shad in Ganga River Basin. A detailed report on 3-day long Ganga Utsav 2020 held recently by NMCG was also released.
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