The Prime Minister, Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee has said that the Government is revising the National Water Policy to meet the needs of the changing scenario. He called for use of modern technologies like remote sensing and nuclear technique to optimise the availability of our water resources to meet the developmental goals.

The Prime Minister said that for meeting the increasing demands of our growing population, urgent planning and management of water resources for their efficient, economical and equitable use is necessary. This was stated here today by the Prime Minister at the 19th Annual General Meeting of the National Institute of Hydrology Society.

Stating that this year too drought hit some parts of the country, while floods damaged other parts, he said proper scientific studies are needed to evolve strategies to manage these extreme situations. Prime Minister's speech was read out by the Minister of State for Agriculture, Shri Sompal.

Expressing concern over the overdue of groundwater and worsening of ground water quality, the Prime Minister said by 2000 A.D. the per person water available for drinking would be less than half of what it was 40 years back.

Stating that watershed development should be promoted to minimise the effect of drought in rainfed areas, he said suitable water harvesting measures for conserving best use of surface water and recharging ground water was required.