President Droupadi Murmu conferred the fifth National Water Awards in the national capital on Tuesday, honoring 38 winners across nine categories, including Best State, Best District, Best Village Panchayat, Best Urban Local Body, Best Water User Association, and Best Civil Society.
In her address, President Murmu emphasized the government’s efforts to improve access to clean water, noting that over 78 percent of rural households now have tap water connections through the Jal Jeevan Mission.
The National Water Awards aim to raise awareness about the importance of water conservation and to encourage the adoption of best practices in water usage. President Murmu called attention to the critical role of state governments in water conservation and expressed concern over the country’s depleting groundwater resources.
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“Water is a basic necessity and a fundamental human right for every individual,” she said. “A clean and prosperous society cannot be built without ensuring access to clean water. The lack of water and inadequate sanitation significantly affects the health, food security, and livelihoods of the underprivileged.”
The President noted that water conservation has deep roots in Indian tradition, urging a revival of ancestral wisdom. “Our ancestors constructed ponds near villages and reservoirs in temples to store water for times of scarcity.
Unfortunately, we are forgetting this wisdom, with some encroaching on reservoirs for personal gain, which threatens water availability during droughts and exacerbates flooding during heavy rains,” she explained.
President Murmu emphasized that the responsibility for conserving and enhancing water resources lies with everyone, stating that building a water-secure India requires collective action.
She further praised the National Water Awards as a significant step toward promoting effective strategies and actions for water resource management and expressed hope that the best practices of the awardees would inspire widespread adoption.
