World Water Day celebrated at B’pora

B’pora : The District Administration Bandipora in collaboration with District Legal Services Authority (DLSA) on Tuesday organised a grand event to celebrate the World Water Day aimed at creating awareness at grass roots level regarding the importance of water.
The Deputy Commissioner (DC), Dr Owais Ahmad was the chief guest on the occasion.
ADDC Bandipora, Ali Afsar Khan; Secretary DLSA, Fariqa Nazir; Joint Director Planning, Imtiyaz Ahmad; DDC members, BDC Chairpersons, Executive Engineer PHE, district and sectoral officers and students were among others present on the occasion.
Speaking at the event, the DC said that the aim of celebrating the day was to sensitize the public and the officers alike regarding the importance of water conservation. He said that several initiatives are being taken to provide potable drinking water to every household and made a reference to the centrally sponsored Jal Jeevan Mission, which aims to provide potable drinking water to every rural household.
Dr Owais urged every panchayat to carry at least one work related to water bodies this year and asked the PRIs to identify the works related to renovation of water bodies. He also asked the Jal Shakti department and RDD to conduct awareness programmes regarding water conservation in schools.
The DC said the district had conducted a survey under JJM to assess the situation at ground level regarding the availability of potable water. He said after the administration got the real picture of the situation, an action plan was framed to ensure supply of pure drinking water.
He highlighted the major achievements in the district under JJM and said that 113 major projects have been taken up by the district administration at the cost of Rs 309 Crore to provide pure drinking water supply to every household of the district.
He said 3 major filtration plants, including Konan Mantrigam and Arin Filtration Plants have been completed at the cost of Rs 3.57 Cr. He said that several projects have been taken under JJM for providing water supply including construction of new water supply schemes, source promotion, completion of languishing projects besides other schemes and initiatives.
The DC administered oath to the audience wherein they pledged to save water and take steps to ensure conservation of water.
He stressed on using modern scientific techniques in farming that ensure more production with less wastage of water. He said several initiatives have been taken to ensure water is not wasted and every drop that falls on the earth is saved for the benefit of the ecosystem. Dr Owais also stressed on rain water harvesting as has been desired by Prime Minister, Narendra Modi.