Surat: The bugle for Prime Minister Modi’s ambitious “Catch the Rain” campaign, aimed at water conservation through public participation, was sounded from Surat on Sunday, marking the beginning of a nationwide movement.
Under the initiative “Karmabhoomi to Janmabhoomi”, Gujarat CM Bhupendra Patel, Madhya Pradesh CM Dr. Mohan Yadav, Rajasthan CM Bhajan Lal Sharma, and Bihar’s Deputy CM Samrat Chaudhary gathered in Surat to deliberate on expanding water conservation efforts in their respective states.
Traders, industrialists and community leaders from Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh (MP) and Bihar, who have made Surat their ‘Karmabhoomi’ were encouraged to participate in water conservation activities in their native states and inspire fellow countrymen to step up efforts such as bore recharge, well recharge and rainwater harvesting. The collective resolve to repay the debt to their homeland through water conservation was made at the event at the Indoor Stadium in Surat.
In his address, Union Minister of Jal Shakti, CR Patil, recalled that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had launched the “Catch the Rain” project in 2021 with the vision of capturing every drop of rainwater. He noted that the campaign had provided the country with a new direction in water conservation. He further said the launch of the water conservation public participation initiative in Surat exemplifies the government’s approach of ‘Whole of Government, Whole of Society’, working with the entire community and government.
Praising traders and business leaders for their commitment to their homeland while living in their ‘Karmabhoomi’ Surat, Patil emphasized the need for increased public participation in government-led water conservation initiatives saying greater involvement from the people would help raise groundwater levels.
“More than 80,000 rainwater harvesting projects and recharge structures have been committed across the state, and the target is to establish over 2,00,000 such structures with the collaboration of industries, NGOs and the government” Patil said. He expressed confidence that this would be achieved with public support.
During the event, prominent community members and traders from Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Bihar, along with the Chief Ministers and the Union Minister, collectively pledged their commitment to the campaign by offering water in a ceremonial copper vessel.
