Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched ‘Jal Shakti Abhiyan: Catch the Rain’ campaign for conserving water on World Water Day.
The PM urged that every penny of MGNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) funds be spent on rain water conservation till the monsoon arrives.
The ‘Catch the Rain’ campaign will be undertaken across the country, in both rural and urban areas.
It will be implemented from March 22 to November 30 — the pre-monsoon and monsoon period in the country.
It is planned as a ‘Jan Andolan’ to take water conservation at grass-root level through people’s participation.
National Water Mission’s (NWM) campaign is intended to nudge all stakeholders to create rainwater harvesting structures (RWHS) suitable to the climatic conditions and subsoil strata, to ensure proper storage of rainwater.
Gram sabhas were organised to discuss issues related to water and water conservation. Gram sabhas also took ‘Jal Shapath’ (oath) for water conservation.
Key features of the campaign
Activities planned:
• Drives to make check dams, water harvesting pits, rooftop RWHS, etc.
• Removal of encroachments and desilting of tanks to increase their storage capacity.
• Removal of obstructions in the channels which bring water to them from the catchment areas, etc.
• Repairs to step-wells and using defunct bore-wells and unused wells to put water back to aquifers.
• To facilitate these activities, states have been requested to open ‘rain centers’ in each district, in collectorates/municipalities or Gram Panchayat offices.
• During this period, these rain centres will have a dedicated mobile phone number and will be manned by an engineer or a person well trained in RWHS.
• These centres act as technical guidance centres to all in the district as to how to catch the rain, as it falls, where it falls.
• Efforts will be made so that all buildings in the district should have rooftop RWHS and that maximum quantity of rain water falling in any compound should be impounded within the compound itself. This will help in improving soil moisture and rising ground water table. In urban areas, it will reduce water gushing onto roads, damaging them and will prevent urban flooding.
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