The water test (Indian Express)

Mains Paper 2 : Governance
Prelims level : Jal Shakti Ministry
Mains level : Requirement of Jal Shakti Ministry

Context

• During an election rally in Tamil Nadu last month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had promised that if voted back to office, he would “ensure the creation of a Jal Shakti ministry that will deal with supplying clean drinking water to people and providing top-class irrigation facilities to farmers”.
• He moved to meet this promise during the portfolio allocation of ministers, last week.
  Formation of Jal Shakti Ministry
• A new Jal Shakti Ministry has been formed by reorganising the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation and merging it with the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation.
• The idea behind the creation of the new ministry “to approach the issue of water management holistically and ensure better coordination of efforts” is salutary.
• And, the new Jal Shakti Minister, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, has begun work by announcing that the government intends to provide piped drinking water to every household.
• This is a long-overdue initiative given that, according to a 2018 NITI Aayog report, “600 million Indians face high to extreme water stress and about two lakh people die every year due to inadequate access to safe water”.

Requirement of of Jal Shakti Ministry

• According to a 2017 assessment by the Ministry of Water Resources, India’s estimated per capita availability of water in 2025 will be 1,340 cubic metres.
• This is likely to fall to 1,140 cubic metres in 2050. The NITI Aayog report underlines one of the reasons for this state of affairs. Seventy per cent of the country’s water aquifers are polluted.
• Much of this owes to the Central Groundwater Board’s (CGWB) aggressive projects to tap groundwater.
• These endeavours, that began in the 1970s, did not pay adequate attention to the constraints placed by the country’s geology: Hard rocks constitute more than 60 per cent of the surface area of underground water sources.
• This means that they have poor permeability, which constrains their re-charge by rainfall.
• The Jal Shakti ministry’s endeavour to provide clean water will require a paradigm shift from the CGWB’s groundwater-centred approach.

Conclusion

• Currently, less than 20 per cent of rural households have access to piped water; hand pumps are their main source of potable water.
• Piped water schemes in rural areas have been dogged by problems of infrastructure maintenance: Power fluctuations often damage motors and pipes are prone to leaks.
• Last year, a CAG report pointed out that “poor execution” has marred the National Rural Drinking Water Programme’s attempt to provide piped drinking water to 35 per cent of the country’s rural households.
• The auditor pointed out that, in most states, the panchayats were not provided with the informational know-how to operate the expensive piped water systems.
• The Jal Shakti ministry’s challenge will be to ensure that such mistakes are not repeated. It will have to join several dots.

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Prelims Questions:

Q.1) With reference to National Green Tribunal, consider the following statements:
1. The tribunal is bound by the procedure laid down under the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908.
2. Members of the tribunal are not eligible for re-appointment.
3. The tribunal consists of only judicial members.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 and 3 only
(b) 2 and 3 only
(c) 2 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3

Answer: C
Mains Questions:
Q.1) Describe the importance of Jal Shakti Ministry. What are the issues need to be addressed to resolve the water crisis problem.