New Delhi, Mar 26 (PTI) The department of water resources, river development and Ganga rejuvenation under the Jal Shakti ministry on Thursday held a regional conference of state water secretaries in Telangana to review ongoing schemes and strengthen Centre-state coordination in the sector.
The conference was chaired by VL Kantha Rao, secretary, Department of Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation (DoWR, RD & GR), was held at the Dr MCR HRD Institute.
Senior officers from Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Puducherry, Lakshadweep and Andaman and Nicobar Islands participated in the meeting and discussed a wide array of issues related to water resources.
Rao stressed on the need for timely completion of projects and called for reducing gaps in Centre-state coordination to ensure time-bound progress of priority works. He urged states and Union territories to actively participate in the revision and restructuring of schemes of DoWR, RD & GR for the next finance commission cycle.
Apart from ongoing schemes, discussions covered flood forecasting activities and adoption of advisories on sediment management, salinity ingress in coastal areas, implementation of the Dam Safety Act, and Jal Sanchay Jan Bhagidari among others.
Participating states and UTs were asked to streamline implementation of these critical advisories on priority.
Officials of the department and heads of 15 major organisations under DoWR, RD & GR also attended the day-long conference.
The key objectives included reviewing implementation of ongoing schemes in participating states and UTs, assessing works works done by the organisations of the department in these states, understanding concerns related to projects and inter-state matters, and strengthening coordination and partnerships.
During the meeting, state government officials highlighted implementation status, expectations from the Centre and bottlenecks in their respective regions.
In his concluding remarks, Rao emphasised the importance of such consultations in formulating and executing integrated strategies for sustainable and effective development of water resources and reiterated the department’s commitment to supporting states in planning, developing and managing water projects across the country. PTI ADI ADI SKY SKY
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