*Officers of various deptts unaware of its objective
Mohinder Verma
JAMMU, May 19: Although enough thrust is being laid countrywide on water conservation and management through integrated approach, Jammu and Kashmir has yet not understood the importance of the same. This can be gauged from the fact that the State has dumped the Narendra Modi-led Government’s Jal Kranti Abhiyan Scheme in the official files by handing over the subject to multiple committees which have never met even once since their constitution.
The Jal Kranti Abhiyan Scheme was launched by Union Water Resources Minister in the month of June last year across the country with the sole objective of consolidating water conservation and management through a holistic and integrated approach involving all stakeholders making it a mass movement.
Under the scheme the villages with acute water scarcity had to be selected as ‘Jal Gram’ and for the identified villages a comprehensive integrated development plan was to be framed for launch of several water conservation activities. The activities proposed for Jal Gram included rain water harvesting, recycling of waste water, micro irrigation for water use efficiency and mass awareness program.
After remaining slept over the issue for several months, the State Government vide Order No.180-GAD dated March 2, 2016 constituted committees to implement Jal Kranti Abhiyan in the State. Four committees—Village Level, Block Level, District Level and State Level were constituted vide this order.
It was mentioned in the order that Village Level Committee will be headed by Gram Pradhan/Sarpanch, Block Level Committee by the Block Development Officer, District Level Committee by District Magistrate/Deputy Commissioner and State Level Committee will be headed by Administrative Secretary, PHE, Irrigation and Flood Control Department.
The role of Village and Block Level Committees, as per the Government order, was to provide inputs for formulation of the Integrated Water Security Plan, implementation of works, monitoring of works, advocacy of water conservation in the village, local schools/colleges and holding fortnightly and monthly meetings.
Similarly, the mandate of the District Level Committees was to identify the Jal Gram, coordinate activities of Jal Gram, monitor the progress on monthly basis, appraise the plans and project reports of the activities to be implemented at district level and to plan and implement advocacy in water conservation through convergent methods. Likewise, the State Level Committee had to coordinate and monitor activities of Jal Gram in the entire State and indicate funding from concerned departments related to water resources for taking up works.
However, during the past more than two months these committees have not met even once despite the fact that they had to hold meetings on fortnightly and monthly basis, official sources told EXCELSIOR, adding “the intensity of the non-seriousness can be gauged from the fact that majority of the members of these four committees are not aware of the scheme or formulation of the panels by the Government”.
Neither the Administrative Department of PHE, Irrigation and Flood Control ever tried to ensure these committees perform as per their role defined in the Government order, nor the District Magistrates/Deputy Commissioners gave any preference to carrying out of defined activities by the Block and Village Level Committees, sources regretted.
In this way, the important scheme of the Narendra Modi-led Government has been dumped in the official files, they rued, adding “it seems that water conservation and management carry no importance at any level in Jammu and Kashmir”.
“Only PHE, Irrigation and Flood Control Departments cannot be held responsible for this as officers of Agriculture, Health and Horticulture Departments are equally responsible for failure of Jal Kranti Abhiyan Scheme to take off in Jammu and Kashmir as they were also made members of Block, District and State Level Committees”, sources said.
When contacted, a senior officer of the PHE, Irrigation and Flood Control fanned ignorance even about the scheme what to talk of formulation of committees by the Government more than two months back.
“I am not aware of any such scheme”, he remarked in response to a question.
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