Letter to BS: We can't ignore the urgency of rainwater harvesting

Water conservation is the new of the hour in India

Anjuli Bhargava's article “When it rains, it pours” (July 2) lucidly explains a successful example of water conservation, which can and should be replicated by all Indians — individuals, communities and corporates — who have some extra land to do so. It seems really simple and inexpensive to do so.

The Prime Minister’s clarion call two days ago needs to be translated into mission-mode efforts to mitigate the alarming situation. The key to resolving our water-woes practically all over India lies in water conservation. This is a low hanging fruit that must be harnessed by everyone. Our rainfall will still be sufficient to meet all the requirements; but we have to gear up for correcting the abysmally skewed distribution. State measures to tackle the macro infrastructure will come later. We must immediately make rain water harvesting and resurrection of water bodies our religion.

Resurrection of water bodies — lost due to the callousness and the unholy nexus between developers and officials — must also become a high priority.

Krishan Kalra, Gurugram 

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