UPSC Essentials: One word a day – Arth-Ganga

Subject: Environment and Governance

Relevance: Water is always an important subject for exams. An attempt is made to cover the current and linked issues in general. The focus is on Arth-Ganga which is not only important from prelims but also from mains perspective. Beyond the term, we discuss World Water Week and government initiatives. Do not miss solving the MCQ below.

Why in news?

—Asok Kumar, the Director General of the National Mission for Clean Ganga, spoke about the Arth Ganga model during his virtual keynote address to the Stockholm World Water Week 2022 on August 24.

What is Arth-Ganga?

— PM Modi first introduced the concept during the first National Ganga Council meeting in Kanpur in 2019, where he urged for a shift from Namami Gange, the Union Government’s flagship project to clean the Ganga, to the model of Arth-Ganga.

— Arth-Ganga focuses on the sustainable development of the Ganga and its surrounding areas, by focusing on economic activities related to the river.

— At its core, the Arth-Ganga model seeks to use economics to bridge people with the river.

— During his keynote address, Asok Kumar stated that it “strives to contribute at least 3% of the GDP from the Ganga Basin itself,” and added that the Arth Ganga project’s interventions are in accordance with India’s commitments towards the UN sustainable development goals.

—Therefore Arth-Ganga concept can be summarised as a river-people connection through the economic bridge to ensure the sustainability of these activities under “Namami Gange”, the flagship programme of the Government to clean Ganga and its tributaries.

What are the “six vertical” features of Arth Ganga?

Under Arth Ganga, the government is working on six verticals.

—The first is Zero Budget Natural Farming, which involves chemical-free farming on 10 km on either side of the river, and the promotion of cow dung as fertiliser through the GOBARdhan scheme.

— The Monetization and Reuse of Sludge anf Wastewater is the second, which seeks to reuse treated water for irrigation, industries and revenue generation for Urban Local Bodies (ULBs).

— Arth Ganga will also involve Livelihood Generation Opportunities, by creating haats where people can sell local products, medicinal plants and ayurveda.

— The fourth is to increase public participation by increasing synergies between the stakeholders involved with the river.

— This model also wants to promote the cultural heritage and tourism of Ganga and its surroundings, through boat tourism, adventure sports and by conducting yoga activities.

— Lastly, the model seeks to promote institutional building by empowering local administration for improved water governance.

Which are some of the recent initiatives launched under Project Arth-Ganga are?

— Arth Ganga initiatives include the virtual launch of Jalaj initiative at 26 locations on Ganga basin main stem states, a MoU with Sahakar Bharati to achieve the vision of a sustainable and viable economic development by public participation and a tourism-related portal ImAvatar to promote livelihood opportunities along the Ganga basin by promoting Arth Ganga initiative through tourism.

Beyond the word

What is the World Water Week?

— World Water Week is celebrated from August 24 till September 1.

— It is an annual event organised by Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) to address the global water issues and related concerns of international development.

— This year the theme is- “Seeing the Unseen: The Value of Water”.

When is World Water Day celebrated?

— World Water Day is celebrated on March 22 every year to highlight the importance of water.

— The day aims to support the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 6: water and sanitation for all by 2030.

— It inspires people around the world to learn more about water-related issues and to take action to make a difference.

— Theme of 2022 “Groundwater: making the invisible visible.”

— The theme was decided by UN-water at its 30th meeting in Rome. It was proposed by the International Groundwater Resources Assessment Centre (IGRAC).

— It inspires people around the world to learn more about water-related issues and to take action to make a difference.

What is UN World Water Development Report 2022?

— The 2022 edition of the United Nations World Water Development Report (UN WWDR 2022) entitled ‘Groundwater: Making the invisible visible’ describes the challenges and opportunities associated with the development, management and governance of groundwater across the world.

According to the unwater.org, the highlights of the report are-

—Groundwater accounts for 99 per cent of all liquid freshwater. It has the potential to provide societies with tremendous social, economic and environmental benefits and opportunities.

— The groundwater already provides almost half of the total water used for domestic purposes including drinking water. However, this natural resource is often poorly understood, and consequently undervalued, mismanaged and even abused.

— Groundwater is central to the fight against poverty and achieving food and water security and even the creation of jobs and socio-economic development.

— The Asia-Pacific region is the largest groundwater abstractor in the world, containing seven out of the ten countries that extract most groundwater.

The present dependence on groundwater will only increase due to increasing water demand by all sectors and increasing disruption in rainfall patterns.

