Make water conservation plan for Jalandhar: Central team

Jalandhar, June 7

The central team for Jal Shakti Abhiyan on Wednesday directed the officials of the Jalandhar Administration to prepare a district-level water conservation plan for Jalandhar so that comprehensive framework could be executed to save and preserve groundwater.

Chairing a review meeting with different departments, Central Nodal Officer-Cum-Union Joint Secretary Dinesh Kumar said a district-level plan must be submitted by the authorities concerned at the earliest so that requisite steps could be taken to recharge groundwater during the monsoon season. He also said the water conservation plan should be established within given time-frame, adding that all government buildings should have rooftop rainwater harvesting systems. He directed officials to take necessary action to achieve this goal so that results could be seen with respect to water conservation.

Geo-tagging of all water bodies stressed

• The Central team highlighted that the geo-tagging of all water bodies must be done besides displaying the schemes in public domain
• It also mentioned that all Jal Shakti Kendras in the district should be functional in a proper manner and intensive afforestation drive must be carried out at the earliest to get maximum results in monsoon
• More projects must be started for water conservation on public private partnership basis besides ensuring timely completion of all projects, the team stressed

The team also highlighted that the geo-tagging of all water bodies must be done besides displaying components of all schemes in public domain. The CNO mentioned that all Jal Shakti Kendras in the district should be functional in a proper manner and intensive afforestation drive must be carried out at the earliest to get maximum results in monsoon. He further added that more projects must be started for water conservation on public private partnership basis besides ensuring timely completion of all projects. The central nodal officer also called for regular review at DC or ADC level for early completion of ongoing works.

He said it was a wakeup call for everyone to come forward in this task to protect and improve water table. He mentioned that impact assessment should be given wide publicity while urging officials to take this task as special duty. He categorically stated that with collective efforts we can save water for our future generations.

Prominent amongst others present on the occasion included Additional Deputy Commissioner Varinderpal Singh Bajwa, Central Ground Water Board scientist KP Singh, Soil and Conservation Officer Lupinder Kumar, DDPO Sukhbir Kaur, Chief Agriculture Officer Dr Jaswant Rai and other officials from different departments.