Mission Paani Waterthon: Need of hour to raise awareness on water conservation, says Nitin Gadkari

Joining Network18’s Mission Paani Waterthon, Union transport minister Nitin Gadkari pointed to the Buldhana model of water conservation. “It helped solve water problem of 152 villages,” he said. He added that while soil was obtained for construction of the highway, the goal of water conservation was also attained with minimal cost in Maharashtra’s drought-prone Buldhana. Buldhana receives less rainfall and faced shortage of water. But with this model in 2019, farmers of 152 villages benefited as it helped recharge the ground water. Soil was extracted from rivers, nullahs and other natural and man-made water bodies in and around the area where water the new highway was being constructed by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI). Working in collaboration with a teams of PWD engineers, the water holding capacity of these water bodies was increased. A total of 5,510 TCM (thousand cubic meters) storage capacity was created, benefiting around 152 villages, Gadkari informed. He was speaking at the Mission Paani Waterthon. Mission Paani Waterthon is an initiative by News18 and Harpic India to bring together some of the biggest celebrities, leaders and changemakers to join hands for an initiative towards saving water and sustaining it for the generations to come. Hosted by Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar, the campaign ambassador, the event emphasises on ‘Paani Ki Kahaani, Bhaarat Ki Zubaani’, the theme to raise awareness about water crisis in India. Gadkari said such a model of water conservation will definitely help resolve the water crisi of parched districts in Maharashtra like Vidharba. “India faces water crisis, but there is no water shortage,” he said, adding that there is a need for awareness on water conservation. You can contribute to the cause by taking a Jal Pratigya. Visit  www.news18.com/mission-paani Watch the Waterthon LIVE here.