On the occasion of the World Water Day 2021, Prime Minister Modi is all set to launch the Jal Shakti Abhiyan: Catch the Rain campaign today. The Prime Minister on Sunday took to Twitter to announce the initiative. Mr. Modi on tweeted saying the initiative is aimed to ‘strengthen water conservation efforts happening in our country’.
Tomorrow, on World Water Day, the 'Catch the Rain’ Movement would be launched at 12:30 PM. This movement will take place across India based on the theme of 'catch the rain, where it falls, when it falls.’ It will strengthen water conservation efforts happening in our country.
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) March 21, 2021
The Jal Shakti Abhiyan will be implemented across the country from 22nd March 2021-30th November 2021, which is the summer-pre-monsoon-monsoon period in India. The campaign will be undertaken under ‘catch the rain, where it falls, when it falls’ theme and is aimed to serve as a ‘Jan Andolan’ (people’s revolution) to take water conservation actions at a grass-root level through active participation by the public. According to PMO, the initiative is “intended to nudge all stakeholders to create rainwater harvesting structures suitable to the climatic conditions and subsoil strata, to ensure proper storage of rainwater.
Additionally, after the event’s kick-start, each district in the nation (except for the ones in election-bound states) will have Gram Sabhas in the respective Gram Panchayats. In these meetings water conservation and issues regarding sustainability will be discussed.
The Prime Minister on today’s special day will also sign a historic MoA for Ken Betwa Link Project.
Tomorrow, on World Water Day, a historic MoA for the Ken Betwa Link Project would be signed. This is a futuristic project that will particularly help the people of Bundelkhand. https://t.co/ONMfCQIjey
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) March 21, 2021
The Ken-Betwa Link project will be the implementation of former Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee who envisioned states with surplus water to give the surplus drought prone areas. This would be done through interlinking of rivers. The Ken-Betwa Link project will involve water transfer from Ken to Betwa River through a damn construction and a canal that will link the two rivers. If all goes according to plan, the project will give an annual irrigation of 10.62 lakh ha, and will aid 62 lakh people with fresh water supply, and will generate hydropower of 103 MW.
According to the PMO, the Ken-Betwa Link project will particularly help the people of Bundelkhand, especially the people who live in Panna, Tikamgarh, Chhatarpur, Sagar, Datia, Damoh, Vidisha, Paisen and Shivpuri. The project will also help Uttar Pradesh citizens living in Banda, Mahoba, Jhansi, Lalitpur.
The project will be first of many that will ensure that through linking of rivers water scarcity will not run rampant and be the cause of deaths and diseases.
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More about International Water Day
World Water Day is observed every year on March 22 with an aim to promote awareness towards sustainable management of water, the importance of fresh water and the water crisis the globe is gradually moving towards. The day serves as an opportunity for human population of the world who might have taken freshwater for granted to learn more about water related issues like water scarcity, water conservation importance, water efficiency etc.
World Water Day History and Origin
On December 22, 1992, the United Nations General Assembly passed the A/RES/47/193 resolution which said that March 22nd of each year will be celebrated as World Day for Water starting 1993. Countries across the world were invited to celebrate the day by creating activities such as public awareness campaigns, round table discussions, seminars all related to fresh water conservation in both developing and developed countries.
On World Water Day 2021, United Nations Director-General Audrey Azoulay issued a statement saying,
“World Water Day is meant to be a call to action. Responsibility lies with all of us. Governments, associations, private partners: we must all recognize the multifold value of water and take action to conserve this basic resource, the resource which gives our planet its unique colour.”
World Water Day Theme 2021
The theme for this year’s World Water Day is “Valuing Water”. According to United Nation’s website, the theme for this year highlights the true value of freshwater in our lives. The website says, “The value of water is about much more than its price – water has enormous and complex value for our households, food, culture, health, education, economics and the integrity of our natural environment. If we overlook any of these values, we risk mismanaging this finite, irreplaceable resource.”
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