Govt's top priority is water and fodder augmentation: Javadekar

Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar on Thursday said the government's top priority is water and fodder augmentation to prevent man-animal conflict.

Speaking at the launch of a book titled 'A Distinctive Water Conservation Story', the minister said as India is home to 17 per cent of the world's human population and 20 per cent animal population, water is a necessity to provide for them.

"We have 77 per cent of tigers, over 30,000 of elephants, 17 per cent of human population and 20 per cent of animal population. We definitely need water. When I assumed charge as environment minister, I asserted that water and fodder augmentation is our top priority. We need to develop forests," he said, adding that the government has disbursed nearly Rs 50,000 crore for the cause of forest development.

The event was also attended by Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, who said there was a need to combine technology with water to get the desired results.

Hailing the book's author Sriram Vedire, advisor in the Ministry of Jal Shakti, for conserving water in Rajasthan through innovative methods, Shekhawat said he has done a spectacular job.

"Sriram has done a spectacular job in Rajasthan. We need to combine technology with water, and Rajasthan is a leading example for it," Shekhawat said.

He also appealed to farmers to save 10 per cent of water as they consume up to 89 per cent of water in the country.

"I expect farmers to save 10 per cent water. India does not need to look west to learn methods to conserve water. We have the technology to do it. We need to see in the right direction and we will be an example to the world," Shekhawat said.

Among others who attended the event were Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, G Kishan Reddy, Minister of State for Home Affairs and Sanjay Dhotre, MoS for IT and telecom.

Sriram Vedire, who spent 15 years in the US as an engineer and returned in 2009, elaborated on the techniques used to conserve water in Rajasthan through a presentation showing how microponds created through geo-tagging of regions helped conserve lot of rain water.

"Rainwater is our god. India has to harvest rain water to fulfil its water needs. Through our dedicated efforts, we have made 12,000 villages in Rajasthan self-sufficient in water management.

"We have created microponds around plants which helped increase ground water levels and crop productivity. In four years, we have increased 4.6 feet ground water. Crop area increased by 1.46 lakh hectare and green cover by 13,678 hectare with 4 lakh conservation structure built and 1.5 crore plantation in five years," he said.