Chennai: Minister for municipal administration, rural development and implementation S. P. Velumani on Tuesday launched a campaign to promote rainwater harvesting) on his official Twitter handle.
The 52-second video shows the minister in a casual green t-shirt, rather unusual for a politician, with kumkum daubed over his forehead. In the video, he is seen urging people to harvest rainwater and conserve water.
"Rain is god's gift to us and it is of utmost importance that we conserve it. With the implementation of rainwater harvesting, a house of 200 sq.feet can meet the water requirements of a family for one year ", he is seen telling in the video.
" Let us take up this challenge and save water for tomorrow, " he says requesting people not to waste even a single drop of rain.
People can take part in the challenge by taking a pledge to save rainwater and post videos/photos using the hashtag #RainWaterChallenge and #TNWaterWise
The minister also requested celebrities, volunteers and NGOs to join in the movement to spread awareness among the public on rainwater harvesting. As a start, he also tagged Isha founder and mystic Sadhguru to take up the challenge.
The minister had earlier faced flak for his infamous comments on water crisis in the state calling it 'manufactured news'.
The capital city of Tamil Nadu has been in news lately for facing one of the worst droughts it has ever witnessed in almost four decades. Though the mild spells of rain in the city have eased the water crisis in the city by a bit, rainwater conservation initiatives have gained momentum with the government finally coming forward to launch such campaigns.
