Chhattisgarh is among nine other states where the World Bank assisted project “Neeranchal” for the Watershed Component (Erstwhile Integrated Watershed Management Programme) of the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayi Yojana (PMKSY) would now be implemented.
The decision was taken at the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) meeting chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra 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.
Total cost of the project is `2142.30 crore of which the Government’s share is `1071.15 crore (50 %) and rest is loan component from World Bank.
The major objective of the Watershed Component of the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayi Yojana (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 rainfed 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. Neeranchal will support the Watershed component of PMKSY (erstwhile IWMP) which was implemented by the Department of land Resources (DolR) in 28 States.
Watershed development projects are area development programmes and all people living in the project area will be benefitted.
The Integrated Watershed Management Programme (IWMP) was implemented since 2009-10 by the DolR, for supporting 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.
However, despite these successes, a number of challenges remain for watershed development to achieve better outcomes, including enhanced participation of communities, building stronger capacities and systems to plan, implement, monitor and post-project sustainability of local institutions and assets. These challenges, if not resolved, can result in implementation delays, slow disbursements and benefits, officials stated.
Notably in February this year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi personally started monitoring the Integrated Watershed Management Project at Jashpur and Kanker districts in Chhattisgarh.
In the first phase of the project various Watershed management projects in Jashpur and North Bastar (Kanker) were included. Several works undertaken as part of Watershed Management Project in these districts have brought qualitative changes in the lives of rural people, officers informed.