The Central Board of Irrigation & Power has conferred the CBIP Award 2017 to the State of Meghalaya for “Best Implementation of Water Resources Project, ‘Jal Kunds’.The Award was given by Uma Bharati, Minister of Water Resources on December 28, 2016 at a grand function held at Scope Convention Centre, Scope Complex, New Delhi.AD Shira, Parliamentary Secretary to Water Resources Department along with the Officials from WRD and Soil & Water Conservation Meghalaya received the award.The State, though blessed with heavy rainfall during the monsoon season, faces a challenge of available water resource during the off monsoon periods. Keeping this in view, the Jalkund programme has been initiated under the Water Mission of the “Integrated Basin Development & Livelihood Promotion (IBDLP) Programme” which is a state flagship programme of Meghalaya.The award was given for the state’s exemplary work in implementation of the scheme “Jalkunds” – and in-situ water harvesting technique that has penetrated the entire state and helped increase in livelihood and income generation of the people, recharge of ground water and springs and creation of awareness on the importance and need of water harvesting and conservation at the village level.The Jalkund scheme in Meghalaya is one of the initiatives under Integrated Basin Development and Livelihood Promotion Programme (IBDLP) implemented through the communities with support from Water Resources Department and Soil and Water Conservation Department.The Jalkunds are water harvesting structures constructed to collect rainwater in situ or to trap the surface runoff / natural drainage and stored for use of various purposes like fishery and irrigation, while also facilitating ground water recharge. The cost for construction is relatively very economical compared to conventional irrigation projects. The Jalkunds implemented has benefitted 2815 families covering a command area of 3072.169 hectares for a total amount of Rs. 2854.5469 lakhs only.The planning and implementation of the Jalkunds have been decentralised making the farmers play multiple roles and take up the work by themselves. The farmers in many cases are chipping in with their own contributions to make the Jalkunds even more robust.The Jalkunds have made significant impact on the lives of the small and marginal farmers who were earlier dependent on the erratic rainfall during the monsoon season.In view of the success of this programme and the growing demand of the farming community for such schemes, the State is planning to up scale the Jalkund programme. This award will surely boost the morale of the concerned Departments and other stakeholders to perform better, for the benefit of the State.