Maha Govt to focus on water conservation to tackle drought

Stating that water scarcity is an issue of grave concern for several regions in the state, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis today said his government would focus on water conservation to make the state drought-free within a specific timeframe.
"Currently, various state government departments like Agriculture, Water Conservation, Soil Conservation, Forest, Social Forestry, Irrigation, etc are working towards conserving water at different levels," Fadnavis said.
"So far, there was no proper co-ordination among them. One department did not know what the other was doing. Therefore, we will issue a Government Resolution (GR) soon, in which we will bring all these water conservation agencies under one roof," he said.

The Chief Minister was speaking to reporters here on the sidelines of a workshop on 'Water for All and Scarcity-free Maharashtra'. Social activist Anna Hazare, revenue commissioners, collectors and zila parishad CEOs from across the state attended the workshop.
Fadnavis said, "At the district level, the Collector will co-ordinate water conservation departments and will submit a report to us periodically. This will ensure that there is proper co-ordination and the government will thus be able to conserve water efficiently."
The government will take all possible steps to ensure that Maharashtra becomes drought free within a specific timeframe, he said.
"The government will leave no stone unturned. For instance, factories that use sugarcane from farmers will be asked to provide drip irrigation facilities for farmers producing crops. Farmers grow crops that are sent to sugarcane factories, hence it is the factories' responsibility to put in place drip irrigation system," Fadnavis said.