Koraput: Central University of Odisha conducted an awareness seminar on ‘Water Conservation and Watershed Management’ at its Sunabeda Campus on Friday. The Programme was conducted on the occasion of Swachhata Pakhwada under the Swachha Bharat Abhiyan of Government of India. The Vice Chancellor of CUO Prof. Sharat Kumar Palita inaugurated the Awareness Seminar while the Seminar talk was delivered by Dr. Partha Pratim Adhikary, Senior Scientist, Soil and Water Resource Centre, ICAR, Sunabeda.
Delivering the inaugural address Prof. Palita explained the purpose of conducting this seminar. He said that human life consists of only water. The most alarming issue in today’s world is scarce water resources and appropriate use of water. Only 2.5 percent of total water bodies of the globe are potable water, but it is sufficient for the human being if used judiciously. In India water is present sufficiently but not equally distributed geographically. So proper water management is essential for India. Further, he stressed the need for water bodies in the University campus for conserving the water coming from the mountains in and around the CUO catchment area.
Dr. Adhikary, winner of many awards in his field, explained the concept of watershed, watershed management, water conservation and related aspects. He further analyzed various ways of conserving the rain water. As monsoon is prevalent for three months in India, but the rain water has to be conserved for the whole year, he said. He also analyzed the present status of water resources in India, water usage and demand, problems of water scarcity. He said “without water, sustainable development will not be possible and economic development cannot be achieved. So, water economy is the current issue which needs to be dealt with. Undivided Koraput district is rich in water resources but it needs to be conserved properly”. He satisfied the way the Koraput People conserve water for agriculture. He also showed the example of Malkangiri where the people not only conserve water for rice cultivation they also use that waste water for pisciculture.
The other member sitting on the dais was Dr. Ramendra Parhi, Associate Dean, Student’s Welfare of CUO, who proposed the vote of thanks. Dr. Sourav Gupta, Asst. Professor coordinated the event who also gave the welcome address. The Seminar was was attended by all faculty members, staff, students and research scholars of the University.
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