सृजनशील विचारांचा प्रवाह स्रोत
Maharashtra is the third-largest state in India, divided between two opposite rain patterns. While the coastal region in the west experiences heavy rainfall, the vast regions in the east reel under drought. The water distress in the east, compared to the water affluence of the west, has always been the bone of contention in Maharashtra’s politics. In 2014, when Fadnavis came to power for the first time, it was preceded by a devastating drought. So, immediately after the oath-taking ceremony, Fadnavis set his first agenda to make Maharashtra drought-free.
It was an arduous task, given the vast regions, consecu low rainfall years, drying up of rivers, canals, and reservoirs, and also sugarcane cultivation. There had never been scientific and long-term measures to combat drought by the previous governments. Devendra Fadnavis was the first CM to launch a comprehensive, multi-dimensional water conservation program called Jalyukt Shivar Abhiyan to eradicate drought. The Jalyyukt Shivar Abhiyan was a massive program that helped increase the groundwater level and irrigation capacity in the drought-prone farmlands. But his efforts for water didn’t stop there. Fadnavis undertook the ‘ponds-on-demand’ scheme for the farmers to collect the water runoff after rain to encourage pisciculture and irrigation. Next, his government adopted a project to make all ponds, dams, and reservoirs sludge-free and spread the removed sludge on lands to make them more fertile. The Marathwada Water Grid project is another ambitious project by Fadnavis to provide drinking water regularly to the millions of homes of Marathwada. His relentless quest for sustainable projects to make Maharashtra water-sufficient soon earned him a nickname, ‘the WaterMan’ of Maharashtra. Other remarkable achievements by Fadnavis the Waterman include the Jihe-Kathapur lift canal scheme and the Nilwande dam project. Both these projects, cold-stored by the earlier governments for many decades, are now working in full swing to bring prosperity to their respective regions. After taking oath as the CM for the third term, Devendra Fadnavis has finalized yet another flagship project that’ll link rivers and canals of the state for utilizing the floodwater in the Konkan, which is normally wasted, for irrigation in the Vidarbha and Marathwada regions.
By connecting rivers and creating reservoirs, canals, and wells, water can be stored and then released to irrigate fields in the drought-prone areas. This also...
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Devendra Fadnavis is the architect of the new Maharashtra; even his political opponents would admit…