People participation important to solve HP's water crisis: Guv

Himachal Pradesh Governor Acharya Devvrat today said the active participation of common people was necessary to tackle the water crisis in the state as government schemes alone were not sufficient.
"Farmers and people residing in towns are facing water scarcity while Himachal Pradesh is providing water to neighbouring states, even as it was facing the same problem," he said after inaugurating a seminar on Water Conservation and Management at the Rajbhawan here.
Magsaysay award recipient Dr Rajendra Singh, who has extensively worked in water conservation in Rajasthan, stressed on "connecting the society with rivers" and coordinating decision making processes.
Besides, balance should be maintained between the micro and the macro aspects of water conservation, he said.

The 'Water man of Rajasthan' explained that changes in cropping patterns are linked with rainfall patterns, and rainwater harvesting structures should be built with community participation for rejuvenation of rivers.
The Magsaysay-award winner said promoting water harvesting structures, through appropriate institutional mechanisms and financial arrangements, can be the best intervention to reduce the adverse impacts of climate change on groundwater resources and farm economy-based livelihood.

It was a matter of concern that water-level in the state was going down and drought or flood like situations prevailed in the state, Singh said.
It was high time to slow down the pace of water flow and conserve it for recharging water bodies, said the winner of the 2001 Ramon Magsaysay Award For Community Leadership.

Earlier, Principal Secretary, Horticulture J C Sharma, briefed out the activities and programmes being undertaken by the department for water conservation.
He said more than Rs 300 crore would be spent for water conservation activities under World Bank aided horticulture project.