Nominations invited for third batch of Odisha Water Honours
· Odisha Jala Joddha Samman and Ajira Bhagiratha Samman to
be conferred during 3rd Odisha River Conference, to be held with Similipal River Festival, on 24-25
March 2019 at Baripada
· Women achievers and women led
community efforts to conserve water resources and related fields are especially
encouraged to apply for this year’s Honours
· Selfie with Budhabalanga River and other competitions in
countdown to 3rd Odisha River Conference are efforts to involve
youth and children in river and forest conservation
· More than 100 participants from across the nation to participate in 3rd Odisha River Conference
to discuss Forest-River-Communities
linkage for conservation of Rivers and combating Climate Change
Bhubaneswar, 12th
February 2019 - Water Initiatives, Odisha (WIO), the leading voice of water in
Odisha for nearly three decades, has invited nominations from individuals and
communities for the 3rd batch of Odisha Water Honours. The
Odisha Water Honours, the only of its kind in the state, are meant to recognise dedicated individuals
and communities for their pioneering contributions in the field of
water/river/ecology conservation and restoration through various actions such
as conservation, awareness, education, advocacy, grassroots initiatives.
The Odisha
Jala Joddha Samman is given for individual contributions while Ajira
Bhagiratha Samman is conferred for commendable efforts by a
community/organisation, informed Ranjan Panda, Convenor of Water Initiatives,
also popularly known as Water Man of Odisha.
For the Odisha Jala Joddha Samman, applications
are invited from individuals who have contributed positively towards building
awareness on issues like water and water-forest-biodiversity interlinkages or
have done pioneering work through their publications, individual actions or
other means that have influenced policy decisions and initiated community
mobilisation on these issues, Panda added.
For the Ajira Bhagiratha Samman nominations are
invited from communities/groups/organisations who have been doing exemplary
work in conservation of water resources, protection of natural forests that
have increased the availability of water resources in the locality, or any such
efforts in water conservation/management that has empowered communities assert
their rights over water and impacted their lives, livelihood and local ecology
positively.
He continued:
“These honours are not only a tribute to people and communities who are
endeavouring hard to work on water/ecology conservation, but also aimed at
raising awareness about the dire need of such work at a point of time when
water has already become a scarce resource and impacting millions of people and
other species adversely.”
These applications
need to be emailed to ranjanpanda@gmail.com or
sent via messages in the Mahanadi River
Waterkeeper page in Facebook. The
nominations can be made either by the concerned individuals/groups or by others
on their behalf. The last date of sending nominations is 18th March 2019.
For further
details, people are requested to write emails or post messages on Mahanadi
River Waterkeeper Facebook page.
These awards will
be conferred on the selected persons and communities at Baripada on 24th March
during the 3rd Odisha River Conference to be organised, along
with Similipal River Festival, by the WIO in collaboration with more than 30
partner organisations, Panda briefed. He requested all the media outlets to
spread this message by giving ample coverage so that deserving
persons/communities can file their nominations.
He further said, “This time we are encouraging nominations
from women and women-led community organisations for these honours.”
Other
Awards -
In countdown to the
3rd Odisha River Conference, several local competitions are also being
organised by WIO and local hosts at Baripada.
In the Selfie with Budhabalanga Contest, youths
in the age group of 18-25 from Odisha can participate. The competition, a part
of WIO’s river-youth connect
programme, aims at motivating the youth to get closer to rivers, love them, understand
their plight and help save them. The last date for submitting entries is 20th March 2019.
A series of drawing and quiz competitions on Budhabalanga River and Similipal bio reserve will also be
organised among school and college students at Baripada, the host town. Exciting
prizes await youth and children who participate and win in these
competitions. Prizes will be given away at
the inaugural session of the conference.
3rd
Odisha River Conference -
This time around,
the theme for the Odisha River Conference is ‘Forest-River-Communities Nexus for Conservation of Rivers and
Combating Climate Change’, to be held at Baripada on 24-25 March. More than 100 participants including community
members involved in forest and conservation; villagers, indigenous communities
and farmers; local and national level experts
on river/water, forest and climate change issues; representatives from civil
society organisations from across the nation; researchers, academics and other
concerned people are expected to join the two day long intense deliberation
that would lead to formulating future strategies of working together to
conserve our rivers, lakes, other water resources, natural forests and promote
nature based solutions to combat climate change with complete participation of
local and indigenous communities, Panda said.
As this conference
reaches its third episode, it has turned into a huge collective endeavour to
save the rivers and other ecosystems. More than 30 organisations
from local, state, national and international levels have already given their
consent to collaborate in this year’s river conference and more organisations
have shown their interest to join, informed Panda.
For further
information, please contact:
Ranjan Panda
Convenor, Water
Initiatives
On behalf of the 3rd
Odisha River Conference organising committee
Mobile: +91
9437050103/7008706434
Email: ranjanpanda@gmail.com
Tweets @ranjanpanda
and @MahanadiRiver
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