New Delhi: The Government of India has initiated number of steps and launched various schemes/ programmes for making availability of water, its conservation and distribution. The details of some of the major schemes/ programmes are as under:
(i) National Water Mission has been launched with the objective of conservation of water, minimizing wastage and ensuring its more equitable distribution both across and within States through integrated water resources development and management.
Under this mission, a campaign namely “Sahi Fasal” has also been initiated to nudge farmers to favour agricultural crops which consume less water and to use water more efficiently in agriculture, as a part of demand side management.
Also, to promote dialogue and information sharing among participants on variety of water related topics, a monthly seminar series – “Water Talk” has been initiated with intended to create awareness, build capacities of stakeholders and to encourage people to become active participants in the conservation and saving of water.
(ii) Atal Bhujal Yojana, a Central Sector Scheme, with focus on community participation, demand side interventions and convergence of ongoing schemes for sustainable ground water management is being implemented from 1 April 2020 in seven States – Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Madya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.
(iii) Har Khet Ko Pani (HKKP), a component of Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana (PMKSY), Repair, Renovation and Restoration (RRR) of Water Bodies Scheme was launched which aims to revive irrigation potential by improvement and restoration of water bodies by enhancing the tank storage capacity, along with other multiple objectives such as ground water recharge, increased availability of drinking water, improvement of catchment of tank commands etc.
(iv) The Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) was launched by the Government of India on June 25, 2015 in selected 500 cities and towns across the country for a period of 5 years i.e. from FY 2015-2016 to FY 2019-2020, which has been extended for completing the grounded projects.
At the time of announcement of Jal Jeevan Mission in August 2019, 3.23 Crore (17%) rural households were reported to have tap water connections. So far, as reported by States/UTs as on 06.02.2023, around 7.87 Crore rural households have been provided with tap water connections in last three and half years under JJM. Thus, as on 06.02.2023, out of 19.36 Crore rural households in the country, around 11.10 Crore (57%) households are reported to have tap water supply in their homes.
This information was given by the Minister of State for Jal Shakti, Shri Prahlad Singh Patel in a written reply in Lok Sabha on Thursday.