— The report states that it all starts with making the invisible visible and the action would require strong and concerted efforts to manage and use it sustainably.

— Unlocking the full potential of groundwater will require strong and concerted efforts to manage and use it sustainably, and it all starts by making the invisible, visible.

What are government of India’s initiatives related to water issues?

— The  former President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind, presented the third National Water Awards and launched the Jal Shakti Abhiyan: Catch the Rain campaign 2022 in New Delhi on March 29, 2022.

— To make water everyone’s business and to make the Jal Andolan a Jan Andolan — a mass movement, the Government of India in 2019 launched the ‘Jal Shakti Abhiyan’. In the same year, ‘Jal Jeevan Mission’ was also launched.

— Last year on ‘World Water Day’, the ‘Jal Shakti Abhiyan: Catch the Rain’ campaign was launched by the Prime Minister which was taken up in all districts in rural as well as urban areas of the country during the pre-monsoon and monsoon period.

— Atal Bhujal Yojana, a Central Sector Scheme, with focus on community participation, demand side interventions and convergence of ongoing schemes for sustainable ground water management is being implemented.

— The approach of Atal Bhujal Yojana (Atal Jal) is broadly based on the success stories and verified field initiatives by non-government and civil society organizations in community led ground water management in various parts of the country.

— National Water Mission, in a bid to draw attention to critical aspects of water, and to promote dialogue and information sharing among participants on variety of water related topics, has initiated a monthly seminar series – “Water Talk” on March 22, 2019, the World Water Day.

— Department of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation has instituted National Water Awards and “Water Heroes – Share your stories” contest to incentivise good practices in water conservation and ground water recharge.

— Under Har Khet Ko Pani (HKKP) component of PMKSY, Repair, Renovation and Restoration (RRR) of Water Bodies Scheme was launched which aims to revive irrigation potential by improvement and restoration of water bodies by enhancing the tank storage capacity, along with other multiple objectives such as ground water recharge, increased availability of drinking water, improvement of catchment of tank commands etc.

— The Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) focuses on the development of basic urban infrastructure in the Mission cities in the sectors of water supply, sewerage and septage management, storm water drainage, green spaces and parks and non-motorised urban transport.

— The Government of India, in partnership with States, is implementing Jal Jeevan Mission-Har Ghar Jal, which aims at providing potable water in adequate quantity of prescribed quality on regular and long term basis to every rural household including tribal areas of the country through tap water connection by 2024.

What does Fifteenth Finance Commission say about water?

— Fifteenth Finance Commission (FFC) in its report for 2021-26, has earmarked 60 per cent for national priorities like drinking water supply and rainwater harvesting and sanitation, out of the total grants earmarked for Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRI).

— The FFC report also emphasises on sustainable and efficient water use and has suggested three ways to reduce and rationalise water use in agriculture:

(i) by replacing free or subsidised power supply for agriculture with direct benefit transfers (DBT),

(ii) encouraging use of new technologies such as drip, sprinkler, sensor-based irrigation to get more crop per drop, and

(iii) by conserving and rainwater harvesting to increase the availability of surface as well as of groundwater. FFC has recommended incentive-based grants to States that maintain and augment groundwater stock and maintain a check on any fall in the water table.

What is Namami Gange ?

— Namami Gange Programme is an Integrated Conservation Mission, approved as a ‘Flagship Programme’ by the Union Government in June 2014.

— It aims to accomplish the twin objectives of effective abatement of pollution and conservation and rejuvenation of National River Ganga.

— It is being operated under the Department of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, Ministry of Jal Shakti.

— The programme is being implemented by the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG), and its state counterpart organizations i.e State Program Management Groups (SPMGs).

— The major areas of the programme are: Sewage Treatment Infrastructure, River-Front Development, River-Surface Cleaning, Biodiversity, Afforestation, Public Awareness, Industrial Effluent Monitoring, Ganga Gram.

Point to ponder: Only a jan andolan on water can save us now. Do you agree?

MCQ:

On the planet earth, most of the freshwater exists as ice caps and glaciers. Out of the remaining freshwater, the largest proportion ( UPSC-CSE 2013)

(a) is found in atmosphere as moisture and clouds

(b) is found in freshwater lakes and rivers

(c) exists as groundwater

(d) exists as soil moisture

(sources: PIB, Ministry of Jal Shakti, unwater.org)

Answer to the previous MCQ: UPSC Essentials: One word a day – FCEV (d)