World Water Day 2021: PM Modi launch 'Jal Shakti Abhiyan's Catch the rain' campaign
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New Delhi, Mar 22: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is to launch the ‘Jal Shakti Abhiyan: Catch the Rain’ campaign on World Water Day that is celebrated on Mar 22 through video conferencing. The signing of a historic MoA between the Union Minister of Jal Shakti and the Chief Ministers of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh will also be executed in the presence of the Prime Minister, in order to implement the Ken Betwa Link Project.
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The 'Jal Shakti Abhiyan: Catch the rain' campaign will be undertaken across the country, in both rural and urban areas, with the theme 'catch the rain, where it falls, when it falls.' It will be implemented from Mar 22 to Nov 30, 2021, which is the pre-monsoon and monsoon period in the country. The campaign will be launched as a Jan Andolan to take water conservation at grass-root level through people’s participation.
The 'Catch the rain' campaign 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. After the event, Gram Sabhas will be held in all Gram Panchayats of each district, in order to discuss issues related to water and water conservation. The Gram Sabhas will also take ‘Jal Shapath’ for water conservation.
The Ken Betwa Link Project is the first project of the National Perspective Plan for interlinking of rivers. The agreement indicates the beginning of inter- state cooperation to implement the vision of Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, in order to carry water from areas that have surplus water to drought prone and water deficit areas, through the interlinking of rivers.
The Ken Betwa Link Project involves transfer of water from the Ken river to the Betwa river through the construction of Daudhan Dam and a canal linking the two rivers, the Lower Orr Project, Kotha Barrage and Bina Complex Multipurpose Project. It will provide annual irrigation of 10.62 lakh ha, drinking water supply to about 62 lakh people and also generate 103 MW of hydropower.