Page 2 - Water Management

Debris, unplanned drainage system behind Shimla's rain damage: Official

Disposal of debris along fragile slopes, unplanned drainage system and unscientific excavation of hills are the reasons behind the immense damage in Himachal Pradesh's capital city Shimla during the recent incessant rains as per the preliminary assessment, Chief Secretary Prabodh Saxena said on Monday. Saxena, who presided over a meeting with the team constituted to review the damage, said Shimla received 552.1 mm of rain in August this year as compared to 514.30 mm in the corresponding period in 2022. He said to reduce the risks related to disasters, special attention should be paid to well-planned construction with proper drainage system as unplanned buildings and diversion of waterways due to choked drains did the maximum damage. He said emphasis should also be laid on safely disposing of the muck excavated during the construction. The senior official asserted that there should be a thorough assessment of disaster sensitive areas of the hill state and emphasis should also be lai

Water released from Himachal has reduced, will impact Yamuna: Kejriwal

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday said Union Minister Gajendra Shekhawat has informed him that the volume of water being released to Haryana from Himachal Pradesh has reduced, which in turn will impact the water level in the Yamuna. However, he said it will take some time for the water level in the river to recede. The Yamuna in Delhi swelled to 207.71 metres at 4 pm on Wednesday, breaching its all-time record of 207.49 metres set in 1978, flooding several areas and prompting Kejriwal to call an emergency meeting on the situation. In a letter to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Kejriwal requested that "if possible, the water from the Hathnikund barrage in Haryana be released in limited speed" and pointed out that Delhi is set to host the G20 Summit meeting in a few weeks. "Following my letter, I got a call from Union minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, who said that Hathnikund is just a barrage and there is no reservoir to store water and limit the water speed. The wat

UAE participates in seminar on water management policies and tech, in Korea

UAE has participated in a symposium on "Advanced Water Management Policies and Technologies'' in Seoul as part of the works of the Joint UAE-Korea Committee for cooperation in water resources

NITI Aayog member Singla inspects Jal Shakti Abhiyan, NWM works in Thane

NITI Aayog member Jagruti Singla reviewed Jal Shakti Abhiyan and National Water Mission works in Thane district and directed authorities to ensure geo-tagging of these projects for better monitoring, an official said on Thursday. Singla was accompanied by Thane Collector Ashok Shingare and Zilla Parishad CEO Manuj Jindal during the visit on Wednesday. "The NITI Aayog member was given a detailed presentation on 1191 works of water conservation and rainwater recharge, 179 works of renovation of traditional water bodies and tanks, 320 works of reuse and recharge of water structures etc that were carried out over the last one year," the official said. Work on 19 check dams and 152 of watershed development have been undertaken this year by the soil and water conservation and minor irrigation departments, he said. "Of the 75 works undertaken by the minor irrigation department of the Zilla Parishad under the Amrit Sarovar scheme, 46 have been completed. Of the 39 rainwater recharge works

Tamil Nadu govt to emulate Japanese water management techniques: Report

The Tamil Nadu water works department is in the process of preparing a comprehensive report on water management in the line of Japanese water management techniques

India, Israel to jointly develop Center of Water Technology at IIT Madras

The Centre aims to build human capacity to ensure the implementation of the best technologies of Israel in a tailor-made context for the Indian requirements

120 mn rural households provided with tap water connections: Govt data

Out of 19.44 crore rural households in the country, 12 crore have been provided with tap water connections under the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM), official data showed. However, less than 50 per cent of the rural households in nine states and union territories, including Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, are among those to receive the connection. The lowest coverage was noted in Lakshadweep at zero per cent, the data suggested. Under the mission, the Centre aims to install tap water connections in all rural households by 2024. Tap water supply has been given to 9,06,846 schools, 9,39,909 Anganwadi centres and 3,87,148 lakh gram panchayat offices and community health centres (CHCs). Among states and UTs, Meghalaya has the lowest coverage of tap water connections in schools at 57 per cent, the data showed.

Water management authority for Northeast soon: Jal Shakti Minister

Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat on Monday said a body for water resource management of the northeastern region will be formed as soon as it gets the Parliament's approval. It will work for holistic solutions to water-related problems of the region with coordination between the states and the Centre, he said. "To give a new direction with a holistic approach, the North Eastern Water Management Authority was proposed. There has mostly been consensus between the states and the proposal has been sent to the Union cabinet," Shekhawat said at a press conference here. "I am confident that the Authority will be approved in the next Parliament session," he said. He pointed out that the northeastern states face a "critical situation of either too much or too little water". "For holistic solutions to such problems and other water resource utilisation issues, the states will work with more participation with the Centre through this body," the Union minister added. Shekhawat, who

India to showcase traditional water management techniques as G20 side event

India will showcase its traditional water management techniques and the ability to implement mega water projects during the G20 environment and climate sustainability working group, scheduled to be held in Ahmedabad next week. India, during its presidency of the G20, had asked member nations to share their best practices in the area of water management to enable knowledge exchange and cross learning. Briefing reporters about the meeting, Union Jal Shakti Ministry Special Secretary Debashree Mukherjee said the technical sessions during the three-day meeting beginning Monday will focus on five areas -- climate resilient infrastructure, groundwater management, water sanitation and hygiene, climate change mitigation and resource efficiency and circular economy. The delegates from G20 countries will visit the famous Adalaj Stepwell to showcase traditional water harvesting techniques. They will also visit the Narmada canal syphon on the Sabarmati river, which is an evidence of Indian ...

