The two day event with the theme ‘Integrated Approach for Sustainable Water Management’ was held in Delhi last week. During the event, the Water Ministry announced that all the 46 projects under Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sichai Yaojna (PMKSY) need close monitoring and also underlined the need for large scale people's participation and cooperation of NGOs in various important schemes such as inter-linking of rivers and PMKSY. A National legislation on water was also needed as it is a 'state subject' and the Centre expressed the need to bring the State Governments on board for such a key legislation. It was also announced that Jal Manthan will become an annual feature.
In the past year, the State has observed an increase in the groundwater levels despite poor rainfall. All credit goes to 'Mission Kakatiya' that was launched to restore tanks and water bodies in more than 25,000 habitations. Per the analysis, the water levels have shown a considerable rise in all the areas where the tanks were restored. Phase-I of the project will be completed by March 31 while Phase-II, which aims to revive 10,000 tanks, will begin in April.
Excess fluoride in groundwater in 11 districts in Andhra: Cenre
Per the groundwater quality data of the Central Groundwater Board (CGWB), excess fluoride has been found in 11 out of 13 districts in Andhra Pradesh. Also, in all the 13 districts, the nitrate content is above the desirable limit of 45 mg/l. However, groundwater in all the State's districts were devoid of heavy metals and arsenic above desirable limits. Reverse osmosis plants have been installed in 15 villages affected by excessive fluoride and arsenic this year, and there are plans to extend it to other villages soon.
The National Wetland Atlas-Rajasthan prepared by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is quite misleading, though no complaints about these discrepancies have been made in the past. One example of how the atlas misleads readers is the description of Jaisamand and Udaisagar lakes. However, it has also been mentioned that overall the atlas is a useful document and has used the latest methodologies of space applications over a fairly large area, covering several types of wetlands.
Acitivists in Nashik form panel to revive Godavari river
Nashik-based activists and experts have formed a committee to work towards the rejuvenation of the Godavari river. The committee will be headed by Deepak Nair who is the chairman of the Maharashtra State Economic Development Council. Naik has worked extensively on river issues in 54 cities and assured that 78% of the river could be rejuvenated in a year. The committee will soon come up with a action plan and has decided to focus on eco-tourism and revival of Godavari river.
This is a roundup of important news updates from February 22 - 29, 2016. Also read last week's policy matters update.