Pointing out that water security was a huge question for India due to its large population, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today expressed satisfaction that the country has turned water conservation into a mass movement.
“In the Amrit Kaal, India is looking towards water as the future. There will be a tomorrow if there is water,” the PM remarked while noting that the 21st-century world was realising the seriousness of limited water resources on earth.
Observing that a negative thought process had developed in the past decades and issues like water conservation and environment were deemed difficult to deal with, the PM said his government has changed both this mindset and the situation.
Giving the example of the Namami Gange campaign, he highlighted that not only the Ganges but all its tributaries were getting cleaned while campaigns like natural farming have also begun on the banks of the Ganges. “The Namami Gange campaign has emerged as a model for various states of the country,” he remarked.
Addressing the ‘Jal-Jan Abhiyan’ of Brahma Kumaris via video message, the PM, throwing light on the ‘Catch the Rain campaign’, noted that the depleting groundwater table was also a major challenge for the country.
He informed that water conservation was also being promoted in thousands of gram panchayats of the country through the Atal Bhujal Yojana. He also touched upon the campaign to construct 75 Amrit Sarovar in every district of the country and said it was a huge step towards water conservation.
Underlining the contributions of women in water conservation, he said that women from the villages were leading important schemes like the Jal Jeevan Mission through water committees. He emphasised that Brahma Kumari sisters could play a similar role in the country as well as at the global level.
He also touched upon the need to raise issues related to the environment along with water conservation. The PM said the country was promoting techniques like drip irrigation for balanced use of water in agriculture and urged the Brahma Kumaris to motivate the farmers on increasing its usage.
The PM stressed that the Jal-Jan Abhiyan was being launched at a time when water scarcity was being seen as a future crisis all over the world.
The PM highlighted the sages of India who had created a restrained, balanced and sensitive system regarding nature, the environment and water thousands of years ago. He recalled the age-old saying of not destroying water but conserving it and underlined that this feeling has been a part of India’s spirituality and religion for thousands of years.
“Water conservation is the culture of our society and the centre of our social thinking,” he said, adding “That’s why we consider water to be God and our rivers as mothers.” He emphasised that when society makes such an emotional connection with nature, sustainable development becomes its natural way of life. He reiterated the need to seek solutions to the challenges of the future while rekindling the consciousness of the past.
The PM also highlighted that the whole world was also celebrating International Millet Year. Millets and urged everyone to include coarse grains in their diet.