PM Modi to launch 'Catch the Rain' campaign on World Water Day

To mark the occasion of World Water Day 2021, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be launching 'Catch the Rain' campaign on Monday, March 22. The program is expected to take place virtually and in the presence of the PM, where he will likely sign a historic memorandum of Agreement between Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, the Jal Shakti Minister (Minister for Water Resources and Ganga Rejuvenation) and the Chief Ministers of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Yogi Adityanath respectively, to implement the Ken Betwa Link Project.

Notably, this the first project which involves transfer of water from Ken to the Betwa River through the construction of Daudhan Dam and a canal linking the two rivers. It will provide annual irrigation of 10.62 lakh hectare, drinking water supply to about 62 lakh people and also generate 103 MegaWatt of hydropower.

In an announcement, the Jal Shakti Ministry explained that the project will be highly beneficial to the water-starved regions of Bundelkhand in Madhya Pradesh, in particular, more drought-prone districts of Panna, Tikamgarh, Chhatarpur, Sagar, Damoh, Datia, Vidisha, Shivpuri and Raisen of Madhya Pradesh and Banda, Mahoba, Jhansi and Lalitpur of Uttar Pradesh. What's interesting to note is that this unique project, widely regarded as one of the first "National Perspective Plan", could pave way for more interlinking projects in the country where water scarcity is a major challenge.

Jal Shakti Abhiyan

The 'Catch the Rain' campaign is likely to be undertaken across the length and breadth of the country, in all rural and urban pockets as well. The theme of the campaign is to catch the rain, where it falls and when it falls. Once it is kickstarted tomorrow, on March 22, with PM Modi's initiative, it will continue until November 30, covering both the pre-monsoon and monsoon periods. It will be launched as a Jan Andolan to take water conservation at the grass-root level through people’s participation. The intention is to nudge all stakeholders to create rainwater harvesting structures suitable for diverse climatic conditions and subsoil strata and ensure proper storage of rainwater.