WD News: Government of India has taken several initiatives to create awareness among public regarding the necessity of water conservation. Jal Shakti Abhiyan was conducted in 2019 in 1592 blocks out of 2836 blocks in 256 water stressed districts of the country and was expanded as “Jal Shakti Abhiyan: Catch the Rain” (JSA: CTR) in 2021 with the theme “Catch the Rain – Where it Falls When it Falls” to cover all the blocks of all districts (rural as well as urban areas) across the country. “Jal Shakti Abhiyan: Catch the Rain” campaign has become an annual feature since 2021 comprising five focused interventions, including awareness generation. The campaign has created immense awareness amongst the masses about about the existing water problem and therefore the importance of water conservation. The crux of this campaign is building large scale awareness campaign so that conservation of water becomes a Jan Andolan.
Jal Shakti Abhiyan: Catch the Rain (JSA:CTR) campaign has five focused interventions- (1) rainwater harvesting & water conservation (2) enumerating, geo-tagging & making inventory of all water bodies; preparation of scientific plans for water conservation (3) setting up Jal Shakti Kendras in all districts (4) intensive afforestation and (5) awareness generation.
National Water Mission (NWM), Ministry of Jal Shakti tied up with Department of Youth Affairs to spread awareness to cover 31,150 villages in 623 districts on JSA: CTR campaign using the vast network of Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan (NYKS) and its youth clubs. The awareness generation drive by NYKS, started in December 2020, formed the foundation of the massive involvement of the people in the JSA: CTR campaign. Additionally, NWM has collaborated with concerned Ministries for broadcast of ‘Just Junior’ series on television, promotion of ‘Mission LiFE’, etc. NWM has also conducted 50 Water Talks, 40 Dialogues with Districts Magistrates and various other workshops/seminars to spread awareness among public. Ministry of Jal Shakti has collaborated with Ministry of Railways for vinyl wrapping of two of our nation’s most iconic trains i.e. the Himsagar Express and the Kamakhya Express. These trains journey across our vast and diverse country carrying a vital message of water conservation, awareness, and community engagement.
The JSA: CTR portal (jsactr.mowr.gov.in) has provisions for collection and compilation of district-wise details of works undertaken by all the districts across the country. JSA: CTR has one focused intervention of rainwater harvesting & water conservation which inter-alia includes renovation of traditional water bodies.
Funds spent under the JSA: CTR Campaigns is inter-sectoral convergence of various development programmes/ schemes of Central and State Governments. However, financial assistance of Rs. 2.00 lakh is released to each district for GIS mapping of water bodies and preparation of scientific water conservation plans under JSA: CTR. The state-wise details of funds released under JSA: CTR for GIS mapping of water bodies and preparation of district water conservation plans is at Annexure I.
Source: PIB
