The Hindu : National : Adopt water harvesting as national mission: Soz

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Adopt water harvesting as national mission: Soz

Special Correspondent

Minister calls for judicious use of water
“Devise appropriate strategies for optimum utilisation”

NEW DELHI: Union Minister for Water Resources Saifuddin Soz has urged people to use water judiciously and adopt water harvesting as a national mission.

Inaugurating an international conference on “Water, Environment, Energy and Society (WEES-2009),” organised by the National Institute of Hydrology at Roorkee, Professor Soz highlighted the reduction in per capita availability of water owing to population growth.

Referring to the depleting groundwater table and deteriorating water quality, he said appropriate strategies should be planned to meet the situation.

An efficient management system should be in place for optimum utilisation of water resources. The impact of climate change on water resources was being studied by the Ministry.

In some areas, over-exploitation of water sources affected the water table and quality. At the same time, there were situations resulting from unplanned development or improper planning.

“Serious efforts” were on to address numerous challenges in the sector with due emphasis on sustainability of eco-system.

“Sustainable development and efficient management of water resources are the key to economic growth and poverty alleviation, more so for India, where about 70 per cent of the population is dependent on agriculture,” he added.

Earlier, Minister of State for Water Resources Jai Prakash Narayan Yadav made the point that due to climate change, most of the countries faced unusual natural calamities such as floods or droughts. There was, therefore, an urgent need to study the impact of climate change.

Technical sessions

About 300 delegates from 18 countries are participating in the five-day conference. There will be 36 technical sessions on efficient management of practices, planning, and management of stakeholders.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the Indo-U.S. Science and Technology Forum and the International Atomic Energy Agency (Vienna) are co-sponsors with the Government of India.

The conference aims to bring together educators, researchers, practitioners, planners, managers, administrators, social and economic scientists, policy makers from all over the world for discussion of problems pertaining to water and environment in arid, semi-arid and tropical regions.

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