New Delhi, July 12: Fearing that the country was "fast plunging into a water-emergency era", Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee today made a strong plea to conserve every drop of available water. "India is blessed by nature with bountiful water - it is amongst the 'wettest' countries in the world, yet 'desert-like' conditions are now prevalent in many parts of the country. We are fast plunging into a water-emergency era," he said. He was presenting the coveted Shanti Swaroop Bhatnagar Award to 12 eminent scientists for their outstanding research contributions.
Vajpayee said though many parts of the country had received timely rains this year, water conservation remained an issue of "overriding national importance. "I have appealed to all our citizens and all institutional users to conserve every drop of available water," he said adding that among other things, it required low-cost water-saving, water-recycling and water treatment technologies.
Emphasising that farmers needed to know effective techniques of recharging ground water sources, he said scientific community had a great responsibility to make India water secure. "Let us remember that water sustains life and it is now our duty to sustain all sources of water," the PM added. Bureau Report