Rain water harvesting pits are needed to conserve water. (Representational Image)
Highlights
- Nearly 1,000 people including students participated in the walk
- Walk to raise awareness about importance of rain water harvesting pits
- AP government is promoting water pits by providing more funds for farmers
A 2-kilometre walk to raise awareness about the importance of constructing rain water harvesting pits to conserve water was held in Vijayawada this morning.
Andhra Pradesh Ministers D Umamaheswara Rao and P Raghunatha Reddy flagged-off the walk in which nearly 1,000 people, including students and youths, participated.
The ministers also launched the construction of two water harvesting pits at Indira Gandhi Municipal Stadium in Vijayawada.
On the occasion, Andhra Pradesh Water Resources Minister Umamaheswara Rao said the state government is promoting construction of water pits in rural areas by providing funds to the farming community in the name of 'Neeru-Pragati' (water and development) scheme.
The government targets to construct 8.5 lakh farm ponds this year in the state, he said.
The minister said the farmers who own below five acres of land, may use the funds from MGNREGS to construct farm ponds on their lands.
He also appealed to people in urban areas to construct water harvesting systems in every house to improve the ground water level.