Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the “Jal Shakti Abhiyan : Catch The  Rain” campaign on the occasion of World Water Day. The event was held virtually to mark the importance and management of water from Dr. Ambedkar International Centre. This is one of the largest ever launch of a water conservation campaign in the world.

Under this campaign, public at large is urged to create the rain harvesting structures at their roof tops and assimilate the other harvesting structures to conserve water. In this campaign, the urban and rural areas of the country are covered during the Pre-monsoon and Monsoon period.

Marking his words from “Mann Ki Baat” PM Modi marked the beginning of “Catch The Rain” campaign on the platform of National Water Mission under Jal Shakti Ministry. During the event a film was also launched as a clarion call for people participation in this great initiative. This film was produced by a renowned Film & Media Production House – BKT Media Pvt. Ltd.

The event also marked the beginning of the Ken Betwa Link Project which is the first project of the National Perspective Plan for the interlinking of rivers. In the presence of the Hon’ble Prime Minister, the Chief Ministers of Madhya Pradesh, Shivraj Singh Chauhan and Uttar Pradesh, Yogi Adityanath along with the Union Minister of Jal Shakti, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat are urged by the Master of Ceremony, Shilpa Bhawana to sign a Memorandum of Understanding to successfully implement the project.

This historic moment was witnessed by numerous people including bureaucrats, Sarpanchs from five villages and representatives from different ministries and media houses.

Through this agreement, the surplus water from the Ken River will be transferred to the Betwa River through the construction of the Daudhan Dam and a canal of 221kms linking the two rivers. It was the vision of Lt. Shri. Atal Bihari Vajpayee to transfer water from the area shaving surplus water availability to water deficit and drought-prone areas through interlinking of rivers.

The project targets to solve the water crisis in Bundelkhand and nearby regions which includes nine districts of Madhya Pradesh namely, Panna, Tikamgarh, Chattarpur, Sagar, Damoh, Datia, Vidisha, Shivpuri, Raisen, and 4 districts of Uttar Pradesh that is, Banda, Mahoba, Jhansi and Lalitpur.

It is believed that the project will provide sufficient drinking water to 62 lakh people and fulfill the irrigation needs of 10.62 lakh hectares of land. Apart from this, the project will also lead to the production of 130 MW of electricity.

In his address, PM Modi also said, “It is the responsibility of the present generation of the country to fulfill its responsibility for the coming generations.” Stressing on the active participation of females in the project, he said, “No one else can understand the value of water as much as our mothers and sisters do.” He also talked about the successful implementation of various other campaigns like Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana, Har Khet Ko Paani, Per Drop More Crop, Namami Gange Mission, Jal Jeevan Mission, and Atal Bhujal Yojana.

During the event, Prime Minister also spoke to the Sarpanchs of the villages from Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand and Karnataka. He motivated the officials at the grassroots level from all over the country to actively participate in this project. To summarize, India should be ready for Rain Water Harvesting and it is the high time for the citizens to participate actively in conservation of water resources. Such campaign will pave the way to many more. River linking projects, thereby, overcoming the water crisis in different parts of the nation.