Context: In the last few decades, waterbodies have been under continuous and unrelenting stress, caused primarily by rapid urbanization and unplanned growth. Encroachment of water bodies has been identified as a major cause of flash floods in Mumbai (2005), Uttarakhand (2013), Jammu and Kashmir (2014) and Chennai (2015).

Why India needs to conserve waterbodies:

India is endowed with extraordinarily diverse and distinctive traditional waterbodies found in different parts of the country, commonly known as ponds, tanks, lakes, vayalgam, ahars, bawdis, talabs and others. They play an important role in maintaining and restoring the ecological balance. They act as sources of drinking water, recharge groundwater, control floods, support biodiversity, and provide livelihood opportunities to a large number of people.

Water crisis:

Currently, a major water crisis is being faced by India, where 100 million people are on the frontlines of a nationwide water crisis and many major cities facing an acute water shortage.
United Nations and NITI Ayog reports
Demand for water will reach twice the available supply, and 40 per cent of India’s population will not have access to clean drinking water by 2030.

Data by UN suggests that 40 per cent of global population is directly affected by the water scarcity and the numbers are predicted to rise in coming years. These numbers clearly reflect the challenge likely to be aggravated in the future, unless timely water resource management measures are undertaken.

Administrative Negligence:

One of the reasons is our increasing negligence and lack of conservation of waterbodies. Since independence, the government has taken control over the waterbodies and water supply. With a colonial mindset, authorities move further and further away in the quest of water supply, emphasing more on networks, infrastructure and construction of dams. This, over time, has led to the neglect of waterbodies and catchments areas. As a result, we have started valuing land more than water.

Pollution of Water Bodies:

Waterbodies are being polluted by untreated effluents and sewage that are continuously being dumped into them. Across the country, 86 waterbodies are critically polluted, having a chemical oxygen demand or COD concentration of more than 250 mg/l. Which is the discharge standard for a polluting source such as sewage treatment plants and industrial effluent treatment plants. The decline in both the quality and quantity of these waterbodies is to the extent that their potential to render various economic and environmental services has reduced drastically.

First Waterbodies Census

Uttar Pradesh accounted for almost 40% (15,301) of water bodies under encroachment, followed by Tamil Nadu (8,366) and Andhra Pradesh (3,920). No encroachment was reported from West Bengal, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, and Chandigarh.

Government Initiative:

POLICY-LED INTERVENTIONS

1. Jal Samvardhan Yojana (Karanataka)
2. Neeru-Chettu Program (Andhra Pradesh)
3. Sujalam Sufalam Jal Abhiyan (Gujarat)
4. Mukhyamantri Jal Swavlamban Abhiyan (Rajasthan)
5. DRINK FROM TAP MISSION (24×7 Water Supply) – Odhisa
6. Kapildhara Yojana (Madhya Pradesh)
7. Automation of Irrigation System: Narayanpur Left Bank Canal System system
8. (Karnataka)
9. Jalyukt Shivar Abhiyan (Maharashtra)
10. Centre had launched the Repair, Renovation and Restoration of Water Bodies’ scheme in 2005 with the objectives of comprehensive improvement and restoration of traditional waterbodies. These included increasing tank storage capacity, ground water recharge, increased availability of drinking water, improvement of catchment areas of tank commands and others. However, in this regard, not much is on the ground.
11. The announcement of the “Jal Shakti Abhiyan: Catch the Rain”¹, A Time-Bound, mission-mode water conservation campaign initiated by the new Jal Shakti ministry is a welcoming step focusing on rainwater harvesting, rejuvenation of waterbodies, reuse of treated wastewater, and intensive afforestation.

GOI Support for Lake Conservation

• National Lake conservation Programme
• Activities Covered Under NLCP
• National Wetland Conservation Programme
• Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JnNURM) /Urban Infrastructure Development Scheme for Small and Medium Towns (UIDSSMT)
• Urban Infrastructure and Governance (UIG)
• Urban Infrastructure Development Scheme for Small & Medium Towns (UIDSSMT)
• Ministry of Water Resources programme for Repair, Renovation & Restoration (RRR) of Water bodies with Domestic/External Assistance

What is in Need?

Experts say that cities may not run out of water if urban planning engages more critically with the city’s terrain. Along with propagation of knowledge about the local history of lakes, meaningful community engagement and ownership of waterbodies.

City Delhi working on Waterbodies Conservation;

Many cities are working towards conservation of waterbodies like the steps initiated in the capital city of Delhi for instance.
In turning Delhi into a city of lakes, rejuvenation of 201 waterbodies has been finalized. Delhi Jal Board (DJB) plans to revive 155 bodies while the Flood and Irrigation Department will revive 46. DJB claims that the aim is to achieve biological oxygen demand or BOD to 10ppm and total suspended solids to 10mg/l. Establishment of the Wetlands Authority by the Delhi government is a welcome step towards notifying and conserving natural waterbodies.

Action needed towards:

Attaining sustainability.

Thus, emphasis on long-term goals, operation and maintenance should be sum up along with the allocation of budget. It is require to test the success of the lakes on all three fronts namely.

• Economic
• Environmental
• Social

Many studies point that a deliberate effort has to create on the social front. For This better publicity of the environmental benefits of the project and enhancing environmental awareness, especially among the local community is needed. Encouraging local people to collaborate with other stakeholders to successfully utilize resources and ensure the protection and conservation of waterbodies. Traditionally, water was seen as a responsibility of citizens. The community collectively took the responsibility of not only building but also of maintaining the waterbodies. This needs to be restore into the system. Integrated approach taking into account the long-term sustainability, starting from the planning stage where looking at every waterbody along with its catchment, is necessary.

Way Ahead:

To make it a reality, it is time to invest in governance, capacitating our institutions, strong regulations and enforcements or else we will fall back. Let us not destroy our waterbodies in the name of development. Rather, we should value their importance. Plant trees in catchment areas of rivers and also on banks. Trees not only check soil erosion but also retain soil moisture and feed rivers to keep them flowing.

1. Ministry of Jal Shakti is taking up a nation-wide campaign “Jal Shakti Abhiyan: Catch the Rain” (JSA:CTR) focusing on saving and conserving rainwater with the theme “Source sustainability for drinking water” from 04 March 2023 to 30 November 2023 in the pre-monsoon and monsoon periods of 2023, covering both urban and rural areas of all the districts in the country. In this year key focus of JSA:CTR – 2023 is on ensuring source sustainability in 150 water stressed district of country, identified by Jal Jeevan Mission.
   National Water Mission, Ministry of Jal Shakti launched a campaign “Catch The Rain” with the tag line “Catch the rain, where it falls, when it falls” in 2020 to nudge the states and all stakeholders to create Rain Water Harvesting Structures (RWHS) suitable to the climatic conditions and sub-soil strata, with people’s active participation. In 2021 & 2022 “Catch the Rain” was subsumed in Jal Shakti Abhiyan which was implemented across all district of the country. ↩︎