Chittorgarh District Collector Alok Ranjan was honoured with the 6th National Water Award and Water Conservation-Public Participation Award at a ceremony held at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi.
This honour was given for the outstanding work I under Water Conservation -Public Participation 1.0 programme being conducted in Chittorgarh district.
The award was given by Jal Shakti minister C R Patil. He gave away a cash prize of Rs. 25 lakh along with citation the category-3 of the western zone.
The purpose of the National Water Awards is to raise awareness among people to save water. In addition, these awards encourage districts and institutions that adopt better water use techniques.
The Water Conservation- Public Participation programme is creating many effective models for raising the groundwater level through community collaboration, which are setting an example for other districts.
The aim of the programme is to address problems such as water shortage, falling groundwater levels and erratic rainfall with public participation.
Under the programme, joint teams of Rural Development, Forest Department, Water Resources and Land Conservation Department constructed and improved 7,540 structures in the district. These include units such as anicut, checkdam, talai, percolation tank, roof-top rain water harvesting, sock-pit and recharge shaft. These structures played a major role in transporting rainwater into the ground.
What is the impact?
The impact of the special campaign carried out from April 1 to July 15, 2024 was clearly visible in the groundwater level of the district.
According to the data of the Ground Water Department, the level before and after the 2024 monsoon recorded an increase of 13.99 metres, which is the highest in the whole of Rajasthan. This achievement proves that the water conservation campaign in Chittorgarh was not only successful but the district has also set a new precedence with collective efforts.
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