President Ram Nath Kovind today launched the ‘Jal Shakti Abhiyan: Catch the Rain campaign 2022’ while presenting the 3rd national water awards.

Speaking on the occasion, the President said the presentation of national water awards for exemplary work in the field of water management and expansion of water campaigns to underline the importance of water in everyone’s daily life and on the planet Earth, was commendable.

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Expressing happiness over launching the ‘Jal Shakti Abhiyan: Catch the Rain 2022’, he said that district magistrates and village sarpanchs would have to play a crucial role in motivating the local populace for active participation of each individual in water conservation work.

He urged everyone to take a pledge that just as the largest vaccination drive in history was being carried out in India, the ”Jal Shakti Abhiyan” would also be made the biggest water conservation campaign ever.

Kovind said it was quite appropriate to say that water is life. Nature has blessed humanity with water resources. It has provided us with vast rivers, on whose banks great civilisations flourished.

”Rivers have special significance in the Indian culture and are worshipped as mother. We have dedicated places for the worship of the rivers — Ganga and Yamuna– in Uttarakhand, Narmada in Madhya Pradesh and for Ganga-Sagar in Bengal. Such religious practices kept us connected with nature. The construction of ponds and wells were considered a virtuous act. Unfortunately with the advent of modernity and the industrial economy, we have lost that connect with nature. Population growth is also one of the factors. We find ourselves cut off from nature that has sustained us. We make the difficult journey to Yamunotri to express our gratitude and offer prayers to the Yamuna. But when we return to the capital Delhi, we find that the same river has become extremely polluted, and is no longer useful in our city life,” he lamented.

The President said that today the water crisis has become an international crisis and it could take a much more serious form. Some defence experts have even said that in future it could become a major cause of international conflict.

”We all have to be alert to save humanity from such situations.” He expressed happiness that the government was taking effective steps in this direction.