New Delhi, Jun 15: Minister of State for Jal Shakti Rattan Lal Kataria has written letters to all Members of Parliament (MPs), both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, to support the ongoing ‘Jal Shakti Abhiyan: Catch The Rain’ campaign in their respective constituencies and states.
The letter gives about the details of the Abhiyan and also informs the MPs about the progress made already. It seeks their support and contribution in sensitising people to conserve rainwater during the upcoming monsoon season.
Mr Kataria informed that the aim of sending the letter is to urge each MP to turn as a brand ambassador for this Abhiyan in their respective constituency.
‘We all must come together and rise above the party lines to address the common problem of
depleting ground water levels and water scarcity, in public interest,’ Mr Kataria added.
The Abhiyan 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.
The campaign aims at tapping rainwater by constructing artificial recharge structures, revitalising existing ponds and water bodies, creating new water bodies, provisioning check dams, rejuvenating wetlands and rivers before the onset of monsoon.
It is also planned to create a data-base of all water bodies in the country by geo tagging them and using this data to create scientific and data-based district level water conservation plans.
Ministry of Rural Development has reported completion of construction of 1.64 lakh water conservation and rain water harvesting (RWH) structures, incurring an expenditure of Rs 5,360 crore, while work is in progress on 1.82 lakh additional structures.
