New Delhi: The Malakapur municipality in Satara, the Kadegaon gram panchayat in Jalna, and the Indian Jain organization were honored with national water awards for their excellent water management, conservation, and reuse practices in the presence of Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar and Union Minister of Jal Shakti Gajendra Singh Shekhawat in New Delhi on the occasion of the 4th National Water Awards ceremony held at the Science Building. Central Jal Shakti Minister Pralhad Patel and Secretary Pankaj Kumar were also present.
Various states, cities, municipalities, and gram panchayats were honored with awards in different categories, with the Vice President presenting the first-place awards and the Union Minister presenting the second and third-place awards. The awards consist of a certificate of recognition, a trophy, and a cash prize.
Maharashtra received three national water awards, with the Kadegaon gram panchayat in Jalna receiving the third-place award in the excellent gram panchayat category. The award was accepted by Sarpanch Dattu Nibalkar, former Sarpanch Bhimrao Jadhav, and Dr. S.V. Sonune, the head of the Krishi Vigyan Kendra in Kharapudi. The award was shared with the Mavakirdap gram panchayat in the Ri Bhoi district of Meghalaya.
What kind of transformation has happened in Kadegaon?
Kadegaon comes under the Agricultural Science Center in Kharapudi. In 2015-16, Kadegaon was selected for the National Innovative Climate Resilient Agriculture Program (NICRA) project. Various climate-friendly initiatives have been introduced in this village as per the guidance of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research. These initiatives include building cement canals, removing silt from canals, removing silt from the Pazar Talav, building artificial recharge wells, removing silt from the farmland, constructing check dams to control erosion, and building plastic bunds to manage natural resources.
Crops such as cotton (for the textile industry), and low-water-consuming crops like jowar and harbhara have been encouraged. Soybean and tur have also been promoted using the BBF method. drip irrigation has been used for cotton crops. Various programs have been conducted to train farmers in the Pandharpur region, including new farming techniques, mechanization, and other initiatives to increase their capacity. As a result, the water level in the village has increased significantly. Kadegaon has received national recognition for its efforts
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In the Karad taluka of Satara district, Malkapur, a municipal corporation, has been awarded the third national award in the excellent civic institution category. The award was presented by Central Minister Shri Shekhawat. The award was accepted by the Mayor, Nilam Yedge, and the Deputy Mayor, Manohar Shinde, who is also the President of the Water Conservation and Health Committee. The award was shared with the Surat Municipal Corporation.
Malakapur Municipal Council's 24x7 water supply project has been implemented as a guiding project. The project was initiated by the council in 2009 and has been uninterrupted for 15 years. This provides clean water to the citizens of Malakapur. The 24x7 water supply project has been recognized with the National Urban Water Award and the Prime Minister's Award in 2011. This project has become a guiding project for other local government bodies across the country.
Water is supplied 24 hours a day through meters. Local citizens who pay their water tax by the 15th of each month receive a 10% discount, resulting in 99% of people paying their taxes by the deadline. This information was provided by the Deputy Mayor, Mr. Shinde. The 24x7 water supply project uses raw water from the Koyna River and is purified using modern technology. The entire city is supplied with water through AMR meters connected to DI and HDPE pipelines. The Malakapur Municipal Council has also implemented a sand filtration process plan for water reuse. This recycled water is used for agriculture.
The third prize in the non-governmental organization category was received by the Indian Jain Organization in Pune. The award was presented by Central Minister Mr. Shekhawat. The organization's leader, Shantilal Mutha, and director Swapna Patil accepted the award. The organization has been working on water resource development, value-based education, and disaster management for the past 37 years. Since 2013, the organization has been working on water management in 24 districts of Maharashtra, reviving water bodies, and providing drought relief to farmers, resulting in increased productivity of the land. "Farmers themselves bear 65% of the cost of putting up fences in their fields, which is remarkable. In the Buldhana district of the state, 100% of water management has been done through the agency."
