Unprecedented success

In a pond, there lived three fishes — one named 'Plan ahead', another 'Think fast' and the third 'Procrastinate'. One day, they overheard a fisherman who was planning to cast a net in the pond the next day. While 'Plan ahead' swam down the river the same night, 'Think fast' and 'Procrastinate' got caught the next day. 'Think fast' rolled its belly up and pretended to be dead, prompting the fisherman to throw it back into the water. 'Procrastinate' had no plan and was caught. Hence, in challenging times, we must plan ahead or plan to think fast.

The water sector in our country presents a grave challenge to our livelihoods and sustainability goals. The situation is no different than a metaphorical net cast by climate change and rapidly depleting groundwater. The time window available for any positive intervention is very thin. Realising this, Modi government 2.0 started by converging all water-related departments under a single Ministry of Jal Shakti to provide an integrated approach to the water sector. Simply put, this resulted in a situation where the surface water did not require any inter-ministerial consultation to connect with groundwater. The demand and supply of water could be assessed, estimated and planned under one executive in a single chamber. No matter how commonsensical this move may sound now, but it never rattled anybody's senses earlier.

Another paradigm shift has been in our approach to make people the drivers of all envisioned changes. This is evident in the structural and behavioural changes undertaken in sanitation and river rejuvenation since 2014. Swachh Bharat Mission and Namami Gange Programme are cases in point.

A historic milestone was achieved when the Prime Minister dedicated an open defecation-free India to the father of our nation, Mahatma Gandhi, on October 2, 2019. Swachh Bharat Mission, the world's largest sanitation and behavioural change programme, took the sanitation coverage of under 40 per cent in 2014 to universal sanitation coverage in just five years. More than 11 crore toilets were built in rural areas which, according to a UNICEF study, also resulted in a substantial reduction in groundwater contamination, soil contamination, and food and drinking water contamination. Thousands of swachhagrahis continue to devote themselves as ambassadors of change across India. Swachh Bharat Mission is indeed a one-of-its-kind sanitation programme unmatched anywhere in the world.

India cannot be imagined without River Ganga. Unlike previous efforts, the Namami Gange programme transcended the piecemeal interventions and built a strong foundation with a basin-based approach. It is now being considered as a model for the rejuvenation of other rivers. National Mission for Clean Ganga, the implementing arm of Namami Gange, was elevated to an authority with more financial and administrative powers. District Ganga Committees were formed to engage the local administration and communities more effectively. Both the number of completed projects (147 out of 344) and the pace of expenditure (Rs 10,100 crore till March 2021 — more than double as compared between 1985-86 to 2014) present an optimistic picture. The innovations like Hybrid Annuity Model HAM and One City One Operator ensure optimal performance and longevity of the created sewerage infrastructure. It is a matter of satisfaction that all sewerage projects along Ganga in Uttarakhand and Jharkhand have been completed, arresting the flow of sewage into the river. Eyesores to local people, several drains have also been tapped, most notably the infamous Sisamau Nala in Kanpur and Chandreshwar Nala in Muni Ki Reti. The work on the CETP project for Kanpur tanneries has also started. The positive impacts of the Namami Gange programme in terms of water quality have also begun to show up as the entire stretch of 2,525 km has now been turned fit for bathing. For riverfront development, works on 144 ghats and 45 crematoria have been completed so far. Never before did biodiversity conservation get so much attention under the Clean Ganga Project. At least six stretches have been identified as biodiversity hotspots. A self-motivated cadre of about 1,300 Ganga praharis has also been trained for biodiversity conservation. Special emphasis is being given to scientific afforestation, sustainable agriculture, organic farming and watershed development in the Ganga basin. To make Ganga aviral, the minimum e-flow in the river was notified in October 2018 — unprecedented in history. To make Namami Gange a people's movement and to re-establish people-river connect (Jan Ganga), as envisioned by the Prime Minister, various innovative awareness activities are undertaken regularly.

To take the transformational efforts in the water sector forward and keep the momentum going, Prime Minister announced the Jal Jeevan Mission on August 15, 2019, from the ramparts of Red Fort. The mission envisages providing functional tap connection to every rural household by 2024. While only 3.23 crore rural households (out of a total 19.19 crore HHs) had tap water connections up till August 2019, it is a matter of great pride for the country that in less than two years, about 4.22 crore additional rural households have already been provided with new tap water connections. Besides, 6.35 lakh schools and 5.72 lakh Anganwadis have also been provided with tap water supply.

Supplying water to every household entails source sustainability. Jal Shakti Abhiyan aims to achieve exactly the same. After the success of JSA-I spanning across 256 districts, Phase-II was launched on March 22 this year on the occasion of World Water Day with the motto: 'Catch the rain: Where it falls, when it falls'. To inject the exuberance of youth in the JSA-II, National Water Mission, the implementing agency, collaborated with Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan (NYKS) across 623 districts of the country. So far, 2.27 crore people have participated through NYKS. An expenditure of approx. Rs 14,000 crore has already been carried on various projects for rainwater harvesting, watershed development and pond rejuvenation etc.

To say that the water sector in India has undergone some drastic changes in the last few years would not be an exaggeration.

The story I quoted earlier aptly analyses the performance of the Modi government in the water sector viz-a-vis the previous governments. The Modi government's approach is marked by a proactive 'plan ahead' and 'think fast' approach in stark contrast to a passive approach marred by procrastination, as practised by earlier governments. However, the real success of the programmes can be attributed to the people of India. Surely, the people of India (Jan Shakti) will continue to support the government to revolutionise the water sector (Jal Shakti) in India.

The writer is Minister of State, Social Justice & Empowerment and Jal Shakti. Views expressed are personal