Mission Amrit Sarovar: Eight states lag behind in achieving targets to rejuvenate water bodies

While the national objective has been successfully achieved to revitalise a minimum of 75 water bodies in each district., eight states are currently falling short in achieving goals under Mission Amrit Sarovar. The campaign, which focuses on revitalizing water bodies, has encountered challenges in states such as West Bengal, Punjab, Telangana, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Haryana, Bihar, and Rajasthan, as per a statement from the Union Ministry of Rural Development on Saturday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched Mission Amrit Sarovar in April 2022 with the aim of revitalizing a minimum of 75 water bodies in each district. The target was to build 50,000 Amrit Sarovars by August 15. In May, the ministry announced that the national target was achieved ahead of schedule with the completion of 50,071 Amrit Sarovar. West Bengal, Punjab, Telangana, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Haryana, Bihar and Rajasthan, however, are lagging behind in meeting the target of creating 75 Amrit Sarovars in each district, the statement said. “States have taken efforts to achieve the district-level target of 75 Amrit Sarovars in each district of the states with the exception in case of West Bengal, Punjab, Telangana, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Haryana, Bihar and Rajasthan where some of the districts are yet to achieve the target,” it said. According to the latest ministry data, of the 1,12,277 (1.12 lakh) Amrit Sarovars identified, work has started on 81,425. A total of 66,278 Amrit Sarovars have been constructed or rejuvenated. The mission involves eight central ministries – rural development; Panchayati raj; forest, environment and climate change; railways and road transport and highways – and departments, including land resources, drinking water and sanitation and water resources. The mission works through the states and districts by refocusing on various schemes such as the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, the Fifteenth Finance Commission Grants and Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana sub-schemes such as Watershed Development Component and Har Khet Ko Pani and the states’ own schemes. It also encourages the mobilisation of citizen and non-govt resources for supplementing these efforts. With inputs from PTI.