The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) recently launched a water conservation campaign in Cuddalore district against the backdrop of rapid depletion of surface water resources and groundwater reservoirs.
According to NABARD, the rate of depletion far outstripped efforts in recharging the groundwater reservoirs and replenishing the surface water bodies.
And, though the Centre and the State governments had been attempting to develop the water resources through various schemes, the gap in replenishing the water resources in many areas in the country is not being effectively bridged.
NABARD’s initiative seeks to involve the people for achieving this mammoth goal of attaining the efficient water harvesting and optimising the use of water resources.
NABARD’s Water Campaign - 2017, which was launched on March 22 World Water Day, will cover one lakh villages in vulnerable/ water-stressed areas in the country where the groundwater is over exploited. Of this, 65,000 villages would be covered in Tamil Nadu. About 500 of them were in Cuddalore district alone.
Orientation programme
T.P. Rajesh District Collector of Cuddalore, inaugurated the district-level orientation programme on water ambassadors who would be conducting the village-level campaigns in the district. He appreciated the efforts of NABARD in conducting water conservation campaigns throughout the district.
He advised the water ambassadors to spread the message of water conservation in all the identified 500 villages. He said that various schemes of State government should be disseminated in these campaigns.
The efforts of all stakeholders shall accelerate the process of Water Conservation Mission of the district. The District Collector distributed campaign kits to the ambassadors of the programme.
Each of the campaign kit consisted of a bag, cap, water bottle, stationery items, banner, chart papers, flip charts, and posters.
D. Shankar, Assistant General Manager, NABARD, Cuddalore district, said the village-level campaign would include a focus group discussion with farmers on water resources status in their village, drawing of a water resource map for the village based on their feedback and listing of water management activities for the village.
