The 14th National Conference of Water Resources/ Irrigation Ministers of States/ Union Territories was held in New Delhi on October 03. The following is the text of the inaugural address of Union Minister of Parliamentary Affairs & Water Resources Pawan Kumar Bansal:
“This Conference is being held after a long gap of seven years. This Conference is a very important National Forum which offers a splendid opportunity for a meaningful dialogue on the critical issues relating to the water sector and the interventions needed to address them effectively. My colleague, Shri Vincent Pala has already drawn your attention towards the impending crisis on water resources in our country.
Growing demand for water as result of population growth, urbanization and economic growth has resulted in tremendous pressure on water resources making India a water stressed country by international standards. The need to provide clean water for drinking & sanitation and the need to achieve food security are of paramount importance. Climate change which might complicate further the existing temporal and spatial variation in availability of water is a growing challenge. Extreme events like floods and droughts could occur more frequently affecting livelihood and food security. Injudicious inter-sectoral and intra-sectoral distribution of water amongst various categories of water users, low water use efficiency, unsystematic water resources planning and development, poor maintenance of irrigation systems and poor recovery of water charges are some of the major problems associated with the management of water resources in the country.
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