Ministry Of Jal Shakti Announces Winners Of ‘Water Heroes: Share Your Stories’ Contest For The Month Of July 2022

In accordance with the vision and mission of Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, for making water conservation and sustainable development of water resources a ‘Jan Andolan’ or people’s movement, the department of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, Ministry of Jal Shakti had launched the ‘Water Heroes: Share Your Stories’ contest. The 3rd edition of the monthly contest had been launched on MyGov portal on 01.12.2021 and will end on 30.11.2022. The Department has announced 6 winners for the month of July, 2022 and each of them will get a cash prize of Rs. 10,000/- and a certificate for supporting country-wide efforts & motivating masses to adopt the cause of water conservation and promoting sustainable development of water resources in the country.

The aim of the contest is to create awareness for water conservation by enhancing knowledge and sharing experiences of water heroes and to create an attitude towards water conservation and management so that a behavioral change can be created amongst all stakeholders. Till date, three editions of the contest have been launched on MyGov portal. The 1st edition was launched from 01.09.2019 to 30.08.2020. The 2nd edition was launched from 19.09.2020 to 31.08.2021. The 3rd edition has been launched on 01.12.2021 and will end on 30.11.2022. For the month of July 2022, the six winners along with their achievements are: –

1. Manish Rajpoot: Manish Rajput, Gwalior, MP had participated in the National Integration Youth Camp. He led regional and national level campaigns on water, forest and land, public motivation, public advocacy on land rights campaign, Jan Andolan 2018, Jal Adhikar Abhiyan in Karahal area, ​​Ayodhya in 2013-16. In between 2016-18, involves in organizing/ participating in foot marches, seminars etc. In 2019 he participated in the Right to Water and River Rejuvenation conference. He is coordinator of the Madhya Pradesh unit in the Jal Jan Jodo campaign in 2019.
2. Prakash Singh: He is involved in water conservation works in Rudraprayag District, Uttarakhand the entire work of chal-khal development was done with the support of villagers through community participation. He encourages the community and help to develop a model for management of water. In March’22, Sarkaritel.com in collaboration with Ministry of Jal Shakti and Jal Jeevan Mission awarded the community with Jal Prahari award. He started a ‘Jan Andolan’ campaign on water conservation and management. Due to the efforts, over 40 chal-khals have been restored, 45 ferro-cement tanks constructed, the water scenario has substantially improved.
3. Shivaji Ghadge: He is a Press Reporter and activist in water conservation from Ahmadnagar, Maharashtra. He is engaged in journalism for the last three decades and covered news in water literacy and management, and through this medium he is making people aware for water users with economy. He has also made aware school children in Maharashtra for water conservation and cleaning of contaminated rivers.
4. Dr. T Vasantha Lakhsmi: Vasantha Lakshmi Charitable Trust & Research Center, Nellore, Andhra Pradesh is primarily focusing on environment, water & sanitation, safe drinking water, awareness on water harvesting, plantation etc. The trust conducts awareness/ seminars/ campaigns on water conservation in rural and urban communities. The trust done more than 5 lakh plantation work, 1000+ rallies organized on water conservation awareness, 2400+ awareness programs conducted, 2400+ water conservation works, 1800+ RWH structures constructed, awareness on saving water to 500+ villages, 830+ awareness programs in schools and colleges conducted.
5. Bhuvana Panchanath: The Aashiana Apartment in Chennai has constructed a Rain Water Harvesting (RWH) structure, new RWH wells, constructed a shallow channel, new recharge well. They constructed a new well to collect terrace run off from some of the blocks. They conducted door-to-door campaigns on awareness on water conservation. Installed Aerators in the flats, water meters in kitchen and bathroom inlets which helped in bringing down water consumption. Between 2010-17, started Grey Water recycling and Drip Irrigation, set up a Sewage Treatment Plant in 2019 to converts sewage water.
6. Mahendra Kumar: He is devising a mechanism for saving water from AC and Cooler using Radiator and fan box. For water saving, he prepared brick-spongy cooler-cum-AC in which sufficient amount of water is saved daily.

The contest is held monthly and may be seen on MyGov portal (www.mygov.in). To participate in the contest, one needs to post their success stories on water conservation efforts in the form of 1-5 minutes video, along with a write-up of 300 words and attach some photographs/ photos that depict the efforts. Also, the participants can share their videos (with the link to their YouTube video) on the MyGov portal. In addition to this, entries can be submitted at waterheroes.cgwb[at]gmail[dot]com .