On June 17, 2023, Vice President (VP) of India, Jagdeep Dhankhar, conferred the 4th National Water Awards, 2022 at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi, Delhi on 41 winners in 11 categories for their exemplary work in the field of water conservation and management.
- Madhya Pradesh (MP) tops the Best State category which is followed by Odisha at 2nd position and Andhra Pradesh (AP) and Bihar at 3rd position jointly.
Award Ceremony:
The award ceremony was organised by the Department of Water Resources, River Development, and Ganga Rejuvenation (DoWR, RD & GR), Ministry of Jal Shakti (MoJS). The event started with the traditional ‘Jal Kalash’ ceremony.
- Each award winner was conferred with a citation and a trophy as well as cash prizes in certain categories.
Table showing the list of winners:
| Rank | Winner |
|---|---|
| Best State | |
| 1 | Madhya Pradesh (MP) |
| 2 | Odisha |
| 3 | AP and Bihar. |
| Best District | |
| 1 | Ganjam District, Odisha |
| 2 | Namakkal District, Tamil Nadu (TN) |
| 3 | Adilabad District, Telangana |
| Best Village Panchayat | |
| 1 | Jagannadhapuram Village Panchayat, Bhadradri Kothagudem district, Telangana |
| 2 | Kadavur Village Panchayat, Karur district, Tamil Nadu and Manickal Village Panchayat, Thiruvananthapuram district, Kerala |
| 3 | Kadegaon Village Panchayat, Jalna district, Maharashtra and Mawkyrdep Village Panchayat, Bhoi Rymbong Block, Ri Bhoi district, Meghalaya. |
| Best Urban Local Body | |
| 1 | Chandigarh Municipal Corporation, Chandigarh, |
| 2 | Indore Municipal Corporation, Indore, MP |
| 3 | Surat Municipal Corporation, Surat, Gujarat and Malkapur Municipal Council, Karad, Satara, Maharashtra |
| Best Media | |
| 1 | Advance Water Digest Private Limited Gurugram, Haryana |
| 2 | Centre For Environment And Sustainable Development, Srinagar, Jammu And Kashmir and Regional News Unit, All India Radio, Guwahati, Assam w |
| 3 | Network Eighteen, Gautam Buddh Nagar, Uttar Pradesh (UP). |
| Best School | |
| 1 | Jamiyatpura Primary School, Mehsana, Gujarat |
| 2 | KGBV School, Chagalamarri, Nandyal, AP |
| 3 | Government Senior Secondary School (GSSS), Baori, Jodhpur, Rajasthan. |
| Best Institution for Campus usage | |
| 1 | Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board, Reasi, Jammu and Kashmir |
| 2 | Maulana Azad National Urdu University, Hyderabad, Telangana |
| 3 | Central University of Punjab, Bathinda, Punjab |
Other Awards:
i.The Award for the Best Industry conferred on Barauni Thermal Power Station, Begusarai, Bihar.
ii.The Award for the Best NGO conferred on Arpan Seva Sansthan, Udaipur, Rajasthan.
iii.The Award for the Best Water User Association conferred on the Sanjeevani Piyat Sahkari Mandli Ltd, Narmada, Gujarat.
iv.The Award for the Best Industry for CSR Activities will be conferred on HCL Technologies Ltd., Noida, UP.
v.Notably, AP received 4 awards in different categories. Click Here for Official List
Key Points from the Award Ceremony:
i.Ministry of Jal Shakti (MoJS) has effectively executed the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) which exemplifies the objectives of quantity, quality and continuity.
ii.The public representatives, media and civil society organisations are urged to support the officers/staff of MoJS in implementation of their schemes & programs.
iii.Suggestion were made for the development of existing ponds in each and every village of India as rejuvenation of these ponds will help revive water bodies on a large scale, augment animal husbandry, and contribute to the economic development.
iv.The public representatives at each level of governance from Panchayat to Parliament are also to plant at least 100 trees per year and appealed to all citizens to make water conservation on the lines of Jan Andolan and commit to the 3Rs of Reduce, Reuse and Recycle.
About National Water Awards:
The National Water Awards were launched in 2018 by DoWR, RD &GR. These are a part of the ongoing nationwide drive of a ‘Jal Samridh Bharat’ or ‘Water Prosperous India’.
- It focuses on encouraging the good work and efforts made by various individuals and organizations, and provide an opportunity to strengthen public participation in water resource conservation and management activities.
Assessment for 4th National Water Awards:
The 4th National Water Awards were launched on July 30, 2022 for which 868 applications were received. The applications were scrutinized and evaluated. The ground truthing of the shortlisted applications was carried out by the Central Water Commission (CWC) and Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) after which 41 winners, including joint winners covering all 11 categories have been selected for awards.
Piku, the mascot of National Water Mission:
The Vice President also launched an animated short film on ‘Piku’, the mascot of ‘National Water Mission (NWM)-Catch the Rain’ for telecast on Doordarshan channel to spread the message of water conservation.
Recent Related News:
i.According to the “Water Bodies – 1st Census Report” released by the Ministry of Jal Shakti, West Bengal (WB) has topped the list of states with the most number of ponds and reservoirs.
ii.On April 25, 2023, PM Narendra Modi inaugurated India’s 1st Water Metro in Kochi (Kerala) which is a one-of-its-kind project that connects 10 islands around Kochi through battery-operated electric hybrid boats for seamless connectivity with Kochi city.
About Ministry of Jal Shakti:
Union Minister– Gajendra Singh Shekhawat (Constituency- Jodhpur, Rajasthan)
Ministers of State (MoS) – Bishweswar Tudu (Constituency- Mayurbhanj, Odisha); Prahlad Singh Patel (Constituency- Damoh, Madhya Pradesh)
