Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday called for a 100-day campaign to clean up all water bodies and prepare them for rainwater harvesting before the monsoon season starts.

“We shall have to understand our collective responsibilities with regard to water. In most parts of India, rainfall begins in May-June. Can we right away start a 100-day campaign for the sake of cleaning up water sources around us and conserving rainwater?,” he said in his monthly Mann Ki Baat broadcast.

‘Catch the rain’ campaign

Highlighting that the Union Jal Shakti Ministry is also launching ‘Catch the rain’ campaign and its main theme is ‘Catch the rain, where it falls, when it falls’, he asked people to commit themselves for this cause. “We shall get existing rainwater harvesting systems repaired, clean up lakes and ponds in villages, remove impediments in the way of water flowing into water sources; thus we shall be able to conserve rainwater to the maximum,” Modi said.

The Prime Minister also said that when people feel proud of indigenous products then Aatmanirbhar Bharat does not just remain an economic programme but becomes a national spirit.

He said there is a need to make science more popular across the country and asserted that science cannot be limited to physics-chemistry and labs. Modi called for expanding science with a mantra of ‘lab to land’.

He  also rued not being able to make enough efforts to learn the world’s oldest language, Tamil. “In run up to Mann Ki Baat, I was asked if there was something I missed out on during these long years as Chief Minister and Prime Minister. I feel — it is a regret of sorts that I could not make enough efforts to learn the world’s oldest language Tamil. Tamil literature is beautiful,” Modi said.

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