New Delhi: Rather than capacity building, we need to focus on capacity optimisation to ensure efficiency. This was stated by Avinash Mishra, Advisor (Water), NITI Aayog, Government of India. He was speaking at virtual ‘Global Water Management Conclave’ organised by APAC News Network and Ministry of Jal Shakti, Government of India.
‘After the COVID-19 scenario, we need to be more careful with the usage of water. We need to build micro storage system in micro watershed at each and every area. In ancient India, tank system was there to store water for multiple purposes. Unfortunately, the system has been dismantled with time. Even we are practicing rainwater harvesting, we are not utilising it fully as there is no filter system installed and even if it is installed, it is not reaching the water table in most of the cases. Hence, for rainwater harvesting, Chartered Engineers or Chartered Geologists should be involved in Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) to carry out the installation and process of rainwater harvesting,’ said Mishra. He added that it is better to introduce a two-pipe system or recycle waste water and reuse it for secondary purposes. Only 37 per cent of waste water is collected in our sewerage system and rest 63 per cent goes in the fresh water bodies and contaminate those.
Avinash further added,’there should be a price tag for water usage, be it for the agricultural, industrial or drinking water sector, to improve efficiency. Rather than capacity building, we need to focus on capacity optimisation to ensure efficiency.’
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