Water being a State subject, it is for the State Government concerned, including Government of Goa, to undertake projects for restoration of waterbodies/ reservoirs in their respective territory. However, in order to supplement the efforts of the State Government, a number of initiates have been taken by Government of India, some of which are given below.
- Under Repair, Renovation and Restoration of water bodies components of Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana- Har Khet Ko Pani, partial financial assistance is provided by Government of India for renovation of identified projects/ clusters of water bodies. In recent past, no eligible proposal has been forwarded by Government of Goa for inclusion under the said scheme.
- Focused interventions under Jal Shakti Abhiyan annual campaigns taken up by the Government of India and the State Governments, inter-alia, include renovation of traditional and other water bodies/ tanks, enumeration, geo-tagging and making inventory of all water bodies, and removal of encroachments of tanks/ lakes, and de-silting of tanks. A total of 39 number of water bodies have been restored in the State of Goa under the Jal Shakti Abhiyan so far.
- Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MNREGS) has provisions for public works relating to natural resource management, water conservation and water harvesting structures to augment and improve ground water like underground dykes, earthen dams, stop dams, check dams and roof top rain water harvesting structures in public buildings. 568 number of water bodies have been rejuvenated under the scheme in the State of Goa, with an expenditure of Rs. 5.01 crore.
- Launched in April 2022, Mission Amrit Sarovar is aimed at developing and rejuvenating at least 75 water bodies of minimum pondage area of 1 acre each, in each district of the country as a part of celebration of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav. A total of 164 number of water bodies have been included under the scheme from the State of Goa.
- Ministry of Jal Shakti has conducted first Census of Water Bodies in convergence with the Sixth Minor Irrigation Census (Reference Year 2017-18) with the objective of developing a national data base of all water bodies in the country. The Water Bodies Census inter-alia contains information on all important aspects on the subject including their size, condition, status of encroachment, use storage capacity, status of filling up storage etc.
- Rejuvenation of water bodies is also a component under Water Supply sector of Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) Scheme under Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs. Further, AMRUT 2.0 launched in October, 2021, targets to promote circular economy of water through development of city water balance plan for each city focusing on recycle/reuse of treated sewage, rejuvenation of water bodies and water conservation. While no water body was taken up under AMRUT from Goa, 2 number of water bodies have been included under AMRUT 2.0 from the State of Goa, with estimated expenditure of Rs. 11.96 crore.
Since August 2019, Government of India, in partnership with State Governments, is implementing Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM)-Har Ghar Jal to enable every rural household in the country including those in Goa, to have assured potable water through tap connection.
At the time of announcement of Jal Jeevan Mission, in Goa 1.99 lakh out of 2.63 lakh total rural households were reported to have tap water connections. Thereafter, all remaining 0.64 lakh rural households have been provided tap water connection under the Mission.
Apart from the above, State Government has reported that three projects, having combined capacity of 295 million liters per day (MLD) raw water, are under implementation for augmentation of drinking water supply in Goa. The combined estimated cost of the three projects is Rs. 370 crore.
This information was given by the Minister of State for Jal Shakti, Shri Bishweswar Tudu in a written reply in Lok Sabha today.
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AS