Gorkhaland Territorial Administration ( GTA) is assisting the project.
It may be mentioned that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has taken the initiative to carry out all-round development in the hills.
The Panchayat and Rural Development department has identified 600 jhoras that will be regenerated.
The Jhoras are the prime source of rinking water in the hills.
There are four main reasons for the crisis of drinking water in Darjeeling and its neighbourhood.
Four NGOs, Acquadam, Aghryan, Prasari and Bharat Rural Livelihood Foundation have joined hands with the Panchayat and Rural Development department for successful implementation of the scheme.
Work is on to restore 36 springs and plans have been taken to restore 300 more.
The Dhara Sevaks have been given Eco projectors and they are going to the villages to create awareness among the locals.
Now, the villagers have come forward to help in the restoration of the Jhoras.
The Dhara Sevaks are watching the discharge rate of water from the Jhoras and are keeping the statistics.Senior officials of the Panchayat and Rural Development department held meetings with the managers of the tea gardens in Kolkata and Siliguri for restoration of the Jhoras that are situated inside the tea gardens.

Texas A&M AgriLife Research joins others to advance irrigation innovation Writer: Kay Ledbetter, 806-677-5608, skledbetter@ag.tamu.edu Contact: Dr. Brent Auvermann, 806-677-5600, b-auvermann@tamu.edu DENVER – Texas A&M AgriLife Research is poised to be a catalyst in the next major leap forward for water and energy use relating to food and landscape irrigation systems.
(Texas A&M AgriLife photo by Kay Ledbetter) The Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research, or FFAR, a nonprofit organization established through bipartisan congressional support in the 2014 farm bill, announced a $5 million grant to launch the Irrigation Innovation Consortium.
Initial participants are creating a platform for other universities, federal agencies including the U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service, and the private sector to work together on the critical water challenges facing agriculture, municipalities and industry, according to FFAR officials.
“We will need to transition to a sustainable funding model fueled by marketable irrigation technologies and return on investment to our industry partners,” said Dr. Brent Auvermann, AgriLife Research center director at Amarillo.
Auvermann represented the Texas agency when the announcement was made April 27 at the Water in the West Symposium hosted by Colorado State University in Denver.
Remote-sensing using drones and satellite information, systems integration and management, and use of big data or Internet of Things will be the primary areas of focus for AgriLife Research participants.
According to FFAR officials, public sector researchers and industry partners will co-develop, test, prototype and improve innovations, equipment, technology, and decision and information systems designed to equip “farms of the future” with cutting-edge technologies and optimization strategies to enhance irrigation efficiency.
Royalties earned from patented technologies will be fed back into the consortium to develop even more advances for producers and ultimately benefit taxpayers.
“Taxpayers expect their public research money to pay dividends in the marketplace with new, improved and affordable technologies that achieve important environmental goals, like water conservation.” “The new Irrigation Innovation Consortium unites top university research talent with industry to promote practical advancements in irrigation technology and water management practices,” said Dr. Sally Rockey, FFAR executive director in Washington, D.C., in making the announcement.
The FFAR announcement said the goal is to create an internationally recognized, self-sustaining center of excellence that promotes and enhances water and energy efficiency in irrigation, ultimately creating greater resiliency in food and irrigated landscape systems.

NEW DELHI – As the world moves on to other matters following World Water Day, the World Water Forum, and Cape Town’s postponement of ‘Day Zero’ until 2019, a global water crisis continues, nonetheless.
The smaller the locale, the easier it is to address the problem.
South Asia is one of those large-scale areas where people live on or beyond the brink of a growing water crisis.
Apart from in Bhutan and Nepal, South Asia’s per capita water availability is already below the world average.
Nearly 163 million people among India’s population of 1.3 billion — or more than one in 10 — lack access to clean water close to their home, according to a 2018 WaterAid report.
In some cases, particularly across national borders, upstream water control efforts adversely affect people living downstream.
The Diplomat reports that in Bangladesh, like many other countries, “the water supply in major cities is the responsibility of city authorities, but in rural areas that authority is missing.” Demand for water in the capital Dhaka is 2.2 billion liters a day, while production is 1.9 billion liters a day.
Chittagong, the second largest city, supplies 210 million liters each day against demand for 500 million liters.
Simply put, the [population of South Asia] is [growing] so fast that the natural resources of their lands are unable to sustain such rapidly growing populations.
Sources: For more details on water problems around globe globe, visit Gospel for Asia’s Special Report on the Global Clean Water Crisis.

