Varanasi: Contrary to the thought that the administrative machine must work to mobilize social change, the community must lead and officials must follow to ensure the sustainability of the idea, implementation and maintenance of an effective system evolved.
This is the key to takeaway from the event lunch post session, which is dedicated to the role of the community in water conservation.
In this case, the model and community leaders of various parts of Uttar Pradesh distributed their prototypes with a vision that might show the way to others.
To remove the best of this case study, the expert panel consisting of Prof Prabhat K.
Singh, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT-BHU, Farrukh Khan, Technical Specialist, Waterand and Prof.
Venkatesh Dutta, Faculty, Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University moderate sessions and collect Takeaway.
Real life stories from Gonda, Barabanki and Siddhartnagar are used to talk about the needs, potential, and the role of the community in water conservation by Nagendra P Singh, a washing specialist, UNICEF in the opening session.
He spoke at length that the community needed to be convinced about something to embrace the cause and contribute them in it.
Former Banda District Judge, Heera Lal shared how only communities can translate visions into action.
Citing his journey in this dry Bundlelkhand district, Heera Lal – who currently serves as an additional mission director of the National Health Mission – said that his biggest learning is contrary to the belief that the officers lead the campaign, it is the correct community of change.
“The story of Banda’s change becomes a model because people bring it forward …
as a system or as the district administration leader (read DM), we can become a facilitator,” he said.
Given the thought of Mahatama Gandhi who empowers women to accelerate social change, Sanjay Singh, National Organizers Jan Jodo Abhiyan, sharing the story of Jal Saheli – women who are committed to dry water conservation in the Bundelkhand.
At present it is active in 93 villages, Jal Sahlis works on all aspects of water conservation which also makes their own life simpler.
Said that water conservation needs an indirect method, Prof.
VK Tripathi, Agricultural Engineering Department, Agricultural Institute, University of Banaras Hindu talking about what farmers can do to save water.
Citing precision irrigation as a means, he said that switching from traditional irrigation methods to drip irrigation can help in irrigating a larger area, increasing crop results, increasing nutritional efficiency of up to 90%.
This session ends with the idea that water security is directly associated with food security and the two elements are very important for human survival which makes community participation very necessary.
The thought of this was presented by Mohd Ahjal Ahmad, the United Nations Awardee at Water and Assistant Professor in the Physiology Department, the Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Bhu.