ARCHIVED MEDIA RELEASE
PA/1/2003 17 January 2003
Australian High Commissioner opens environmental congress
The Australian High Commissioner to India, Ms Penny Wensley AO, today opened the Swatcha Ganga Chhatra Sangam (Clean Ganges Youth Congress) in Varanasi.
The Congress brings together hundreds of young people from the Ganges river basin to consider the global water crisis and to examine case studies from their own investigations into river health in India and Australia. A group of young Australian student environmentalists is also attending the Congress.
The Congress is being organised by Oz GREEN, an Australian environmental NGO, and the Sankat Mochan Foundation (SMF) of Varanasi.
“It is alarming that despite the wealth of technology and knowledge of resource management, more than one billion people around the world, including many in India, do not have access to safe water,” said Ms Wensley.
The United Nations General Assembly has designated 2003 as the International Year of Freshwater in recognition of the need to focus on managing and protecting freshwater.
The Australian Government's overseas development assistance program has funded a community-based program to improve the health of residents in Varanasi and in surrounding villages by reducing the incidence of water-borne diseases. Oz GREEN and SMF are implementing this project.
Australia has also worked in partnership with Indian agencies and State governments to address India's water resource challenges through projects in Bangalore, Hyderabad and West Bengal that have sought practical ways to address specific water-related issues. Major assistance for water and sanitation improvement in Gangtok and Shillong is also in prospect.
For further information, please contact Kerry Groves, First Secretary, Development Cooperation, at 2688 8223, extension 561.