Context:

• Government has enumerated the steps taken to ensure the water security.

Details:

 Jal Shakti Abhiyan-I (JSA-I):

• It was launched in 256 water stressed districts of the country in two phases between July to November, 2019.
• Under the Jal Shakti Abhiyan, officers, groundwater experts and scientists from the Government of India worked with State and district officials in these 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
  • intensive afforestation.

Jal Shakti Abhiyan: Catch the Rain:

• The focused interventions for JSA includes water conservation and rainwater harvesting, renovation of traditional and other water bodies/tanks, reuse and recharge of borewells, watershed development and intensive afforestation.

Atal Bhujal Yojana:

• It is 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, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.
• It is broadly based on the success stories and verified field initiatives by non-government and civil society organizations in community led ground water management in various parts of the country.
• Atal Jal is focused on sustainable ground water management, mainly through strengthening of the capacity of States to manage their ground water on the one hand.
• It also focusses improving ground water management with community participation through preparation of village level water security plans and convergence of various on-going schemes on the other.

Water Talk:

• The “Water Talk” is intended to create awareness, build capacities of stakeholders and to encourage people to become active participants in the conservation and saving of water.
• The “Water Talk” provides a platform wherein, among other Water Talkers (which include academicians, bureaucrats, activists, water experts), Sarpanchs and representatives of NGOs also participate and showcase the best practices in water sector in villages and cities / towns across the country. 

Har Khet Ko Pani (HKKP):

• Har Khet Ko Pani (HKKP) component of 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,
  • increasing ground water recharge,
  • increased availability of drinking water,
  • improvement of catchment of tank commands etc.
• Under the Repair, Renovation and Restoration (RRR) of Water Bodies scheme, since 12th plan onwards, 2,228 schemes are ongoing.

Other activites:

• Best practices of water conservation by various entities including private persons, NGOs, PSUs etc have been compiled and put on the web site of the Ministry for the benefit of general public.
• An interactive link on best practices has also been created for receiving inputs from public, which, after necessary evaluation/validation, are put up on the website for the benefit of the public.

Comments of Fifteenth Finance Commission:

• It has earmarked 60 per cent for national priorities like drinking water supply and rainwater harvesting and sanitation, out of the total grants earmarked for Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRI).
• For fifty Million-Plus cities, two-thirds of alocation of funds under Challenge Fund of Rs. 38,196 crore is meant for meeting service level benchmarks on drinking water supply, rainwater harvesting, water recycling, solid waste management and sanitation.
• The FFC report also emphasises on sustainable and efficient water use and has suggested three ways to reduce and rationalise water use in agriculture:
  • by replacing free or subsidised power supply for agriculture with direct benefit transfers (DBT),
  • encouraging use of new technologies such as drip, sprinkler, sensor-based irrigation to get more crop per drop, and
  • by conserving and rainwater harvesting to increase the availability of surface as well as of groundwater.
• FFC has recommended incentive-based grants to States that maintain and augment groundwater stock and maintain a check on any fall in the watertable.

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