Source: The Hindu
Why in News?
The Union government has asked the Ministry of Railways and the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to use the soil/silt excavated from ponds/tanks in all districts across the country under the Amrit Sarovar Mission for their infrastructure projects.
What is Amrit Sarovar Mission?
About:
Amrit Sarovar Mission was launched on 24th April 2022 with a view to conserve water for the future.
Aim:
The Mission is aimed at developing and rejuvenating 75 water bodies in each district of the country as a part of celebration of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav.
In total, it would lead to the creation of 50,000 water bodies of a size of about an Acre or more.
The Mission encourages mobilisation of citizen and non-govt resources for supplementing these efforts.
Ministries Involved:
This Mission has been launched with a whole Government Approach with 6 Ministries/Department namely:
- Department of Rural Development
- Department of land resources
- Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation
- Department of Water resources
- Ministry of Panchayati Raj
- Ministry of Forest, Environment and Climate Changes.
Technical Partner:
Bhaskaracharya National Institute for Space Application and Geo-informatics (BISAG-N) has been engaged as technical partner for the Mission.
Refocusing with Various Schemes:
The Mission works through the States and Districts, through refocusing of various schemes such as Mahatma Gandhi NREGS, XV Finance Commission Grants, PMKSY sub schemes such as Watershed Development Component, Har Khet Ko Pani besides States’ own schemes.
Target:
- Mission Amrit Sarovar is to be completed by 15th August 2023.
- Around 50,000 Amrit Sarovar may be constructed in the country.
- Each of these Amrit Sarovar will have approx. area of 1 acre with a water holding capacity of 10,000 cubic meters.
- People’s participation in the Mission is the focal point.
- Local freedom fighter, their family members, Martyr’s family members, Padma Awardee and citizens of the local area wherein an Amrit Sarovar is to be constructed, will be engaged at all stages.
- On every 15th August, National Flag hoisting will be organized on every Amrit Sarovar site.
Achievements:
So far, 12,241 sites have been finalized for construction of Amrit Sarovars by States/Districts, out of which works has started on 4,856 Amrit Sarovars.
