India Water Foundation , National Key resource Centre, Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation, Government of India, conducted a two day National Workshop on “Application and Uses of Hydro-Geomorphological Maps (HGMs) for Groundwater Prospection and Linkages” at India Habitat Centre on 28-29 March 2016. This was the concluding workshop in a series of 12 State workshops organized over a span of 3 months.
Addressing the delegates, Dr. Harshvardhan, Union Minister of Science and Technology and the Chief Guest for the Workshop spoke about the importance of science as a tool to address water problems and his Department is encouraging innovative efforts.
Chaudhary Birendra Singh, Minister of Rural Development and Drinking Water and Sanitation, Chairman presiding over the Inaugural Session said that along with a long term roadmap, there is need for immediate solutions. Along with science, social aspects should also be considered while planning and managing water resources.
Prof. Ashutosh Sharma, Secretary, Ministry of Science & Technology, highlighted how water makes economies prosper and has wide and multiple linkages. With fast depleting groundwater resources, there is severe threat to water availability, livelihood and sustenance. Managing water resources is critical and technologies like Hydro-Geomorphological Mapping can be very useful.
While welcoming the dignitaries, Dr. Arvind Kumar, President, India Water Foundation, talked about the need for convergence and sharing knowledge between central and state governments, organizations and various other agencies.
Representatives from State Water and Sanitation Mission (SWSM), Panchayati Raj Institution (PRIs), Public Health Engineering Department (PHED), and various other line departments and scientists attended the Workshop and learnt about various applications Hydro-Geomorphological maps in overcoming water problems in their respective states.
