Bihar’s Sitamarhi dist constructs soak pits to conserve water

With groundwater level depleting by over 20 feet in areas bordering Nepal, Sitamarhi district in Bihar has taken a noble step by constructing 2,168 soak pits in schools, health centres and police stations among others at a war-footing to conserve and recharge water below earth.

The initiative, involving community, has been taken up by Sitamarhi district administration in partnership with UNICEF. The programme, which involves 11,000 teachers and 7 lakh students of government schools, has been undertaken to conserve water and avoid situation like Latur in Maharashtra in future, District Magistrate Rajiv Roushan said.

The step was part of the ‘Lohia Swachh Abhiyan’ of the Nitish Kumar government.

A day before the Earth Day on April 22, Tirhut Commissioner Atul Prasad and DM Roushan, along with UNICEF Programme Manager Shivendra Pandey, launched the construction work of a soak pit in the district at the Dumra Girls’ School.

Same day 2,168 soak pits were constructed in various locations in one go, the DM said. Prasad said efforts would be made to include the initiative, probably first of its kind, in the Guinness Book of World Records.