How Noida plans to catch the rain

Noida: District magistrate Manish Kumar Verma held a meeting with stakeholders on Monday and directed officials to ensure maximum rainwater conservation during the coming monsoon and to prioritise the Catch the Rain campaign under the Jal Shakti Mission.

The DM directed officials to install rooftop rainwater harvesting systems on all govt and semi-govt buildings. He also emphasised the need to renovate and reuse traditional waterbodies, recharge borewells, develop watersheds, intensify tree plantation, rejuvenate small rivers, and other water conservation-related activities relevant to the district.

Verma further asked the officials to ensure that all obstructions in the path of water flow to Amrit Sarovars are removed. Emphasising the need for effective rainwater harvesting in all parks and public places in urban areas, he added, "Office buildings, primary schools, Anganwadi centres, community health centres, panchayat buildings, and high-rise societies should check if the installed water harvest structures are working properly, and those not yet fitted should complete it."

Minor irrigation department officials were also instructed to coordinate with forest department officials to conduct extensive tree plantation campaigns along ponds and the Hindon river. The DM also stressed the importance of ensuring that information on tree plantations conducted by other departments is fed into the Jal Shakti Abhiyan portal.

"Install water treatment plants to purify the dirty water from drains that flow into ponds, to prevent groundwater pollution," Verma told officials at the meeting.

Additionally, officials from the education department, groundwater department, and Nehru Yuva Kendra were instructed to promote the ‘Catch the Rain' campaign across the district through public awareness programmes, so that water conservation becomes a people's movement. He also said that the related progress should be fed into the Jal Shakti Abhiyan (JSA) portal.

Officials were directed to ensure that the progress of completed tasks on the JSA portal is uploaded with personal attention.