rediff.com: PM urges recycling of rainwater: AFP

Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on Monday urged his countrymen to preserve and recycle rain water, warning that falling water levels led to situations like a severe drought currently affecting several states.

In a message ahead of a national seminar on rainwater harvesting in New Delhi, Vajpayee said: "India's population has recently crossed the one-billion mark. With an ever-increasing population, our country faces a serious threat to the management of her water as the gap between demand and supply widens.

"In our villages and cities, down the ages, people have developed a wide array of techniques to harvest rainwater which are simple, efficient and cost-effective.

"We should draw upon the wisdom of our ancient life-sustaining systems and through better management, conserve our precious water resources."

Some 50 million people across five states are reeling under a severe drought that has decimated livestock numbers but so far claimed officially no human casualties.

The ministry for water resources has taken out full-page advertisements in leading national dailies to highlight the crisis.

"Groundwater levels in some areas are falling at the rate of one metre every year and rising in some areas at the same time," it said.

"Annually replenishable resources are assessed at 432 billion cubic metres. By adopting water harvesting, an additional 160 billion cubic metres shall be available for use."

The ministry urged Indians to build rainwater tanks on their roofs to collect the water for storage in underground chambers for future use. It said such a system could also help in preventing falling water levels.

The New Delhi government has launched an advertising campaign in key areas of the city urging citizens to build rooftop rainwater collection tanks.

"You can capture and recharge 65,000 litres of rainwater in Delhi from a 100-square-metre (1,076-square-foot) size rooftop and meet drinking and domestic water requirements of a family of four for 160 days," the water ministry said.

The scheme also aims at buttressing water supplies by building more wells, dykes and dams and "rehabilitating all ancient rainwater harvesting structures."

©AFP 2000 All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or distributed. All reproduction or redistribution is expressly forbidden without the prior written agreement of AFP.


	HOME \| NEWS \| AFP \| REPORT