Jal Shakti Ministry: Over 5 Lakh Local Water Conservation Infrastructure Delivered

Over 3.7 crore people have joined the nationwide Jal Shakti Abhiyan run by the Jal Shakti Ministry after its inception in July, Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhwat announced at the conclusion of the second field review meeting.

The meeting was attended by Cabinet Secretary Pradeep Kumar Sinha, Secretary, DDWS Parameswaran Iyer, Minister Shekhawat and a delegation from Israel. Authorities were reviewing the work done so far under the water conservation movement called Jal Shakti Abhiyan (JSA), and in particular the second field visit of the 1100 central government officers to the 256 most water-stressed districts of India.

The review revealed that in the past two months, JSA has delivered over 5 lakh local water conservation infrastructure in 256 districts. Of these, 2.73 lakh are water conservation and rainwater harvesting measures, over 44,000 relate to the rejuvenation of traditional water bodies, about 1.5 lakh are reuse and recharge structures and 1.23 lakh are watershed development projects. An estimated 3.7 crore people have already participated in the Abhiyan making it a Jan Andolan (people’s movement) and about 12.3 crore saplings have been planted as afforestation intervention.

During his address, Shekhawat urged to tap the traditional water conservation knowledge and improvise upon it with the help of the people for water conservation. He also advised the officers to be abreast with modern water technologies and learn from water-efficient countries such as Israel.

With 21 cities hurtling towards day zero, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his independence day speech, announced the Jal Jivan mission to provide water to all. “Today, from the ramparts of Red Fort, I announce that we will launch Jal Jeevan Mission to provide drinking water to all. The state governments will work with the Centre. Rs 3.5 lakh crore will used for this mission,” Modi announced on 15th August.

Majority of the country has been under stress and struggling with dipping underground water levels and surface water pollution. India ranks 13 in the list of 17 Most water-stressed countries in the world.