New Delhi: The monsoon is expected on June 1 and there is a need to prepare ground and ensure every drop of rain is stored said G Asok Kumar, Addl. Secretary & MD, National Water Mission, Ministry of Jal Shakti. He was addressing NGOs who have been working in water conservation across the country at a webinar on Thursday.
Mr Asok exhorted all the NGOs to ensure all the water harvesting structures to be completed and old ones repaired. He also said that there is a lot of material on the national water mission website which is available in regional languages that can be downloaded to create awareness.
National Water Mission (NWM), Department of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, Ministry of Jal Shakti has launched a campaign – “Catch the Rain” – with the tagline “Catch the Rain, where it falls, when it falls.” In order to facilitate these activities, States and Union Territories (UTs) were requested to open ‘Rain Centres’ in each district including at Collectorates/Municipalities or Gram Panchayat offices.
In a bid to make the “Catch the Rain” campaign a success, Jal Shakti Kendra in every district would be the nodal point and the concerned officials would disseminate information on how to build rainwater harvesting structures as per the requirement of the area.
Appropriate Rainwater Structures
The focus is to catch every drop of rain wherever it falls and whenever it falls and to store the water. For this, said Mr Asok there was no need for huge dams but innovative ideas. There have been several success stories that were shared when the Prime Minister Narendra Modi interacted with water conservationists on March 22 earlier this year. In many instances, small water bodies, wells, check dams and defunct wells were brought back to life with local knowledge and intervention.
In a parting shot, Mr Asok said, “The aim should be to make Bharat tanker proof.”
