New Delhi, Jan 13 (IANS) The government will take up inter-linking of rivers on a priority basis, Urban Development Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu said Tuesday.

Speaking during a function organised to mark the ‘India Water Week’ in the capital, Naidu said: “Whatever obstacles come, that have to be addressed and they have to be removed.”

“Some of our environment friends are raising voices. There will be voices in democracy, let there be. We have to take up rivers inter-linking on a priority basis,” he added.

The minister said that an atmosphere needs to be created in the country so that river inter-linking becomes a people’s movement.

Naidu said that his ministry is planning to make water harvesting mandatory for all local bodies.

“I am proposing in the coming days that all urban bodies should make it mandatory to have water harvesting system…That is going to be the priority also,” he said.

Minister of State for Environment Prakash Javadekar said that water management for sustainable development should also be considered.

Union Minister for Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation Uma Bharti said dissemination of data in the public domain constitutes the most important aspect of water resources management for people’s participation and information sharing to increase transparency and public awareness.

She said: “To fulfil this objective, the Central Water Commission in collaboration with national remote sensing centre of ISRO has launched the project generation of database”.

Bharti said India has more than 18 percent of the world’s population, but only 4 percent of the world’s renewable water resources.

The theme of the five-day water week is “Water Management for Sustainable Development”.

It will address the issues of sustainability of water resources development and management in line with Sustainable Development Goals 2015 being finalized by the United Nations.

Australia is the partner country for this event and 30 Australian companies are participating in the exhibition to showcase the technological advancement in the area of water resources.