Join govt's water conservation movement: Prez Kovind
New Delhi: President Ram Nath Kovind on Tuesday appealed to the people to join the government's movement of water conservation and asked district administration and sarpanches to play a special role in inspiring them to become its part.
The President presented the National Water Awards to states, districts, local bodies and schools among others.
He also launched the 'Jal Shakti Abhiyan: Catch the Rain campaign 2022' during the event. The Catch the Rain campaign will continue to be implemented this year till November 30.
Some new features such as spring shed development, protection of water catchment areas, gender mainstreaming in water sector have been added to the campaign.
National Water Mission's (NWM) campaign 'Catch The Rain' with the tagline "Catch the rain, where it falls, when it falls" is to nudge the states and stakeholders to create appropriate Rain Water Harvesting Structures (RWHS) suitable to the climatic conditions.
Speaking at the event, he appealed to the people to join the government's movement of water conservation and asked district administration and sarpanches to play a special role in inspiring people to become part of the movement.
"We must take a pledge that as the biggest vaccination programme is being run in the country, in the same way we make this abhiyan too the biggest movement of water conservation," he said.
Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu have secured the first, second and third prizes, respectively, in the best state category in the National Water Awards while Muzaffarnagar in UP and Shahid Bhagat Singh Nagar in Punjab secured the first and second position respectively among best performing districts in north while Thiruvanathapuram and Kadapa in Andhra Pradesh secured the first and second rank in the south zone.
East Champaran in Bihar, and Godda in Jharkhand secured the first and second rank respectively in the east zone while Indore won the first prize in west and Vadodara and Banswara were declared joint second winners in the west zone.
Congratulating the winners, Jal Shakti minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat said these winners have given a new energy in the water resources conservation.
"There is no doubt that UP, which has secured the first rank, has done exemplary work in water conservation. This is also possible with people's participation. The second position has been secured by Rajasthan and third by Tamil Nadu and I would like to congratulate them as well," he said.
"We all know water is the basis of our life. We need 1,100 billion cubic metres of water and would need 1,450 billion cubic metres would be required. So presently the situation is such that if we look at the future requirement, then definitely there exists a challenge," he said.
Shekhawat said India receives just 4 per cent of potable water and with climate change and the difference in rain pattern, the challenges have increased.
"About 50 per cent water requirement is fulfilled by just 15 days of rainfall that we get in less than 100 hours that is why there is need of water conservation which is a big challenge. Every drop of rain is precious for us. We need to conserve every rain drop that we get," he added.
