The Chief Minister Manohar Lal  Khattar on Tuesday said Haryana and Israel are looking forward to work on various water conservation and management projects.

Addressing a meeting with a delegation of Israel regarding water conservation and management in Chandigarh on Tuesday, the CM said Haryana and Israel should work together to seek out the issue of depleting water table and water scarcity.

Khattar said water level is depleting in some areas of the state and the Haryana government is constantly working to improve the water table. For this, the Haryana government has constituted the Haryana Water Resources (Conservation, Regulation and Management) Authority, under which the state government is working to renovate 18,000 ponds of the state.

Besides cleaning these ponds, the ponds are also being desilted so that maximum recharging of water can be done. Along with this, Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs) are being set up across the state.

Emphasis is being given to use the water of these STPs for agriculture, construction works and gardening purposes. Along with this, drip irrigation is being promoted in Agriculture. The government is taking every possible step to conserve water in the state, the CM added.

The CM said both Israel and Haryana understand the challenges of water conservation and should work together to seek out the ways of water resources and management. Israel is already cooperating with Haryana in the field of Agriculture and Horticulture.

Four Centres of Excellence for Indo-Israel Cooperation are running in Haryana and the fifth centre is being built in Bhiwani. Similarly, some private companies of India are working in Israel in drip irrigation, he added.

Khattar directed the Irrigation and Water Resources Department to constitute a task force so that work regarding water management resources can be done with cooperation of Israel. He said that both Haryana and Israel should also come forward to explore new technology, innovations and challenges.

The CM urged the Israeli delegation to bring projects which can ensure the best use of water resources and preserve the soil fertility even in water shortage.

Former minister of Israel and chairman of Mekorot,  Yitzhak Aharonovich said that Israel is a leading country in water conservation. Despite having a shortage of water, Israel is using quality water management in the agricultural sector. He shared sustainable effective water management and resources solutions with Haryana.

More effective water recharging plans can be explored to deal with the situation of flood and drought in the state. Yitzhak Aharonovich further said that Israel is working on water conservation with a farsighted vision. He wants to share such projects with Haryana as well.