North News
New Delhi, September 6
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday highlighted the conservation of water and the environment as integral aspects of India’s cultural consciousness. He advocated the “reduce, reuse, recharge, and recycle” mantra as essential steps to preserve water resources. The Prime Minister made these remarks during a virtual address at the launch of the ‘Jal Sanchay Jan Bhagidari’ initiative in Surat, which aims to boost community participation in water conservation efforts.
Despite the challenging conditions, Prime Minister emphasized that only India has the potential to find solutions for itself and the world. He credited the understanding of India’s ancient scriptures and said that water and environment conservation is not considered bookish knowledge or something that arose out of a situation. “Water and environment conservation is part of India’s traditional consciousness”, PM Modi exclaimed. He said that the people of India belong to a culture that considers water as a form of God, rivers as Goddesses and Sarovars as the abode of the Gods. “Ganga, Narmada, Godavari and Kaveri are revered as mothers”, he said. Quoting ancient scriptures, the Prime Minister explained that saving and donating water is the highest form of service as all life forms began from water, and are dependent on it. He underlined that India’s ancestors knew the importance of water and environmental conservation. Referring to a couplet by Rahim Das, the Prime Minister highlighted the farsightedness of the nation and expressed the need to take the lead when it comes to water and environment conservation.
The Prime Minister highlighted that ‘Jal Sanchay Jan Bhagidari’ initiative was kicking off from Gujarat and has witnessed many successful efforts towards ensuring accessibility and availability of water to the last of the citizens. Shri Modi reminisced about the situation of Saurashtra two-and-a-half decades ago when the previous governments lacked the vision of water conservation. He added that he resolved to overcome this grave crisis and ensured the completion and commission of Sardar Sarovar Dam, pending for decades. He further added that Sauni Yojna was also started by drawing water from areas of excess and discharging it to areas facing shortages. Modi expressed happiness that the results of the efforts made in Gujarat are today visible to the world.
“Water conservation is not just a matter of policies but also social commitment”, the Prime Minister said, highlighting the importance of a conscious citizen, public participation and people’s movement. He pointed out that even though water-related projects worth thousands of crores have been initiated in the past, the results are only apparent in the past 10 years. “Our government has worked with a Whole of Society and Whole of Government approach”, PM Modi remarked. Throwing light on the work done in the past 10 years, the Prime Minister said that silos were broken on issues related to water for the first time and the Ministry of Jal Shakti was created to fulfil the commitment of the whole of the government approach. He touched upon the resolve of tapped water supply to every home through Jal Jeevan Mission and informed that tapped water connection was available in only 3 crore households earlier compared to more than 15 crore today. He credited the Jal-Jeevan Mission for clean tap water reaching more than 75 percent of the households in the country. He lauded the local Jal Samitis for their contributions to Jal-Jeevan Mission and said that women are doing wonderful work in paani samitis all over the country just like the women who did wonders in the paani samitis of Gujarat “At least 50 percent of the participation in this is of village women”, he added.
Highlighting how Jalshakti Abhiyan has become a national mission today, the Prime Minister said that be it renovation of traditional water sources or construction of new structures, individuals from all walks of life, ranging from stakeholders to civil society to panchayats are involved in it. Explaining the strength of public participation, Modi underlined that the work on Amrit Sarovar started in every district during the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav and has resulted in construction of more than 60 thousand Amrit Sarovars in the country today. Similarly, he added, the Atal Bhujal Yojana also involved the responsibility of villagers in managing water resources for recharging groundwater. Further, he added, ‘Catch the Rain’ campaign started in 2021 has a large number of stakeholders involved today. Speaking of ‘Namami Gange’ initiative, Modi underlined that it had become an emotional resolution for citizens and people were giving up old traditions and irrelevant customs to ensure the cleanliness of rivers.
