Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Sunday said the Amrit Sarovar scheme announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to save ponds is a “Bhagiratha-like” effort, a reference to the mythical king who brought the Ganga to earth.
“Just as (legendary king) Bhagiratha with his dedicated efforts had brought the Ganga river from the heavens to earth, similarly Modi by launching the Amrit Sarovar Mission has made Bhagiratha-like efforts to save ponds,” he said.
The chief minister was speaking after launching the state-level Amrit Sarovar Mission during a programme organised at Nahra village in Sonipat district.
He underlined that water is the core of a healthy land and said “we would not like to give barren land without water to our next generation", adding that every drop of water will be saved and used.
Under the scheme, recharging wells will be built in all government buildings across Haryana so that rainwater can be conserved, he said.
Addressing public representatives who had joined the Amrit Sarovar Mission programme organised at 111 places across the state through video conferencing, Khattar said "Narendra Modi has called upon the nation to work on a plan to clean or rejuvenate 75 ponds in each district across the country and today's programme from Haryana is a part of this Mission.”
He added that earlier people used to dig ponds themselves.
"But for a long time, people did not pay attention to the cleanliness of ponds due to which these became polluted. With the passage of time, waste coming out of various sources started flowing into the ponds. The water of the ponds started overflowing, but from today, we have taken the initiative to resolve this problem," he said.
Khattar noted that there are 18,000 ponds in Haryana, out of which 4,000 are filled with rainwater, while 6,000 are filled with water for animal use and 8,000 ponds with dirty water, which will be treated.
He said historic ponds of the state will be renovated as pilgrimage sites. Under the Amrit Sarovar Mission, 8,000 ponds of Haryana will be renovated by August 15, out of which work has been started on 1,600 ponds.
"After this, the condition of all the remaining ponds in the entire state will be improved. Under this, by excavating the ponds, building retaining walls and beautification, the surrounding site will be made attractive.
"The Haryana Pond and Waste Water Management Authority has been constituted for the rejuvenation of ponds in the state and a separate provision of Rs 1,000 crore has been made for this," the chief minister said.
He also called upon farmers to conserve rainwater. He said 750 recharging borewells were installed last year. This year, a target has been set to make them 5,000, he said.
Khattar said waste water coming out from industries and sewerage would be recycled and reused through Sewage Treatment Plants.
This water will be reused for industries, construction work, horticulture and agriculture through micro-irrigation, he said.
He said this water contains components of manure, which is very beneficial for growing vegetables, fruits, flowers and crops. Haryana Shahari Vikas Pradhikaran has also been directed to lay double lines to make this recycled water available for household needs such as washing cars, toilets and gardening, among others.
The chief minister said the need for clean water is increasing continuously. There are 82 lakh acres of cultivable land in the state.
"Out of this, direct irrigation is done on 40 lakh acres of land, on the rest of the land, we are not able to irrigate directly due to lack of clean water," he said.
Calling upon the farmers, Khattar said they should adopt a micro-irrigation system. For this, 85 per cent subsidy is provided by the state government and only 15 per cent of money has to be borne by the farmers, he said.
On the occasion, Khattar while making several announcements for Nahra village also announced that an amount of Rs 82 lakh will be spent on the beautification of the Gangeshwar pond under the Amrit Sarovar Mission.
Apart from this, he also announced the rejuvenation of four other ponds located in Nahra village.
