Desilting can ease India’s water storage constraints and its rural water crisis

livemint.com:

₹5 lakh to clean a water body, which greatly increases water storage and helps replenish groundwater. Farmers benefit from better crop yields and the reduced need for fertilizers that using silt assures them. Many similar success stories across India show how community-driven water body rejuvenation can change lives.

According to a Deloitte study, the Niti Aayog initiative, which started in 2022, rejuvenated 351 water bodies, impacting over 2.2 million people in 379 villages across three states, at a cost of ₹9.3 crores. This created 3.13 billion litres of new water storage. Other initiatives, like Gal Mukt Dharan in Maharashtra and Sujalam Sufalam Jal Abhiyan in Gujarat, also demonstrate success.

These projects show that even small steps can lead to significant improvements in water availability. Expanding these community-focused projects could significantly improve water availability for rural areas. It is estimated that spending around ₹1,500 crore each year for five years could help cover 260,000 villages in water-stressed regions, easing the water crisis for 300 million people and boosting the income of 5 million farmers.

Rejuvenating silted water bodies is an affordable and effective way to tackle this urgent problem. India’s political will is moving in the right direction, as demonstrated by the commitment to sustainable water management practices. It is Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s phrase, ‘Catch the rain– where it falls, when it falls,’ that underpins this vision and emphasises the importance of collective action in addressing the water crisis.