Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday pitched for the revival of rivers and lakes as he urged people to use water judiciously. ??Addressing the concluding session of a Groundwater Week programme, the chief minister also claimed that his government in the past five years revived "60 rivers in the state".

Everyone has to understand the value of every drop of water, the CM said stressing old lakes, ponds and wells will have to be revived again. The speed at which the population has increased and industrialisation took place, the exploitation of groundwater increased, he said.

Many development blocks of the state were categorised as dark zones due to a sharp drop in the groundwater levels, he said, adding steps are being taken to bring them back to normalcy. ?

Claiming that his government revived "60 rivers", Adityanath said these would have been the backbone of the agriculture had previous governments not ignored them.

His government with the participation of the public, Rural Development and other departments revived the rivers, he claimed.?Groundwater Week programmes were organised in all districts of the state between July 16 and 22. ?

The Chief Minister honoured the institutions and people doing remarkable work in the field of water conservation.?The Chief Minister also released a groundwater atlas. UP Jal Shakti Minister Swatantra Dev Singh along with other senior leaders and officials attended the event.

-With PTI Input