Chandigarh, April 26: Chief Minister, Sh. Manohar Lal called upon the citizens that in today’s time, there is a need to pay attention to water conservation for availability, demand and supply of water, rain water harvesting along with proper use of water. “For water conservation, public participation is to be ensured in the campaign to save water, as it cannot be successful without their participation,” he said.
The Chief Minister was addressing the inaugural session of the two-day ‘Water Conclave’ under Amrit Jal Kranti, organized by the Haryana Water Resources Authority at Panchkula today.
Addressing the gathering, Sh. Manohar Lal said, “It is a coincidence that this conclave is being held at a time when the messiah of the farmers and former Chief Minister of Punjab, S. Parkash Singh Badal is no more among us. He always used to talk about the farmers.”
Recalling a meeting with S. Parkash Singh Badal last year, the Chief Minister said that when he had gone to meet him in the hospital, he told him to take care of the farmers. “Paying tribute to such a personality, this ‘Water Conclave’ is dedicated to him,” said Sh. Manohar Lal.
Meanwhile on the use of water, the Chief Minister said that the biggest holder in this context is the farmer; as most of the water is used for irrigation. Apart from this, most of the water is consumed in industries and homes for purposes other than drinking; however water is in very limited quantity and today 85 blocks of the state are in dark zone, he added.
Haryana does not have natural source of water, have to conserve and save it for future: Manohar Lal
The Chief Minister said that Haryana does not have any natural source of water and only rainwater and naturally flowing water from the mountains is the main source. Besides, the state receives an average rainfall of 5 inches i.e. 150 mm. “In addition, water is supplied from the Yamuna River along with water of Satluj Ravi Beas through Bhakra Dam. We are not getting 3.5 MAF water due to SYL. Presently the water availability in Haryana is 20 MAF while the demand is 34 MAF. The challenge for us is to bridge this 14 MAF gap,” he added.
He said that to meet the gap of water demand and availability, rain water harvesting systems would have to be set up. Apart from this, the capacities of reservoirs, ponds and lakes will have to be increased and ground water recharging will also have to be done. “In today's time, the soil layer has become solid with the use of pesticides, due to which there is a big problem in groundwater recharge. For this, there is a need to pay attention to the techniques of land reform,” said Sh. Manohar Lal.
Need to adopt concept of 3-R - Reduce, Recycle and Reuse for proper use of water
The Chief Minister said that there is a need to work for water conservation as well as its management and to meet the demand of water in the present times, there is a need to adopt the concept of 3-R i.e, Reduce, Recycle and Reuse. He said that to promote the use of treated water, 200 STPs and wastewater treatment plants have been set up in the state, out of which about 1800 MLD water is being used. In addition, a new experiment has been started in the developed sectors by HSVP, in which double pipeline arrangement has been made to the houses; one pipeline for drinking water and the second for other uses, which is being successful, he added.
Steps have to be taken to make treated water drinkable by studying new techniques
Citing the example of Singapore, the Chief Minister said that treated water is being used for drinking purposes there, while we are currently using treated water only for irrigation and other purposes. “We also need to study new technologies and move forward in this direction. Not only this, along with regulating the demand and use of water, its infrastructure has to be strengthened; only then we will be able to save water,” he added.
He said that RTDAS systems are being installed for water supply, its management and to prevent water theft. “So far 180 RTDAs have been installed, through which the department is monitoring the amount of water being released from which place and whether that much water is reaching the next place or not”, he said.
The Chief Minister said that 1700 piezometers have been installed by the Haryana Water Resources Authority to measure the depth of groundwater. “Also, monitoring of groundwater exploitation and its use should also be done along with assessment of groundwater in six months or a year,” he added.
Action plan prepared by departments to save water
During the ‘Water Conclave’, Chairperson, Haryana Water Resources Authority, Smt. Keshni Anand Arora gave a detailed presentation to the Chief Minister on various points, including the assessment of the depth of groundwater made by the authority across the state, availability of water, its use and methods to fill the water gap.
She said that as per the instructions of the Chief Minister, an action plan has been prepared by the departments to save water and in this two-day Water Conclave, various points including the action plan prepared by the departments, water harvesting and proper use of water will be discussed.
Mission Director, National Water Mission, Smt. Archana Verma while appreciating the efforts of the Manohar Lal-led Haryana Government for water conservation, said that if the political will moves forward strongly on any subject, then that work is definitely successful. She said that the need of the hour was to promote the cultivation of millets as it saves water.
On the occasion, MP Sh. Dharambir Singh, MLA Dr. Abhay Singh Yadav, Chief Principal Secretary to Chief Minister, Sh. DS Dhesi, Advisor to Chief Minister (Irrigation), Sh. Devender Singh, administrative secretaries of ten departments and other officials were present.