
Ahmedabad: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday said there was a need to find a solution to the depleting groundwater level in urban areas, and urged people to take benefit of a government scheme to build percolation wells for groundwater recharge.
He also appealed to people to install solar panels on the rooftop of their houses to generate electricity under another government scheme.
Shah, a Lok Sabha member from the Gandhinagar seat, was addressing people at Sardar Chowk in Ranip area of Ahmedabad that falls under his constituency, after inaugurating a host of projects, including two underpasses in Sabarmati and New Ranip area.
On the occasion, he launched a project of building percolation wells in 350 residential societies in Ranip area of the city to recharge groundwater using rainwater.
“We have to find a solution as groundwater level is depleting in urban areas because a large number of people have shifted here from villages. This also resulted in rise in fluoride levels in the water we are drinking,” he said in his address.
He appealed to all the housing societies in his Gandhinagar Lok Sabha constituency to come forward and take advantage of this scheme wherein the state government will bear the entire cost of building a percolation well in the society premises.
“You have to just apply and pay a token fee of a few thousand rupees. I appeal to you to make sure that all the societies in my constituency have a percolation well. I will also write a letter to all the societies and give details about this scheme. You have to just give your consent and the rest will be handled by the administration,” Shah said.
He urged citizens to install rooftop solar panels under the Pradhan Mantri Surya Ghar Muft Bijlee Yojana, a central scheme that aims to provide free electricity to one crore households.
The Union minister gave his own example, saying that thanks to the solar panels he has installed at his residence in the city, he gets free electricity all through the year.
“Your cost of installing a solar rooftop will be recovered in just four years and then you will get free electricity for the rest of your life. Please take advantage of both these schemes because we have to think about the future generations too,” he added.