PM writes to all village panchayat heads asking them to conserve rain water

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has written to heads of all village panchayats in the country urging them to conserve rain water and make it a people's movement.

In a letter to sarpanchs (village council heads), he urged them to either construct or repair water bodies in their areas to conserve rain water.

"The monsoon season is around the corner. We are fortunate that God has blessed our country with adequate rainwater. But it is our duty to respect this gift from nature... As soon as the monsoon begins, we have to make arrangements to conserve as much rainwater as possible," Modi wrote last week.

He urged them to join hands to build check dams and embankments along rivers and streams, clean up ponds for storage of dam water.

"If we are able to do this, then not only will the crop yield increase, but we will also have a large reserve of water, which we will be able to utilise for many purposes," the prime minister wrote in the letter.

He asked the sarpanchs to convene a meeting and read out his letter to the people.

"Just as you made Swachhata (cleanliness drive) a successful mass movement by making cleanliness a people's movement, I urge you to also lead this water conservation campaign and make it a people's movement as well," Modi said.

The prime minister urged them to make the "impossible possible and contribute to the creation of a New India".