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NGO to bring drinking water to desert villages

Special Correspondent

Seeks community participation at the time of acute scarcity

JAIPUR: In a unique initiative of its kind, the Jal Bhagirathi Foundation, working on the water conservation front in the Marwar region of western Rajasthan, has taken up the task of distribution of drinking water to a few problem villages in the desert terrain. As in the case of its water conservation efforts in the past, the Foundation has sought community participation in water distribution at the time of acute scarcity.

The programme, christened Shiv Ganga Peyjal Pariyojna, initiated with the support of institutions and local donors the Foundation, seeks to supply water to the development blocks of Agolai, Balotra, Luni and Rohet.

"The Pariyojna is designed to support the government's water distribution programme while keeping with the highest traditions of Marwar to provide water in distress,'' Gaj Singh, former ruler of Jodhpur and chairman of JBF said launching the programme at Bijolai near Jodhpur.

As the Shiv Ganga scheme was launched in the backdrop of traditional festivities like gher dance and desert music on Thursday, a prayer went up from everybody's heart for Shivraj Singh, the son of Gaj Singh and Hemlata Raje, who is recovering from an accident during a polo match in Jaipur two months ago.

The occasion marked the presence of the Magsaysay Award winner, Rajendra Singh, the former queen of Jodhpur, Hemlata Raje and former Speaker of the Rajasthan Assembly, Gopal Singh. The programme will be implemented over the next seven weeks with the support of village committees, an array of trucks and tankers. It is targeted at a population of 70,000 villagers.

"Shiv Ganga is a direct extension of Jal Bhagirathi's own vision to mitigate the effects of devastating droughts in the region through revival of traditional resource management systems,'' noted Prithviraj Singh, the managing trustee of the JBF on the occasion.

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