Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday urged citizens to “saving every drop of water,” as its conservation and harvesting could be the only permanent solution to drought.
While addressing the nation during his “Mann ki Baat” monthly radio programme, he also urged the state governments to promote innovative measures in water harvesting and conservation, appreciating some of the good initiatives taken in this direction in some of the states including Maharashtra, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh.
He said that he came to know about such innovative measures taken for water conservation and harvesting after he held separate meetings with the chief ministers of 11 states recently on drought situation.
The prime minister said that he subsequently asked the Niti Aayog to conduct a study on the innovative measures taken for water conservation and harvesting in various states so that “best practices” can be replicated by all the states.
“I urge you. Do not let this (monsoon) season go. In the coming four months, a mass movement in the form of ‘Save Water Abhiyan’ is needed to save every drop of water. And this task is not only of the governments or politicians but that of the common masses,” he fervently appealed to the people.
The prime minister referred to the recent cases of fire in forests of Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir and observed that the root cause of such incidents was that there were “dry leaves and some carelessness.”
Published 22 May 2016, 20:25 IST