Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee on Thursday decided to offer the Parliament House premises and his official residence for water conservation purposes.

Making a statement in the House, Chatterjee also announced his decision to constitute a Parliamentary Forum on Water and said he would be writing to the urban development ministry to take up such projects in government accommodations.

"Let us hope the system of rainwater harvesting will be in place before the onset of the monsoon," he said, amid thumping of desks by members who lauded his initiative.

The speaker hoped that MPs would render their "active support and carry the message to their constituencies so that the conservation of water does not remain a slogan."

A recent tragic news report about a 12-year old boy's death in a stampede, where people fought for a few litres of water from a tanker in Delhi, highlighted the gravity of the situation, he said.

"The fall in the level of the ground water table at an alarming rate is adding to our difficulties," he said.

Asking the elected representatives to do their bit in the efforts to solve this problem, Chatterjee said he was also offering his residence in Kolkata for rainwater harvesting.

"I am going to ask the concerned ministries to take up the project of providing facilities for harvesting rainwater in all the residential and official premises under the speaker's control," Chatterjee said.