Water resources projects are planned, funded, executed and maintained by the State Governments themselves as per their own resources and priorities. Role of Government of India is limited to being catalytic, providing technical support and, in some cases partial financial assistance in terms with the existing schemes being implemented by the Ministry of Jal Shakti. All projects supported by Government of India in the water resources sector aims to improve water security in the Country, and local level planning is key for project implementation. The details of initiatives taken by Government of India are as follows ;
National Water Policy (2012) has been formulated by Department of Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation, inter-alia advocates rainwater harvesting and conservation of water and highlights the need for augmenting the availability of water through direct use of rainfall. It also inter-alia, advocates conservation of river, river bodies and infrastructure should be undertaken in a scientifically planned manner through community participation in local level.
Government of India has launched ‘Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY)’ with the motto of Har Khet Ko Paani (HKKP). Objectives of PMKSY includes convergence of investments in irrigation at the field level (preparation of district level and, if required, sub district level water use plans); Integration of water source, distribution and its efficient use, to make best use of water through appropriate technologies and practices besides several other objectives aiming to ensure access to some means of protective irrigation to all agricultural farms in the country. District Irrigation Plans (DIPs) are the cornerstone for planning and implementation of PMKSY. Preparation of DIP is taken up as joint exercise of all participating departments. These plans are developed following intensive participatory consultation process including Panchayati Raj Institutions.
Command Area Development and Water Management (CADWM) programme under PMKSY also mandates formation of Water User Associations (WUAs) for Participatory Irrigation Management (PIM) at a local level. Under WUAs farmers are progressively in various aspects of management of irrigation systems, particularly in water distribution and collection of water rates. Under this programme, Water User Associations are supported with one-time infrastructure grant of Rs. 3 lakh per WUA and functional grant of Rs. 1200 per hectare as part of non-structural interventions. The CADWM projects are essentially executed by the State Government Departments.
The National Aquifer Mapping and Management programme is aimed to delineate aquifer disposition and their characterization for preparation of aquifer/ area specific ground water management plans with community participation. The management plans are shared with the respective State Governments for taking appropriate measures / implementation.
Jal Shakti Abhiyan: Catch the Rain - 2022 has been launched by Hon’ble President on 29.03.2022 in all districts (rural as well as urban areas) of the country with the main theme “Catch the Rain, where it falls, when it falls”. The campaign being implemented from 29th March, 2022 to 30th November, 2022 - the pre-monsoon and monsoon period in the country. The focused interventions of the campaign include: water conservation and rainwater harvesting; enumerating, geo-tagging & making inventory of all water bodies; preparation of scientific plans at the district level for water conservation, setting up of Jal Shakti Kendras in all districts, intensive afforestation and awareness generation.
Atal Bhujal Yojana (ATAL JAL) with an outlay of Rs. 6000 crore is implemented for sustainable management of ground water resources with community participation. The scheme is being taken up in 80 districts, 224 administrative blocks and 8562 water stressed Gram Panchayats of seven states, viz. Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. The scheme envisages active participation of the communities, in various activities such as formation/strengthening of Water User Associations, monitoring and disseminating ground water data, water budgeting, preparation of Gram-Panchayat wise water security plans & their implementation through convergence of ongoing schemes and IEC activities related to sustainable ground water management.
Government of India in partnership with State Government implementing Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) – Har Ghar Jal to make provision of tap water supply to every rural household of the country by 2024. The responsibility to plan, design, approve and implement drinking water supply schemes lies with States. Government of India supplements the efforts of the States by providing technical and financial assistance. State Water and Sanitation Missions (SWSMs) and District Water and Sanitation Missions (DWSMs) are responsible for preparation and finalization of State Action Plans & District Action Plans respectively. The water budget is prepared as part of the Village Action Plan for its dissemination among the local community to improve the agriculture water-use efficiency by adopting micro-irrigation and/ or adopt cropping pattern suiting the agro-climatic zone.
This information was given by the Minister of State, for Jal Shakti, Shri Bishweswar Tudu in a written reply in Lok Sabha today.
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AS