News Highlights
The Ministry of Railways and the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to use the soil or silt excavated from ponds and tanks in all districts under the Amrit Sarovar Mission for their infrastructure project
Focus Points
- The Amrit Sarovar would involve excavation of several thousands of tonnes of earth in the form of soil or silt
- The Ministry of Rural Development has told the Miwwnistry of Railways and the NHAI to map its infrastructure projects with the Amrit Sarovar sites in all States and Union Territories.
- The authorities were told to use the soil and silt excavated from the sites for the construction of ongoing projects.
Nodal Officers in the Project
General Managers of all Zonal Railways were told to nominate the Chief Administrative Officer (Construction) as the nodal officer who would identify the nearest sites of Amrit Sarovar to ongoing railway projects
Amrit Sarovar mission
- The Amrit Sarovar Mission was launched on 24th April 2022 with a view to conserve water for the future.
- Aim:
- Developing and rejuvenating 75 water bodies in each district of the country as a part of celebration of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav.
- In total, it would lead to creation of 50,000 water bodies of a size of about an Acre or more.
- Technical Partners
- Bhaskaracharya National Institute for Space Application and Geo-informatics (BISAG-N) has been engaged as technical partner for the Mission.
- Ministries involved in the Mission
- Ministry of Rural Development (Dept. of Rural Development/ Dept. of Land Resources)
- Ministry of Jal Shakti (Dept. of Water Resources/ Dept. of Drinking Water & Sanitation)
- Ministry of Culture
- Ministry of Panchayati Raj
- Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change
Other Government measure taken to improve Groundwater Resources
- Jal Shakti Abhiyan (JSA)
- Launched in 2019 to improve water availability including ground water conditions in the water stressed blocks of 256 districts in India.
- Atal Bhujal Yojana:
- It is a Rs.6,000 crore Central Sector Scheme, for sustainable management of ground water resources with community participation.
- Jal Shakti Abhiyan: Catch the Rain” (JSA:CTR):
- It has been launched 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.
- Master Plan for Artificial Recharge to Groundwater – 2020:
- It is a macro level plan prepared by the Central Ground Water Board.
- The plan envisages construction of about 1.42 crore rain water harvesting and artificial recharge structures in the country.
- National Aquifer Mapping and Management program (NAQUIM):
- It envisages mapping of aquifers, their characterization and development of Aquifer Management Plans to facilitate sustainable management of groundwater resources in the country.
Pic Courtesy: The Hindu
Content Source: The Hindu