NASHIK: Under Jal Shakti Abhiyan, the pace of work in the Nashik district is satisfactory. However, public participation is a must to give impetus to the campaign. Participation of citizens and youngsters will help this campaign reach at the grassroots level, stated Smita Srivastava, Director, Department of Higher Education (Ministry of HRD). She was speaking at a meeting organised at the Collectorate yesterday for Jal Shakti Abhiyan’s Catch the Rain campaign.
Srivastava said that under the Jal Shakti Abhiyan: Catch the Rain 2022 and Amrut Sarovar Abhiyan, Trimbakeshwar and Sinnar, the two water-scarcity hit talukas in 15 talukas of the district, were visited. After the inspection, the officials praised the work and stated the work done in these talukas under this campaign is commendable.
Director Srivastava also instructed the officers present that the past and present photos of the notable works should be geotagged and uploaded on the web portal of Jal Shakti Abhiyan so that the work done can be prominently displayed in the districts. She added the mango and cashew orchards cultivated by the Department of Agriculture under MGNREGA is also a good initiative. Amrut Sarovar projects will also be completed under this campaign, and the authorities should be in touch to resolve any issues arising in this regard.
Dr Sarabatjit Singh, a scientist at the Water Energy and Research Institute, Pune, said he is always ready to provide technical assistance for the work under the Abhiyan.
District Water Conservation Officer of Soil and Water Conservation Department H. K. Gite reviewed the work and informed the officers present about the work to be done under Jal Shakti Abhiyan in future.
During the three-day inspection tour, forest department’s forest ponds at Belgaum Dhaga, primary schools’ rainwater harvesting project, forest department’s level fodder work at Velunje, Agriculture Department’s MGNREGA horticulture plantation, and other works were inspected.
Collector Gangatharan D, Chief Executive Officer of Zilla Parishad, Leena Bansod, deputy collector Nitin Mundavare, Deputy Forest Conservator, Nashik (East) Vivek Sonawane, Deputy Forest Conservator, Nashik(West) Pankaj Kumar Garg, Senior Geologist JS Bedwal, Zilla Parishad Water Conservation Officer RR Nandanwar, Forest Conservator Ankita Waghmare were present at the meeting. Deputy Collector Nitin Mundavare thanked the participants.
Jal Shakti Abhiyan
Ministry of Jal Shakti has taken up a nationwide campaign, “Jal Shakti Abhiyan: Catch the Rain”(JSA: CTR), focusing on saving and conserving rainwater with the theme “Catch the rain, where it falls, when it falls” from March 29, 2022, to November 30, 2022, in the pre-monsoon and monsoon periods of 2022, covering both urban and rural areas of all the districts in the country.
