BY IANS,
Jammu: Jammu and Kashmir is planning a water security plan in the state to conserve the resource and overcome the present crisis.
The state government will mobilise all resources, using a combination of technical knowhow and mapping of the places wherever there are chances of tapping water, Public Health Engineering Minister Taj Mohi-ud-Din said at a meeting of engineers here Monday.
“We cannot sit back and watch the things going bad to worse in the state,” the minister said at the meeting, where serious concern was voiced over depleting water sources of the state.
The water level in the state’s rivers has receded at an alarming level. There is dearth of water for irrigation and an equally big crisis of drinking water in the state.
According to an official release, the minister underscored the need of water harvesting in the state in view of the continuing dry spell and minimal snowfall received. He said since the traditional sources of water supply schemes are drying up, there is an urgent need to identify the new sources which can be sustainable as well.
Jammu and Kashmir has used only 16 percent of the ground water available. This potential would be tapped in full to serve as an alternative to conventional sources of water supply.
To save water, it was felt that as a first step, the state should go in for water budgeting. This would begin in the two capital cities of Jammu and Srinagar.