Less than 2 percent of the 63 billion cubic litres of water that Meghalaya receives as rainfall annually is retained in reservoirs, Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma said today.
The ‘wettest place on Earth’ captures just 1 billion cubic litres of water annually, with 31 billion cubic litres flowing into Bangladesh and a similar amount into Assam, he said at the launch of the Meghalaya Water Smart Kid campaign, an initiative under Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) here.
The campaign is meant to create awareness about water conservation amongst children.
Sangma said that to address the issue of water conservation and sustainability, the state government has taken various interventions that are supported by externally aided projects (EAPs) and the Union Ministry of Jal Shakti.
He informed that 1,000 water reservoirs are being constructed across Meghalaya, so as to harness the water and increase the ground water table through different soil rejuvenation projects. “We are making concerted efforts to harness water as it is imperative to ensure sustainability and rejuvenation of our water sources,” he added.
He informed that the Public Health Engineering (PHE) Department has received huge funding under JJM and EAPs, which is close to around Rs 8,000 crore. The CM claimed that 4 lakh households have been connected to piped water supply under JJM and the target of 6 lakh will be reached by March 2024.
“In 2019, the media and other stakeholders ridiculed the government for poor coverage under JJM. However, we took it as a challenge and ensured that from 45,000 household connections, we managed to increase it to 4 lakh-plus households,” he said, adding that challenges included terrain and identifying suitable water sources and creation of reservoirs.
Meanwhile, Sangma and PHE Minister Marcuise Marak handed over awards to ‘Water Guardians’ for inspiring efforts in conservation of water bodies. The awards were given to Lumshyiap Village and Water Sanitation Community of Ri-Bhoi, Darechikgre Village and Water Sanitation Community and Dura Kantragre Village and Water Sanitation Community both of West Garo Hills.
