Vice President To Confer 4th National Water Awards On 17th June, 2023

Ministry Of Jal Shakti Announces 41 Winners Across 11 Categories

Prize For Best State To Be Conferred On Madhya Pradesh While Best District Will Be Conferred On Ganjam District, Odisha

The Vice President of India, Shri Jagdeep Dhankhar will confer the 4th National Water Awards on 17th June, 2023 at an award distribution ceremony being organised at Plenary Hall, Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi by the Department of Water Resources, River Development, and Ganga Rejuvenation (DoWR, RD &GR), Ministry of Jal Shakti. The Department has announced a total of 41 winners, including joint winners, for the 4th National Water Awards, 2022, covering 11 categories. Each award winner will be conferred with a citation and a trophy as well as cash prizes in certain categories.
    The 1st Prize for the Best State will be conferred on Madhya Pradesh; Best District will be conferred on Ganjam District, Odisha; Best Village Panchayat will be conferred on Jagannadhapuram Village Panchayat, Bhadradri Kothagudem district, Telangana; Best Urban Local Body will be conferred on Chandigarh Municipal Corporation, Chandigarh; Best Media will be conferred on Advance Water Digest Private Limited Gurugram, Haryana; Best School will be conferred on Jamiyatpura Primary School, Mehsana, Gujarat; Best Institution for Campus usage will be conferred on Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board, Reasi, Jammu and Kashmir; Best Industry will be conferred on Barauni Thermal Power Station, Begusarai, Bihar; Best NGO will be conferred on Arpan Seva Sansthan, Udaipur, Rajasthan; Best Water User Association will be conferred on the Sanjeevani Piyat Sahkari Mandli Ltd, Narmada, Gujarat; and Best Industry for CSR Activities will be conferred on HCL Technologies Ltd., Noida, Uttar Pradesh. Click here to see the list of Awardees for 4th National Water Awards, 2022 [ReadMore]

A model water-sharing treaty signed by the then Indian Prime Minister Jawahar Lal Nehru and Pakistani President Ayub Khan, the Indus Water Treaty was negotiated by the World Bank in 1960.

Srinagar: The government on Friday directed senior officials in Jammu and Kashmir to complete works on all Indus Basin Projects to enable "better utilisation" of India's rights under the Indus Water Treaty, an official statement said.

The statement from Pankaj Magotra, Managing Director of the Jammu and Kashmir Power Development Corporation (JKPDC), which operates and maintains all power stations and power projects in the region, said that a meeting was held in Srinagar. The meeting was chaired by Vikram Misri, India's Deputy National Security Advisor, who reviewed the progress on hydropower projects in the Union territory.

"It was noted that progress had been made on several fronts, and emphasis was laid on completing the works on all the Indus Basin Projects in a timely manner to enable better utilization of India's rights under the Indus Waters Treaty," he said.[ReadMore]

 

Penalty for cess? Union govt letter intensifies Himachal vs Haryana-Punjab tussle over hydel project levy

Chandigarh: Amid the ongoing tug-of-war over water cess on hydropower projects between Himachal Pradesh on one side, and Haryana and Punjab on the other, a letter from the Union Ministry of Power “disincentivising” states imposing such cess has further intensified the tussle.

Himachal CM tries to mollify counterparts

On 16 March, while moving the Himachal Pradesh Water Cess on Hydropower Generation Bill, 2023, in the assembly, the state Jal Shakti Department Minister and Deputy CM Mukesh Agnihotri said that the cess will generate Rs 4,000 crore revenue from 172 hydroelectric projects.[ReadMore]

 6 hydel power projects apply for water cess in Himachal 

Sixteen of the state's 172 hydroelectric power projects have applied for the implementation of a water cess. Last month, the Jal Shakti Department sent letters to 172 hydroelectric power projects, requiring them to register with it for the purpose of water cessation within a month.

The implementation of the cess has been challenged in the Himachal High Court by two commercial electricity firms.

The Central Government in its letter also stated that “Article 287 and 288 of the Constitution prohibits the imposition of taxes on electricity consumed by the Central Government or sold to the Central Government”. [ReadMore]
 

Mallannasagar earthquake theory baseless, says Telangana govt

    According to the irrigation department, all the necessary studies has been done before starting the project in Siddipet.

    Mallannasagar was inaugurated by the state chief minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao last Wednesday. The project, according to the state government, will provide water to 8.35 lakh acres of new ayacut under KLIS Package-12 to 19, along with stabilising the ayacut under existing irrigation projects such as Singur, Nizam Sagar and Sriram Sagar phase-1, which will propel the total ayacut under the project to 15.71 lakh acres.

Officials refute claims of earthquake

    According to a Telangana Today report, the officials said that earthquake theory was a baseless allegation. The government had the bottom strata of Mallannasagar studied by the Central Water and Power Research Station (CWPRS) in Pune, which ruled out the existence of lineaments, as stated by opponents.[Readmore]

 

 

Pune Riverfront Project: PMC submits reply to apprehensions by activists, contradicts their claims

PUNE The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has filed a reply with state water resource department to the concerns expressed by city-based activists and also countered the claims made by them about proposed riverfront project, which is currently facing opposition even after PM Modi launched it on March 6

The project costs about 2,619 crore and covers about 44 km of the Mula-Mutha river stretch passing through Pune. The project requires about 768 hectares. Although the project has all the required clearances from the state and central agencies, the project would be reviewed once again after city environmentalists once again raised the issue of faulty planning.

Sarag Yadwadkar, city environmentalist who has been raising voice against the project since the beginning said, “The CWPRS has replied to us that they have not cleared the project and irrigation department as well has said that they have not replied as well. The SEIAC has given environmental clearance which is also wrong.” [Readmore]

सांचोर में मंत्री बिश्नोई क्षेत्र के दौरे पर, CWPRS और अधिकारियों से लिया फीडबैक

सांचोर में मंत्री सुखराम बिश्नोई क्षेत्र के दौरे पर रहे और मंत्री नर्मदा नहर परियोजना के रड़का जीरो पॉइंट पर पहुंचे. 

मंत्री सुखराम बिश्नोई ने बताया कि आखिकार हमारे लगातार दवाब और मांग पर अमल होने की दिशा में काम आगे बढ़ा है. राजस्थान सरकार पिछले 3 सालों में लगातार केंद्र सरकार, नर्मदा नियंत्रण प्राधिकरण के सामने यह बात रखती आई कि गुजरात सरकार राजस्थान को उसके हक का नर्मदा नहर परियोजना का पानी नहीं दे रही है, हमारी इस मांग पर अमल करने के लिए नर्मदा नियंत्रण प्राधिकरण (NCA) इंदौर ने केंद्रीय जल और विद्युत अनुसंधानशाला पुणे (Central Water and Power Research Station- CWPRS) की एक टीम भेजी है जो राजस्थान-गुजरात सीमा पर रड़का क्रॉस रेगुलेटर पर नर्मदा नहर के पानी की प्रवाह क्षमता का अध्ययन कर रही है. यह टीम 31 मार्च 2022 तक अध्ययन करेगी कि आखिर राजस्थान को कम पानी मिलने में क्या-क्या दिक्कतें आ रही हैं? इस दौरान राजस्थान को उसके हिस्से और क्षमता के अनुसार 1800 से 2400 क्यूसेक पानी प्रवाहित कर नहर की पूर्ण क्षमता को भी परखा जा रहा है. निस्संदेह इस अध्ययन से हमारी पानी के मामले में न्याय की मांग को बल मिलेगा.[Readmore]