GSDA feted for website on project

GSDA officials said that they were chosen out of the 26 other government agencies for the award for its website,(gsda.maharashtra.gov.in ).

At present the hydrology project is being implemented in 13 states of the country. While this is a six yearlong World Bank project,GSDA began working on it only four years ago.

“The idea behind the Hydrology Project is to establish,upgrade and expand an infrastructure which collects and publicises all kinds of information about water. This started as an attempt to make data on water more accessible to people. With such hydrological information at hand,water resources can be managed better and used more judiciously,” said Anuradha Bhokare,deputy director,GSDA,in charge of the hydrology project.

The Hydrology Project is an initiative of the Government of India and the World Bank,and is among the most crucial water projects for India,she said.

“Water is a limited resource and the demand for water is increasing fast and in many places in India the demand is higher than the availability. By and large,access to information about water is limited to governmental and other official bodies. As there has been always a tremendous demand from many other organisations as well as individuals,it was decided to make it more freely available via the web,” she said.