"Sir, kindly save water for a safe future," says the SMS doing the rounds here. It also requests receivers to forward the message to "as many people as possible".

The receivers of the SMS seem to be heeding the request. The campaign, which was allegedly started by a sweet shop owner here, has caught on with people receiving the SMS several times a day.

The state government had launched a scheme, "Jal Abhishek", to address the water scarcity early April. Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan announced that his government would ensure construction of ponds on 100,000 fields.

He said that a Groundwater Control Act would be enacted for water conservation, like in Goa and Tamil Nadu. He also said he would review the state's policy on water.

The use of the SMS as a means to campaign started during the state assembly elections in 2003, when political parties flooded mobile phone users with SMSs asking for votes. It was later used for a "pulse polio campaign", reminding people to take their children up to five years of age for polio drops.