The Vice President of India, Shri Jagdeep Dhankhar, conferred the 4th National Water Awards 2022 at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi on 17 June 2023.
Organised by:
The award distribution ceremony was organised by the Department of Water Resources, River Development, and Ganga Rejuvenation (DoWR, RD &GR), Ministry of Jal Shakti at Plenary Hall, Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi.
- 41 winners, including joint winners across 11 categories were awarded for their exemplary work in the field of water conservation and management.
- Each award winner was conferred with a citation and a trophy as well as cash prizes in certain categories.
The Vice President also launched an animated short film on ‘Piku’, the mascot of National Water Mission for telecast on Doordarshan to spread the message of water conservation. The event started with the traditional ‘Jal Kalash’ ceremony.
Important Award Winners of 4th National Water Awards 2022:
Best State:
The first prize for the Best State was awarded to Madhya Pradesh; The second prize went to Odisha while the third prize was jointly given to Andhra Pradesh and Bihar.
- Best District: Ganjam District, Odisha
- Best Village Panchayat: Jagannadhapuram Village Panchayat, Bhadradri Kothagudem district, Telangana
- Best Urban Local Body: Chandigarh Municipal Corporation, Chandigarh
- Best Media: Advance Water Digest Private Limited Gurugram, Haryana
- Best School: Jamiyatpura Primary School, Mehsana, Gujarat
- Best Institution for Campus usage: Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board, Reasi, Jammu and Kashmir
- Best Industry: Barauni Thermal Power Station, Begusarai, Bihar
- Best NGO: Arpan Seva Sansthan, Udaipur, Rajasthan
- Best Water User Association: The Sanjeevani Piyat Sahkari Mandli Ltd, Narmada, Gujarat
- Best Industry for CSR Activities: HCL Technologies Ltd., Noida, Uttar Pradesh
Background:
» As part of the ongoing nationwide drive to realize the Government’s vision of a ‘Jal Samridh Bharat’ or ‘Water Prosperous India’, the National Water Awards focus on encouraging the good work and efforts made by various individuals and organizations.
- It seeks to create awareness among people about the importance of water and motivate them to adopt best water use practices.
- The event provides an opportunity to all people and organizations to forge a strong partnership and further strengthen public participation in water resource conservation and management activities.
» Under the guidance of Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, the Ministry of Jal Shakti started a comprehensive campaign to spread awareness about water management and water conservation on a national level.
- With the objective of encouraging various stakeholders towards adopting a holistic approach towards water resources management in the country, it was considered necessary to set up an integrated National Water Award.
- Accordingly, the 1st National Water Awards were launched in 2018 by DoWR, RD & GR. The 2nd and 3rd National Water Awards were given for the years 2019 and 2020. The awards were not given in the year 2021 due to CoVID pandemic.