NMCG and c-Ganga organize 6th India Water Impact Summit

 NMCG and c-Ganga organize 6th India Water Impact Summit

The National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) along with the Centre for Ganga River Basin Management and Studies (c-Ganga) are organizing the 6th edition of the India Water Impact Summit (IWIS) from 9th December to 14th December 2021. The summit is being organized in a hybrid mode - online and physically at the NMCG office, New Delhi, and IIT, Kanpur. The IWIS 2021 is a five-day event and this year’s theme is ‘River Resources Allocation “Planning and Management at the Regional Level'. 

Last year, the 5th edition of the India Water Impact Summit (IWIS) was successfully organized by the NMCG and c-Ganga on the theme of comprehensive analysis and holistic management of local rivers and water bodies with the focus on Arth Ganga - River Conservation Synchronized Development.

This year the Summit will enlighten the participants on the complexities and peculiarities as well as the scales of managing the rivers across the basin.  The focus will be on synchronizing river conservation with long-term developmental needs by river resource budgeting.  ALSO READ: PM condoles demise of Gen Bipin Rawat, his wife, and other personnel

The systematic assessment, planning, and management of river resources for various human requirements will ensure healthy rivers and scope for optimal and sustainable development by providing municipal water supplies, hydro-energy, recreation and tourism, irrigation, commercial navigation, fisheries, waste management, and flood management. Hence, to accomplish these multiple goals across the length of large rivers, the IWIS has invited the participation of small and large stakeholders in upstream and downstream regions in the context of select Ganga Basin states, namely Delhi, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and West Bengal.

On 9th December 2021, the Summit will be inaugurated by Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, the Hon’ble Minister of Jal Shakti, along with the Hon’ble Ministers of State, the Secretary, Ministry of Jal Shakti, Director General, NMCG, and founding head of c-Ganga. This year the summit has various sessions on Science, Technology & Policy, Finance, and Economics, Technology & Innovation, International and Policy, Law & Governance. The plenary session will majorly focus on River Resources Allocation - Planning and Management at the Regional Level by including upper, middle, lower, and deltaic regions on each day respectively.

River resources of value to humans may be identified in terms of river ecosystem goods and services that include diverse entities such as water (for domestic, agricultural, and industrial uses), sediment, nutrients, food, biodiversity, energy, flood drainage, navigation, waste treatment, recreation, etc., apart from physically unquantifiable attributes such as aesthetic, mystical and spiritual aspects of rivers. The ecosystem goods and services of rivers vary in amounts and proportion along their lengths, thereby offering variable benefits in different river stretches. Rivers also tend to exhibit a common pattern in the distribution of resources over time (such as over annual cycles).

The Summit will host the sessions with integrated as well as individual focus on Science, Technology & Policy, Finance & Economics, Technology & Innovation, Policy, Law & Governance, and International Cooperation. Experts from the scientific community from across the globe would be participating in the IWIS 2021. The international focus of the 6th IWIS would be on collaborations with the European Union, Denmark, Netherlands, Norway, USA, UK, Australia, and the BRICS countries. This year the international sessions will have the presence of Indian Ambassadors and High Commissioners and their counterparts. ALSO READ: Vice President calls for diversified agriculture

The IWIS 2021 will provide a knowledge-enriching platform to all stakeholders and aim to discuss, debate, and develop the model solutions for some of the important challenges before not only Ganga but all rivers and the water sector in India.