• Uttar Pradesh has been ranked as the best state in water conservation efforts in  2020 National Water Awards.

• The ministry of jal shakti awarded Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu second and third ranks, respectively, for their work and efforts towards water conservation.

• Union minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat said the country required 1,000 billion cubic metres of water per year to cater to its agriculture, irrigation, industrial and domestic requirements.

• Water as a resource is crucial to India, which is one of the fastest growing economies in the world. While India has more than 18 per cent of the world’s population, it has only 4 per cent of world’s renewable water resources. 

• The usage of water is increasing but its availability is decreasing. Rainfall patterns are changing. By 2050, the demand for water would rise from 1,000 billion cubic metres to 1,400-1,500 billion cubic metres.

• It is in this backdrop that the National Water Awards (NWA) were instituted to recognise and encourage exemplary work and efforts made by states, districts, individuals, organisations, etc across the country in attaining the government’s vision of a ‘Jal Samridh Bharat’.

• This is the third National Water Award. The National Water Award was launched by the jal shakti ministry in 2018.

• National Water Awards also aims to provide a good opportunity to startups as well as leading organisations to engage and deliberate with senior policy-makers on how to adopt the best water resources management practices in India.

• The department of water resources, river development and Ganga rejuvenation gives 57 awards to states, organisations, individuals, etc in 11 different categories.

Main awards:

• Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh received the best district award in the northern zone, followed by Shahid Bhagat Singh Nagar in Punjab. In the southern zone, Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala was awarded the best district, followed by Kadapa in Andhra Pradesh.

• East Champaran in Bihar and Godda in Jharkhand were awarded first and second ranks among districts in the east zone, while Indore in Madhya Pradesh ranked first in the western region. Vadodara in Gujarat and Banswara in Rajasthan won a joint second rank.

• In the northeast zone, Goalpara in Assam and Siang in Arunachal Pradesh were recognised for their water conservation efforts.

• Under the best industry category, Welspun India Textile Ltd, Gujarat (first), Hyundai Motor India Ltd, Tamil Nadu (second), and jointly Trident (Textile) Ltd, Punjab (third) and Steel Authority of India Ltd (third) New Delhi have been awarded.

• Under the best NGO category, Coastal Salinity Prevention Cell, Ahmedabad, Vivekananda Kendra NARDEP, Kanyakumari, Gramvikas Sanstha, Aurangabad and Vivekananda Research and Training Institute, Bhavnagar have been awarded first, second and joint third position respectively.

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