An IAS officer from Assam has been earning accolades and been in news for her water conservation efforts. She is Ms. Varnali Deka, currently posted as District Commissioner, Kokrajhar. So far, she has been selected for three national awards.
This year, she was felicitated by ‘Water Warrior’ and selected for Jal Prahari Samman 2022 for her individual efforts in creating awareness towards water conservation and involving community in her initiative. Besides this, her work in innovation and convergence towards water conservation during her stint as District Commissioner, Goalpara, will also be honoured at the central level.
During a conversation with Indian Masterminds, Ms. Deka talked in detail about her water conservation initiatives.
RAINWATER HARVESTING MODEL
Ms. Deka says that as the Prime Minister talks about ‘Jan Bhagidari’ and ‘Jan Andolan’, her efforts were primarily focused on engaging community in all her works. She along with her team build up two models – on rainwater harvesting and groundwater recharged system – and showcased them in every Anganwadi in the district. While the models are up and working, they have also helped the public to replicate them.
“You can’t achieve anything only with talking. One need to showcase in order to bring changes. The models in Anganwadi centres are doing the same. People have seen how they work and help in various ways, so they are eager to replicate,” she said.
CONVERGING DIFFERENT DEPARTMENTS
Another step she took was to converge all the departments related to water to make them work together so that both efforts and results are doubled. “As it is said, 1+1 makes 11. We worked on that only. Lot of departments do activities related to water conservation and water management but don’t speak to one another. Our district administration eased the communication between them. Earlier, nobody was practicing double cropping, but since we converged irrigation and agriculture department together and promoted double cropping, it brought great results in both conserving water and farming.”
Under the officer’s leadership, irrigation rules and policies have also been eased up, which has gone a long way in encouraging people engaged in the agriculture sector to use water productively but sparingly. “The agriculture sector is the highest user and misuser of water. So, we are ensuring they use it to the last drop,” she summed up.
