A Seminar on “Sustainable Solutions for Access to Safe Water: Promoting Innovation and Collaboration” was organized by The Energy and Resources Institute from 21st - 22nd January, 2015 at the GNIOT, Greater Noida. The seminar was designed for Youth to make them aware about water related issues so that they can come forward to save water. Dr. Neeraj Bala, Assistant Professor, Department of Applied Science and Humanities and Mr. Amit Kumar Sharma, Assistant Professor, Dept. of Civil Engineering along with students Neha Chauhan (ECE), Prabhakar Kumar Gupta (ECE), Pooja Kumari (ECE), Ajay Bhawankan (CE), Pankaj Sharma (CE), Litty Thomas (CSE), Sooraj (CSE), Md. Danish(EEE), Ankit Tiwari (IT), Gaurav Rajput (IT) attended the seminar as delegates from Dronacharya Group of Institutions, Greater Noida.

Day 1: 21st January, 2015

The key speakers of the event included Dr. Deeksha Katyal, Assistant Professor IP University, Dr. Radha Goel, Member and Advisor, Indian Pollution Control Association and Ms. Kopal Chaube, Academic Fellow, School of Human Ecology, Ambedkar University. The program commenced with the ‘Welcome Address’ by Ms. Monmi Baura, Research Associate, TERI. She gave a brief introduction of the TERI and Youth Seminar to the audience by playing a short introductory movie.

Dr. Chari, Professor (Operation Management) and Chief Proctor, BIMTECH, inaugurated the session. During his address he discussed the drinking water related issues. He shared with the audience that in some part of Hyderabad people get water supply only for one day in a week. Also the water bodies are getting damaged. He appreciated TERI for taking up the initiative to sensitise youth to follow a sustainable route towards development.

Dr. Deeksha Katyal delivered the lecture on the topic “Vulnerability index mapping techniques for Water Resource Management”. She emphasized on the urgency of saving water as usage of water has increased 6 fold in last century worldwide due to increasing population, urbanization and industrialization. She discussed about the per capita consumption of water in various countries (US-575 Litres/day, Japan = 375 Liters/day, India = 135 Liters/day, Mozambique = 4 Litres/day). She told that 884 million people do not have access to potable water and there is one death in 20 sec due to water related problems.

Dr. Radha Goel delivered an interesting lecture on “Rainwater Harvesting: A Sustainable Solution for Access to Safe Water”. She discussed that Rainwater harvesting is a sustainable solution as it is technologically simpler, socially acceptable, environment-friendly and economically viable. If implemented in a proper way, rainwater harvesting can ensure access to safe water to the communities who are not getting sufficient safe water daily. She also emphasized on installing low-flow aerators, showerheads, tank banks and other water-saving devices. She told that Water conservation at home is one of the easiest measures to put in place, and saving water should become the part of everyday family practice.

Ms. Kopal Chaube discussed about the “Interplay of Gender in Water Resource Management”. She discussed that understanding the role of gender in managing water resources can lead to a sustainable solution in water management.

In the post lunch session a competition was held out to design a Water Campaign either by making a poster or writing a blog on various issues related to water such as Water Scarcity, Water Security, Efficient Water Management, Water Born Diseases and Water Pollution. Every one enthusiastically participated in this activity.

Day 2: 22nd January, 2015

The session started with the ‘Welcome Address’ by Ms. Garima Kaushik, Research Associate, Educating Youth for Sustainable Development, TERI. This was followed by a simulation exercise, group activities and presentations. The discussions revolved around searching for sustainable solutions for safe water and facilitated an exchange of views among the participants. This session was lively and interactive.

The Winners were awarded with prizes, certificates of merit and certificates of participation by Director, GNIOT at the end of the program.

LIST OF WINNERS - DGI, GR. NOIDA

The seminar generated awareness on issues of safe water accessibility and sustainability and encouraged multi-disciplinary approach to understand and solve water problems.