With some parts of the country reporting water shortage, Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat on July 1 launched a conservation campaign with an emphasis on 1,592 stressed blocks in 256 districts.

The Jal Shakti Abhiyan will focus on five aspects - water conservation and rainwater harvesting, renovation of traditional and other water bodies, reuse of water and recharging of structures, watershed development, and intensive afforestation, said Drinking Water Sanitation Secretary Parmeswaran Iyer.

Officers from the central government, led by additional secretaries and joint secretaries, have been assigned to these 256 districts.

The district administration will also nominate two members to join these teams.

The conservation efforts will be supplemented by initiatives like developing block and district water conservation plans and krishi vigyan kendra melas to promote efficient water use for irrigation and better crop choices.

In urban areas, plans with time-bound targets will be developed for wastewater reuse for industrial and agricultural purposes.

Plans will be developed for at least one urban water body for groundwater recharge in the block or the city. Scientists and IITs will also be mobilised at the national level to support the teams.

The government plans to run a water conservation mission, similar to the Swachch Bharat Abhiyaan with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on June 30 pitching for the conservation of rainwater, saying there is a pressing need to make it a mass movement on the lines of the cleanliness drive.

In his first address in the second edition of monthly show Mann ki Baat, the prime minister also said one-size-fits-all approach is not required in conservation of water.

Background

*  Though water is a state subject, the campaign will be led by 255 central IAS officers of joint or additional secretary rank, drawn from ministries as varied as space, petroleum and defence, according to a notification issued by the Department of Personnel and Training.

* The campaign seems to follow the model of last year’s Gram Swaraj Abhiyan, where central officials monitored the progress of seven flagship development schemes in 117 aspirational districts across the country.

* The campaign will run from July 1 to September 15 in states receiving rainfall during the south-west monsoon, while states receiving rainfall in the north-east monsoon will be covered from October 1 to November 30.

* Overall, 313 blocks with critical groundwater levels will be covered, along with 1,186 blocks with over-exploited groundwater and 94 blocks with low groundwater availability.

* The over-exploitation of groundwater was highest in Punjab (76 per cent) and Rajasthan (66 per cent), followed by Delhi (56 per cent) and Haryana (54 per cent).

Jal Shakti Abhiyan

* The Jal Shakti Abhiyan aims to step up water harvesting, conservation and borewell recharge activities already being carried out under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act and the Integrated Watershed Management Programme of the rural development ministry, along with existing water body renovation and afforestation schemes being undertaken by the Jal Shakti and environment ministries.

* Block and district-level water conservation plans will be designed, and Kisan Vigyan Kendras will hold workshops to promote better crop choices and more efficient water use for irrigation.

* A major communications campaign on TV, radio, print, local and social media will be carried out, with celebrities mobilised to generate awareness for the campaign.