Dehradun, Feb 3 (PTI) Leading water conservation activist Dwarka Prasad Semwal on Monday urged district the administration to free ponds, lakes and other water bodies from encroachment and ban harmful construction practices such as cement lining.

Semwal furnished the administration with a list of 49 ponds, lakes and water bodies mentioned in revenue records of the district that are "dying" due to human encroachment.

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All this was part of a memorandum submitted to Dehradun District Magistrate Savin Bansal, said Semwal who is also Uttarakhand's brand ambassador for water conservation.

"There is a need to take tough decisions to save water. Apart from freeing them from human encroachment, it is also very important to ban harmful construction practices like cement lining of natural water bodies, lakes, ponds and streams under government schemes," he said.

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Semwal, who heads Himalaya Paryavaran Jadi-Buti Agro Sansthan, said the organisation is celebrating 2025 as "Water Year" to create awareness about "dying" water bodies and the need for their revival to recharge the water table. Various activities are being organised during the year as part of the campaign, he said.

Drawing the attention of the district administration to the encroached water bodies of Dehradun was a part of it, he said.

The aim of celebrating 2025 as "Water Year" is to turn the endeavour into a statewide campaign, so that every citizen can contribute to water conservation, he said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)