News - High Technology necessary for stopping water scarcity: Anant Gite

Grand inauguration of 10th Jal Sahitya Sammelan at Bhavarlal Jain Nagar, Chiplun

Chiplun, Jan 16 (Reporter): "On one hand is a scarcity of water in many regions of Maharashtra while on the other there is excess rains in our Konkan region, in spite of which it faces water scarcity in summer. There is a need to adopt high technology to overcome this problem", said Anant Gite, Union Minister of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises, here. He was speaking at the inauguration ceremony of 10th Jal Sahitya Sammelan held recently at Bhavarlal Jain Nagar in Chiplun.

The objective of this Jal Sahitya Sammelan was to spread water literacy awareness movement in the rural areas. Ravindra Waykar - Guardian Minister of Ratnagiri, Dr. Ashok Kukde, Dr. Datta Deshkar - Chairman of Jal Sanskruti Mandal, Sadanand Chavan - MLA, Abhay Jain - Head of Marketing of Jain Irrigation, Gajanan Deshpande, Anand Gupte and other dignitaries were present on the occasion.

"The land in Konkan is such that there is no deep dissipation of water in the soil. Abundant rain water flows away into the sea and wasted within an hour", said Anant Gite. If this water flow can be stopped, there will be no scarcity. There is a necessity of solving the drinking water issue but at the same time, there is an urgent need to achieve the development of agricultural sector. A leading agricultural sector company Jain Irrigation is committed to the development of Konkan region. The Ultra High Density cultivation technology for mango farmers by Jain Irrigation is very important for the brighter future of farmers in Konkan," he said.

"Though Konkan has lakhs of hectares of agricultural land, the irrigation facilities are limited to few thousand hectare only. We are making sustained efforts to change this situation. We would give a push to the adoption of high technology by farmers who would come together to rejuvenate the banana cultivation in Konkan", said Ravindra Waykar, Guardian Minister of Ratnagiri and the Welcoming Chairman of 10th Jal Sahitya Sammelan.

"Jain Irrigation is making a lot of efforts for the development of farmers in Konkan. We have committed to it totally, from developing the ultra high density plantation till the processing industry", said Mr Abhay Jain, Marketing Head of Jain Irrigation, here.

"People in Latur get water on only a week and the water taps are closed there since March 2016. Only 4000 out of 20000 bore wells are functioning there. We must understand that this scarcity of water is a disease created by humans. We cleared 16 km Manjra River of sand through people participation. While the government estimated Rs 40 crore expenditure, we did this work in just Rs 8 crore! 30 bulldozers were working day and night to remove the sand. Nobody demanded any receipts but we provided accounts daily on WhatsApp. We can overcome many challenges through the awareness and participation of people," said Dr Ashok Kukde.

"I guarantee that whatever resolutions are passed and recommended in this Sammelan will be implemented at the Government level. We are very keen on the accomplishment of the projects here. We should pay our sincere attention to the water management and water literacy in Konkan. This institution was founded through the lead of Madhav Chitale in 2002. We hold this Sammelan for giving a push to the water movement", said Dr Datta Deshkar, Chairman, Jal Sanskruti Mandal. As this Sammelan was being held in different regions, he made it clear that the country has future only if there is a water literacy all over India.

"There is water scarcity in many regions of the state. There are many places where people get drinking water only once in 15 days. We are fortunate in this respect. Though the situation here is better, we should remain very alert. Here we observe that there is a lack of water management planning, though plenty of water is available. Purpose of this sammelan is to awaken us to make our future brighter", he added. Many people expressed satisfaction about the lead taken by Chiplun to host this Sammelan.