President Ram Nath Kovind launched ‘Jal Shakti Abhiyan: Catch the Rain’ campaign 2022 in New Delhi.

President Kovind also presented the National Water Awards to various states, districts, panchayats and schools for their exemplary work in the field of water resources management.

Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu have secured the first, second and third prizes, respectively, in the best state category. 

‘Catch the Rain’ campaign

• After the successful implementation of Jal Shakti Abhiyan in 2019, the ministry of Jal Shakti planned to take up the Jal Shakti Abhiyan-II (JSA-II), covering all blocks of all districts of the country but could not be taken up due to COVID-19 pandemic imposed restrictions. 

• However, to keep its continuity, National Water Mission, the ministry launched a campaign ‘Catch the Rain’ on March 22, 2021 with the tagline “Catch the rain, where it falls, when it falls” to nudge the states and all stakeholders to create Rain Water Harvesting Structures (RWHS) suitable to the climatic conditions and sub-soil strata, with people’s active participation, before the onset of monsoon to ensure storage of rainwater.

Activities taken up under the campaign:

• Drives to make Rain Water Harvesting Structures (RWHS) like Rooftop RWHS, ponds, water harvesting pits, check dams, etc.

• Enumeration and geo-tagging of all water bodies in districts.

• Removal of encroachments and desilting of tanks to increase their storage capacity.

• Removal of obstructions in the channels which bring water to them.

• Repairs to stepwells and using defunct bore-wells to put the water back to aquifers.

• Rejuvenation of rivulets and rivers.

• Conservation and restoration of wetlands.

• The ‘Catch the Rain’ campaign will continue to be implemented this year till November 30, 2022.

National Water Awards

• The National Water Awards were launched by the Jal Shakti Ministry in 2018. 

• It was instituted with the objective of encouraging the stakeholders to adopt a holistic approach towards water resources conservation and management in the country. 

• The main aim is to recognise the efforts of individuals, organisations, districts and state authorities for the good work done in the field of water conservation and management. 

• The first and second editions were successfully organised in 2019 and 2020 respectively, and winners in different categories were felicitated with awards and cash prizes.

• National Water Awards have provided a good opportunity to startups as well as leading organizations to engage and deliberate with senior policymakers on how to adopt the best water resources management practices in India.

• The awards are expected to usher in a water consciousness in the minds of people of the country and will help in bringing a behavioural change.

• This is the third edition of the National Water Awards.

• The Department of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, ministry of jal shakti, presented 57 awards to states, organisations and others in 11 different categories to encourage and recognise their work in the field of water resources management. 

• The 11 categories are — best state, best district, best village panchayat, best urban local body, best media (print & electronic), best school, best institution/RWA/religious organisation for campus usage, best industry, best NGO, best water user association, and best industry for CSR activity.

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