A Walk to conserve

Andhra Pradesh Journalist Forum has taken out a 2K Walk to promote ‘Water Conservation’ in association with the AP State Irrigation department in the city on Monday. The walk was flagged off by State Minister for Heavy Irrigation Devineni Umamaheswara Rao at Indira Gandhi Municipal Stadium (IGMC).

Speaking on the occasion, minister Devineni said, “Every drop coming from the sky has to be preserved and stored for better prospects of the people in the State. Water conservation is the need of the hour and everybody should contribute towards it, to avoid scarcity. To increase the ground water levels, preserving rain water is the only solution’’.

He explained the uncertainty of rainfall in the State and felt that rainfall is scarce when needed and is overwhelming when not. “People should save rain water to avoid water scarcity both for domestic use and agriculture purposes. The downpour of rain at a time is just waste of valuable resource, which has to be contained to an extent that is possible. CM Chandrababu Naidu has thought of rain water preservation two decades ago and since then, has been propagating the importance of conserving water,” added Devineni.

He further said that, about 8.5 lakh panta sanjeevani (pits in farm lands) were dug up in Anantapur district alone, which is said to be drought prone. Decreasing water levels in Godavari and Krishna rivers is also an alarming sign. There is a severe need to dig up water harvesting pits, contour trenches, and construct check dams to streamline the water resources, said he.

Minister Palle Raghunatha Reddy, MLA Gadde Rammohan, Bonda Umamaheswara Rao, Mayor Koneru Sridhar, Vijayawada Municipal Corporation Commissioner G Veerapandiyan, Irrigation department Chief engineer Aalla Gopala Krishna and others spoke. Children from educational institutions, volunteers from social groups have displayed placards during the rally to promote the cause.