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Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat Announces 3rd NWA 2020; UP got Best State Award Followed by Rajasthan, TN

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Union Jal Shakti Minister Announces 3rd National Water Awards

On 7th January 2022 Union Minister of Jal Shakti Gajendra Singh Shekhawat announced 3rd National Water Awards-2020. 

  • Uttar Pradesh (UP) has been awarded first prize in the Best State category, followed by Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu (TN).
  • Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh received the best district award in the northern zone followed by Shahid Bhagat Singh Nagar in Punjab.

About The National Water Awards (NWA):

Aim – To create awareness among the people about the importance of water and attempt to motivate them to adopt best water usage practices.

i.The National Water Award (NWA) was first instituted by the Jal Shakti Ministry in 2018 to recognize and encourage exemplary work and efforts made by States, Districts, individuals, organizations, etc across the country in attaining the government’s vision of a ‘Jal Samridh Bharat’.

ii.The award winners in different categories will be given a citation, trophy and cash prize.

iii.The NWA encourages and recognizes individuals and organizations with exemplary work in the field of water resources management, the Department of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation by giving 57 awards to States, Organizations, Individuals etc. in 11 different categories by the  Jal Shakti Ministry.

iv.The 11 categories include – Best State, Best District, Best Village Panchayat, Best Urban Local Body, Best Media (Print & Electronic), Best School, Best Institution/Resident Welfare Association (RWA)/Religious organization for Campus usage, Best Industry, Best Non-Government Organisation (NGO), Best Water User Association, and Best Industry for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Activity.

  • Some of these categories have subcategories for different zones of India.

Facts:

i.India’s current water requirement is estimated to be around 1,100 billion cubic meters per year which are projected to rise up to 1,447 billion cubic meters by 2050.

ii.India has more than 18 percent of the world’s population but has only 4 percent of the world’s renewable water resources.

Note – The Rs 3.6 trillion Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) scheme aims to ensure assured tap water supply or ‘Har Ghar Jal’ to all rural households by 2024.

3rd NWA 2020 – List of awardees in various categories:

 

Category 

 

Awardees

Rank
1st2nd3rd
Best StateUPRajasthanTamil Nadu
 

Best District

 North ZoneMuzaffarnagar, UPShahid Bhagat Singh Nagar, Punjab
South ZoneThiruvananthapuram, KeralaKadapa, Andhra Pradesh
East ZoneEast Champaran, BiharGodda, Jharkhand
West ZoneIndore, Madhya PradeshVadodara, Gujarat (Joint Winner)

Banswara, Rajasthan

(Joint Winner)

North-East ZoneGoalpara, AssamSiang, Arunachal Pradesh
 

Best Village Panchayat

 North ZoneDhaspad, Almora, UttarakhandJamola, Rajouri, J&KBalua, Varanasi, UP
South ZoneYelerampura Panchayat, Tumkur District, KarnatakaVellaputhur Panchayat, Chengalpattu District, Tamil NaduElappully Grama Panchayat, Palakkad District, Kerala
East ZoneTelari Panchayat, Gaya District, BiharChhindiya Panchayat, Surajpur District, ChhattisgarhGuni Panchayat, Khunti District, Jharkhand
West ZoneTakhatgarh, Sabarkantha, GujaratKankapar, Kachchh, GujaratSurdi, Solapur, Maharashtra
North-East ZoneSialsir, Sirchip, MizoramAminda Simsanggre, West Garo Hills, MeghalayaChambagri, West Garo Hills, Meghalaya
 

Best Urban Local Body

Vapi Urban Local Body, GujaratDapoli Nagar Panchayat, MaharashtraMadurai Municipal Corporation, Tamil Nadu
 

Best Media (Print & Electronic)

 

Mission Paani (Network 18)

Agrowon, Sakal Media Pvt. Ltd. (Adinath Dattatray Chavan) 

Sandesh Daily Bhuj Edition

 

Best School

Govt. Girls Hr. Secondary School, Kaveripattinam, TamilnaduAmalorpavam Lourds Academy, Thiruvalluar, PuducherryAmity International School, Noida, UP (Joint Winner)

Govt. Middle School, Manapet, Puducherry

(Joint Winner)

 

Best Institution/RWA/

Religious organization for Campus usage

Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board, JammuIIT Gandhinagar, GujaratIndian Oil Corporation Limited Faridabad
 

Best Industry

Welspun India Textile Ltd., GujaratHyundai Motor India Ltd., Tamil NaduTrident (Textile) Ltd., Punjab

(Joint Winner)

Steel Authority of India Ltd., New Delhi

(Joint Winner)

 

Best NGO

Coastal Salinity Prevention Cell, AhmedabadVivekananda Kendra NARDEP, KanyakumariGramvikas Sanstha, Aurangabad

(Joint Winner)

Vivekananda Research and Training Institute, Bhavnagar

(Joint Winner)

 

Best Water User Association

Panchgachiya MDTW WUA, Hooghly, West BengalHatinada Champa Purulia, West BengalAmtore Mini River Lift Irrigation WUA, Purulia, West Bengal
 

Best Industry for CSR activities

ITC Limited, Kolkata, West BengalAdani Foundation, GujaratHAL, Bengaluru, Karnataka

(Joint Winner)

Dharampal Satyapal Ltd., Noida, UP

(Joint Winner)

— UP Wins ‘Best State’ Award for Management of Water Resources 

UP has won the first position in the Union Ministry of Jal Shakti’s NWA 2020 in the category of ‘Best State’.

  • The Best Village Panchayat – North Zone category was given to Muzaffarnagar, Balua, in Varanasi, UP .

Major Achievements by UP:

i.Effective reduction of pollution in Ganga and also Conservation and Rejuvenation of Ganga. Under Namami Ganga, various drains have been trapped and sewage is treated before being discharged into the river.

ii.The Department of Rural Water Supply has completed preparations to connect more than 18 Lakh families with water supply in the First phase of ‘Har Ghar Nal Yojana’ under the Jeevan Mission and Namami Ganga Programme.

  • 104 sewage treatment plants with a combined capacity of 3298 million litres per day have been set up leading to a major improvement in the water quality of major rivers including the Ganga.

iii.‘Har Khet Ko Pani’ scheme has been launched to extend irrigation facilities to various areas of UP.

iv.The UP Government is working towards building 269 check dams and 219 ponds.

Recent Related News:

Prahlad Singh Patel, Minister of State, Ministry of Jal Shakti presided over the virtual launch of Swachh Survekshan Gramin (SSG) 2021 under Swachh Bharat Mission (Grameen) Phase-II during the event organised by the Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation (DDWS)

About Ministry of Jal Shakti:

It was formed in  2019 by integrating with other existing ministries, such as water resources and the ministry of drinking water and sanitation to address all water issues in India.

Union Minister – Gajendra Singh Shekhawat (Constituency – Jodhpur, Rajasthan)
Minister of State – Prahlad Singh Patel (Constituency – Damoh, Madhya Pradesh), Bishweswar Tudu ( Constituency – Mayurbhanj, Odisha)