THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala has won two awards in the third National Water Awards -2020 announced on Saturday. While the state capital has been adjudged the best district in south zone, Elappully grama panchayat in Palakkad has won third place in the best village panchayat in south zone category.
The awards were announced by Union Minister of Jal Shakti Gajendra Singh Shekhawat in New Delhi. Uttar Pradesh won the first prize, followed by Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu in the states category. The national water awards aim to recognise individuals and organisations doing exemplary work in the field of water resources management.
While Thiruvananthapuram won first place in the Best District South Zone category, Kadappa in Andhra Pradesh won the second place. Yelerampura Panchayat in Karnataka and Vellaputhur in Tamil Nadu won first and second places in the Best village panchayat — south zone category.
Announcing the awards, the minister said the country’s current water requirement is estimated to be around 1,100 billion cubic metres per year, and is projected to go up to 1,447 billion cubic metres by 2050. Water as a resource is crucial to India, which is one of the fastest growing economies in the world.
“While India has more than 18 per cent of the world’s population, it has only 4 per cent of world’s renewable water resources. The awards were instituted to recognise efforts in attaining ‘Jal Samridh Bharat,” said the minister.