India has many rivers on the map but don’t have water in them: PM at Narmada meet

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he would ask other states to follow Madhya Pradesh’s action plan for the Narmada as a role model to protect rivers across the country

Updated on: May 15, 2017, 19:50:54 IST

Hindustan Times, Amarkantak | By Neeraj Santoshi

Prefer HTon Google

Share via

Copy link

Prime Minister Narendra Modi called for a concerted push to conserve and rejuvenate India’s rivers, saying the country has many but not all have water in them.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses the gathering at the concluding programme of the Narmada Seva Yatra in Amarkantak on Monday. (Mujeeb Faruqui/HT)

He said he would ask the states to follow Madhya Pradesh’s action plan for the Narmada as a role model for the protection of rivers across the country.

“The country has many rivers on the map but don’t have any water in them,” Modi said at an event to mark the conclusion of the Namami Devi Narmade Sewa Yatra in Madhya Pradesh’s Annooppur district.

He praised the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government for its work to conserve one of the country’s major rivers and said the Narmada roadmap is “a perfect document” for other states to follow.

“We have almost lost many rivers in the country. There is a river in Kerala, Bharathapuzha. I don’t know whether it will be saved or lost.”

The Prime Minister requested Madhya Pradesh to share the document with other states.

He said river protection and water conservation are vital for growth, especially farm economy that is the mainstay of millions of people living in rural areas.

“We thought we have right over it (Narmada), so we can go on exploiting it. We have looted the Narmada’s resources. It is unfortunate that the Narmada, which has bestowed life to our forefathers, saved our ancestors, today needs to be saved,” he said.

The Namami Devi Narmade Sewa Yatra, which was launched on December 11, 2016 from Amarkantak, concluded on Monday after covering a distance of 3,344km, traversing over 1,100 villages and towns.

“I was born in Gujarat. I know the value of each drop of the Narmada,” he said.

The 1,312km river starts at Narmada Kund in Amarkantak, flows westward through Madhya Pradesh Gujarat and drains into the Arabian Sea.

Modi congratulated Madhya Pradesh for its performance in the Swachhta survey in which Indore and Bhopal were adjudged the country’s number one and two cleanest cities among 434 urban centres.

Chief minister Chouhan listed his government’s initiatives such as sewerage treatment plants along riverbanks to protect the Narmada.

(With agency inputs)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Neeraj Santoshi
Neeraj Santoshi is the Chief of Bureau for Hindustan Times in Uttarakhand, where he leads the state reporting team while covering government, politics, environment, wildlife, Uttarakhand High Court, and issues shaping the Himalayan region. With more than two decades in journalism across conflict zones, he has covered politically sensitive regions and environmentally fragile landscapes, and focused on stories that combine public interest with in-depth storytelling. An alumnus of Pune University with a Master’s in Communication Studies, he has reported extensively from Jammu & Kashmir (2003-2010), Madhya Pradesh (2010 to 2018 ) and Uttarakhand (Since 2018), covering subjects ranging from insurgency, elections and governance to wildlife conservation, mining, climate change, agriculture, human rights and social justice. He has covered politics and legislative assemblies of both Jammu & Kashmir and Madhya Pradesh over more than a decade. Before taking over as Chief of Bureau in Uttarakhand, he served as Special Correspondent with Hindustan Times in Madhya Pradesh and earlier reported for both Hindustan Times and The Indian Express in Jammu & Kashmir, where he covered state politics, environment and insurgency-related developments. Over the years, his stories have focused on environmental degradation, wildlife, illegal mining, governance and the changing social fabric of Himalayan states and Central India. He is particularly interested in long-form explanatory journalism, and stories that explore the intersection of ecology, conservation, governance and society. Outside the newsroom, Neeraj enjoys reading widely on neuroscience, consciousness studies, Artificial Intelligence and quantum physics, with a special interest in Kashmiri Tantric Shaivist traditions. He is also passionate about wildlife, mountaineering and the Himalayas, interests that continue to inform his reporting and deepen his understanding of the region he covers.Read More

Get the latest India News, breaking headlines and real-time updates from across the country. Stay informed about politics, government policies, crime, weather and major national developments.