Jhalawar ( Rajasthan) : Possessing barely 1.6 per cent of water resources of the country, the desert state of Rajasthan has launched a ‘people’s movement’ to recharge its scarce natural resource through the ambitious Mukhya Mantri Jal Swavlamban Abhiyan.
MJSA, started by the Rajasthan government, aims at making every village self-reliant in water and increasing productivity of the land. More than 3,000 villages will be covered under the campaign in four years in different phases.
Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje, who kicked off the first phase of the campaign from her constituency Jhalawar, noted that many stakeholders like private individuals, NGOs, corporates, social, religious and even caste organisations have been roped in for the initiative.
“Water scarcity is one issue that is common among all strata of the society. That is why this campaign is a mass movement, wherein everybody feels connected to the issue. They are welcome to lend their support in kind, labour or money.
“For a state that receives very low amounts of rainfall and even the little rain that does fall is concentrated in just 3-4 months every year, a campaign like this is the need of the hour. We have combined the traditional knowledge systems as well as the modern technology to devise a water conservation plan that will make our villages self-water reliant,” she told PTI.
The MJSA was envisioned after studying a similar pattern adopted by Maharashtra, where eight water scarce districts saw a turnaround after adopting this model. The first phase of the campaign estimated to cost Rs 3,568 crore will end on June 30.
@Agency news.
