Kalvimalar

Home » News

India Signs MoU with European Union on Water Cooperation- 9-Oct-2016

New Delhi: Hon’ble Minister of Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation, Government of India,Ms. Uma Bharti signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on water resources development and management with HE Karmenu Vella, Commissioner for Environment, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, European Commission, during the World Sustainable Development Summit here.

This comes a few days after the approval was given by the Union Cabinet for the MoU to be signed under the Chairmanship of the Hon’ble Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi.

As a research institute which has done laudable work on water management by way of water audits, which have helped several sectors such as thermal power plants, heavy engineering and railways to reduce water losses up to40%, TERI is honoured to have hosted the signing of this MoU.
The India- EU collaboration envisions the galvanising of the technological, scientific and management capabilities of India and the European Union for water management focusing on equality, reciprocity and mutual benefit. This understanding also incorporates water resource management plans within river basins and through study visits.

Ms. Uma Bharti, Hon’ble Minister of Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation, Government of India,said,“I hope this partnership will provide a platform that will help facilitate the exchange of knowledge, experience and expertise to provide solutions to the challenges in the water sector. I compliment TERI for organising an event of global significance. I do hope all the organisations attending the World Sustainable Development Summit will bring out ideas to better manage natural resources and contribute towards sustainable development. I wish the WSDS a great success”.

HE Karmenu Vella, Commissioner for Environment, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, European Commission, said, ““Water is life. Water is being threatened by climate change, pollution, increasing demand and a huge amount of wastage. This is a global issue and requires global solutions and global action. Today’s MoU is one way of implementing the EU India Water partnership through exchange of technological, scientific and management experience. This will help both EU and India contribute jointly to our SDGs. This MoU will not solve all the issues but it will be a very good step in the right direction”.

Dr. Ajay Mathur, DG – TERI, emphasised on governments and their institutions assuming larger roles in nurturing local water resources. He said, “India is a water-stressed nation; and limited development of surface water sources has led to a huge pressure on India's groundwater resources.”

The partnership between India and EU will go a long way in bringing about a more sustainable management of water resources in India with an objective of tackling the challenges posed by water management with the growing population resulting in competing water demands and a changing climate.

The Summit has been witnessing attendance by a range of luminaries from different fields, such as Mr Tomasz Kozlowski, Ambassador of the European Union to India; Mr Karmenu Vella, commissioner for Environment, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, European Commission; Mr Amitabh Kant, CEO, NITI Aayog (National Institution for Transforming India), Government of India; Mr JacoCilliers, Country Director, UNDP India; Ms Xueman Wang, Senior Carbon Finance Specialist, The World Bank, Sustainable Development Network and Mr Dipak Dasgupta, Former Principal Economic Adviser, Ministry of Finance, India & Former Board Member, Green Climate Fund. Taking place from October 5 to 8, 2016, at India Habitat Centre, New Delhi, the WSDS is also an attempt to initiate discussions on methodologies to be adopted in order to envisage a plan to realise the Global Goals beyond 2015. The idea is to create a common platform for countries to identify opportunities for consensus and collaboration to balance the realities of ecosystem preservation with aspirations for holistic economic development.