Oct 22, 2024: Hon. President of India, Smt. Droupadi Murmu conferred the 5th National Water Awards 2023 for “Best Civil Society” on BAIF Development Research Foundation, Pune today at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi. The award was received by Dr. Bharat Kakade, President and Managing Trustee of BAIF and Mr. Waman Kulkarni, Chief Thematic Programme Executive – Natural Resources Management and Climate Action, BAIF in the presence of Shri. C.R. Paatil, Hon. Minister for Jal Shakti, Shri. V. Somanna, Hon. Minister of State for Jal Shakti & Railways and Shri. Raj Bhushan Choudhary, Hon. Minister of State for Jal Shakti.
The award announced by the Ministry of Jal Shakti, Department of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, Government of India included 38 winners in 9 categories i.e. Best State, District, Village Panchayat, Urban Local Body, School or College, Industry, Water User Association, Institution (other than school or college) and Civil Society for water conservation and management.
BAIF has transformed the lives of 16,970 families from 115 villages of 12 states by promoting diversion-based irrigation and smart irrigation practices on 7816 hectares, construction of 3547 water conservation structures for drinking water and irrigation of rural catchment areas, 299 traditional rain water harvesting structures such as Tankas and Agors in arid regions to benefit 4485 families.
Resolving drinking water scarcity in Surgana, Nashik district, adoption of water positive village approach on 5000 hectares in Nashik and Satara districts, solar irrigation systems to benefit 1068 families and minimise carbon footprint in Maharashtra, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Gujarat, water stewardship programmes for sustainable river basin and micro-watershed management in Maharashtra, Karnataka and Uttarakhand, roof top rain water diverted into defunct hand pumps to recharge the ground water in Uttar Pradesh and roof top water harvesting in schools in Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan were the other achievements.
The selection process included acceptance of the proposal, presentation, verification and impact assessment by the evaluation team from Central Water Commission and Central Ground Water Board.
We thank Water Resource and Watershed Departments of State Governments of all our operational states, Corporate Partners and Communities for their contributions and support in BAIF’s endeavour of Water for All.
