NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his radio programme ‘Mann ki Baat’ laid emphasis on measures to address water crisis across the country. Seeking suggestions on ways to conserve water, Modi stressed on the need for a larger people’s movement on the lines of ‘Swachch Bharat’ to revive traditional modes for rainwater harvesting.Stating that only eight per cent of rainwater is harvested in the country, the PM emphasised on building a database of NGOs and activists engaged in works of water conservation.
“Water scarcity affects many parts of the country every year. You will be surprised that only eight per cent of the water received from rains in the entire year is harvested in our country. Just and just eight per cent! Now the time has come to find a solution to this problem,” said Prime Minister in the monthly radio programme.
To drive home his arguments, Prime Minister illustrated a few examples where people’s initiatives have been seen to address water woes in parts of the country, including Kerala and Gujarat. Modi referred to his letters to heads of Gram Panchayats wherein he called upon village heads to lead a mass movement for water conservation.
“A few days ago I wrote a letter to Sarpanch and Gram Pradhans across the country. That in order to save water, to collect water, to save the very drops of the rainwater, they should convene a meeting of the Gram Sabha and sit and discuss the resolution to this problem with the villagers.
I am happy that they have shown exemplary enthusiasm on this front and on June 22 crores of people contributed free labour in thousands of Panchayats,” added Prime Minister. The PM also made a mention of the imposition of Emergency in India and stressed on the strengths of the Indian democracy. He added that 61 crore people participated in the just concluded elections, which is more than the population of Europe.