India’s Water Conservation Drive:
A focused nationwide campaign is being carried out from 4th July to 4th August 2026 to promote rainwater harvesting, groundwater recharge, restoration of traditional water bodies, plantation activities and public participation.The campaign comes in response to the Prime Minister’s Mann Ki Baat appeal to conserve every drop of rain and sustain the momentum of water conservation across the country.The National Water Mission’s “Catch the Rain” campaign, with the tagline “Catch the rain, where it falls, when it falls”, encourages states and stakeholders to build rainwater-harvesting structures suited to local climatic and sub-soil conditions before the monsoon.The campaign promotes check dams, water-harvesting pits, rooftop systems, desilting of tanks, removal of encroachments and channel obstructions, repair of stepwells, and use of defunct borewells and unused wells for groundwater recharge.States have been asked to establish Rain Centres in every district at Collectorates, municipalities or gram panchayat offices to provide technical guidance on suitable rainwater-harvesting methods.Buildings are encouraged to install rooftop harvesting systems and retain most rainwater within their premises to improve soil moisture, raise groundwater levels, reduce road damage and help prevent urban flooding.District authorities, educational institutions, public-sector bodies, transport agencies and security organisations with large landholdings have been urged to map water bodies, remove encroachments and actively implement rainwater-conservation measures.
