PM Modi launches ‘Jal Shakti Abhiyan:Catch the Rain’; MoA signed for implementation of Ken Betwa Link Project

On the Occasion of World Water Day (March 22, 2021), Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi launched/witnessed two key events

• Launch of ‘Jal Shakti Abhiyan:Catch the Rain’ campaign to undertake water conservation at grass-root level through people’s participation.
• PM witnessed the signing of a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) between the Union Minister of Jal Shakti & the Chief Ministers of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh for implementation of the Ken Betwa Link Project (KBLP). It is the 1st project under the National Perspective Plan for interlinking of rivers.

‘Jal Shakti Abhiyan:Catch the Rain’

• It is an initiative of the Ministry of Jal Shakti under National Water Mission (NWM).
• Theme – ‘Catch the rain, where it falls, when it falls’.
• Objective – To create rainwater harvesting structure suitable to climatic conditions & ensuring proper storage of rainwater.
• Funds from MGNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) will be used for the Rainwater conservation programme.
• It will be undertaken in both rural and urban areas from 22nd March, 2021 – 30th November, 2021.
• The campaign will be carried out as a Jan Andolan (People’s mass movement).
• It will be carried out across India’s 734 districts covering 600, 000 villages.

KBLP – India 1st Project under National Perspective Plan for Interlinking of riversKBLP is the 1st Project under the National Perspective Plan for interlinking of rivers. Under this project, water from the Ken river (in Madhya Pradesh) will be transferred to the Betwa river (in Uttar Pradesh). Both rivers are tributaries of river Yamuna.

To implement the Ken Betwa Link Project (KBLP), Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) between the Union Minister of Jal Shakti(Presently – Gajendra Singh Shekhawat) and the Chief Ministers of Madhya Pradesh (Currently- Shivraj Singh Chouhan) and Uttar Pradesh (Currently- Yogi Adityanath) was signed.

• Objective – To Transfer surplus water from Ken river to Betwa river to irrigate the drought-prone Bundelkhand region.
• It is one of the 30 river interlinking projects conceived across India.
• Cost – The Estimated cost of KBLP according to the Comprehensive Detailed Project Report is INR 35, 111.24 Crore at 2017-18 prices.
• Points of Conflict –  Some areas of KBLP project lie within the core tiger habitat of Panna Tiger Reserve (Madhya Pradesh).
• The project involves building a 77-metre tall and a 2-km wide Dhaudhan dam and a 230-km canal. Originally, this phase envisaged irrigating 6,35,661 hectares annually (3,69,881 ha in M.P. and 2,65,780 ha in U.P.). In addition, the project was to provide 49 million cubic metres (MCM) for drinking water supply en route.

Benefits

• It will provide annual irrigation of 10.62 Lakh Hectares.
• Provide drinking water supply to about 62 Lakh people.
• Generate 103 MW of hydropower.
• The project will be of immense benefit to the water-starved region of Bundelkhand, especially to the districts of Panna, Tikamgarh, Chhatarpur, Sagar, Damoh, Datia, Vidisha, Shivpuri and Raisen of Madhya Pradesh and Banda, Mahoba, Jhansi and Lalitpur of Uttar Pradesh.

Future Enhancements:

Project needs approval on the share of Centre and State in funding, forming a new organisation, “Ken Betwa Link Project Authority” to execute the project and obtaining a stage 2 forest clearance for constructing the Daudhan dam. The project, as of today, is expected to be ready in 8 years.

Importance of Water Conservation

• India’s water demand is likely to double by 2030, potentially costing a 6% loss in GDP by 2050.
• India sustains 18% of the world’s population & 15% of global livestock with just about 4% of global freshwater resources.
• India’s most water-stressed blocks are in Tamil Nadu (541), Rajasthan (218), Uttar Pradesh (139) & Telangana (137).

Recent Related News:

i.November 10, 2020, Tamil Nadu won the first place in the Union ministry of Jal Shakti’s 2nd National Water Awards for 2019 under the best state (normal) category for the conservation and management of water.

About Ministry of Jal Shakti:

Union Minister – Gajendra Singh Shekhawat (Lok Sabha MP, Constituency – Jodhpur, Rajasthan)
Minister of State – Rattan Lal Kataria (Lok Sabha MP, Constituency – Ambala, Haryana)