Prime Minister
Narendra Modi’s new government
has shifted its focus to the allied issue of water after the country-wide
sanitation drive with the Swachh Bharat Mission comes to an end on October 2,
2019. The focus will is carried out by the Ministry of Jal
Shakti.
Objective:
The scheme ‘Nal se Jal’ will be a component of
the government’s Jal Jivan Mission. The Ministry plans to provide piped water
connections to every household in India by
2024.
The ministry will also look at conservation of
surface and groundwater and inter-linking
rivers across the country. The idea of inter-linking rivers
across the country was proposed by the late Prime Minister Atal Bihari
Vajpayee in order to ease the irrigation and drinking water crisis.
Ministry of Jal Shakti:
The Ministry is led by Rajasthan MP Gajendra
Singh Shekhawat and Ram Lal Kataria will be the
Minister of state. The ministry has been formed by merging the Ministry of Water
Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation along
with the Ministry
of Drinking Water and Sanitation.
The reason for the merger is to
bring all aspects of water management and regulation under one
department. The introduction of the Jal Shakti Ministry
was announced in the interim budget of the NDA
government.
NITI Aayog’s 2018 report:
A report by NITI Aayog reported that 600
million Indians face high to extreme water stress and about 2 lakh people die
every year due to inadequate access to safe water. It also stressed that by
2030, the country’s water demand will be projected to be twice the available
supply. This huge demand will imply severe water scarcity for hundreds
of millions of people which will eventually lead to a drop of nearly 60% loss
in the country’s GDP.
