Rio inaugurates State Data Centre for water resources

February 18, 2021 37 Views No Comment

SDC will help State manage water resources better

Correspondent KOHIMA, FEB 17 (NPN) : Nagaland chief minister Neiphiu Rio hoped that opening of water resources department’s State Data Centre (SDC) here would help the State manage its water resources better as all vital data and information on water resources would now be available at the centre.

Addressing at the inaugural function of the data centre, Rio said the centre would collect all vital data and information about water resources in the State and, after careful analysis, would make the information available in a meaningful manner on its website for government departments and the people. He said all development and utility departments required accurate data and information about water and weather conditions.

However, pointing out that SDC would not be able to provide quality data on its own, he asked departments functioning closely with water use like PHE, Soil and Water Conservation, Agriculture, Horticulture, Fisheries, Land Resources, Veterinary and Animal Husbandry and Power department to work in close coordination with centre and feed it with useful and accurate information. Only then, the centre would be able to get the quality real-time data and share them on its website, he added.

He mentioned that the data would help departments immensely in making better plans and future projections.

Cautioning against misuse and mismanagement of water resources, the chief minister said water crisis was looming large in many parts of the world, including India. He said there was a possibility of inter-village water disputes arising in the near future even in Nagaland, if water discharged by rivers and streams continued to shrink.

He maintained that in Nagaland too, many traditional water sources were drying up, while in foothill areas like Dimapur, underground water table was going down very fast. He said many wells were also drying up, forcing people to dig deeper and deeper wells even as the State government was making all efforts to provide clean drinking water to every household.

“With vital data and information about water resources now being readily available at the data centre, we should be able to improve management of water resources,” he remarked.

He hoped that the Central government’s Jaal Jeevan Shakti Mission, which was also being implemented in the State, would be successfully able to use the data about water resources from the State Data Centre in the future.

Rio exuded confidence that SDC would serve the State and people by providing useful data that was accessible by all government departments, institutions, NGOs, research scholars and interested public and help them in making better development plans.

In his address, water resources adviser Namri Nchang complimented the department and all those involved for together putting up the centre.

SDC having now been set up, he urged all line departments to coordinate and work closely, integrate all water-related data on the common platform and make them readily available for use by all stakeholders, private individuals, research scholars, students, institutes, NGOs and others.

Submitting her technical report, executive engineer-cum-project manager for SDC Wapangnaro Imchen said there was e-tendering in December 2018 and the contract was awarded to M/s Vilelie Khamo & Sons, after which work commenced on August 2, 2019 and completed on November 30 2020. She said the centre was constructed at a cost of Rs 119.76 lakh.

Source: http://www.nagalandpost.com/rio-inaugurates-state-data-centre-for-water-resources/228976.html