Need to create water bank: CM Rawat to govt officials
Chief Minister Harish Rawat on Wednesday asked senior officials in the Irrigation, Forest and Rural Development departments to prepare a plan with the help of village panchayats and civic bodies to set up a first of its kind water bank in the Himalayan region to cater to the hill state’s drinking water needs as well as other parts of the country which are fed water from its leading water bodies like the Ganga, Yamuna and other tributaries.
Rawat said water bank would be built in the form of developing as many as 2000 water bodies in the Himalayn region right from the hill district’s Chamoli to Pithoragarh districts, during the financial year commencing on April 2016-17.
Senior officials involved in making roadmap for meeting the target of creating over 2000 water bodies like lakes, ponds, canals and rivulets in the form of Himalayan water bank told TOI that while the process to set up about 950 water bodies through means of rain water harvesting system has already been completed, the move to rejuvenate over 1000 different water bodies through rain water harvesting system would be completed during the next financial year beginning from April 2016-17.
“We are committed to spend an amount of Rs 15 crore for the purpose and this amount will be released from the state funds and CAMPA. While Rs 13 crore will be released from the state funds, Rs 2 crore will be released from CAMPA,”said Chief Secretary Shatrughana Singh.
