Stressing upon the importance of collective responsibility towards water conservation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, called for a 100-day campaign to clean up water bodies and prepare them for rainwater harvesting before monsoons.
Modi, on his monthly Mann Ki Baat programme, said water has been crucial for the development of humankind for centuries.
“In most parts of India, rain starts in May-June. Can we start a 100-day campaign from now on to harvest rainwater, to clean the waters around us? With this thinking, a few days from now, the Jal Shakti Abhiyan – ‘Catch the Rain’ is also being started by the Jal Shakti ministry. The basic mantra of this campaign is – Catch the rain, where it falls, when it falls,” he was quoted as saying by Hindustan Times.
Modi said this is the best time to think about water conservation ahead of the months of summer. “Yesterday was the festival of Magha Purnima. The month of Magh is associated with rivers, lakes, and water bodies…Water is life for us, it is also faith and it is also a stream of development. Water is more important than ‘Paras’ in a way. It is said that by the touch of ‘Paras’, iron can be converted into gold. In the same way, the touch of water is necessary for life,” the Prime Minister said on the 74th episode of Mann Ki Baat.
