DDWS Hosts Greywater Management Workshop Ahead of Sujalam Bharat Summit

Chaired by Union Minister of Jal Shakti Shri C. R. Patil, the Sujalam Bharat Summit is envisioned as a platform where field-level implementation experiences meet national strategy-making.

The Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation (DDWS), Ministry of Jal Shakti, convened a virtual workshop on “Greywater Management and Reuse” as part of the preparatory thematic conferences leading up to the Departmental Summit on Vision for Sujalam Bharat, scheduled for November-end. The Sujalam Bharat Summit is one of six departmental summits conceptualized under the guidance of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, with coordination by NITI Aayog, aimed at ensuring grassroots inputs feed directly into national water and sanitation policies.

Building a Grassroots-to-Policy Framework

Chaired by Union Minister of Jal Shakti Shri C. R. Patil, the Sujalam Bharat Summit is envisioned as a platform where field-level implementation experiences meet national strategy-making. It seeks to strengthen the feedback loop between local practitioners, state officials, and central policymakers, ensuring that initiatives under flagship schemes like Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) and Swachh Bharat Mission-Grameen (SBM-G) remain effective, inclusive, and locally relevant.

At the workshop, participants included Shri Ashok K. K. Meena, Secretary, DDWS, Shri Kamal Kishore Soan, ASMD (SBMG & JJM), Smt. Archana Varma, ASMD-NWM, State Nodal Officers, Mission Directors, representatives of development partners, and sector experts.

Greywater Management: A Key to Water Security

In her opening remarks, Smt. Archana Varma emphasized that the six thematic conferences reflect the government’s commitment to integrating grassroots insights into policy. She highlighted the urgency of greywater management, noting that with proper systems, 30–40% of water can be saved. “This is why today’s workshop holds significance in the larger context of Sujalam Bharat,” she observed, linking greywater reuse to broader goals of climate resilience and water security.

Shri Kamal Kishore Soan, in his context-setting address, underscored that greywater management has become a critical priority under Jal Jeevan Mission. He stressed the need for climate-resilient, community-driven solutions: “Communities need systems that are technically sound, sustainable, and adaptable to their unique contexts.”

Showcasing State Innovations and Community Approaches

The workshop featured presentations from Punjab, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Haryana, and Jharkhand, along with a partner presentation from WaterAid India. These case studies highlighted a spectrum of innovative approaches, including:

• Decentralized reuse technologies for treating greywater at the village level.

• Panchayat-led initiatives where local governance plays a central role in managing wastewater.

• Community-led models that integrate water reuse into agricultural and household practices.

• Climate-responsive technologies designed to withstand varied geographical and ecological conditions.

The presentations reflected India’s diverse experiences in water management, offering replicable models for other states and UTs.

Linking Cleanliness, Health, and Climate Action

In her concluding remarks, Smt. Archana Varma emphasized that greywater management must be viewed not merely as a sanitation measure but as a holistic strategy for water security, public health, and climate resilience. She reiterated that lessons from this workshop will feed into the State/UT submissions for the Sujalam Bharat Summit, helping to create a roadmap for sustainable greywater reuse.

Towards a Sujalam Bharat

The Sujalam Bharat Summit, supported by NITI Aayog, will integrate insights from this and other thematic conferences, ensuring that national strategies are responsive to ground realities. By placing emphasis on grassroots perspectives, scientific expertise, and inter-state learning, the Ministry of Jal Shakti aims to accelerate progress toward a water-secure, climate-resilient, and healthy India.