International Meet on Water Use Efficiency
By Dr Arvind Kumar
An international conference on water use efficiency in the industrial sector was jointly organized by India Water Foundation and Rajasthan Industrial Development & Investment Corporation (RIICO) at Jaipur recently. With the prime focus on making the judicious and wise usage of water resources in Indian industries, the conference brought together representatives from government, industry, civil society and academia on the same platform to discuss various issues pertaining to water conservation, water and climate change, industrial water laws and regulation and institutional challenges.
The conference witnessed the participation of the who’s who of the decision makers from the government, public and private Sectors. Some of those who were there at the conference included the Central Minister for Parliamentary Affairs and Water Resources, Shri Pawan Bansal, Shri. Rajendra Pareek, Minister of Water Resource & Industries, Rajasthan, Ranjan Chatterjee, Sr. Advisor, E&F, Planning Commission of India, Mr. Ajit Tyagi, DG, IMD, Ministry of Earth Sciences, GOI, Mr. Sameer Vyas, MD,IL&FS Water, etc. The conference saw near unanimity for the need to have a comprehensive and effective Industrial Water Policy.
The absence of Industrial water policy in the country was discussed at the conference and the findings and recommendations of the conference are expected to help in formulating an effective Industrial Water Policy. The emphasis was given on effective and efficient use of water by industries and recycling of industrial waste water. The transparency in the figures of water consumption of the industries was also stressed upon. The conference has forged a collaboration and synergy between industry and water sectors.
“Industrial Sector is open to new and innovative ideas and with involvement and cooperation of all stakeholders, the objective of water use efficiency can be achieved”, said Dr. Arvind Kumar, President, India Water Foundation. The core focus of the conference was water conservation and dealing with global climatic challenges, to bring forth an effective water policy and future plans for proper management of water resources. The conference focused on issues of water conservation management since there is a dire need for industries to now share the responsibility towards judicious usage of water. Issues such as practical systems for water distribution in small and medium scale industries, efficient utilization of sewage and industrial water wastes and water use efficiency in Indian national legal and institutional framework were also discussed.
