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It is everyone’s duty to save water: U.P. chief secy
U.P. chief secretary Durga Shankar Mishra flags off ‘Jal Ke Liye Chal’ campaign organised by All India Radio, Lucknow
All India Radio (AIR), Lucknow, organised ‘Jal Ke Liye Chal’—a walk for water conservation—on Sunday as part of ‘celebration of India’s chairmanship of G20’. Thousands of people took part in the event.
Chief secretary Durga Shankar Mishra flagged off the campaign with a pledge to conserve water. Mishra gave the message of ‘Jal hai toh kal hai’ (If there is water, there is tomorrow) on the occasion. He called upon people to save every drop of water.
“Two-thirds of the earth is covered with water. Still the quantity of pure water is limited. In such a situation, there is a need to pay maximum attention to water conservation measures,” he said.
“It is the responsibility of all of us to save water. It is necessary for groundwater conservation. Do not waste water and use it as per need. The best time to recharge groundwater is rainy season. At this time, every drop of rain can be conserved,” Mishra added.
He further said general public should be made aware of water conservation. He appealed to everyone to minimize the use of plastic in daily life. Mishra said to conserve ground water, roof top rain water harvesting system was being installed on the roof of every school and office.
The CS said under Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) 2.0 project, drink from tap 24x7 had been started in all wards of Ayodhya district.
“If you open the tap in school, shop, home or anywhere, you will get pure water. More than 1.5 crore people are getting the benefits of the scheme through Jal Jeevan Mission in Uttar Pradesh. There is a tap in every house, there is water in every tap. Under AMRUT 2.0, arrangements are being made to supply water to every household in urban areas.
Starting from 1090 intersection in Gomti Nagar, the walk passed through Inox and Gandhi Setu and culminated from where it had started. People of all ages, social organisations, water warriors, water ambassadors, dignitaries, media persons, national and international sportspersons and schoolchildren enthusiastically participated in the campaign.
Meenu Khare, programme head, AIR, Lucknow, said, “The objective of the campaign was to spread awareness about water, to emphasise the importance of water conservation and to sensitise the youth about it.” “100 days’ water conservation programme series has been started by All India Radio, Lucknow, from Sunday in which programmes related to water conservation will be broadcasted continuously,” Khare said.
Padma Shri Ramsaran Verma, Padma Shri Sudha Singh, Pedwale Baba Acharya Chandra Bhushan Tiwari, environmental warrior Krishnanand Rai, Sushil Sitapuri associated with Gomti Abhiyan, Jal Doot Nand Kishore Verma, Sudha Bajpai, Anant Mishra, Yogesh Aditya, Nayab Khan etc were present on the occasion.
Narendra Kumar stood first and Devendra Sharma stood second in the senior citizen group in the ‘Jal Ke Liye Chal’ campaign. Among women, Vanshika Singh stood first, Muskaan second and Gudiya third. Among men, Satya got first, Subhash Singh second, Ankit Pandey third and Vikas Gautam and Neelmani Pandey got consolation prizes. Band performances by Kuldeep Singh Chauhan and his team enthralled everyone.
