Under Panch Jal Setu, exemplary work of water conservation and management in Vadodara

Under the leadership of District Collector Shalini Agarwal, the Panch Jal Setu project a comprehensive and exemplary work of water conservation and management has been done in the Vadodara district.

While the Vadodara district has made the water supply tanks look like factories for solar power generation. It has also made a very useful effort to fill the empty groundwater reservoir by turning rainwater from the roofs of government schools into the ground. These experiments in Vadodara have become a path bearer for others.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given a call for providing tap water to every household in the country. Expressing the feeling that the implementation of this project has been expedited in the state with the inspiration of Chief Minister Vijaybhai Rupani, Vadodara District Collector Shalini Agarwal said that in rural areas of water from tap plan is 99 % realized. More than 3 lakh households have been provided with tap connection and now by providing tap connection to 3 thousand houses, work is being done to make it with 100 % tap connection. The state government has allocated the necessary funds for it.

Public participation has been linked in the campaign and many village water committees are run entirely by women. To make the committees self-reliant, the scheme is getting good results by imparting necessary training like planning, implementation, repair and maintenance, collection of water tax.

The state government has shown special generosity towards the Vadodara district. In order to provide quality surface water to every village by the district administration and to preserve the groundwater reservoir, for each taluka Rs. 80 to 150 crore water supply schemes have been made based on surface water sources like the Narmada river, Narmada canal, Mahi river. The government has allocated sufficient funds for such schemes.

At a time when the country and the state are leading the way in generating solar energy as a source of electricity, the Vadodara district has shown a new direction of integrating solar energy generation with water supply schemes to people’s homes. Under it, solar panels have been installed on the skyscraper’s water tanks of 22 villages in the district.

The District Collector said that as a result, rural water supply schemes, which used to use electricity till now, are now generating it. Savings in electricity costs make these plans stronger. The mobile app monitors the electricity generated every hour and goes to the grid from the panels installed on the tank. An automatic sprinkler system has been installed for cleaning the panels. Thus, the perfect combination of water and solar power can be seen in the Vadodara district.

Under the rainwater project, the roof water of one thousand schools of the villages of the district descends into the ground and it has become a powerful means of training children in water culture.

The structure attached to the roof drains the rainwater directly into the ground during monsoons, filling up the deficit of depleted groundwater reserves. This system will collect about 100 million liters of rainwater even in normal monsoons and the schools will be mud-free. The special advantage is that children understand the value of water and the need to conserve it.

The district collector says that work is now being done to link other government buildings with the rainwater harvesting project. Extensive works are being done every year to increase the water storage capacity of the district under the Chief Minister-inspired Sujalam Sufalam Jal Sanchay Yojana. Vadodara has used other than drinking water as a model by purifying the wastewater from the villages.