“We The People” an empanelled Key Resource Centre of the Union Ministry of Jal Shakti, in collaboration with the Mission Directorate, Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM), UT of Jammu and Kashmir organizes a 3-Day Residential Training on Operation and Maintenance (O&M) of Rural Water Supply Systems (RWSS) for the L2 functionaries of the Jal Shakti (Engineers of PHE) Department of Jammu and Kashmir from 12-14 October 2023 at the Conference Hall, Udyog Bhawan, Jammu.The training programme is being sponsored by the Drinking Water and Sanitation Department, National Jal Jeevan Mission, Ministry of Jal Shakti, Govt. of India, New Delhi.
Dr. G N Itoo, Mission Director, Jal Jeevan Mission was the Chief Guest who inaugurated the training virtually from the Mission Directorate, JJM, Srinagar. In his key note address, he emphasised on the importance of ensuring community participation especially Village Water and Sanitation Committee (VWSC) in day-to-day operation of the rural water supply systems (RWSS) at the village level and extend support to PHED in maintenance of the RWSS.
He said there has been a paradigm shift under JJM from an engineering led approach to a community led approach in making RWSS sustainable, and emphasised the role of engineers to become social engineers in strengthening the RWSS ecosystem and assisting the local community for an efficient and effective O&M of RWSS.
Sanjeev Malhotra, Chief Engineer, Jal Shakti (PHE) Department, Srinagar Division, and Himesh Manchanda, Chief Engineer, Jal Shakti (PHE) Department, Jammu Division in their opening remarks emphasised on the aims and objectives of holding this L2 functionaries training and its importance for the participants in understanding the different aspects of sustainability in O&M of RWSS.
At the outset, Ajaya Mohapatra, CEO, We The People, gave welcome address and felicitation of the chief guest and others dignitaries. He also gave brief introduction to the training of L-2 Functionaries on O&M of RWSS. He introduced the topics to be covered during the three-day training including source sustainability, operational sustainability, financial sustainability and institutional sustainability in O&M of RWSS.
He said that with the growing population and expanding economic activities in Jammu and Kashmir, there has been an ever-increasing demand for water in various sectors, viz. agriculture, industry, domestic, recreation, infrastructure development, etc., whereas the source of water is finite. Thus, finite availability and competing demands make drinking water management a complex issue.
The widening demand-supply gap is further compounded by other challenges, viz. depletion of groundwater caused by over-extraction, poor recharge, low storage capacity, erratic rainfall due to climate change, presence of contaminants, limited capacity of the local community currently in operation and maintenance (O&M) of water supply systems demands for an efficient and effective O&M of RWSS at the village level.
During the first day of training, the Resource Persons— Devendra Singh Dhapola and Akshay Badami of “We The People” highlighted the key concepts and elements of JJM and “Har Ghar Jal”, vision, mission, objectives, goals and opportunities under JJM and challenges of RWSS.
He said that as per the JJM guidelines every rural household is entitled to have access to 55 litres per capita per day of potable drinking water with minimal speed. They also shared how the cutting-edge technology like IoT and Machine Learning is going to be useful for the O&M of RWSS with the context of UT of Jammu and Kashmir keeping in mind the ground realties.
The other dignitaries present on the inaugural session include Vivek Kohli, SE, Hydraulic Circle, PHED, Jammu, Bodh Raj Bhagat, SE, Mechanical Rural, PHED, Jammu, Sunil Koul, Consultant, Civil, JJM, Jammu, Vijay Arora, Consultant, Mechanical, JJM, Jammu.The participants actively participated in the training sessions and shared insights and added inputs enriching the discussions during the training on the day one.