19 Mar : The Ministry of Water Resources is organizing National Ground Water Congress to observe ‘World Water Day- 2010’ here on 22nd March,2010. During the week from 22nd to 27th March, workshops, seminars etc. will be held all ovr the country by Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) and other organisations of the Ministry of Water Resources to raise awareness on water quality issues.
Sh. Pawan Kumar Bansal, the Union Minister of Water Resources will be the Chief Guest at Valedictory functin and will present the National Ground Water Award of Rs. 10 lakh and twenty Ground Water Augmentation Awards of Rs. 1 lakh each to the organisations/individuals doing exemplary work in the field of ground water augmentation, water conservation, reuse and recycling.
Shri Bansal will dedicate a web-enabled Ground Water Information System to the Nation on the occasion, (CGWB) and NIC have jointly developed a web-enabled Ground Water Information System that will provide ground water related spatial and non spatial data in seamless manner to the users through internet.
Ground Water Managemnt is the key to ensure the sustainability of this resource. Augmentation, regulation, capacity building and participatory management have now been recognized as essential strategies for ensuring long-term sustainability of our limited fresh ground water resources. As part of the pioneering efforts of the Ministry of Water Resources, to address these issues, National Ground Water Congress is being organised on World Water Day.
The Congress will be attended by scientists, engineers, planners, policy makers and representatives of industries, NGOs, VOs and Stakeholders. The broad objectives of the Congress are to deliberate on various issues of ground water management, promote conservation and augmentation of ground water resources through artifical recharge and rain water harvesting; increase water literacy; propose national strategy for sustainable ground water security in terms of quantity and quality through social mobilization etc.
The theme of the World Water Day- “Communicating Water Quality Challenges and Opportunities” envisages raising awareness about sustaining healthy eco-systems and human well-being through addressing the increasing water quality challenges in water management and raising the profile of water quality by encouraging governments, organisations, communities, and individuals around the world to actively engage in proactively addressing water quality e.g. in pollution prevention, clean up and restoration. The quality of water resources is increasingly threatened by pollution through human activities and as a result the availability of fresh water is drastically reduced due to the long term negative effects of pollutants on water quality.