The Department of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, Ministry of Jal Shakti has launched the 'Water Heroes: Share Your Stories’ contest. The 3rd edition has been launched on 01.12.2021 and will end on 30.11.2022 on MyGov portal. The 1st edition was launched from 01.09.2019 to 30.08.2020. The 2nd edition was launched from 19.09.2020 to 31.08.2021.

The objective of the contest is to promote value of water, in general, and for supporting country-wide efforts on water conservation and sustainable development of water resources. In accordance with the vision of Hon'ble Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a large population should be motivated to adopt the cause of water conservation in the country. The aim of the contest is to create awareness for water conservation by enhancing knowledge and sharing experiences of water heroes; and to create an attitude towards water conservation and management so that a behavioral change can be created amongst all stakeholders.

For the month of August 2022, there are six winners, they will get a cash prize of Rs. 10,000/- and a certificate, details given as below:

1. Divyansh Tondon:

He is from Meerut, associated with the campaign named “Paani Panchayat” under which they go to various villages, streets, towns, schools, localities and making public aware. He is vice president (Meerut Cantt.) Saarthi Social welfare society.  

2. Vinay Vishwanath Gawas

He is a Project Director from Goa, campaigning about Rooftop Rainwater Harvesting and borewell recharge in Kelawade village, Keri sattari, Goa. The project is said to be built in collaboration with TERI.

3. Amit

He is a Gram Pradhan in Malakpura, Jalon, UP and was a Journalist in Delhi. He has done various activities for development such as providing healthy foods in the primary school of the village, working in plantation work, environment protection and Water purification through sedimentation activities.

4. Babita Rajpoot Ghuwara

She is from Chattarpur, Madhya Pradesh. She is involved in the construction of four check dams and two outlets and made bori bandahan. 

5. Anurag Patel

Anurag Patel, District Magistrate, Banda in a considerable effort to conserve water ran two significant campaigns- ‘Jal Sanchay, Jeevan Sanchay’ and ‘Jal Kumbhi Hatao-Talab Bachao Abhiyan’. He took the initiative to remove water hyacinth from 126 ponds. He also took efforts to rejuvenate the Chandrawal River by digging up extra miles for renovation purpose. 664 ponds in Mirzapur and 101 in Janpad Farrukhabad was revived under his efforts.

6. Snehlata Sharma

Snehlata Sharma from Shivpuri District Block Badarwas, Piparodha Village has been doing a considerable and praiseworthy job in field of water conservation and management from the past 1 year. For creating awareness around the village about water and its conservation, she brought women in the forefront. She also generated awareness about the crops that uses less water in the field.

The contest is held monthly and may be seen on MyGov portal. To participate in the contest, one needs to post their success stories on water conservation efforts in the form of 1-5 minutes video, along with a write-up of 300 words and attach some photographs/ photos that depict the efforts. Also, the participants can share their videos (with the link to their YouTube video) on the MyGov portal (www.mygov.in). In addition to this, entries can be submitted at waterheroes.cgwb[at]gmail[dot]com .

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AS