Gujarat’s ongoing water conservation initiative, the ‘Sujalam Sufalam Jal Abhiyan’, has increased the state’s water storage capacity by 20,789 lakh cubic feet this year, taking the cumulative increase over the past eight years to 1,38,039 lakh cubic feet, Water Resources and Water Supply Minister Ishwarsinh Patel said on Monday.
The campaign, aligned with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Catch the Rain’ initiative, has evolved into a large-scale public participation programme aimed at improving groundwater levels and strengthening water conservation infrastructure across the state.
“With the objective of increasing water storage capacity across the state and raising groundwater levels, the ‘Sujalam Sufalam Jal Abhiyan’ has become a significant public movement through participation of citizens,” Patel said.
According to the minister, the statewide campaign was launched on February 23 in Gandhinagar by Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel. By May, a total of 13,315 water conservation works had been completed through coordinated efforts of multiple government departments.
The completed works include 2,450 pond deepening projects, 3,661 check dam desilting works and 1,160 check dam repair projects. In addition, canals spanning 626 kilometres and drains covering 1,277 kilometres were cleaned under the programme.
These interventions collectively increased the state’s water storage capacity by 20,789 lakh cubic feet during the current year and generated approximately 2.30 lakh man-days of employment.
The programme is being implemented through coordinated efforts of six departments Water Resources, Water Supply, Forest and Environment, Urban Development, Rural Development, and Sardar Sarovar Narmada Nigam Limited with works executed through public participation, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) scheme and departmental agencies.
Over the past eight years, 1,23,635 water conservation works have been completed under the initiative. These include 39,770 pond creation and deepening projects, 26,873 check dam desilting works and 7,810 check dam repair works.
During the same period, canals and drains covering a combined 80,793 kilometres have been cleaned.
According to official figures, the initiative has cumulatively enhanced Gujarat’s water storage capacity by 1,38,039 lakh cubic feet while generating 206.73 lakh man-days of employment.
(With inputs from IANS)
