By IANS,
New Delhi: After marching down Rajpath for increasing awareness about conservation of resources, hundreds of people here Saturday pledged to make Delhi the first water-secure state in India.
Union Minister for Water Resources Salman Khurshid read the “Blue Delhi Declaration” which aims to make the capital self-sufficient in meeting water needs of all residents by 2016.
“The biggest problem for Delhi in coming years will be to make water available for everyone,” Khurshid said while urging people to participate in this movement.
“In cities like Delhi, people still get some water. However, the condition is pathetic in many parts of the country as people don’t have access to the minimum amount of water required for a person,” said Jyoti Sharma, chief of NGO Forum for Organised Resource Conservation and Enhancement (FORCE).
The NGO organised the march in association with the Delhi government and other organisations.
“The reason behind calling people to walk for the cause of water was to let them feel the pain which women in many villages still undergo when they have to walk for miles to fetch water,” she added.
Delhi does not have enough resources of water and depends on its neighbouring states for raw water.
“At present we produce 850 MGD (million gallons per day) of drinking water which is still 100-150 MGD less than what is needed by people here,” said Delhi Jal Board chief Ramesh Negi.
At present, 55 million rural households in India do not have access to any source of safe drinking water.