Ravi S Singh

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, June 15

With states gradually easing lockdown restrictions due to tapering of the Covid’s second surge, the Union Jal Shakti Ministry has sought the support of MPs for the success of the Centre’s rainwater harvesting campaign.

Union Minister of State for Jal Shakti, Rattan Lal Kataria, has written letters to all Members of Parliament (MPs) urging them to sensitise constituents regarding the ongoing “Jal Shakti Abhiyan: Catch The Rain”.

“We must all must come together and rise above the party lines to address the common problem of depleting groundwater levels and water scarcity, in the public interest.” Mr Kataria said. 

The “Abhiyan” (campaign) with the theme-‘Catch the Rain where it falls, when it falls’ was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the occasion of World Water Day on March 22.

Its aims include tapping rainwater by constructing artificial recharge structures, revitalizing existing ponds and water bodies, creating new water bodies, provisioning check dams, rejuvenating wetlands and rivers before the onset of the monsoon.

Besides, there is a plan to create a database of all water bodies in the country by geotagging them and using this data to create scientific and data-based district-level water conservation plans.

Informing the MPs of the achievements under the campaign, Kataria said that Union Rural Development Ministry has completed the construction of 1.64 lakh water conservation and rainwater harvesting (RWH) structures, incurring an expenditure of Rs 5,360 crore.

As many as 37,428 traditional structures and existing water bodies have been renovated with an expenditure of Rs 2,666 crore.

A total of almost Rs 14,000 crore worth of water conservation-related work has been completed or is being undertaken under the MNREGS of the Department of Rural Development.

The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs has renovated 1,258 RWH structures.

The campaign has gone further to include crop diversification, afforestation and disseminating information on water use efficiency (WUE) under its mandate.

National Water Mission, under the Ministry of Jal Shakti, is the nodal agency for the Abbhiyan’s implementation.

The Ministry has coordinated, with, among others, Ministries of Defence; Rural development; Environment, Forest and Climate Change; Agriculture; Housing and Urban Affairs.