Indian Economy News

Various steps were taken by the Union Government to increase water availability and promote the conservation of water

The Government of India has initiated a number of steps and launched various schemes/programmes for making the availability of water, its conservation, and distribution. The National Water Mission has been launched with the objective of conservation of water, minimizing wastage and ensuring its more equitable distribution. A campaign namely ‘Sahi Fasal’ has also been initiated to nudge farmers to favour agricultural crops which consume less water. A monthly seminar series - ‘Water Talk’ has been initiated with the intention to create awareness, build capacities of stakeholders, and encourage people to become active participants in the conservation and saving of water.

In seven States-Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh, the Atal Bhujal Yojana was implemented, which is a Central Sector Scheme with a focus on community participation, demand-side interventions, and convergence of ongoing schemes for sustainable groundwater management. The Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) was launched by the Government of India in selected 500 cities and towns across the country for a period of five years, which has been extended for completing the grounded projects. In addition to it, Jal Jeevan Mission-Har Ghar Jal is being implemented by the Government of India, in partnership with States since August 2019, which aims at providing potable water in adequate quantity (55 litres per capita per day) of prescribed quality (BIS:10500) on a regular and long-term basis.

Furthermore, Jal Shakti Abhiyan-I (JSA-I) was launched in 2019 in 256 water-stressed districts to promote water conservation and water resource management by focusing on accelerated implementation of five target interventions - water conservation and rainwater harvesting, renovation of traditional and other water bodies/ tanks, reuse, and recharge of bore wells, watershed development, and intensive afforestation.

Disclaimer: This information has been collected through secondary research and IBEF is not responsible for any errors in the same.