The State Government has accorded administrative approval of Rs5.23 crore for ensuring wider security and development of the region coming under Ravishankar Sagar Irrigation Reservoir at Gangrel in Dhamtari district.
Notably, intensifying preparation for PM Narendra Modi’s ‘Jal Kranti Abhiyan’, the Chhattisgarh government has also identified as many as 54 water villages in 27 districts of Chhattisgarh.
As per information received, two water villages each of the State have been identified for ‘Jal Kranti Abhiyan’. Of the 54 identified water villages, Integrated Water Conservation Programme have been chalked out for 40 villages.
CM Raman Singh and Water Resources Department Minister Brijmohan Agrawal have given specific directives to officials of concerned department for completing it for the remaining 14 water villages.
The CM recently chaired a meeting at his official residence to review the progress of works ongoing for ‘Jal Kranti Abhiyan’.
The meeting was attended by Chief Secretary Vivek Dhand, Secretary of Water Resource Department Dr B l Tiwari, Secretary of Commerce and Industry Subodh Kumar Singh and other senior officials.
As per information, the objective of ‘Jal Kranti Abhiyan’ is to ensure effective measures for conservation and enhancement of water in villages dealing with water shortage. On June 5 this year, PM had announced the campaign to mark World Environment Day.
Under this campaign, works related to water conservation and community irrigation will be carried out by guaranteeing active participation of Panchayat Raj institutions. Also necessary initiatives will be moved for storing rain water and its effective management.
By utilizing different means, including information, education and broadcasting, public awareness, the programme will be carried out, informed officials, adding that for smooth execution of ‘Jal Kranti Abhiyan’, committees have been formed at State, district and block levels.
Chhattisgarh is among nine other States, where the World Bank assisted project "Neeranchal" for Watershed Component (Erstwhile Integrated Watershed Management Programme or IWMP) of the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayi Yojana (PMKSY), would now be implemented.
The decision was taken by a Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) meeting chaired by the PM Modi in New Delhi, officials stated.
Apart from Chhattisgarh, the scheme would be implemented in Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan and Telangana.
The total cost of the project is Rs2142.30 crore, of which the Government's share is Rs1071.15 crore (50 per cent) and rest is the loan component from the World Bank.
The major objective of the Watershed Component of the PMKSY is for ensuring access to irrigation to every farm and efficient use of water.
Neeranchal will translate into better implementation outcomes of PMKSY. The programme will lead to reducing surface run-off of rainwater, increasing recharge of ground water and better availability of water in rain-fed areas resulting in incremental rainfed agriculture productivity, enhanced milk yield and increased cropping intensity through better convergence related programmes in project areas.
Neeranchal is designed to further strengthen and provide technical assistance to the Watershed Component of PMKSY, in particular and all components of PMKSY, in general, to enhance its delivery capacity. It will support the Watershed component of PMKSY (erstwhile IWMP) which was implemented by the Department of land Resources (DolR) in 28 States, officials stated.
The IWMP was implemented from 2009-10 by the DolR, for watershed development in 28 States. From 2015-16 onwards, the IWMP will be implemented as the Watershed Component of PMKSY.
The potential of the watershed approach followed by the erstwhile IWMP to support both conservation and production outcomes including the availability of water in rainfed areas, catering to the needs of small and marginal farmers as well as the asset-less, including women, has been successfully demonstrated at scale across various States of India.
Despite these successes, challenges remain for watershed development to achieve better outcomes. If not resolved, these can result in implementation delays, slow disbursements and benefits, officials stated.