“The spirit for working for the movement of water conservation must come from within rather than it being a show off for others,” said veteran actor Nana Patekar, President, Naam Foundation, on Monday. He was speaking at the ‘Nagpur Jal Samvad 2026’ organised by Purti Sinchan Samruddhi Kalyankari Sanstha, to mark its 25th anniversary at Kavivarya Suresh Bhat auditorium. Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways; Makarand Anaspure, Secretary, Naam Foundation; Sanjay Rathod, Minister of Soil and Water Conservation; Adv Ashish Jaiswal, Minister of State for Finance; Dr Pankaj Bhoyar, Minister of State; Maya Ivnate, Member of Rajya Sabha; Dr Prashant Bokare, Vice-Chancellor, Gondwana University; Dr Sharad Gadakh, Vice-Chancellor, Dr Panjabrao Deshmukh Agricultural University; and other prominent dignitaries were present for the programme. Nana Patekar, in his address, emphasised the importance of the public participation in water conservation efforts.

 

 

“Conserving water is duty of every citizen and they should come forward to save every drop they can on their own,” stated Patekar. He also stated that it was a televised interview of a farmer’s widow that brought him to work for water conservation. The veteran actor also appreciated the work of Nitin Gadkari for water conservation through Purti Sinchan Samruddhi Kalyankari Sanstha, and through his initiatives through National Highway Authority of India (NHAI). Patekar concluded his address with a wish to open an office of Naam Foundation in the city. Prashant Rathod, in his address, announced that the State Government will soon start drive to make Malgujari lakes encroachment free. Earlier, the dignitaries also released four books, namely Jal Kranti, Jal Parva, Corridors of Water Security, and Krushi Kalyan. The programme also featured felicitation of noted water conservation activists including Padma Shri Subhash Sharma, Padma Shri Chaitram Pawar, Aniket Amte, Dr Sharad Gadakh, Col Sunil Patil (retd), Dr Prabhat Jain, Suresh Khanapurkar, V D Patil, Milind Joshi, Balasaheb Thengane, Madhav Kotasthane, Sachin Kulkarni, Vikas Totade, and Milind Bhagat. Bal Kulkarni, and Asawari Galande Deshpande compered, while Prafulladutta Jamdar proposed a vote of thanks. 

 

 

“We have abundance of water, but lack of water management is the real issue,” said Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways while encouraging people to contribute in water conservation. Gadkari, in his address, informed that he helped Punjab, Haryana, and eight districts in Rajasthan get plentiful water by diverting the water from three rivers in Jammu and Kashmir that were earlier flowing to Pakistan. He also stated that he realised the lack of water resources is a major reason behind farmer suicide in Vidarbha and started to work for making Vidarbha a water-rich region. “Making all 10 districts of Vidarbha farmer-suicide free is my ultimate dream,” stated Gadkari. 

 

 

“There is need to train every school going student, and every citizen in the country on how to conserve water,” said Makarand Anaspure. He also emphasised the importance of taking care of the nature. “If you do not take care of nature now, nature will not take care of you later,” stated Anaspure. Anaspure urged them to work on principal of ‘My village, my country.’ He said that every Gram Panchayat must assign role for tree plantation, soil conservation, water saving measures among others to different people and work to achieve their goals on local level.