Lucknow: The Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh is set to launch a first-of-its-kind, ‘one-tap-one-tree’ campaign in the state from July 1. This two-pronged campaign aims to expand green cover and ensure the provision of tap water in rural areas simultaneously. The state government seeks to plant over five lakh saplings in rural areas and provide safe drinking water in the first week of July, the official release said.
Anurag Srivastava, Principal Secretary of Namami Gange and the Rural Water Supply Department chaired a meeting on Wednesday (June 28) to this effect. Srivastava directed officials to conduct a plantation drive by Jal Samitis and other organizations on a massive scale between July 1 and 7. He said,
The Jal Samitis and other organizations have been entrusted with the task of carrying out plantation drives at district, block and Gram Panchayat levels. Members of the organizations will conduct environment-based programmes and spread awareness among villagers regarding saving the environment and water
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As per the release the Jal Samitis will educate people about the diseases caused by contaminated water and methods of prevention, as well as raise awareness about techniques to conserve rainwater, he said.
Jal-Shakti Minister Swatantra Dev Singh said,
The Yogi government does not only pay attention to the present but is equally concerned about the future. The campaign bears testimony to this. He added that the initiative will ensure that our future generations have access to clean drinking water and can breathe in a clean environment
The initiative will be launched by the Namami Gange and the Rural Water Supply Department on the instructions of the Chief Minister. Under the ‘Har-Ghar-Jal’ scheme, each beneficiary will now be provided with a sapling along with a tap water connection in the state.
These saplings will be planted by officials and employees of the Namami Gange and Rural Water Supply departments outside the homes of households receiving tap connections, on overhead tanks, at pump houses and at water treatment plants.
Uttar Pradesh has provided the maximum tap connections under the ‘Jal Samitis’ scheme among all states in the country. Around 40,000 to 42000 new tap water connections are provided to families in rural Uttar Pradesh every day.
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(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
NDTV – Dettol have been working towards a clean and healthy India since 2014 via the Banega Swachh India initiative, which is helmed by Campaign Ambassador Amitabh Bachchan. The campaign aims to highlight the inter-dependency of humans and the environment, and of humans on one another with the focus on One Health, One Planet, One Future – Leaving No One Behind. It stresses on the need to take care of, and consider, everyone’s health in India – especially vulnerable communities – theLGBTQ population,indigenous people, India’s different tribes, ethnic and linguistic minorities, people with disabilities, migrants, geographically remote populations, gender and sexual minorities. In wake of the currentCOVID-19 pandemic, the need for WASH (Water,SanitationandHygiene) is reaffirmed as handwashing is one of the ways to prevent Coronavirus infection and other diseases. The campaign will continue to raise awareness on the same along with focussing on the importance of nutrition and healthcare for women and children, fightmalnutrition, mental wellbeing, self care, science and health,adolescent health & gender awareness. Along with the health of people, the campaign has realised the need to also take care of the health of the eco-system. Our environment is fragile due to human activity, which is not only over-exploiting available resources, but also generating immense pollution as a result of using and extracting those resources. The imbalance has also led to immense biodiversity loss that has caused one of the biggest threats to human survival – climate change. It has now been described as a “code red for humanity.” The campaign will continue to cover issues likeair pollution,waste management,plastic ban,manual scavengingand sanitation workers andmenstrual hygiene. Banega Swasth India will also be taking forward the dream of Swasth Bharat, the campaign feels that only a Swachh or clean India wheretoiletsare used andopen defecation free (ODF)status achieved as part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan launched byPrime Minister Narendra Modiin 2014, can eradicate diseases like diahorrea and the country can become a Swasth or healthy India.
