Water conservation mission launched

By Our Special Correspondent

HYDERABAD, APRIL 30. The State Government on Sunday formally launched the ``Water Conservation Mission'' to conserve rain run- off water and push up the groundwater table, saving all types of surface water sources. The Chief Minister, Mr. N. Chandrababu Naidu, gave the advice: ``Use water as a bank balance''.

The members of the mission, including Mr. Anna Saheb Hazare, watershed pioneer, and Mr. Rajinder Singh, an expert in conservation, who participated in the revival of five dried-up rivers in Rajasthan, would tour the districts from tomorrow, under the 12th round of Janmabhoomi, acquainting themselves with water problems in the countryside. Based on their feedback, the Government would enact legislation to conserve water, Mr. Naidu said. About 1,100 teams would fan out into villages and explain the essence of the concept to the masses.

Ministers were conspicuous by their absence and all the 10 chairs meant for them on the left side of Mr. Naidu were empty.

The Chief Minister and Mr. S. P. Tucker, Commissioner for Rural Development, who has been made Chief Executive Officer of the mission, said the actual field work of the mission would include contour trenching on hill-slopes for which about 1,600 poclains are to be used during the Janmabhoomi programme. A Government Order had been issued prohibiting sinking of a borewell within 250 metres of the existing street-tap. Tanks in towns are be converted into park-cum-ponds, rockfill dams and checkdams taken up for soil conservation, surplus water transferred to the deficit areas and plastics such as drips and sprinklers encouraged for irrigation.

Eleven departments or agencies connected with water would be involved in the mission. In the next 60 days, task forces would be constituted at the habitation, panchayat, mandal and zilla parishad levels. The National Institute of Rural Development and AP Academy of Rural Development would document the mission providing literature with analysis of the progress made from time to time. The National Remote Sensing Agency would review the progress every month through satellite pictures.

The Chief Minister said representatives from DFID, the World Bank, KFW, NABARD, the Swiss Development Corporation, the Netherlands Assistance Project, and other experts and community managers would be coopted into the mission.

The specialists present complimented the Chief Minister, saying he was moving in the right direction. However, Mrs. Sunitha Narain, of the Centre for Science and Environment, Delhi, criticised the Government for grounding the mission without preparing the people at the grassroots level. In sharp contrast, in Madhya Pradesh, it was a mass movement, she said pointing out that in Andhra Pradesh, lands were with the Revenue Department and funds with bureaucrats. Mr. Naidu told her that stakeholders were already involved in such schemes. Mr. J. Raymond Peter, Secretary, Irrigation, rebutted her recalling the ``excellent results'' under the 10,000-odd water users' associations.

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