Surat, Oct 13 (PTI) Union Minister CR Paatil on Sunday said people from Gujarat, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh were joining the campaign to recharge groundwater through rainwater harvesting and asserted working on the issue was imperative for survival of future generations.
He was addressing an event titled ‘Water Harvesting – Public Participation’ under the ‘Catch the Rain’ campaign which was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in March 2021. Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel and his MP and Rajasthan counterparts Mohan Yadav and Bhajanlal Sharma, respectively, took part along with Bihar Deputy CM Samrat Chaudhary.
“India has 18 per cent of the world’s population and 18 per cent livestock, but only 4 percent of drinking water. If we do not make arrangements for it, then we may leave money and property for our future generations, but they will not be able to survive without water,” the Union Jal Shakti minister said.
“Water is not produced in industry, it comes from rain but flows away. That is why Modiji has said water of every village should remain in the village and the water of the field should be in the field. So we decided to take this campaign forward,” he said.
Following his request, Gujarat CM Patel came up with a scheme to revive 14,800 bores, which were lying inactive, for harvesting rainwater by offering 90 percent of funds to the farmers for the purpose, Paatil said.
“People of Rajasthan have said they will contribute and ensure every village gets four bores for the purpose. Rajasthan faces the most acute water crisis, but I assure you that in the next two years, under Modi’s leadership, Rajasthan is going to get the maximum amount of water. People from Madhya Pradesh have promised to dig 14,000 borewells with four bores in each village,” he said.
“More and more people are joining the campaign. People of Rajasthan, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh living in Surat are contributing to the campaign for their native states. A man from Mumbai has promised to help dig 5000 bores in any state for the purpose,” the Union minister added.
People in Odisha, Chhattisgarh, and Haryana have also undertaken rainwater harvesting work, he said, adding he has urged citizens to adopt one village and dig a bore with their own money.
It was Prime Minister Modi’s idea that water harvesting should be transformed into a mass movement with public participation, Paatil added.
“Many Gujarat models have been accepted by the country and the world over, and the model which will impact the world is being launched from Gujarat. Work will begin soon to link 11 rivers. Work is also underway to revive Saraswati river, which flows from Haryana and ends in Gujarat,” he said.
Former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee talked about linking rivers, but no government did anything about this for 10 years before Modi started work on the issue, he said.
Paatil said MP CM Yadav has made a big contribution and a project is underway in that state to link two rivers and one connecting Rajasthan. Work to link two rivers in Gujarat is also being undertaken, he said.
The Union minister said that dams alone cannot help address water issues, as all the possible dams have been constructed, and remaining are under construction.
“Even dams take years to build and involve a huge amount of funds. They also lead to displacement of people and other issues in villages where they are built,” the minister said. PTI KA BNM
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