In news : National Water Mission, Ministry of Jal Shakti in collaboration with Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan (NYKS), Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports launched the “Jal Shakti Abhiyan II: Catch the Rain” Awareness Generation Campaign recently
What is the Catch the Rain Campaign?
The “Catch the Rain” campaign launched by National Water Mission(NWM) is an awareness generation program nudging the state governments and stakeholders to take up rain water harvesting structures appropriate to the soil-substrata and climatic conditions, with active participation of people.
Key features of the programme
- Duration of the campaign: The awareness generation phase of campaign will run from mid-December 2020 to March 2021.
- Tagline of the campaign: NWM has launched a campaign Catch the rain” with tagline “catch the rain, where it falls, when it falls” in order to nudge all stake-holders to create Rain Water Harvesting Structures (RWHS) suitable to the climatic conditions and subsoil strata to store rain water as rains falling in the four/five months of monsoon are the only source of water for most parts of the country.
- As a preparatory phase of Jal Shakti Abhiyan-II, the Ministry has involved Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangthan (NYKS) for undertaking ‘Catch the Rain’ awareness campaign to cover 623 districts
- NYKS will undertake this awareness building campaign through various Information, Education and Communication (IEC) activities which will include
- conducting education & motivational programs
- mass awareness campaigns
- environment building including wall writing
- banners & e-posters
- knowledge competitions
- demonstration activities like theme-based nukkad natak & skits
- branding & popularize the campaign by logos & printed IEC materials etc.
- During this period, the NYKS teams will also meet district administration, line departments and water agencies, hold meetings with Pradhans, local influencers and volunteers to further the cause and also prepare plans for the water conservation to be taken up in the next phase of the campaign.
What activities will be conducted under the campaign?
- It drives to make water harvesting pits, rooftop Rain Water Harvesting Structures (RWHS) and check dams
- Removal of encroachments and desilting of tanks to increase their storage capacity
- Removal of obstructions in the channels which bring water to them from the catchment areas
- Repairs to traditional water harvesting structures like step-wells and using defunct bore-wells and old wells to put the water back to aquifers etc, are some of the activities suggested to be taken up with peoples’ active participation under this campaign.
What is Jal Shakti Abhiyan(JSA)?
The Jal Shakti Abhiyan (JSA) is a time-bound, mission-mode water conservation campaign.
Two Phases of JSA:
- Phase 1 from 1st July to 15th September 2019 for all States and Union Territories(all states)
- Phase 2 from 1st October to 30th November 2019 for States and UTs receiving the retreating monsoon(States with retreating monsoon)
Key features of JSA:
- Jal Shakti Abhiyan is a collaborative effort of various Ministries of the Government of India and State Governments, being coordinated by the Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation(DDWS)
- Under the campaign teams of officers from the central government will visit and work with district administration in water-stressed districts, to ensure five important water conservation interventions. These will be;
- Water conservation and rainwater harvesting.
- Renovation of traditional and other water bodies/tanks.
- Reuse and bore well recharge structures.
- Watershed development and
- Intensive afforestation
National Water Mission
The Government of India has established the National Water Mission as one of the eight National Missions under the National Action Plan on Climate Change. The main objective of NWM is “conservation of water, minimizing wastage and ensuring its more equitable distribution both across and within States through integrated water resources development and management”. NWM has identified five goals as under:
- Comprehensive water data base in public domain and assessment of the impact of climate change on water resource,
- Promotion of citizen and state actions for water conservation, augmentation and preservation,
- Focused attention to vulnerable areas including over-exploited areas,
- Increasing water use efficiency by 20%, and
- Promotion of basin level integrated water resources management.
Various strategies for achieving the goals have been identified which lead to integrated planning for sustainable development with active participation of the stakeholders.
Important campaigns run by National Water Mission:
- Water Talk
- Catch the Rain
- Sahi Fasal
