UNICEF team to assess drought

AHMEDABAD, MAY 22: The United Nations International Children's Education Fund (UNICEF) is sending a team of global experts in water manage...

AHMEDABAD, MAY 22: The United Nations International Children’s Education Fund (UNICEF) is sending a team of global experts in water management to recommend action in drought-hit areas of Saurashtra, Kutch and north Gujarat.

The team, which will be visiting these areas between May 25 and 27, is being sent at the instance of Sam Pitroda, founder of Action India, an NGO promoted by NRIs for action and development in India, a press note issued by Action India said. The team will have a meeting with ministers and senior bureaucrats on Tuesday in Gandhinagar. It consists of Gaurishanker Ghosh and Saul Arlosorof.

It is for the first time that a UN body and an NGO have joined hands to support the State Government, the release said. It said Chief Minister Keshubhai Patel has welcomed the initiative. The team will recommend immediate and long-term action to mitigate the people’s sufferings due to drought.

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Originally a Gujarat cadre IAS officer, Ghosh is presently chief of Water Environment and Sanitation in UNICEF. He was the first mission director of the National Drinking Water Mission before joining the UNICEF in 1991.

Saul Arlosoroff is a deputy and acting Water Commissioner of Israel and a global programme manager in the World Bank. He possesses 40 years’ experience in policy making, planning, design, execution and management of water resources and water projects.

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