Culminating a successful edition of Mission Paani Waterthon, a first-of-its-kind initiative by Network18 and Harpic India to highlight the need for water conservation in the country, union ministers Amit Shah, Piyush Goyal and Rajnath Singh were among the many political leaders who took the pledge to conserve water.
Lauding the efforts of team Mission Paani, Union minister for Home Affairs Amit Shah said, "Mission Paani will have a positive impact on water conservation in India and is also in line with the Indian government's vision to conserve water. I wholeheartedly congratulate the Mission Paani team for making this possible".
Speaking on the need to conserve water as the need of the hour, Shah said, "the Indian civilisation is built around rivers and has a long tradition of water conservation through lakes, ponds, and catchments. But in recent times, governments and common people have neglected these rivers as well as traditions"
Shah warned against rampant misuse of water and outlined three pillars of water conservation - conserving existing sources of water, finding new sources of water conservation and preventing misuse of water by teaching the younger generation the ethic of water conservation. "If we can achieve these three goals, we can leave future generations with a sustainable source of groundwater," Shah said.
Speaking at the event, the Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal said recalled the time he was the Coal Minister "We had started processing the water to distribute it to villages. It was expensive to process but we made wate so pure that we even made bottled drinking water with it," Goyal said. While admitting there was no space for rainwater harvesting in current railway stations, such provisions may be incorporated in the future.
"Every coach in Indian Railways now have bio-toilets. Indian Railways wants to reuse and recycle the water - that's our plan to conserve water in the Indian railways," Goyal said.
Goyal also said that by involving the youth and teaching them the importance of conserving water in simple ways such as turning off the tap while brushing can help save litres of water.
Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath also participated in Mission Paani. "Through the medium of Namami Gange project, the Prime Minister has taken the pledge to clean the holy Ganga River. Uttar Pradesh also has to take responsibility in this effort as the most of the river water flows through the state, and the state government has implemented this project with full vigour," the CM said.
Adityanath also stressed on the importance of saving water. "Water will always remain essential in our lives, and I appeal to the people of UP to take the pledge to conserve water".
Defence minister Rajnath Singh also reiterated the Prime Minister's Jal Jeevan Yojana and said, "Our mission is to ensure that every home in India get clean water..."Every drop of water is important".
Hosted by Akshay Kumar, the campaign ambassador, the 8-hour long Mission Paani Waterthon event emphasised on ‘Paani Ki Kahaani, Bhaarat Ki Zubaani’, the theme to raise awareness about water crisis in India. The 8-hour telethon starting featured a host of eminent personalities from different walks of life take the Jal Pratigya, a water oath.
Be a part of the Harpic – News18 Mission Paani campaign, take the Pledge to Save Water and catch all updates to the Waterthon here.