In Odisha, green activists for water conservation were honored

At the fourth Odisha River conference, two environmentalists and a forest preservation group involved in water conservation in various sections of the state received the Youth4Water Climate Impact Award and the Odisha Water Honours for their contributions to the cause.

The conference opened in Angul on Thursday. On the first day, Urmila Behera, a panchayat resource person, was given the Youth4Water Climate Impact Award, while Saroj Mohanty and the Budon Pipali Forest Protection Committee were given the Odisha Water Honours. The esteemed Gandhian Krishna Mohanty opened the two-day meeting. The event, which is being hosted by the Foundation for Ecological Security (FES) in partnership with important partners, is timed to coincide with World Water Day and the International Day of Action for Rivers. It highlights the vital role that rivers and forests play in promoting climate resilience and sustainable living.

During her speech, Mohanty emphasized how important it is to see rivers as living, breathing things that need to be respected, cared for, and nurtured. Water Initiatives’ Ranjan Panda and FES’s Swapnasri Sarangi emphasized how urgently cooperation is required to ensure future water security. Other speakers included academics and members of civil society organizations, who brought attention to the state’s rivers’ current condition and the steps being done to revitalize and repair them. The relationships between the health of rivers, forests, rural and urban communities, and livelihood resilience were also emphasized.

According to Panda, the purpose of the river conference is to increase cooperation amongst many stakeholders in the state and abroad for climate action, livelihood resilience, and river protection.