Uttar Pradesh bags first position in the third edition of National Water Awards 2020

Bringing in cheer for the state, Uttar Pradesh bagged the first position at the National Water Awards 2020 for its water conservation efforts and resource management on Friday. Announced by Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, the awards have been instituted to encourage and recognise individuals and organisations doing exemplary work in the field of water resources management.

According to reports, in 2020 itself, a total of 164,828 water conservation structures were built in Uttar Pradesh making it a deserving candidate to win the award for being the most water-secure state in India. Notably, this was the third edition of this countrywide award organised by the Ministry of Jal Shakti.

Awardees to receive citation, trophy & cash prize

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Initiated in 2018 for the first time, the main motive behind the inception of this award system is to motivate and acknowledge exemplary work done by individuals and organisations in this field. This year, apart from UP, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu also managed to secure top positions in the Best State Category by being ranked at second and third place, respectively. According to the officials, the list of winners, including 57 awardees in 11 different categories will receive a citation, trophy and cash prize.

Apart from the Best States, Best Districts, Best Village Panchayat, Best Urban Local Body, Best Media (Print & Electronic), Best School, Best Institution/RWA/Religious organization for Campus usage, Best Industry, Best NGO, Best Water User Association, and Best Industry for CSR Activity were also felicitated by the Ministry of Jal Shakti.

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In the Best Districts category, UP's Muzzaffarnagar and Punjab's Shahid Bhagat Singh Nagar bagged the tag jointly in the North Zone. In the South Zone, Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala and Kadapa in Andhra Pradesh held the top position.

Title of the Best Districts in the East Zone went to Bihar's East Champaran and Jharkhand's Godda, whereas Indore bagged the tag of being in the West Zone. The second spot in the West Zone was jointly claimed by Gujarat's Vadodara and Rajasthan's Banswara. In the North-East Zone, Goalpara from Assam and Siang from Arunachal Pradesh won the top position in this category.

India holds 4% of world's renewable water resources

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While everyone knows water is fundamental to life, it is also very crucial as a resource in India. According to experts, while India's water requirement is around 1,100 billion cubic meters per year at present, it is expected to go as high as 1,447 billion cubic meters by 2050.

Talking about the same, the Union Minister of Jal Shakti said, "While India has more than 18% of the world's population, it has only 4% of the world's renewable water resources. It is in this backdrop that the National Water Awards (NWA) were instituted to recognise and encourage exemplary work and efforts made by states, districts, individuals, organisations across the country in attaining the government's vision of a 'Jal Samridh Bharat'."

-with inputs from IANS