E-Paper
It’s impossible to imagine life without water: U.P. CM Yogi
All people of the state will have to come forward and understand the importance of water to increase the groundwater level, Yogi Adityanath said
Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday said it is impossible to imagine life without water and that it is crucial to understand the importance of water to secure future. Yogi was addressing the closing ceremony of the Groundwater Week programme (Bhujal Saptah) organised at Lok Bhavan here.
He said the state government enacted an act in 2019 to deal with the problem of depleting groundwater level. “Under this law, it has been made mandatory for new residential and commercial buildings to have provisions for rainwater harvesting. This resulted in an increase in the number of rainwater harvesting systems in the state to meet future needs of water,” the CM said.
“The state government has adopted Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s campaign to save water and a campaign of ‘Per Drop, More Crop’ is being run in the state,” he added. Yogi said the Groundwater Week programme, which began on July 16, formally concluded on Friday but in reality the programme will end on Saturday with a massive plantation.
“Under the plantation drive, 30 crore saplings will be planted in a day throughout the entire state and the programme will be completed with 5 crore sapling plantations on the occasion of the Independence Day. We all have to actively participate in the programme. Similarly, we must collect rainwater to increase the groundwater level,” he said.
The CM said the higher ground level would provide more pure water while with the lower level more complaints of arsenic and fluoride will be seen. This will also increase the risk of diseases, he said. Yogi said the double-engine government, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, was constantly taking action to protect people from all problems.
He said, “It is our duty as citizens to think about what we will leave for our future generations.” The CM said the state government had been implementing the “Har Ghar Nal” programme to provide tap water to every household and that in the last six years, the goal of doing so had been achieved.
“People used to carry water on their heads for long distances in places like Bundelkhand and Vindhya earlier but now every home has access to clean water with ease. The government is working to provide RO water in these areas,” Yogi added.
He said, “If you wish ‘Har Ghar Jal Yojana’ to run successfully for a long time, all people of the state will have to come forward and understand the importance of water to increase the groundwater level because water requirements can be met by 80 to 90 percent through groundwater.”
“Everyone is aware of the poor condition of the Ganga before the Namami Gange programme. On the other hand, it has significantly improved since the Namami Gange project was launched under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. But still, new steps are to be taken in the direction,” the CM said.