Punjab, Israel agree to co-operate in fields of water conservation and security

NewsBharati    07-Jul-2018
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Chandigarh, July 7: Punjab and Israel on Friday agreed to explore technology transfer in the critical areas of water conservation and security, besides agreeing to cooperate in the fields of agriculture and social development. 

Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh and Israel’s ambassador to India Daniel Carmon discussed on the ways of water conservation and security along with agreeing to cooperate in the fields of agriculture and social development.

CM Amarinder Singh told the envoy that the cabinet sub-committee had been formed to study Israeli methods on agricultural diversification to minimize water consumption and also on the use of wastewater. Citing the precarious groundwater situation in Punjab, Captain Amarinder Singh suggested pilot projects through private Israeli companies, equipped with the latest technologies, under the umbrella of the Israeli government, to tackle the problem.

The suggestion came in response to the ambassador’s statement that Israel has a government agency - Newtech – to coordinate projects with various Indian state governments and private companies in his country. The Chief Minister also mentioned that three Israeli companies were working on drip irrigation projects in Gujarat and Maharashtra


Meanwhile, the Israeli ambassador asked the Punjab government to identify the companies they were interested in working with. He promised to examine the proposal in detail to facilitate the signing of the necessary agreements between the two governments.

Carmon told the Chief Minister that the Israeli Prime Minister, who had met his Indian counterpart twice in the past one year, had promised the latter to share technology for desalination and treatment of wastewater. After horticulture and agriculture, water was the next area in which Israel was working with India in a big way, he added.

Israel had joined India in the latter’s drinking water conservation campaign, said Carmon, adding that experts would be coming soon to sign MoUs with the Uttar Pradesh government. There was no reason not to do the same with Punjab, he added. The Chief Minister also mooted sharing of ideas between agriculture universities in Punjab and Israel.

The ambassador, in the end, proposed working together on social development, for which his country had already prepared a concept paper that could be shared with the Punjab government.