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Following is the text of the inaugural address of Vice President of India Shri Mohd Hamid Ansari at the ‘World Water Day 2008 Function’ organised by Ministry of Water Resources here today : “I am happy to be with you on this important occasion of World Water Day, celebrated globally since 1993. It is also appropriate that this year we focus on issues related to Sanitation with 2008 being declared the International Sanitation Year.
Scriptures describe the act of creation. They say that in the beginning the earth was a formless void, covered with water. Even today 70% of the surface of our earth is water. Water is life giving and life sustaining. It is a vital resource that is finite and vulnerable. At one end of the spectrum, it is recognised as an integral component of environmentally sustainable development. At the other end, water and sanitation constitute an important component of public health. Its provision is important both for economic and human development. Water conservation and replenishment is increasingly assuming a global dimension. Global Warming and climate change have immediate and dire consequences for the availability of water.
Contributed by Emmanuel Habumuremyi, 24 Mar 2008 |
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