Mukherjee pitches for water conservation

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, April 8

Bringing the shrinking water resources centre-stage, President Pranab Mukherjee today pitched for a multi-disciplinary approach to arrest the trend.

“Our laws should inculcate a respect for the principle that water is a common legacy, we need to treasure it, utilise it in a manner that enables us to pass it on intact, if not enhanced, to our Generation Next,” said Mukherjee.

Addressing the valedictory function of the India Water Week-2016, he said while India represented 17 per cent of the world’s population, it possessed only 4 per cent of its renewable water resources.

Expressing concern at lack of adequate potable water at a number of places, he said the per capita availability of water to our people is “decreasing by the day”. Conservation of water, its optimal utilisation would remain a priority for India in order to meet the needs of the people.

Focussing on the importance of preserving the depleting ground water, he suggested on improved water technologies and better management techniques for the aquifers.

He stressed harvesting of rainwater and its linkage to rural development schemes like MGNREGA. Also, initiative for integrated watershed development should be aimed at enhancing soil moisture retention, reducing sedimentation and increasing land and water productivity. Micro irrigation techniques like drip and sprinkler coupled with cropping patters suited to our own environment would help save water in the agriculture sector.

He lauded the government’s National Action Plan on Climate Change which envisaged close coordination between eight national missions, including the National Water Mission and the Interlinking of Rivers programme.