'Jal Shakti Abhiyan': Govt launches water conservation campaign

New Delhi: With some parts of the country reporting water shortage, Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat Monday launched a conservation campaign, with an emphasis on 1592 stressed blocks in 256 districts.

The ‘Jal Shakti Abhiyan’ will focus on five aspects — water conservation and rainwater harvesting, renovation of traditional and other water bodies, reuse of water and recharging of structures, watershed development, and intensive afforestation, Drinking Water Sanitation Secretary Parmeswaran Iyer said.

Officers from the central government, led by additional secretaries and joint secretaries, have been assigned to these 256 districts, he said.

The district administration will also nominate two members to join these teams.

The conservation efforts will be supplemented by initiatives like developing block and district water conservation plans and ‘krishi vigyan kendra melas’ to promote efficient water use for irrigation and better crop choices.

In urban areas, plans with time-bound targets will be developed for waste water reuse for industrial and agricultural purposes.

Plans will be developed for at least one urban water body for groundwater recharge in the block or the city. Scientists and IITs will also be mobilised at the national level to support the teams, he said.

The government plans to run a water conservation, similar to the Swachch Bharat Abhiyaan with Prime Minister Narendra Modi Sunday pitching for conservation of rain water, saying there is a pressing need to make it a mass movement on the lines of the cleanliness drive.

In his first address in the second edition of monthly show ‘Mann ki Baat’, the prime minister also said ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach is not required in conservation of water.