TOI Water Positive drive an effort to conserve biodiversity: Uttar Pradesh CM

LUCKNOW: Calling Times Group’s Water Positive campaign an effort to conserve humanity and biodiversity, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said that his government would extend all possible support to the drive. Speaking at the Times Water Summit, powered by Mantena Constructions in association with knowledge partner Xylem, the chief minister said that conservation of water is must for the survival of all living beings.
Uttar Pradesh, he said, has abundance of both surface and ground water, what is needed is its proper management and recharge.“We have worked on the rejuvenation of 15 rivers in the past three and a half years and now the Ganga is so clean in Varanasi that one can spot dolphin in the holi river,” the CM said, adding “the rejuvenation of the river has reignited the `astha’ (faith) of the people in the river which is highly revered and worshipped by millions of Indians.”
Six years ago, people refrained from taking a dip in the Ganga as its water threatened to inflict boils on their skin, the CM said. “That is no more the case now. There is a sense of realisation that the purity of Ganga has been restored. This was very much visible during last year’s Prayagraj Kumbh when crores took holy dip in the river,” he added.
Yogi underlined how water was sacred to various rituals in Sanatan parampara (tradition) and formed an important part of river `sanskriti’ (culture) which was intrinsic to the life of millions of people of this country. “Even our ‘shastras’ have written mantras with the help of water,” he said. Highlighting the ambitious `Namami Gange’ programme, Yogi said that efforts of the government was essentially aimed at taking necessary steps towards purification of the Ganga and other rivers which are equally revered.
“Water is a reflection of life,” Yogi said, pointing out the twin challenges of keeping the ground water as well as surface water clean and preserved. He stressed on the Varanasi model and Chitrakoot model for recharging the ground water.
Yogi also said that it was because of the efforts taken by the state government to purify the groundwater that the number of cases pertaining to Japanese Encephalitis came down drastically in the past three years. The resolve of the state government in tackling JE, he said, were going on despite the pandemic.
UP Jal Shakti minister Mahendra Singh said that the state government was determined not to let any struggle or war happen because of the water crisis. Singh said that the state government would be deploying 6000 piezometers to estimate ground water situation in the state and come out with a Jal Niti soon for conservation and recharging of water.
He said that though UP occupied 16% of India’s population, it had only 4% of surface water. He said that the state government was committed to take on challenges like fast depleting ground water which often gets affected with fluoride, carriage of water to agricultural land and discharging rainwater into rivers. He said that the state government, nevertheless, overcame challenges and now seeks to take steps for irrigating an additional 20 lakh hectares of agricultural land in the time to come.
UP chief secretary RK Tewari said that that shortage of water could spell disaster. He said that the amount of rainfall has also decreased over a period of time, triggering acute water crisis in some places of the state. He said that the existence of green cover formed an important aspect in conservation and preservation of water bodies in the state. Tewari pointed out how the state government managed to plant 17 crore saplings in the past three years as part of an effort aimed to address the problem of water scarcity.
The event saw senior bureaucrats and technical experts highlighting various aspects pertaining to water conservation during a panel discussion. Additional chief secretary (agriculture) Devesh Chaturvedi said that the state government was moving towards becoming water efficient by taking various steps which include maintaining water efficiency in crop management. “The mantra of per drop more crop was a driving force for the agricultural department,” he said.
His views were dittoed by engineer-in-chief, irrigation department, VK Niranjan who said that the department focus was now on reducing water losses which are as high as 50%. He said that the department was encouraging farmers to go in for minor irrigation techniques like drip water irrigation and sprinkler irrigation which help in conserving water and reducing its wastage.
Niranjan said that the department was now working towards provisioning piped water irrigation techniques which further reduces water losses while increasing the efficiency of water carriage between the source of water to the agricultural field. Shyam Chaudhari of Xylem emphasised on smart irrigation techniques and said that a smart approach held the key to water conservation in the days to come. He categorically stressed on the need for a robust irrigation infrastructure envisaging regular maintenance of dams, to serve the purpose.
“A lot has been done and a lot is yet to be done as water management was an ongoing process,” said Pradeep Khatri of Xylem as he made concluding remarks after the summit. He said that a new water policy of the state government, framed in 2019, would seek to address various problems pertaining to groundwater contamination.