- Strengthening water security for overall & pandemic scenarios, and leveraging data & technologies to benefit industry, consumers & environment
- From Crisis to Opportunity: Adoption of indigenous solutions for reviving water bodies
- Sanitation, Management and Governance of water during and after COVID-19, and Water and Wastewater Management during COVID-19
- Rethinking Relationship with Water: Tackling COVID-19 amid ‘Climate Change’ emergency to avert #DayZero
| Committed to delivering avant-garde discussions in the ongoing Webinar Series: Driving Swachh & Swashtha Bharat during COVID-19, 6th Smart Cities India expo and Green Dream Foundation hosted an esteemed panel for a webinar on ‘Water Security and Pandemics,’ virtually attended by over 1900 delegates. |
| Shri U.P. Singh, Secretary for Ministry of Jal Shakti, Department of Water Resources, RD & GR, delivered the Keynote Address. “With rainfall not well distributed across India, and the elephant in the room- climate change; the issue is not the availability of water but our management of it. Our Hon’ble Prime Minister has announced the project of every household in India with potable water on tap by 2024. Despite the pandemic making working conditions difficult, the project is thus far on track and we are making good progress. We have also started integrating water resource functions, starting with the creation of Ministry of Jal Shakti. While a Day Zero conversation does the job of creating awareness on water conservation, the many ongoing initiatives are striving to achieve water security in the country, including ‘Catch the Rain’ that’s ongoing right now.”
Moderator Mr. Ashish Sachdeva, Founder and President, Green Dream Foundation remarked on the importance of decentralized water & waste management practises, and the impact of public policies over the last several years, “Many government initiatives such as the Atal Bhujal Yojana and informative literature like Jal Yoddha & Jal Charcha are intended in the right direction, and what’s essential to ensure water conservation and security is continuous efforts to be made. There are many NGOs on the ground and subject experts working in tandem with the government bodies furthering this cause.” Lead Speaker Shri Avinash Mishra, Adviser- Water Resources, NITI Aayog drew attention to the important role of water during pandemics, “A comparison of India and China must be made here given the similarity in population of the two countries, yet difference in levels of agriculture & manufacture- the epicentre city of coronavirus Wuhan did not have that high a casualty rate as the city is surrounded by lakes; helping the city combat the pandemic. India is a leading sufferer of global water-borne diseases mortality rate, which is something the ‘Jal Jeevan’ mission seeks to combat. Some of the steps that need to be undertaken to avoid a water crisis in the future are revival of traditional wisdom & indigenous practises (such as separate tanks in the village for drinking, household purposes and agriculture), solving the drainage issue that plagues most major Indian cities, and water sanitation and hygiene. The government is encouraging practices such as micro-irrigation, domestic water supply with smart meters to bring accountability to ULBs and consumers.” A rich and insightful panel contributed to a valuable discussion, including:
You may view the webinar recording here: |
