THANE: Thane Collector Ashwini Joshi today called upon residents of the district to desist from resorting to 'rain dance' and wastage of water during the upcoming Holi festival.
Inaugurating the week-long 'Jal Jagruti' programme here by performing a traditional 'jal pooja', she said that such measures were necessary because of acute water shortage in the district.
People should realise the gravity of the problem and avoid wasteful water usage, she urged.
Joshi asked the housing societies and other organisations to undertake water harvesting and recycling and present such projects before the District Planning Committee.
Despite the fact that there were several rivers and dams in the district's Sahapur taluka, it was facing severe water shortage, she pointed out.
The collector performed 'jal pooja' of water brought from six rivers of the district - namely Shahi, Bhatsa, Ulhas, Kalu, Barvi and Vaitarna.
The collector also flagged-off a 'jal rath' which would tour all the talukas in the district to educate people about the effective usage of water.