Villagers hail ‘Times Water Conclave’ award winners with crackers, flowers

LUCKNOW: The achievement of women water warriors felicitated during the Times Water Conclave held in Varanasi held on Wednesday was celebrated in a big way in their respective villages.
While on one hand Urmila Devi was welcomed with crackers and flowers post midnight when she reached her village in Bhadohi the following night, the village head organized a felicitation ceremony to celebrate the achievement of Varsha Maurya in Fatehpur district.
The two were felicitated by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath at the day-long conclave that touched upon all aspects of water conservation by bringing sectoral experts and policy makers on a common platform.
Five other water warriors from other parts of UP were also felicitated -- Anil Singh (pond development), Meghnad (reusing waste water), Sajal Srivastava (low cost rain water harvesting design), Rajiv Tyagi and Raman Kant (River rejuvenation).
Urmila Devi, is a native of Ajaypur village, that lies in the Ganga ploodplain marked by challenges in keeping drinking water sources clean. Urmila developed a plan for water point restoration and convinced the community members to contribute to the initiative to rejuvenate the hand pump water point for safe and portable drinking water.
With handholding from WaterAid India, she was able to solve the water contamination problem in her village. Her effort has fetched her accolades and laurels on various platforms, including UNDP’s women water champions.