India Water Portal launched in Hindi
India Water Portal, a comprehensive information repository on all topics related to water, gets a new avatar in its Hindi launch in India’s national capital yesterday. This new step takes forward knowledge sharing on water issues to a larger audience among the grassroots.
New Delhi: To make information access easier for people who do not necessarily speak or read English, the Water Community and Arghyam launched a new India Water Portal in Hindi in New Delhi yesterday.
The portal marks a step taken ahead from the English version of the India Water Portal that was launched in January last year to harness the internet to share information and knowledge on good water management practices among practitioners and the general public. With the Hindi launch, the portal is now set to significantly widen its reach and cater to a much larger segment of society.
Speaking on the occasion, Minister of State for Water Resources Jay Prakash Narayan Yadav lauded the effort to initiate the Hindi portal. He also underlined the need to have similar portals in other regional languages that would cover more people across the country.
The need for water awareness was pertinent in the present day, he mentioned, citing examples of how traditional water structures and rivers are being destroyed. It is important to revisit the time-honoured knowledge repository present in the Indian culture to help save and conserve these water resources, he added.
“We should try to create as much awareness possible on water and for this we may need to have a nationwide campaign for water on the lines of the pulse polio and literacy campaigns,” he said.
The Water Portal comprises components like case studies, water policy-related documents, films, news on water, and information on organisations working in the area. There is also a kid’s section. The site has meteorological data of the last 100 years, which stands to be very helpful for researchers in the field. Another interactive feature is ‘Ask a Query’ section wherein users will be able to get their water-related queries addressed by a panel of experts.
The portal presentation given by Siraj Kesar and Meenakshi Arora from Water Community spurred much excitement among the audience who were forthcoming with their suggestions for the portal. There were suggestions to explore wider issues through the portal as also to attempt greater information dissemination by linking it to other mediums of communication like radio, TV and mobiles.
Rohini Nilekani, founder Chairperson of Arghyam presided over the function and veteran Gandhian and environmental activist Anupam Mishra also spoke on the occasion.
