Calling for a mass movement for water conservation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today lauded the people in Madhya Pradesh's Dewas district for building farm ponds which staved off water scarcity in a drought year.
"I was told by someone about Gowra village panchayat in Dewas district...Through cooperation of villagers, the panchayat started a movement to dig farm ponds," Modi said in his monthly radio programme 'Mann Ki Baat'.
"Through their collective efforts, 27 farm ponds were made, resulting in improvement in groundwater level. It also resulted in increase in farm yield by about 20 per cent," the Prime Minister said.
"When the water table goes up, it also vastly improves the quality of water. It is said in the world that clean drinking water also helps in bettering GDP growth," Modi said.
Madhya Pradesh Higher Education Commissioner Umakant Umrao, the brain behind the construction of farm ponds in Dewas, said he was very happy with the PM mentioning the drive.
"It is also a proud movement for Dewas farmers," he told PTI.
Umrao recalled that when he was Dewas collector from January 2006 to July 2007, he motivated farmers to build ponds. "We only provided logistical support," he added.
"Farmers pooled money, energy and land. It paid off. When I was the collector, some 2,000 ponds were built and now the number has risen to 10,000, I am told," Umrao said.
"Banks didn't give loans for constructing ponds then. Later, after providing huge security, banks gave loans to farmers under Price Lending Rate which was as high at 17 per cent. All the farmers who took the loan repaid it," he said.