Revival of traditional methods of water management need of hour: Prez

Stressing on the need for water conservation and management, President Droupadi Murmu on Saturday called for revival of traditional methods along with using modern techniques for sustainable water supply. The president was addressing an event where she presented the 'Swachh Sujal Shakti Samman 2023' and witnessed the launch of 'Jal Shakti Abhiyan: Catch The Rain-2023'. Water and sanitation hold a special place in the life of every citizen but these issues affect women the most, as generally, it is the responsibility of women to arrange drinking water for their homes in rural areas, she said. In villages, they had to walk long distances to get drinking water and arranging for drinking water not only took a lot of their time but also put their safety and health at risk, Murmu said. Usually, school and college going girls were also engaged in arranging water along with their elders, which hindered their studies, the president noted. To overcome these problems, the government has take

Apple doubles down on improving water management, sanitation in India

Tech giant Apple on Friday announced a new initiative to support improved water, sanitation and hygiene outcomes in India.

World inspired by India's efforts in water conservation: Shekhawat

India has emerged as a leading country with a holistic and comprehensive water resources management and the world, in particular the developing countries, is inspired by this and is seeking New Delhi's help in addressing such issues, Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat has said. They (the world community) are amazed to see (the steps being taken by India in water conservation and resources management), Shekhawat, the Union Jal Shakti Minister, told PTI in an interview. The Bharatiya Janata Party MP from Jodhpur is here to attend the World Water Week event being held in person by the World Bank after a gap of three years and attended by more than 400 global experts on water-related issues. In his keynote address at the event, the minister presented some of the crucial steps taken by India in this field in the last few years. In a bilateral meeting, Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources from Ghana, Cecilia Abnea Dapaah, sought assistance from India in addressing the challeng

76 start-ups to get govt financial support for work on water management

Seventy-six start-ups have been onboarded under the 'India Water Pitch-Pilot-Scale Start-Up Challenge' and they will be provided financial support of up to Rs 20 lakh each to work in the fields of water supply, used water management and water body rejuvenation, a statement said on Friday. The Union Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry (HUA), in the statement, said the startups have been shortlisted by it through a challenge process launched in March 2022 under the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation Mission (2.0). It said a 'Startup Gateway' has also been launched wherein the start-ups can apply and be shortlisted by the ministry for financial support. "The shortlisted start-ups will be provided financial support of up to Rs 20 lakh each to work in the fields of water supply, used water management, water body rejuvenation and ground water management etc," the statement quoted HUA minister Hardeep Singh Puri as saying at an event. The ministry also launched a toolki

Skilling rural workforce for water management could provide jobs, security

Central government programmes on water emphasise ground water management but, by and large, these schemes are silent on the availability, training and deployment of a skilled workforce

Water management is everybody's business

The book discusses how colonial powers "foundationally destabilised India's water regimen"

Climate change: Water risks highest in Asia, says Moody's report

The Moody's report said risks are more pronounced for water-intensive sectors like mining, agriculture and power

DJB V-C takes stock of water utility's online tanker management system

Delhi Jal Board vice chairman Raghav Chadha on Wednesday took stock of the water utility's online tanker management system and grievance redressal helpline and asked officials to attend to all requests for water tankers within one-and-a-half hours. Officials told Chadha that the number of requests for water tankers in Delhi had increased due to the crisis arising out of Haryana withholding Delhi's share of water. The DJB VC said that the Haryana government has released 16,000 cusecs of water in the Yamuna from the Hathnikund Barrage in Yamuna Nagar district and the crisis in the capital will be resolved now. "Took stock of @DelhiJalBoard's Online Tanker Management System & DJB Grievance Redressal Helpline to ensure that no complaint goes unattended during this crucial period till the time Haryana's discharge of 16000 cusec reaches Delhi and normal supply of piped water is restored," he tweeted. Chadha himself called up a person who had requested for a water tanker and ascertained .

Water in the age of climate change

We know that climate change impacts are about heat - increased and scorching temperatures - and about variable and extreme rain.

IoT-enabled devices are proving handy in cutting water wastage on farms

IoT-based technology is also coming handy in making farm management easier, especially for urban farmers who, unable to maintain their farmland on their own, leave it to farmers in rural areas

Streamlining geo-spatial data policy

The experience of smart cities is an important learning for managing geo-spatial data collected and utilised from various departments