Water Resources Secretary Anu Garg opened a virtual platform for interactive training at the Water and Land Management Institute (WALMI) on Sunday.
She said that in the Covid-19 pandemic, this virtual platform would benefit all trainees of the Departments of Water Resources (DoWR) and Agriculture & Farmers’ Empowerment along with farmers and members of the Pani Panchayats for interactive discussion and training.
This would help in adherence to the Covid-19 protocols of physical distancing, etc., unlike the normal classroom mode, she said.
Garg suggested enhancing the WALM’s training and research activities of I to make it a Centre of Excellence.
The WALMI was established in 1984 at Pratap Nagari, 17 km from Bhubaneswar, to cater to the needs of capacity building of the newly-recruited as well as in-service engineers of the DoWR and officers of the Agriculture Department, office-bearers and members of the Pani Panchayats.
Besides, the institute conducts action research, applied and adoptive research on water management in agriculture and irrigation projects and also undertakes consultancy work in participatory irrigation management, including formation of Pani Panchayats, Distributory Committees and Entry Points activity in selected Pani Panchayats of irrigation commands.