University researchers and industry leaders will pool resources to advance irrigation technology development and transfer $5 million grant The Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research (FFAR), a nonprofit organization established through bipartisan congressional support in the 2014 Farm Bill, today awarded a $5 million grant to launch the Irrigation Innovation Consortium, a collaborative research effort to accelerate the development and adoption of water and energy efficient irrigation technologies and practices through public-private partnerships.
The Consortium is composed of the following initial founding members: California State University, Fresno Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute at the University of Nebraska (DWFI) Irrigation Association (IA) Jain Irrigation Kansas State Research and Extension, Kansas State University Lindsay Corporation Northern Water Rubicon Water Texas A&M AgriLife Research ‘Farms of the future’ Public sector researchers and industry partners will co-develop, test, prototype and improve innovations, equipment, technology and decision and information systems designed to equip “farms of the future,” with cutting edge technologies and optimization strategies to enhance irrigation efficiency.
Initial research priorities include water and energy efficiency, remote sensing and big data applications for improving water management, irrigation technology acceleration and technology transfer.
“The new Irrigation Innovation Consortium unites top university research talent with industry to promote practical advancements in irrigation technology and water management practices,” said Sally Rockey, executive director of the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research.
“We are optimistic that outcomes from this collaborative effort will help producers grow more food with smart water management and strengthen the resilience of our food supply.” Addressing critical water challenges Initial participants are working to create a platform for other universities, federal agencies including the U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service, and the private sector to work together on the critical water challenges facing agriculture, municipalities and industry.
“The IA thanks FFAR and the university partners for their leadership in the creation of the new Irrigation Innovation Consortium,” said IA’s CEO Deborah M. Hamlin, CAE, FASAE.
“The FFAR grant will help Colorado State University and the Colorado Water Institute further develop our approach to irrigation systems by working with other universities and industry partners,” said Reagan Waskom, director of the Colorado Water Institute and director of the Colorado State University Water Center.
“This support will also complement our collective mission with the National Western Center by progressing water research for the advancement of agriculture.” Knowledge gained will be shared publicly through publications, workshops and seminars, and appropriate data-sharing mechanisms.
Approximately 25 representatives of private companies participated in the discussion, which helped shape the initial research focus of the consortium.
The Irrigation Innovation Consortium is being formally launched today at the Water in the West Symposium hosted by Colorado State University.

Gaya: Acute water scarcity and fast dipping water table have hit execution of the open defecation-free (ODF) scheme in almost all 24 blocks of the district.
With toilet construction suspended in many districts because of water scarcity, residents have returned to defecating in the open fields, a process that requires less water as against pans, says S.B.
Bhaskar, an activist working in the Mahadalit hamlets.
Reports reaching the district headquarters say the problem is acute in areas like Atri, Raushanganj, Banke Bazar, Imamganj and Gurua.
Gaya district magistrate (DM) Abhishekh Singh said he has sought a report from the deputy development commissioner (DDC) on the issue.
Admitting to a slowdown in toilet construction work, DDC Raghvendra Singh said several hand pumps in different blocks have turned defunct, adding to water scarcity and impacting the ODF plan.
"It is a temporary phenomenon and things will improve once it rains," Singh said.
The rural pans being fitted in the toilets have been specially designed to flush out excreta.
"Almost the same quantity of water is required in rural pans as in open defecation – no more than 1 litre," claimed the DDC.
Congress leader Baliram Sharma said "the scheme has been reduced to questionable statistics".

But in India, “Day Zero” has come and gone for residents in many parts of the country, where taps failed long ago and people have turned instead to digging wells or buying water.
An expanding population, growing demand for water from agriculture and industry, and poor management of water supplies have sent India’s groundwater to ever lower levels.
That reality, combined with rising temperatures, threatens worsening scarcity, experts say.
Nearly 163 million people among India’s population of 1.3 billion – or more than one in 10 – lack access to clean water close to their home, according to a 2018 WaterAid report.
India is entangled in water disputes with its eastern and western neighbors – Bangladesh and Pakistan – which accuse it of monopolizing water flows moving downstream toward them.
To the north and northeast, however, India fears a loss of water to upstream China, which plans a series of dams over the Tsangpo river, called the Brahmaputra as it flows into eastern India.
While India’s trans-boundary rivers are governed by treaties on how water should be shared, disputes are increasing as water shortages stoke tensions.
Bengaluru, once known as the “city of lakes”, now relies heavily on groundwater, which is not being naturally replenished and cannot sustain the growing population, said Sushmita Sengupta at CSE.
“These will, in turn, increase tensions between states and countries over water.
Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, women’s rights, trafficking, property rights, climate change and resilience.

