more-in Fifteen thousand participants from 101 river basin areas who took part in the three-day national water convention for a drought-free India at Vijayapura in Karnataka resolved to end the water conflicts outside the purview of the judiciary though the river-basin parliaments and dialogue, Bolisetty Satyanatayana, a social activist and convener of Jal Biradri, said here on Sunday. Addressing the media, Mr. Satyanatayana said the historic convention, held for under the leadership of ‘Waterman of India’ Rajendra Singh, passed the ‘Vijayapura Declaration-2017,’ which emphasised separate land and water rights to ensure equity to water management. “Community-driven water management law has to be enacted for effective water management,” he said. He added that the declaration gave importance to national water literacy mission, which would make the students water-sensitive by incorporating water conservation and management in the curriculum. Water literacy campaign should be launched to educate farmers and the general public, and efforts should be taken to ensure water discipline among all the stakeholders, he said. River parliaments To ensure Jal Swatantra, the declaration sought constitution of river parliaments through the cooperation of people of river basins in the country. Mr. Satyanarayana said the declaration stressed on continuous ecological flow of water and prevention of pollution and encroachment of rivers to maintain purity and serenity of water. He said the participants wanted the NITI Aayog, the Parliament, and the State Assemblies to discuss ways of implementing the Vijayapura Declaration. The convention, which was held with the cooperation of the Government of Karnataka, mooted establishment of ‘Jala Saksharta Kendras’ in every State as initiated by the Maharashtra Government. “These kendras have devised detailed strategies for village, taluk, district, division, and State level training of 50,000 water volunteers in order to bring about water literacy in Maharashtra so as to prevent acute drought and floods. We want to start such kendras in all the States.” The convention felt that the river, instead of being a commodity to use and fight over, should be a natural resource for the basin population to protect and share, Mr. Satyanatayana said. Protection of the Krishna Soon ‘Krishna Nadi Parirakshana group’ will be formed to protect the Krishna, he said. “Right now, the group is functioning on the WhatsApp platform. Soon, we will develop a mobile application to take the issue closer to the people,” he added. He said the Krishna flowed through four States – Maharashtra, Karnataka, Telangana, and Andhra Pradesh – covering 1,500 km. “We want to have water volunteers for every 50 km, who will keep an eye on the well-being of the river.”

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