The residents of Bramhonon ki Sareri village, which is situated in Asind block of Bhilwara District in Rajasthan, have been facing severe water shortage, especially during the summer season. The annual rainfall in the region has remained less than 500 mm since 2008. The minor dams that are constructed in the early years have also dried up due to erratic rainfall because of which the women are forced to travel a long distance to fetch drinking water. The village has a pond called Dharmi Talav, which is filled with sand mounds and wild babul trees making it unsuitable for any use. So the villagers requested for its renovation in the year 2017.

Chhattisgarh which was declared open defecation free (ODF) in October 2017 has adopted a comprehensive plan, tailored to the needs of the local communities to sustain its ODF status. Among its activities are beautification of former open defecation spots with planting of Tulsi and Peepal saplings which are considered holy; and promoting the use of rich manure from pits that are emptied. The move is in anticipation of the single and twin pits that will be ready for emptying in due course. The state which is made up of 27 districts, 10971 Gram Panchayats, 19567 villages and 44,29,138 rural households is preparing people for this exercise, encouraging them to use the manure for their kitchen gardens.

Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), NITI Aayog in collaboration with UNICEF and My Gov announced top 30 innovations of The Gandhian challenge across India. We received 3800 innovations from the nearly 3000 Atal Tinkering Lab schools along with community schools that participated in the challenge to bring Mahatma Gandhi’s values – including truth, non-violence, service and leadership – alive by designing and innovating for a new world built on these powerful guiding principles.

The district administration of Jhunjhunu organized Kisan Melas in Buhana and Nawalgarh blocks to apprise farmers about crop rotation, technologies for round-the-year green fodder availability under scare water conditions; and about Azolla farming. The events provided a vital platform for farmers to discuss their challenges and for agricultural experts to disseminate information about improved practices and technologies.

In an attempt to promote value of water in general and for supporting country-wide efforts on water conservation and sustainable development of water resources, Department of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, Ministry of Jal Shakti launched a contest named “Water Heroes : Share Your Stories” from 1st September 2019 running till 30th June, 2020. For the first month of the Contest, entries were invited from 1st September to 30th September 2019, on MyGov platform.

The State Government of Arunachal Pradesh has developed a ‘Cleanliness Protocol’ for implementation across the State and has issued necessary notifications in this regard. The District Administration has been made the nodal agency for monitoring and implementation of the same.The Cleanliness Protocol is in keeping with the ODF (open defecation free) Plus activities recommended by the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation, Government of India. ODF plus parameters include regular availability and usage of toilets, management of solid and liquid waste, cleanliness of water resources, maintenance of public and household toilets and awareness on personal hygiene including MHM (menstrual hygiene management).

From 16th -31st July, 2019, a team of central government officers visited the most water stressed villages of Khammam district in Telangana, namely Gurralapadu, Arempula, and Kondapuram (Khammam Rural Mandal), Mallemadugu village (Khammam Urban) and Pindiprolu (Tirumalayapalem) to assess their water conservation measures. The team comprised Central Nodal Officer (CNO) – Sri Rajiv Ranjan Misra, DG NMCG; Sri Vijaya Prakash (BNO), Sri Ravinath Singh (TO), as a part of the Jal Shakti Abhiyan (JSA).

President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind presented Swachh Bharat awards to various swachhata champions on the occasion of Swachh Mahotsav 2019, held at the Vigyan Bhawan on 6th September, 2019. Speaking at the event, the President complimented the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) for inspiring historic behavior change in the country and putting forth a model for the world to replicate.

The Department of Social Justice & Empowerment, Government of India is implementing Centrally Sponsored Scheme of Pradhan Mantri Adarsh Gram Yojana(PMAGY) for integrated development of Scheduled Castes majority villages across States/UTs and hosted a Logo competition for the use of the Scheme. The Department is thankful to all the participants who have creatively expressed their ideas in designing of LOGO for the scheme.

The people of Haripur have converted a filthy water body into a beautiful park complete with a pond that people now frequent to either take a stroll or allow their children to play. The transformation of the marshy dumping site into the picturesque place that it is now is a matter of pride for the village.