Hyderabadis resolve to ‘Rally For Rivers’ together

The Gachibowli stadium was packed to the rafters with Hyderabadis as they turned up for the ‘Rally for Rivers’ event held on Thursday. Star attraction of the evening was

Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev

who was accompanied by a host of dignitaries — music composer MM Keeravani, Telangana irrigation minister Harish Rao, TRS MPs Konda Vishweshwar Rao,

Keshava Rao

, and governor ESL Narasimhan, who came dressed in blue along with wife

Vimala

as a mark of support for the initiative.

Lauding the initiative, the governor urged the citizens to participate in the campaign. “Give a missed call (on 8000880009) but more importantly do not miss the ‘call’ given by Sadhguru,” said the governor.
Award-winning organic farmer

Gudivada Nagaratnam Naidu

hailed the initiative as a boon for the farmers. “I salute this initiative by

Sadhguru

and all those who rallied for ‘Rally for Rivers’. I have received international acclaim for producing rich output from barren land following the mantra of ‘minimum water-maximum output’. But with our rivers drying up, it is imperative to revive them. I therefore, call upon one and all to join this ‘Rally For Rivers’ movement, which is in the best interests of every citizen and farmer in the country,” said Nagaratnam.

Rajya Sabha member, Keshava Rao nodded in agreement saying, “Over 80 per cent of Telangana’s water resources is being used for agriculture. So it is imperative to improve the green cover. People are not indifferent. But they lack awareness and this campaign will definitely help spread the word across the nation.”
Then it was time for Jaggi Vasudev to take stage. “I’m glad to see all sorts of people from across the country: school children to celebrities, humble farmers to tall leaders, cutting across political affiliations, regions, religions, caste, community, creed etc., and standing up for the cause to save our rivers,” he said to a thunderous applause.
The need of the hour is to devise conservation policies that are in sync with the geographical realites of India, he implored. “We are blindly aping North American and European practices in water conservation without taking into consideration, the topography and weather conditions of our own. Constructing huge water storage tanks is not practical as the evaporation rate is as high as 65 per cent. Pipe irrigation is the need of the hour,” he said, adding, “There are many aspects to the ‘Rally for Rivers’ campaign. First and most important is getting political concurrence and the second is getting people on board.”