But in India, “Day Zero” has come and gone for residents in many parts of the country, where taps failed long ago and people have turned instead to digging wells or buying water.
An expanding population, growing demand for water from agriculture and industry, and poor management of water supplies have sent India’s groundwater to ever lower levels.
That reality, combined with rising temperatures, threatens worsening scarcity, experts say.
That is the most of any country in the world, according to the UK-based charity, which aims to provide clean water and better hygeiene to people without them.
India is entangled in water disputes with its eastern and western neighbours – Bangladesh and Pakistan – which accuse it of monopolising water flows moving downstream toward them.
To the north and northeast, however, India fears a loss of water to upstream China, which plans a series of dams over the Tsangpo river, called the Brahmaputra as it flows into eastern India.
While India’s trans-boundary rivers are governed by treaties on how water should be shared, disputes are increasing as water shortages stoke tensions.
Apart from in Bhutan and Nepal, South Asia’s per capita water availability is already below the world average.
“These will, in turn, increase tensions between states and countries over water.
Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, women’s rights, trafficking, property rights, climate change and resilience.

BHUBANESWAR: Chief minister Naveen Patnaik today asked the urban development department to ensure supply of pipe water to all families residing in towns and cities of the state by March 2019.
Besides, the chief minister also directed the department to take steps to increase the per capita use of drinking water to 70 litres in urban areas of the state by March 2019.
The chief minister gave the directions while reviewing the steps taken by the department to supply piped drinking water to residents in urban areas.
He asked the department to conduct a house to house survey in the urban areas of the state and identify families who have no pipe water facility.
According to official sources, 760 projects are being implemented in the state at a cost of `3,596 crore to supply drinking water in urban local bodies of Odisha.
Official sources said 422 areas in 24 urban localities in the state where there is water scarcity have been identified by the state government.
As many as 1,869 PVC tanks have been put up to store and supply drinking water.
Besides, 219 water tankers have also been engaged in these areas to provide water.
The department has also constituted ward level committees for proper management of drinking water supply.
A 24-hour control room has been set up to monitor water supply and swiftly address any complaints regarding delay and non-supply of water.

Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC), Enugu State chapter, at the weekend urged the state government to address challenges of perennial water scarcity in the state.
IPAC specifically called on Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi to do everything possible to solve the problem in order to provide the people of the state with adequate potable water.
John Nwobodo who made the call in his office, however commended the governor for the provision of other amenities like roads, but pointed out that the people were bedeviled with lack of adequate water supply.
“Governor Ugwuanyi has done well in the provision of infrastructure like roads and other infrastructure.
“I’ll say that he has performed more than 90 per cent.
“When it comes to criticism, IPAC is objective.
When there is need, we criticise.
Anywhere they are failing, we shall not fail to speak up.
However, we want the government to do more in the provision of potable water to the people in both rural and urban areas,” he said.
It is only through the ballot that we can effect the change that we need,” he said.

Hyderabad: With water levels depleting at rapid pace in Nagarjuna Sagar dam, the water board has decided to use emergency pumping from May 1.
It has already finalised tenders at the cost of Rs 5 crore.
The current water levels in the Nagarjuna Sagar dam are 513 feet and if the water level depletes below 510 feet, the water board would supply 270 million gallon a day from the Krishna River using emergency pumping stations.
According to the water board officials, if the water in Nagarjuna Sagar reservoir reaches below the 510 feet minimum draw down level (MDDL), the water board would pump the water into an open canal in the Krishna basin.
He said from the open canal, the irrigation department would pump the water to Alimineti Madhava Reddy Srisailam Left Bank Canal Project (AMRP) through which it travels 9-km to Akkampally reservoir balancing reservoir water supplied to the city.
And if the water level reaches below 496 feet, the water board should use emergency pumps which can draw water from 8-km.
When queried about the same subject, a senior HMWS&SB official said since the water levels have been depleting at alarming pace, the water board has to depend on emergency pumping to provide drinking water 2/3 of the city from Puttamgandi.
He said that the water board has already completed the tender process and emergency pumping will start from first week of May.
Meanwhile, the water board has been supplying 270 MGD water from Krishna phase I, II and III and 150 MGD from Godavari phase I.
The water board has stopped water supplies from Manjira/Singur reservoirs which has 120 million MGD capacity).