After Gujarat, Centre to kick off water conservation in Rajasthan & MP

New Delhi: After constructing 80,000 rainwater harvesting structures under Jal Sanchay Jan Bhagidari programme in Gujarat, the Centre will kick it off in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh in the next 10-15 days, Union Jal Shakti minister C.R. Patil said on Thursday at the 8th India Water Week.

The initiative seeks to conserve water with a strong emphasis on community partnership and ownership as India grapples with water scarcity because of overexploitation of groundwater, inadequate rainwater harvesting, and mismanagement of water resources.

India accounts for only 4% of world's fresh water

India accounts for only 4% of the world's fresh water despite the presence of many large rivers in India. Water scarcity is particularly acute in regions like Rajasthan, Gujarat, and parts of southern India due to low rainfall and arid conditions. Climate change is deepening this crisis.

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According to rating agency Moody’s, India's average annual water availability per capita is likely to drop to 1,367 cubic metres by 2031 from an already-low 1,486 cubic metres in 2021. Water scarcity, aggravated by climate change, could cost some regions up to 6% of their GDP, according to World Bank.

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Patil said the union government will also accelerate linking of big rivers in the coming two-three months to address flood and drought issues to realize former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's vision of creating 30 links to connect 37 rivers across the country through a network of about 3,000 storage dams.

River-linking can help control floods and manage droughts by transferring excess water to regions facing shortage.

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Under the Ken-Betwa river linking project, the Union government recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the governments of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh to construct two barrages on the Ken river in Banda and Pailani to provide irrigation to more than 250,000 hectares of land. The ₹2,000 crore project will commence in October 2025 and should be completed by June 2019.