Frontpage Insights: Gujarat third in water conservation, Odisha first

The fifth National Water Awards has been announced. In which Odisha will be given the National Water Award for the year 2023 as the best state in terms of water conservation. Uttar Pradesh bagged the second position for its achievement of providing tap water to 72.78% villages of the state and developing around 15 thousand nectar lakes under the Jaljeevan Mission, while the third position will be awarded jointly to Gujarat and Puducherry.

All 25 lakh households in Gujarat are supplied with tap water. Besides, the best districts in the 5 zones of the country in terms of water conservation and water management are Balangir in Odisha from the eastern zone, Indore in Madhya Pradesh from the western zone, Dhalai in Tripura from the north-east, Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh. Ganderbal of Jammu and Kashmir and Banda district of Uttar Pradesh have been selected from South Zone and North Zone. On October 22, President Draupadi Murmu will present the awards in Delhi.

Why is Odisha the best? Over 53,000 reservoirs and rainwater harvesting structures have been constructed in Odisha in the last few years. It includes achievements like developing 10,800 water recharge structures, completing construction of 68,700 watersheds and 21 thousand water treatment plants. Over 11,000 traditional water bodies have been revived in the last one year.

The best municipal body is Surat and the best village is Pulampara in Kerala The first award among the best village panchayats will be given to Pulampara village in Thiruvananthapuram district of Kerala. The second award will be given to Masulpani village in Kanker, Chhattisgarh. The first prize for the best municipal body will go to Surat in Gujarat, second prize to Puri in Odisha and third prize to Pune in Maharashtra.

Among the educational institutions Sikar Government School and Tamil Nadu Agricultural University are at the top The first prize for the best school for water management will go to Government Higher Primary School, Sikar, Rajasthan and the second prize will go to Government Sarvodaya Kanya Vidyalaya, Delhi. Among higher education institutions, the first prize will go to Tamil Nadu Agricultural University in Coimbatore, Birla Institute of Science and Technology in Jhunjhunu, Rajasthan and special mention award to IIT Tirupati.