New ‘Jal Shakti’ Ministry 05/06/2019 – Posted in: Daily News – Tags: water resources
JAL SHAKTI MINISTRY
For: Preliminary
Topic covers: New ‘Jal Shakti’ Ministry, Roles & Functions
News Flash
The new ‘Jal Shakti’ ministry has been formed by merging the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation and Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation.
- It will attempt to integrate demand and supply of water in the country.
- Government appointed Gajendra Singh Shekhawat as the Minister of Jal Shakti.
- The new Ministry was constituted in line with the BJP’s Sankalp Patra that for the 2019 General Elections.
Background
- The Ministry of Water Resources (formerly Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation) is the apex body for formulation and administration of rules and regulations relating to the development and regulation of the water resources in India.
- The Ministry was formed in January 1985 following the bifurcation of the then Ministry of Irrigation and Power, when the Department of Irrigation was re-constituted as the Ministry of Water Resources.
- In July 2014, the Ministry was renamed to “Ministry of Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation”, making it the National Ganga River Basin Authority for conservation, development, management, and abatement of pollution in the river Ganges and its tributaries.
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi had promised this at an election rally in Tamil Nadu’s Ramanathapuram.
- Modi government-II gets a separate ministry called Jal Shakti (water power).
- The Jal Shakti ministry has been formed on May 31, 2019 by reorganizing erstwhile ministries of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation.
Responsibilities
- The ministry will pay special focus on ensuring clean water for people and irrigation water facilities for farmers.
- The ambit of the ministry will encompass issues ranging from international and inter-states water disputes, the byzantine Namami Gange project, the flagship initiative to clean the Ganges, its tributaries and sub-tributaries and provide clean drinking water.
Water crisis
According to the NITI Aayog report, nearly 600 million Indians face “high to extreme water stress”, while 75% households do not have drinking water on their premises. At the same time, about 2 lakh people die every year due to inadequate access to safe water.
While the report reflects that 70% of the water in the country is contaminated, it also raises alarm bells wherein 21 cities, including Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai and Hyderabad, will face a massive shortage and run out of groundwater by 2020, affecting 100 million people.
Matters are only likely to worsen with the country’s water demand likely to double by 2030, indicating that there will be a 6% loss in the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) by 2050.
Source: Economic Times
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