By Nava Thakuria*
Guwahati: Patriotic People’s Front Assam (PPFA), a group of intelligentsia, while welcoming the Union government’s campaign for rain water harvesting, has urged for specific initiatives in northeast India where often excessive rainfalls are recorded during the monsoon. The forum of nationalists have insisted on proclaiming the rainwater as a resource.
In a statement, it appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to formulate “pragmatic policies” for encouraging the rainwater harvesting process in every household (more importantly the high-rise apartments with concentrated populace). Moreover, the collection of rainwater in the purest form and marketing it as a packaged drinking water may also be considered as an important avenue, a PPFA statement said.
Mentionable is that Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the occasion of World Water Day on Monday launched ‘Jal Shakti Abhiyan: Catch the Rain’ campaign and termed that the water emerges as a precious commodity. He expressed happiness that many villagers are now trying to save the rainwater for their use.
Emphasizing on lesser dependence on the groundwater, Modi preferred to promote the practice of rainwater harvesting across the country. He commented that rapid development is not possible without water security and effective water management. He also stated that the government has made water governance a priority in its policies and decisions.
Experts have already made predictions that the water crisis will deepen in near future with the haphazard growth of urban areas across the globe. Even today, a sizable population on Earth is lacking access to safe water. So, the rainwater should be taped and used with an aim to address the severe problem of ground water depletion, said the PPFA.
*The writer is a senior journalist
