Imphal: Chief Minister N. Biren Singh expressed his desire to organise mass awareness campaigns on the importance of judicious use of water and conservation of forests, amid the scarcity of drinking water supplies faced by the people of the state these days.
The Chief Minister was addressing the gathering at the State Level Awareness Campaign on “Access to Clean Water and Sanitation: Building a Healthier and More Resilient Society” organised by the Public Health Engineering Department (PHED), Manipur, at the Kangla Nongpok Torban, Imphal.
Continuing his speech, N. Biren Singh spoke on the relationship between forest conservation and water scarcity problems. He further instructed the PHE Department to organise such awareness campaigns in different areas near river sources, convincing the people of the importance of using water judiciously and conserving forest areas.
He expressed dissatisfaction, with people residing along the rivers at different locations, for carrying out certain activities that pollute the water, adding that people need to have some civic sense of the importance of water.
The Chief Minister further informed that fencing at the catchment area of Singda had been started. He also informed that the government had started bringing water from the Loktak Lift Irrigation Project (LLIP) to mitigate the water scarcity problem to some extent, adding that the pumped water had reached the Malom area.
Thanking the people of the state for their continuous cooperation in the government’s development works, he stated that public support is much needed to make a better society. Stressing the need for mass tree plantations in different areas, he appealed to the public to plant at least one tree and join hands in making Manipur green Manipur.
PHE Minister Leishangthem Susindro Meitei, while delivering his speech, stated that the awareness campaign had been organised to make people know the importance of water for our lives. He added that raising awareness would be fruitful only with the cooperation of the public.
Mentioning the water scarcity problem, he continued that awareness programmes would be organised in all districts and asked CSOs and other frontline organisations to render their support.
He informed that certain arrangements had been made by the state government to address the water scarcity problem by setting up filling points in different areas. He added that dredging activities had also been carried out to provide water to all intake points. Stating the state government is taking every effort to address the water problems, he appealed to the public to use water judiciously and plant trees to conserve the environment.
MLA Thanlon AC Vungzagin Valte, Secretary (PHED) Namoijam Kheda Varta, Chief Engineer, and officials of PHED also attended the programme, among others.
Culture programmes were also presented during the programme.
