Ground Water Exploration: 3-Day Training for PHE Engineers takes off at Jammu

A three day (Tier-II) training programme for PHE Engineers on “Ground Water Exploration, Development and it’s Management,” hosted by the Central Ground Water Board, Department of Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation, Ministry of Jal Shakti, North Western Himalayan Region, started today, here at Udyog Bhawan.

The programme was inaugurated by Additional Secretary, Union Ministry of Jal Shakti, Bharat Lal in presence of Commissioner Secretary PHE/I&FC, Government of Jammu and Kashmir, Ajeet Kumar Sahu and other senior officers.

Among others present at the inaugural session were Chief Engineer, PHE, Jammu S.K. Chadda and Regional Director, Central Ground Water Board, NWR, Chandigarh Anoop Naagar.

As many as 25 Superintending Engineers and Executive Engineers participated in the training programme.

During the three day training programme, subject experts  and resource persons, scientists from Central Ground Water Board, Geological Survey of India would sensitize the participants on various issues, which include Ground Water scenario of J&K, basic concepts of Hydrology and Aquifer Systems, introduction to Geophysical technique and surface investigation for groundwater exploration, rain water harvesting and artificial recharge to Aquifer, water well construction development and testing of Aquifer Characteristics, introduction to national aquifer mapping and its management plan, application of Remote sensing and GIS in Ground Water studies, Geology structure and their impact on ground water resources of Jammu and outer Himalaya.

In his inaugural address, Additional Secretary, Union Ministry of Jal Shakti, Bharat Lal  asked the participants to apply effective management strategies and think sensitively to increase the ground water level, surface water storage capacity and soil moisture in farm lands. He also called for increase in the areas covered with plantation and number of saplings planted.

He said that Jal Jeevan Mission proposes to have a dedicated ground water recharge structure with every ground water source, renovation of water bodies, IEC campaign for water conservation under JJM and use of hydro-geo-morphological maps for location of source for drinking water. He further stressed on identifying alternatives for meeting the water requirement for growing crops consuming excessive water.

He emphasized on organising mass awareness programmes at village /block levels to aware the people at grass root level about the aquifer system and the cooperative management of the aquifer in an equitable manner.

In his address, A.K. Sahu stressed on the need for providing safe drinking water as it being primary requirement for ensuring people’s health. He urged the participants to identify the areas having water shortage and poor water quality and come up with ground water management plan for the same to fill the gaps. He also advised the Trainees to attend the training attentively and discuss about the issues they are facing with in their areas of responsibility.