Government of India has been implementing various schemes and programmes as action plan for water conservation and for increasing the level of ground water like Atal Bhujal Yojana (Atal Jal); Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS); Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY); Watershed Development Management; Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transforming (AMRUT); Unified Building Bye Laws (UBBL); Model Building Bye Laws (MBBL), 2016; Urban and Regional Development Plan Formulation & Implementation (URDPFI) Guidelines, 2014 etc. Water being a State subject, Government of India is also supporting States and Union Territories with financial assistance through its schemes and programmes.
Addressing different aspects of water conservation and increasing the level of groundwater, after implementation of Jal Shakti Abhiyan in 2019, Ministry of Jal Shakti has taken up a nationwide campaign “Jal Shakti Abhiyan – Catch the Rain” (JSA:CTR) with the with the tagline “Catch the rain, where it falls, when it falls” for creating appropriate rainwater harvesting structures in urban and rural areas of all the districts in the country, with people’s active participation, during the pre-monsoon and monsoon periods. The campaign, primarily focusing on saving and conserving rainwater, was launched by Hon’ble Prime Minister on 22 March, 2021, the world water day. Creation of new and maintenance of old Rainwater harvesting structures; revival of traditional rainwater harvesting structures like stepwells etc; enumeration, geo-tagging and making inventory of all water bodies; preparation of scientific water conservation plans; setting up of Jal Shakti Kendras and intensive afforestation are part of the campaign.
Besides, Master Plan for Artificial Recharge to Groundwater-2020 has been prepared in consultation with States/UTs indicating various structures for the different terrain conditions of the country. The Master Plan envisages construction of about 1.42 crore rain water harvesting and artificial recharge structures in the country including deep ground level areas to harness 185 billion cubic metre (BCM) of monsoon rainfall.
Implementation of various schemes & programmes on water conservation & increase the level of groundwater in the country is a continuous process and time lines for their implementation vary from scheme to scheme. However, the targets within a scheme / programme are fixed and reviewed on regular basis.
This Information was given by the Minister of State for Jal Shakti, Shri Bishweswar Tudu in a written reply in Rajya Sabha today.