Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath stressed on conservation of water, maintenance of its quality and better usage, saying that it was essential for survival as well as progress of the state.
Yogi Adityanath said that preserving water was the most focused area of his government. He said that in its effort to realise this objective, the government not only ensured the completion and operation of several projects pending for decades but also worked towards saving every drop of water through construction of farm ponds, multi-purpose ponds on the banks of rivers, check-dams and more.
The chief minister said that due to the sustained efforts of the government in the span of the last five years, as many as 25 development blocks of the state had been pulled out of the ‘dark zone’ slot signifying depleting groundwater levels they had witnessed and a remarkable improvement in terms of availability of groundwater.
He said to improve the quality and presence of groundwater, the government not only worked to ensure the effective implementation of Atal Bhujal and Catch the Rain schemes but also simultaneously made elaborate arrangements for rain water harvesting at various institutions, including state government buildings.
The chief minister was expressing his views while flagging off the 'Digital Groundwater Rath' developed for publicity of various public awareness programmes under the Atal Bhujal Yojana on the occasion of Groundwater Week at his official residence here on Sunday.
Earlier, the chief minister started the programme by lighting the lamp and flagged off the Digital Groundwater Rath.
The Groundwater Week is being organised from July 16 to 22.
The chief minister said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had started the 'Catch the Rain' programme two years ago and under this scheme, the Groundwater Week was being organised in the state for creating public awareness regarding groundwater conservation.
“This is a very important week for the country and the state. Under this, digital groundwater raths will go to 10 districts of the state and make their contribution in making every citizen aware about the safety of drinking water and groundwater,” he said.
Yogi Adityanath said that Uttar Pradesh was an agricultural state and the main source of livelihood in the state was agriculture and agriculture-related sectors. He said groundwater was the main source of about 70 per cent agriculture and 80 per cent drinking water supply in the state.
“As the need for man increased, we started exploiting groundwater on an uncontrolled and unscientific basis. Due to this a serious problem of groundwater has arisen in many areas in the state. Many development blocks were declared dark zones. As a result of the efforts of the state government in the last five years, today 25 development blocks of different districts have come out of the over-exploited category of groundwater. In this way, the programmes started in many areas for groundwater conservation within the state have yielded better results,” he pointed out.
The chief minister said that the aim was to make more and more people aware by reviving the traditional methods of water conservation in Groundwater Week.
This awareness programme is being carried forward through Digital Groundwater Rath in 550 gram panchayats of 26 development blocks of 10 districts of the state. Uttar Pradesh has been made a part of this campaign. These 10 districts were selected by the Government of India, as the condition of groundwater there was a cause of concern. The districts include four of western Uttar Pradesh (Meerut, Baghpat, Muzaffarnagar and Shamli) and six of Bundelkhand (Chitrakoot, Banda, Hamirpur, Mahoba, Lalitpur and Jhansi).
The chief minister said that there was an unprecedented increase in the demand of groundwater in every walk of life but the availability of groundwater and its quality was decreasing due to uncontrolled and indiscriminate exploitation and lack of recharge. He said there was a need to make every resident of the state aware about this and they should be told that while taking water from somewhere, it should be compensated.
The chief minister said that the Groundwater Management and Regulation Act, 2019 had been promulgated in Uttar Pradesh.
Rain water harvesting has been ensured at every 500 metres in Bundelkhand Expressway which was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday. Rain water harvesting is being made compulsory in government buildings by the development authorities in the state.
The chief minister said that different models of groundwater conservation had been made for rural and urban areas of the state. Under this, old India Mark hand pumps in the Varanasi model are being successfully used for rainwater harvesting. Similarly, to preserve every drop of water in the Chitrakoot model, check dams were made and desilting was done in them every year. Similarly, many types of programmes are going on in the state. In the Amrit Mahotsav year of the country's independence, the process of constructing 75 ponds as Amrit Sarovars is underway in rural areas of every district of the state. Work is also being done to connect the urban areas with it.
The chief minister said that groundwater conservation should not only become a state programme but the common man should also be connected with it.
On this occasion Jal Shakti Minister Swatantra Dev Singh, Agriculture Minister Surya Pratap Shahi, Minister of State for Jal Shakti Ramkesh Nishad, Additional Chief Secretary (MSME and Information) Navneet Sehgal, Principal Secretary (Namami Gange and Rural Water Supply) Anurag Shrivastava, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister and Information Sanjay Prasad and Director of Information Shishir and other senior officers were present.