Revival of Water Bodies

• Reasons: Groundwater levels in various parts of the country are declining because of continuous withdrawal necessitated by increased demand for fresh water for various uses, vagaries of rainfall, increased population, industrialization and urbanization etc.
• Water being a State subject, initiatives on water management including conservation & water harvesting and revival/rejuvenation of water bodies in the Country is primarily States’ responsibility.
• However, the important measures taken by the Central Government for conservation, management of groundwater and effective implementation of rainwater harvesting in the country are available at the following URL: click here

• In addition, a number of States have done notable work in the field of water conservation/harvesting. Of these, mention can be made of
  1. ‘Mukhyamantri Jal Swavlamban Abhiyan’ in Rajasthan,
  2. ‘Jalyukt Shibar’ in Maharashtra,
  3. ‘Sujalam Sufalam Abhiyan’ in Gujarat,
  4. ‘Mission Kakatiya’ in Telangana,
  5. Neeru Chettu’ in Andhra Pradesh,
  6. Jal Jeevan Hariyali in Bihar,
  7. ‘Jal Hi Jeevan’ in Haryana among others.
• The government of India launched Jal Shakti Abhiyan (JSA) in 2019, a time-bound campaign with a mission mode approach intended to improve water availability including groundwater conditions in the water-stressed blocks of 256 districts in India. In this regard, teams of officers from the Central Government along with technical officers from the Ministry of Jal Shakti were deputed to visit water-stressed districts and to work in close collaboration with district-level officials to undertake suitable interventions. In addition ‘Jal Shakti Abhiyan – Catch the Rain’ campaign has been launched by the Hon’ble Prime Minister of India on 22 March 2021.
• Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) is implementing the National Aquifer Mapping and Management program (NAQUIM), which envisages mapping of aquifers (water-bearing formations), their characterization and development of Aquifer Management Plan to facilitate sustainable management of Ground Water Resources. The State-wise information is shared with States/Uts for implementation.
• Ministry of Jal shakti, Department of Water Resources, RD & GR (DoWR, RD & GR) is implementing Atal Bhujal Yojana (Atal Jal), an Rs.6,000.00 crore Central Sector Scheme, for sustainable management of groundwater resources with community participation. Atal Jal is being implemented in 81 water-stressed districts and 8774 Gram Panchayats of seven States viz. Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.
• DoWR, RD & GR is implementing Repair, Renovation and Restoration (RRR) of Water Bodies under Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY) with main objectives as comprehensive improvement and restoration of water bodies thereby increasing tank storage capacity, improvement of catchment areas of tank command etc.
• The ongoing 6th minor irrigation census is, for the first time, collecting details of all water bodies (both in rural and urban areas) irrespective of their use, and this will form the basis of monitoring the health and spread of water bodies.

Click here for in detail information on the above schemes.

Conclusion

• Water is a State subject and therefore, making the water bodies free from encroachment falls under their mandate.
• Further, as per the Guidelines of the RRR scheme States are to take necessary steps for declaring the water body boundary through a Government order and ensure the removal of encroachments in the water body spread area/water body boundary before submitting a proposal for release of second installment of Central Assistance.