Vijayawada: A 2-km walk to raise awareness about the importance of constructing rain water harvesting pits to save water was held here this morning. Andhra Pradesh Ministers D Umamaheswara Rao and P Raghunatha Reddy flagged-off the walk in which nearly 1,000 people, including students and youths, participated.
The ministers also launched the construction of two water harvesting pits at Indira Gandhi Municipal Stadium here.
On the occasion, AP Water Resources Minister Umamaheswara Rao said the state government is promoting construction of water pits in rural areas by providing funds to the farming community in the name of 'Neeru-Pragati' (water and development) scheme. The government targets to construct 8.5 lakh farm ponds this year in the state, he said.
The minister said the farmers who own below five acres of land, may use the funds from MGNREGS to construct farm ponds on their lands. He also appealed to people in urban areas to construct water harvesting systems in every house to improve the ground water level.
