Water mgmt award for NMMC

For the second consecutive year, Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) has bagged the National Urban Water Award 2009 for excellence in water management and service to urban poor. The award was conferred upon by President Pratibha Patil at a ceremony held in Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi on Thursday. NMMC won the award for providing round-the-clock water supply to the city, even in slums and gaothan areas at lower rate and curbing wastage of the precious resource. Municipal Commissioner Vijay Nahata and Standing Committee Chairman Sandeep Naik accepted the award on behalf of the civic body.Union Urban Development Minister Jaipal Reddy, Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission Dr Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Minister of State for Urban Development Saugata Roy, Secretary of Urban Development Ministry Dr M Ramchandran and other dignitaries were also present on the occasion.Over 90 nominations from various cities across the country were received for the award this year. Nahata made a detailed presentation before a team of 13 experts of NMMC's achievements in water management and waste management while answering queries raised by them. The award was instituted by the Government of India in 2008. The award, instituted by the Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD), is aimed at honouring urban local governments and water boards that had taken significant steps towards effective water management and improvement in service delivery.It was only befitting that Sandeep Naik received the award, since he was instrumental in getting the pipelines laid to bring the water to the city, the dam for which was envisioned by his father Ganesh Naik in early 2000 and the plan was executed by his older brother Sanjeev Naik, who was then the Mayor of Navi Mumbai, despite much opposition from all quarters.