Khliehrangnah panchayat revives 14 springs and 6 streams, earns National Water Award recognition

Syllad | The Rising MeghalayaOctober 14, 2024

Union Minister of Jal Shakti CR Patil announced the list of winners of 5th National Water Awards, today, at Shram Shakti Bhawan New Delhi.

The Department of Water Resources, River Development, and Ganga Rejuvenation (DoWR, RD &GR), under the Ministry of Jal Shakti announced the 38 winners, including joint winners, for the 5th National Water Awards, 2023, in 09 categories viz Best State, Best District, Best Village Panchayat, Best Urban Local Body, Best School or College, Best Industry, Best Water User Association, Best Institution (other than school or college), and Best Civil Society.

Among the standout winners is Khliehrangnah, located in the West Jaintia Hills of Meghalaya, which secured joint third place in the Best Village Panchayat category. Khliehrangnah Panchayat has been recognised for its exemplary water conservation efforts, including the renovation and revival of 20 water bodies, such as 14 springs and 6 streams. The Panchayat also constructed a dug-out pond with a capacity of 2,400 cubic meters, enhancing the area’s groundwater levels.

Other works like contour trenches, land rehabilitation by afforestation, construction of dug out ponds and rainwater harvesting systems have been implemented by the Panchayat, for enhancing groundwater. With sufficient water now becoming available, the whole cultivable command area of 135 ha has been brought under cultivation, thereby increasing the crop productivity.

In addition, a community-based monitoring system has been established to keep track of water quality, encroachments, and any illegal activities impacting water bodies. Further, trainings at the village level including exposure trips to model villages have been imparted which have brought effectiveness and efficiency of the member in undertaking ground water recharge activities.

In the category of Best State, the first prize has been conferred upon Odisha, with Uttar Pradesh securing the second position, and Gujarat and Puducherry jointly securing the third position. Each award winner will be conferred with a citation and a trophy as well as cash prizes in certain categories.

The Department of Water Resources, River Development, and Ganga Rejuvenation (DoWR, RD &GR), announced that award distribution ceremony for the 5th National Water Awards, 2023 is going to be held on 22nd October, 2023 at 11.00 am at Plenary Hall, Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi.

The President of India, Droupadi Murmu will be the Chief Guest at the event. The two Ministers of State for the Ministry of Jal Shakti, Raj Bhushan Chowdhary and V Somanna and other Senior officials of Ministry of Jal Shakti joined the Cabinet Minister in announcing the National Water Awards.

Under the guidance of the Prime Minister, the Ministry of Jal Shakti has been undertaking a comprehensive campaign to spread awareness about water management and water conservation on a national level. From this standpoint and to create awareness among the people about the importance of water and to help motivate people to adopt the best water usage practices, the 1st National Water Awards were launched in 2018 by the DoWR, RD & GR. The 2nd, 3rd, and 4th National Water Awards were given for the years 2019, 2020 and 2022.

The awards were not given in the year 2021 due to CoVID pandemic. For the year 2023, 5th National Water Awards were launched on 13th October 2023 on Rashtriya Puraskar Portal of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). A total of 686 applications were received. The applications were scrutinised and evaluated by a Jury Committee. The ground truthing of the shortlisted applications was carried out by the Central Water Commission (CWC) and Central Ground Water Board (CGWB).

The National Water Awards (NWAs) focus on the good work and efforts made by individuals and organisations across the country in attaining the government’s vision of a ‘Jal Samridh Bharat’.