Union Jal Shakti Minister C R Patil announced the first-ever Jal Sanchay Jan Bhagidari (JSJB) Awards Tuesday, with Telangana emerging as the top performer among states and UTs in construction of water conservation structures. The awards will be conferred by President Droupadi Murmu on November 18, officials said.
Telangana topped the list with the construction of 5.2 lakh water conservation structures under JSJB 1.0 initiative, followed by Chhattisgarh (4.05 lakh) and Rajasthan (3.64 lakh).
The JSJB initiative was launched in Surat, Gujarat, on September 6 last year.
“Under this initiative, states are divided into five zones, and the districts are encouraged to construct a minimum of 10,000 artificial recharge and storage structures. This number is 3,000 for the districts in northeastern and hilly states, and 10,000 for municipal corporations. The structures include those for rooftop rainwater harvesting and the rejuvenation of lakes, ponds and stepwells,” the Jal Shakti Ministry said.
“To strengthen urban water conservation efforts, the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs partnered with the Jal Shakti Ministry. Through this collaboration, urban local bodies are motivated to construct at least 2,000 recharge structures each,” it said.
“Total 100 awards have been announced this year. These include three top-performing states, 67 districts, six municipal corporations, one urban local body, two partner ministries/ departments, two industries, three NGOs, two philanthropists and 14 nodal officers… Award winners were selected based on verified data uploaded on the JSJB portal,” it said. The other categories include districts and local bodies, industry associations, NGO’s, and officials.
