Expressing concern over population increase and increase in industrialisation, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said it has led to exploitation of groundwater and the need of the hour is to conserve and enrich groundwater.
“Incessant withdrawal has led to overexploitation of groundwater and this has led to increase in the dark zone category. Today, action is being taken gradually to bring it back to normal,” the chief minister said while addressing the ‘State-Level Concluding Ceremony of Groundwater Week-2022’ at the Lok Bhawan Auditorium here on Friday.
On this occasion, the CM honoured the institutions and individuals doing remarkable work in the field of water conservation and promotion in the state. They included Parmarth Social Service Institute (Jalaun), Institute of Rural and Environmental Development (Baghpat), ITC Ltd (Saharanpur), Support for Implementation and Research (Jhansi), WaterAid India (Lucknow), Swapna Foundation (Lucknow), and Neer Foundation (Meerut).
“Uttar Pradesh is a very fertile land. We have sufficient water resources. Along with groundwater, surface water is also available in adequate quantity. With the inspiration of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, programmes like ‘Catch the Rain’ and ‘Amrit Sarovar’ have been started all over the country. The state government has made necessary laws to strengthen the rainwater harvesting system and through many programmes, water conservation works have been promoted,” he said.
“During the last five years, campaigns for water conservation and promotion in the state have yielded positive results. We have been successful in converting many development blocks from hypercritical to general development blocks. The state government made an action plan for management and conservation of groundwater due to which there was a drastic change in this situation. Everyone should participate in this,” he added.
The CM said that more than 60 rivers have been revived in the state during the last five years. These rivers may have once been the backbone of agricultural production in that area but due to negligence, these rivers had become endangered, he pointed out.
Rural Development and other departments together with the Jal Shakti department, through public participation, carried forward the programme of revival, he said.
The CM said that the state government has made a special arrangement for rainwater harvesting. Under this, in urban areas, rainwater harvesting has been made mandatory for the construction of houses above a particular area and for the construction of any government building.
Yogi said that on July 17, a special awareness campaign for groundwater conservation was extended in 550 gram panchayats of 26 development blocks in 10 districts of the state. For this, digital groundwater chariots were started from here to provide public awareness in those districts.
Jal Shakti Minister Swatantra Dev Singh, Minister of State for Jal Shakti Ramkesh Nishad, Chief Secretary Durga Shankar Mishra, Principal Secretary (Namami Gange and Rural Water Supply) Anurag Srivastava, along with senior officers, members of self-help groups and students, were present on the occasion.