World Water Day, 2021 was observed by Institution of
Public Health Engineers, India on 22nd March, 2021. A virtual group
discussion through Google meet was arranged by the Institution on the theme of
the year, ‘Valuing Water’.
The event was held for about an hour and a half from 6
pm onwards on the day; and started with self- introduction of the participants
followed by sharing thoughts and experiences about ‘valuing water’. Amongst the
participants, Prof. K. J. Nath, President, IPHE; Prof. Dr. ArunabhaMajumderand
Dr. N. B. Basu, Vice-Presidents, IPHE; and fellow members ShriBipin Panda;
ShriVijendraVikramaditya; Dr.AlokSuman; ShriSitangshuGanguly; Shri V. N.
Angina; Dr. B. L. Shivakumar; ShriDevendra Sharma; Shri P. K. Kalra; Shri H. R.
Gaidhani and ShriSidharth Acharya took active part in the lively discussions
and raised their concerns for different environmental, social, economic and
other technical aspects on water related issues. The event was coordinated by
Shri K. A. Roy, Council Member, IPHE, India.
The key issues discussed by the expert speakers on the
occasion include:
i) Need for conservation of water bodies and rivers,
including restoration of environmental flow in rivers and rivulets;
ii) Rain water harvesting and recharge of ground water
for mitigation of over exploitation of ground water resources;
iii) Creation of awareness among the people for
valuing water at individual household as well as community level;
iv) Pricing of water, water metering and water reuse;
v) Control of water pollution including scientific
liquid and solid waste management;
vi) Need for human resource development for scientific
water management to meet all the relevant ‘sustainable development goals –
2030’.
