District Collectors Emphasize Water Conservation During Monsoon at 11th Dialogue

New Delhi, August 11: Ashok K.K. Meena, Secretary of Drinking Water and Sanitation, highlighted the importance of water conservation during the monsoon on Tuesday. He urged districts to accelerate the ‘Catch the Rain’ water harvesting initiative through the involvement of gram panchayats, students, and self-help groups.

Speaking at the 11th edition of the ‘District Collectors Drinking Water Dialogue’ organized by the Ministry of Jal Shakti, Meena praised four districts for adopting new and improved methods in source sustainability, information, education, and communication activities, as well as grievance redressal mechanisms and convergence of various schemes.

To enhance the work under JJM 2.0, district collectors from the selected districts—Uttara Kannada (Karnataka), Khowai (Tripura), Didwana Kuchaman (Rajasthan), and Chatra (Jharkhand)—presented their progress and best practices.

The event, held via video conferencing, included senior officials, district collectors, district magistrates, and deputy commissioners, focusing on the rapid implementation of the Jal Jeevan Mission 2.0 and sharing best practices.

Meena chaired the dialogue, which featured several senior officials. He also urged districts to utilize decision support systems for scientific evaluation of source sustainability.

He encouraged districts to expedite ‘Water Dedication’ ceremonies for completed projects after the prescribed commissioning process and necessary trial runs, allowing for the formal transfer of assets to gram panchayats.

Noting that over 200,000 villages and more than 100,000 gram panchayats across the country have achieved ‘Har Ghar Jal’ certification, he stated that this should now transition into community-driven management of rural water supply systems.

He emphasized the effective use of grants associated with the 16th Finance Commission for convergence, programs like VB-G Ramji for source sustainability and grey-water management, and collecting user charges at the GP level to assist in the operation and maintenance of village water supply infrastructure.