'Haryana and Israel to cooperate in water conservation & management'

Chandigarh: Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Tuesday said that Haryana and Israel are looking forward to work on various water conservation and management projects. He said that Haryana and Israel should work together to seek out

the issue of depleting water table and water scarcity. With this initiative, the issues related to water in Haryana and Israel can be solved effectively.

The Chief Minister said this during a meeting with a delegation of Israel regarding water conservation and management in Chandigarh on Tuesday.

He said that in the situation when the water is depleting in some areas of the state, the state government is constantly working to improve the water table. For this, the Haryana government has constituted the Haryana Water Resources (Conservation, Regulation and Management) Authority, under which the state government is working to renovate 18,000 ponds of the state.

Besides cleaning these ponds, the ponds are also being desilted so that maximum recharging of water can be done. Along with this, Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs) are being set up across the state. Emphasis is being

given to use the water of these STPs for agriculture, construction works and gardening purposes. Along with this, drip irrigation is being promoted in agriculture. The government is taking every possible step to conserve water in the state, he added.

The Chief Minister said that both Israel and Haryana understand the challenges of water conservation and should work together to seek out ways of water resources and management. Israel is already cooperating with Haryana in the

field of agriculture and horticulture. Four Centres of Excellence for Indo-Israel Cooperation are running in Haryana and the fifth centre is being built in Bhiwani. Similarly, some private companies of India are working in Israel in drip irrigation.

Khattar directed the irrigation and water resources department to constitute a task force so that work regarding water management resources can be done with the cooperation of Israel. He said that both Haryana and Israel should also come forward to explore new technology, innovations.

Former Minister of Israel and Chairman of Mekorot Yitzhak Aharonovich said that Israel is a leading country in water conservation. Despite a shortage of water, Israel is using quality water management in the agricultural sector. He shared sustainable effective water management and resources solutions with Haryana. Aharonovich further

said that Israel is working on water conservation with a farsighted vision. He wants to share such projects with Haryana as well.